Category Archives: admissions

admissions, college guidance, college prep, parenting

Parent Tip Week: Parenting for College

parenting for college

It’s hard. I know. I’ve been there. You want your student to have the BEST education available. You want them to want it as much as you do. You see them making some choices that you know they will regret. As hard as you try, you find yourself pressuring them to make the right choice and the battle lines are drawn. They dig their heels in. You dig your heels in. And the tug of war begins.

What’s a parent to do when you feel your college-bound teens are making the wrong choices related to college? Take a deep breath and read these examples (along with my suggestions). Parenting for college can and probably will be a struggle.

Your college-bound teen tells you he doesn’t want to go to the college that is hard to get into and is opting for what you consider to be sub par.

Don’t panic or overreact. It’s possible he is scared. Try and ascertain the reasoning behind the decision. Don’t do this by badgering him or constantly asking him why. The best way to figure out what is wrong is to LISTEN. Listen to him talk about his day, about college, about how he feels. If fear is not the reason, perhaps he feels the other college would be a better fit. If that’s the case, do yourself a favor and back off. The worst thing you can do with a teenager is force him into a decision he feels is wrong. Sometimes the best lessons we learn are the ones that come from making our own decisions (right or wrong).

Your college-bound teen tells you that he simply MUST go to Private College A, even though she knows it comes with a high price tag.

Don’t let her bully you into sending her to a college you can’t afford AND one that will require a tremendous amount of student loan debt. Sit her down and explain to her the dangers of graduating in debt. Use the college repayment calculators if you have to. If she truly wants to go to Private College A, she needs to do the work (good grades, good SAT/ACT scores, great essay) to be awarded scholarship/grant money from that college.

It’s also worth considering that a private college may be similar in cost to a public university. Since many private colleges have generous alumni that donate, they often award large merit scholarships. Public universities are not as generous with aid.

Your college-bound teen is not interested in college, deadlines, studying for the SAT or any other path that leads him toward higher education.

If there is one thing I learned with both of my kids (and clients), if they aren’t invested in the college process they won’t be invested in college. Save yourself some time, money and heartache and wait until they are. If not, they can learn from the college of hard knocks–minimum wage jobs are the BEST motivator!

It’s also important to note that not every student is meant for college. There are, indeed, other options. Many have taken those different paths and been perfectly successful and happy. It could be time to consider alternatives to college.

Your college-bound teen misses deadlines, panics and comes running to you at the last minute to fix it.

The simplest way I know to avoid missing deadlines, is to get yourself a huge wall calendar and a fat red marker. Put it in a place that they have to pass by every single day. In addition, with all the smartphones and calendar apps available today, missing a deadline should be a thing of the past. At some point (hopefully when they go to college), they will have to fix their own problems. Let them do it now, while they live at home, and it will be easier for them once they are gone. Rescuing your kids all time only makes them into dependent adults and colleges aren’t impressed with those type of students or the parents that come with them.

Your college-bound teen suddenly announces she is not ready for college and wants to take a year off.

First of all, wait. Don’t react. Just listen. Odds are the mood will change with the wind and once all her friends are making college plans, that desire that she once had will kick back in. If not, let her know that it won’t be a “free-ride” year.

With the pandemic, gap years are becoming prevalent. Your student can use the time to investigate career options, work at an internship, volunteer in the community, or simply work and save money toward college.

If you have any questions or personal experiences you would like to share, please leave a comment here and share it with other parents. We learn from each other and from our mistakes and successes!

admissions, college prep, parenting

Parent Tip Week: Parenting in Today’s World

parenting

The world we now live in is resoundingly different than the world we grew up in. Applying to college has become the norm and parents and students take it seriously. The competition to get into college can be overwhelming at times for both parents and students.

Parenting has changed

In the 50’s, our parents let us have the run of the neighborhood. We rode our bikes everywhere, walked home from school alone, and rode the bus to the movies alone. In the summer, we left the house early in the morning and returned home in time for dinner. Our teachers terrified us and we knew if we misbehaved, our parents would back them up. There were no car seats or safety belts. You would never find anti-bacterial soap or even consider using it. When we turned 18, we either went to college or got a full-time job and moved out of the house.

