My inbox is flooded with emails from parents asking questions about college prep. While I encourage parents to ask questions and find good advice, I marvel at the stressful tones coming across in those emails. Why do parents stress so much about college prep? What can you do to handle the stress?
My first piece of advice—relax.
It’s all going to work out and your student will attend a college that makes him or her happy. It may not be the college you choose or even their first-choice college, but wherever they land, it will work itself out. Stressing over every single aspect of the college application can not only drive you crazy, but put undue pressure on your student as well. The college decision is stressful enough without you adding to the process.
My second piece of advice—do your research.
Before you start stressing over whether your student will “have what it takes” to get into college, look at the college statistics for each college on their wish list. What percentage of applicants are admitted each year? What percentage of students receive financial aid? What does the freshman class look like—average SAT scores, average GPAs, and other factors? What does the college value the most in their applicants—demonstrated interest, GPAs, extracurriculars or others?
My third piece of advice—be realistic.
Be realistic. Your student may aspire to the highly selective colleges, but is it conceivable they will be accepted? It’s perfectly acceptable to have a dream school, but if your student applies, they should fall within the criteria of the applicants. Applying to colleges you simply can’t afford or your student’s chances of acceptance are slim, will only set you and them up for disappointment.
One parent, when discussing student debt, summarized it like this: “It’s our personal opinion [as parents], but for us we would find it irresponsible on our part to let any of our kids incur that much debt for a bachelor’s degree. They will have to dream with the money they have available. Plenty of great educations out there that won’t break the bank.”
You owe it to you children to be the voice of reason. There are over 4000 colleges within the United States that will give your student an excellent education. Do your homework and help them find the one that is the best fit.
My final advice—ask for help.
It’s a given. You are going to need help. Luckily, there is plenty of help available online for parents to gather information and advice. You can consult the experts or search for help in social media. Just about every question you have can be answered and if not, you can message or email an expert for their advice. Never be afraid to ask for help.