All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

admissions, college planning, college prep, financial aid, parenting

You Heard from the Colleges – Now What?

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colleges

For seniors who applied regular decision, March brings those long-awaited college decisions: deferred, accepted, rejected, and waitlisted. One knowledgeable college counselor once told me, “I don’t like to call these letters of acceptance. I use the term—offers of admission.” As a parent, I like that distinction. This alternative wording makes it easier to stomach those not-so-pleasant responses and help your college-bound teen work through the gamut of emotions that come when decisions arrive.

Your student may be the one receiving these communications from the colleges, but you feel every emotion they do from failure to excitement and everything in between. But unless you understand what each term means, it’s hard to know how to help your student (and yourself) with appropriate responses and proper action.

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college guidance, parenting, surviving college

6 Ways to Support Your College Student

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college student

Your college student is a unique creature. They are at once old enough to be considered adults but still young and inexperienced enough to make some pretty big mistakes. They are also incredibly idealistic, which can lead to them making even more mistakes as they try to pursue their dreams.

For all of these reasons, it is important for the people in their lives to offer them support. Here are six ways you can support your college student:

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college prep, parenting, senioritis, Uncategorized

How to Help Your Senior Fight Senioritis

senioritis

Senioritis is a disease contracted by most high school seniors. Its onset might be hard to recognize because it starts innocently. But once the disease has taken hold it can have a devastating effect on your senior’s future college aspirations. As with any disease, knowing the symptoms is the key to an early diagnosis and treatment.

All kidding aside, however, senioritis is a very real problem for most students, especially if they have already been accepted early decision or early action. They are coming into the home stretch and it’s only natural for them to try to rest on their laurels, so to speak. But every parent needs to be vigilant and act to stop it before it’s too late.

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scholarships

Scholarships for Women

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scholarships for women

In honor of International Women’s Day, here’s an extensive list of scholarships for women and girls. Once you check these out, do your own Google search and go past the 1st and 2nd pages of Google. You’ll find specific scholarsihps that might not be listed on these sites that have compiled a list.

And don’t forget to celebrate the women and girls in your life–while teaching your sons to value and treasure them!

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admissions, college costs, college guidance, college planning, financial aid, parenting

Weighing Your College Options

college options

It’s that time of year when seniors will be weighing their college options. Choices will be made as parents and students evaluate colleges who offered admission.

The long wait is over and it’s time to make a decision. Which college will your student attend? This decision feels like the most important decision in his life up to this point and will weigh heavily on his mind and yours over the next month.

Before your teen makes the decision, however, you should weigh your college options. You would never purchase a home without determining its value, its fit for your family, or even its location. This college decision should be approached in the same manner. And to complicate matters, the decision has to be made in a timely manner—the National Candidate’s Reply Date is May 1st.

If your student didn’t get an offer of admission from his first or even second choice college, or he is accepted without enough financial aid, it’s time to re-evaluate the colleges on his list. Your teen should take a closer look at those schools on the list that weren’t on top. If he did his homework before applying, these schools should be more than sloppy seconds.

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academics, college books, college prep, life lessons, parenting

Books for Students and Their Parents

books

My daughter loves books. Her joy of reading began in grade school and she still loves reading and collecting books. Books never get old and there are so many to choose from. If your student is into digital versions of books, there are many programs available as well.

I’ve done the research for you and each link has multiple suggestions for you and your student. I hope these books are helpful and will be great additions to your library.

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scholarships, social networks

10 Instagram Accounts For Scholarships

instagram

Looking for scholarships? There’s the usual scholarship search sites and scholarship books. You can find them at your student’s counselor’s office and locally. But what about social media–specifically Instagram? It’s a great place to find out about current and future scholarship opportunities.

Sometimes there are scholarships posted on these accounts that you might not easily find in a typical search. They post lesser known scholarships, often with fewer applicants. This increases your student’s chances of winning!

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student tour, study abroad

Booking a European Tour for Your Student

tour

Touring Europe could be part of your student’s education. You might consider sending your student on one of these trips during spring break or the summer before college. It might also be a good way to decide where your student might study abroad in college.

If you’re looking for the best way to explore all of Europe without spending a fortune, you need to book a student tour. Tours can be expensive, but they can also be very informative. Here are some tips on how to book the perfect student tour.

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mental health, parenting

Focusing on Your Student’s Mental Health

mental health

A parent’s job is to raise children who can function independently in the adult world. But getting them to that stage can be a challenge. In the modern age, we don’t have a rite of passage, so to speak, so young people often coast into adulthood, without actually ever getting there. What’s more, there are more pressures on mental health than ever before. 

North Kansas City Schools highlights the issue in full. It points out that kids’ mental health was bad before the pandemic because of things like substance abuse, depression, bullying and exam stress. COVID-19 has made that worse by adding to the angst and fear. For many kids, restrictions have been in place for as long as they can remember, and they are wondering whether it will ever change. 

Parents, though, don’t have to sit idly by and watch their children’s mental health deteriorate. Instead, they can take action right now. Here’s what to do:

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college planning, parenting, study tools

5 Common Study Distractions (and how to help)

study

If you want to help your college-bound child learn how to study effectively as possible so they can reach their full potential now, and later when they head off to college, one of the best things you can do is help them to learn how they can deal with the various distractions that could make studying difficult.

With that in mind, here are some of the most common study distractions and what you can do about them:

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