• Overview and Calendar
• Academic Standards
• Courses
• Graduation Requirements
• Faculty and Staff
• College Guidance
• Student Support

Welcome to the Guidance page!

Here you will find calendars and procedures to help guide you through the process of selecting the right institution of higher learning. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at phillip.feerrar@ancss.org

Philosophy: The goal of our college and career counseling program is to help students explore all their available options so they will have the tools to make informed and educated decisions about their future. Because a high percentage of our students continue into higher education, a major focus of this office is college counseling. However, we are equally supportive of students who do not plan to go to college, and we strongly encourage all of our students to take advantage of the career resources we have available.  More on Mission and Philosophy 

Admissions and Scholarship Links:

• StudentEdge for exploring colleges & careers as well as free test preparation. Request access code from Dr. Feerrar

• Peterson's for exploring colleges

• Similiar Minds for a career inventory

• GoCollege for admissions help

• Fastweb financial aid finder

• The Scholarship Page for help finding scholarship aid

• Scholarship Resource Network Express for more financial aid help

• Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence

• Big 33 Football Scholarships

• Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest

• The Federal Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (applications available from guidance counselor)

• Horsham Lions Club Scholarships

• Bank of America Student Leader Internships for Juniors and Seniors

Planning for College

• Planning Calendar for Juniors [printable pdf]

• Planning Calendar for Seniors [printable pdf]

• Dr. Feerrar's Planning Questionnaire [printable pdf]

Academic Preparation: Testing - As far as college preparation goes, our students are doing quite well. In the last five years, our students have scored 144 points above the national average and 43 points above the average independent school on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Typically, about 98% of Academy seniors take this test or the American College Testing exam (A.C.T.), in preparation for college admissions.

Advanced Placement: The Academy offers four Advanced Placement courses: Calculus AB, Statistics, U.S. History, and English Literature. However, students in senior British Literature and upper level foreign languages are strongly encouraged to take the A.P. test in their content area. On this test, students are graded on a five point scale to assess their qualification for college level credit. The scale is as follows: 5 Extremely Qualified, 4 Well Qualified, 3 Qualified, 2 Possibly Qualified, 1 No Recommendation. Currently, 85 per cent of the Academy students who take the AP exams earn a score of 3 or higher, as compared to a national average of about 65 per cent.        

College Offerings: ANC seniors whose academic records demonstrate that they are capable of college level work may take courses for credit at Bryn Athyn College as part-time students under the Continuing Education program. This provides students with the opportunity to enroll in advanced coursework beyond what is available in a high school curriculum, on the beautiful, adjacent Bryn Athyn College campus. Students may enroll in two courses per academic year and no more than one course per term. For information about eligibility and admissions procedures, please contact the Admissions Office at Bryn Athyn College, 267-502-2511.

National Merit Status: Every October our juniors take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. Students who score high enough can qualify for national recognition and possibly merit scholarships. Nationally, students average a 48 on the verbal section, a 49 on the math, and a 49 on writing skills. This year at the Academy our students averaged a 54 on the verbal, a 53 on the math, and a 53 on writing skills. Similarly, since 1990 the Academy has “produced” 68 Nationally Commended students and 14 National Merit Finalists. Thus, on average, about 10 percent of each graduating class has been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Nationally, only about 5 percent of each graduating class is formally recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Curricular Difficulty: The secondary schools offer a broad curriculum: students can take honors level and/or accelerated courses in all five core areas (history, English, science, math, and foreign language). Currently, students can graduate with 4 years of one foreign language, 5 years of science, 4 years of history, 4 years of math (ending with Calculus), and 4 years of English. We have had students graduate with 5 or more years of a language and one student graduated with 4 years each of 2 languages. Thus, the curricular offerings and its associated schedule structure affords all students the opportunity to meet the academic preparation requirements of the most prestigious colleges and universities.

College Acceptances - Class of 2008