In the 80’s, parenting styles

began to change. Because of Adam Walsh, we watched our kids like a hawk. We weren’t quite ready to take away their freedom, but we worried. We worried about where they were, who they were with, and what dangers they might encounter when they were at school, outside, and at the mall. Parents began to question a teacher’s authority and loosened the grip on the discipline of their children. Spanking became taboo and “time out” emerged as a parenting technique.

At the beginning of the 21st century helicopter parenting emerged. It’s not like we planned for it to happen. It just did. We sheltered our children from any disappointment. Everyone on the team got a trophy. There were no winners or losers. We questioned all school authority. We would never consider letting them walk home alone or play outside without supervision. If they forgot their lunch, we took it to them. If they left their homework at home, we took it to school. We began to make every decision for them and protect them from every consequence. We began to feel the “parent peer pressure” for our children to be the best and the greatest. If they graduated from college and couldn’t find a job, they came home to live and thus the term “boomerang” generation was born.

How do you walk the tightrope of helicopter parenting?

How do we raise our children in this frightening world without overprotecting them from the disappointments and trials of life? What are the long-term risks of helicopter parenting?

Combine a little of the 50’s parenting, some of the 80’s style of parenting, and a very small amount of the 21st century parenting for the perfect parenting balance. There’s a fine line between cautious parenting and being a helicopter mom.

Ask yourself this question–Do you want your children to be independent successful adults or do you want them living in your basement for years and years depending on you to pay their bills and take care of them? Is it conceivable they will be going off to college and surviving alone, or calling you every day crying for help, or needing assistance with every life task? Will they be running home because they simply can’t survive without you?

My guess–your answers to every one of these questions would be a resounding NO! 

admissions, college planning, college prep, pandemic

Advice from College Admissions to This Year’s College Applicants

college admissions

Due to the pandemic, the college admissions system has been forced to adapt.

Last year’s group of graduating high school seniors and soon-to-be college freshman, could not visit colleges due to the nationwide response of sheltering at home to flatten the curve.

In addition, students dealt with problems regarding standardized testing online causing many colleges to eliminate or pause standardized testing requirements. Students will have limited access to traditional extracurricular and volunteer opportunities. In addition, sports programs have been shortened or eliminated at many high schools.

Parents and students are wondering how all these changes will affect the college admissions environment and will it change what colleges expect from this year’s crop of future students.

To answer these questions, The Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common project coordinated with admissions leaders to detail what exactly should be considered in the application process during the school year ahead. After interviewing 315 college admissions professionals, they published a joint statement:

“As admission and enrollment leaders, we recognize that we and the institutions we represent send signals that can shape students’ priorities and experiences throughout high school. This collective statement seeks to clarify what we value in applicants during this time of COVID-19. We are keenly aware that students across the country and the world are experiencing many uncertainties and challenges. We primarily wish to underscore our commitment to equity and to encourage in students self-care, balance, meaningful learning, and care for others.”

These admissions leaders emphasized that students should communicate if and how the coronavirus pandemic has negatively impacted them, including if they have not had access to the internet or a quiet place to study or if they have had increased family responsibilities such as taking care of sick relatives, supervising younger siblings or working to provide family income.

To sum it up, they will value five aspects in the upcoming admissions year: self-care; academic work; service and contributions to others; family contributions; and extracurricular and summer activities.

Following are the specific explanations provided for parents and students from the college admissions professionals outlined in their statement:

Self-care.

Self-care is of high importance, especially in times of crisis. We recognize that many students, economically struggling and facing losses and hardships of countless kinds, are simply seeking to get by. We also recognize that this time is stressful and demanding for a wide range of students for many different reasons. We encourage all students to be gentle with themselves during this time.

Academic work.

Your academic engagement and work during this time matters to us, but given the circumstances of many families, we recognize that you may face obstacles to academic work. We will assess your academic achievements in the context of these obstacles. In addition, we will assess your academic achievements mainly based on your academic performance before and after this pandemic. No student will be disadvantaged because of a change in commitments or a change in plans because of this outbreak, their school’s decisions about transcripts, the absence of AP or IB tests, their lack of access to standardized tests (although many of the colleges represented here don’t require these tests), or their inability to visit campus. We will also view students in the context of the curriculum, academic resources, and supports available to them.

Service and contributions to others.

We value contributions to one’s communities for those who are in a position to provide these contributions. We recognize that while many students are not in this position because of stresses and demands, other students are looking for opportunities to be engaged and make a difference. This pandemic has created a huge array of needs, whether for tutoring, contact tracing, support for senior citizens, or assistance with food delivery. We view responding to these needs as one valuable way that students can spend their time during this pandemic.

We also value forms of contribution that are unrelated to this pandemic, such as working to register voters, protect the environment, combat racial injustice and inequities or stop online harassment among peers. Our interest is not in whether students created a new project or demonstrated leadership during this period. We, emphatically, do not seek to create a competitive public service “Olympics” in response to this pandemic. What matters to us is whether students’ contribution or service is authentic and meaningful to them and to others, whether that contribution is writing regular notes to frontline workers or checking in with neighbors who are isolated.

We will assess these contributions and service in the context of the obstacles students are facing. We also care about what students have learned from their contributions to others about themselves, their communities, and/or their country (Please see Turning the Tide for additional information about the kinds of contributions and service we value). No student will be disadvantaged during this time who is not in a position to provide these contributions. We will review these students for admissions in terms of other aspects of their applications.

Family contributions.

Far too often there is a misperception that high-profile, brief forms of service tend to “count” in admissions while family contributions—which are often deeper and more time-consuming and demanding—do not. Many students may be supervising younger siblings, for example, or caring for sick relatives or working to provide family income, and we recognize that these responsibilities may have increased during these times. We view substantial family contributions as very important, and we encourage students to report them in their applications. It will only positively impact the review of their application during this time.

Extracurricular and summer activities.

No student will be disadvantaged for not engaging in extracurricular activities. We also understand that many plans for summer have been impacted by this pandemic, and students will not be disadvantaged for lost possibilities for involvement. Potential internship opportunities, summer jobs, camp experiences, classes, and other types of meaningful engagement have been cancelled or altered. We have never had specific expectations for any one type of extracurricular activity or summer experience and realize that each student’s circumstances allow for different opportunities. We have always considered work or family responsibilities as valuable ways of spending one’s time, and this is especially true at this time.

admissions, college planning, college prep

Navigating College During COVID-19

covid-19

It’s a new world; especially in college admissions. What we did last year at this time has been obliterated by the coronavirus. Future college students (upcoming seniors) will have to adapt. Current college students are faced with all sorts of dilemmas.

Just for parents, I’ve compiled some of the articles I’ve found about navigating college during COVID-19. I hope you find them helpful for you and your student.

Future college students

Applying to College during COVID-19

Amy Romm Lockard of Dovetail College Consulting in Portland, Oregon works with high school students nationwide to look at careers, majors, colleges and other post-secondary options as well as all the pieces in between (testing, financial aid, teacher recommendations, scholarship applications and more).

Amy has been writing for CollegiateParent about admissions for a while now and we are so thankful for her contributions, and for her insights and warmth which you can see in this recent video interview, College Admissions During COVID-19: A CollegiateParent Conversation.

We’ve compiled highlights from our conversation with Amy — read on to catch her best tips for high school seniors applying to college this fall. 

High School Juniors and the Pandemic

High school juniors may be wondering how the pandemic will affect their college plans. Your student may be asking: 

  • How is this virus going to affect my future college application? 
  • Are these abridged AP exams going to count? 
  • I worked so hard this year, took a rigorous curriculum, but now how can this pass/fail grading highlight my improved grades? 
  • My prestigious summer program was just canceled—what can I do for the next several months? 
  • With all the seniors currently asking for gap years, will this mean there will be fewer spaces in future years?”

We can’t know the future, but we can deal with what we know now. As time progresses, the options will change, but for now, here is some helpful information.

How Covid Impacts Rising High School Seniors

We looked at the kinds of challenges and changes that rising high school seniors may face this fall.

Here’s what we found.

All schools that return to on-campus learning will have new procedures in place for keeping students and staff healthy. That includes whatever the state mandates for the number of students allowed in buildings, mask use, how far apart they can sit, where they can eat, hand-washing routines, changes in how clubs and extracurricular activities are handled, and whether sports are played and can be attended. 

Class of 2021 College Admissions: What College Officials Want You to Know

Collaborating with the Making Caring Common project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, college admissions professionals have jointly issued “Care Counts in Crisis: College Admissions Deans Respond to COVID-19.” The statement focuses on five points students need to keep in mind this year: Self-care, academics, service, families, and extracurricular activities.

COVID College Search: Tours, Student Panels, and Fairs In Your PJs

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, rising high school seniors would likely be spending some time during the summer and fall visiting prospective colleges, attending college fairs, or meeting with college recruiters who visit their high schools. But what about now? As you might expect, researching college options for the Class of 2021 just got very interesting! Let’s take a look at what some of these formerly typical activities might look like this year. It’s the COVID college search year!

Current college students

Will Students Be Safe on Campus This Fall?

As college move-in day approaches, parents around the country have understandable concerns about online vs. in-person instruction.

Many parents wonder if the quality of instruction will be the same if classes are conducted remotely, and if it’s worth the high cost of tuition they’re paying.

Parents are also expressing anxiety about student safety — both health safety because of the pandemic and physical safety in communities where protests and violence continue. Unlike the decision about how classes will be held, your student may have a choice about whether to return to campus or study from home (unless their school has closed all residential facilities or is permitting only certain grades to return).

If you’re still up in the air about this, or just want to prepare your student as well as possible for a safe and healthy fall semester, here are some things to know and talk about.

COVID-19s Impact on College Students This Fall

We looked at the kinds of challenges and changes that entering freshmen and current college students may face this fall.

Here’s what we found.

All schools that return to on-campus learning will have new procedures in place for keeping students and staff healthy.

That includes whatever the state mandates for the number of students allowed in buildings, mask use, how far apart they can sit, where they can eat, handwashing routines, changes in how clubs and extracurricular activities are handled, and whether sports are played and can be attended. 

Find Money for College During the Pandemic

COVID-19 has impacted many families financially — including their ability to pay for college. What may have been a positive financial outlook in the fall of 2019, when students applied and accepted admission, has changed dramatically for many families with the nationwide shutdowns and changes in employment.

Student athletes have been hit hard as many colleges are cutting programs to save money and stay afloat. Needless to say, athletes aren’t the only students who are impacted. Many students who’d planned to use family funds to pay for college are now faced with financial hardship and left wondering how they will be able to afford college. Families are being forced to get creative and look for funds in the form of scholarships and grants if they wish to avoid borrowing to pay for college.

If you find you are short on funds to pay for college, use these tactics before you decide to take out loans.

COVID-19: 5 Things That Will Be Different on Campus This Year   

The elbow bump. It’s a thing!

As freshmen and upperclassmen start thinking (dreaming?) about heading to college this fall. They’re going to be packing more supplies than usual, however. What will be different on campus this year, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic? Maybe more elbow bumps than hugs! Here are five things you may not have thought of. Make some preparations if possible!

Both high school and college students

Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Families of High School and College Students

In one of the most challenging periods in the last century, the Coronavirus has roiled healthcare systems and everyday life, with citizens wondering what the ramifications are for society and their everyday lives.

While public health and government officials are providing their expertise to the specifics of health and everyday life, high school students, college students, and their parents face special complexities in managing their finances and their college experiences.

admissions, college planning, college prep

Use This Admissions secret When Applying to College

admissions secret

Many college experts offer advice on how to get into college. They recommend stellar standardized test scores, a killer college essay, a high GPA, and strong extracurriculars. While all those application components are important, did you know that there an admissions secret students can use to increase their admission chances by 40 percent!

Data from the National Association for College Admission Counseling show there is a powerful tool students can use to improve their admission chances: demonstrated interest.

Students who visit a college before they apply, are up to 40 percent more likely to be admitted than students who do not visit or show demonstrated interest, the data says.

Why does demonstrated interest matter?

For colleges, it’s difficult to know which applicants are really interested in attending. Due to the ease of the Common Application, students can apply to multiple colleges at once. Students often believe that applying to more colleges will increase their chances of getting accepted.

When a college receives your application, admission officers look for ways to determine whether you will accept their offer of admission. Since all colleges have quotas to fill and determine their admission offers based on percentages of acceptance, showing interest lets them know you will likely accept their offer. As they see it, why offer admission to someone who isn’t interested when there is someone who is likely to accept?

How do you find the colleges that place a strong interest on this?

Which colleges want your student to show them some love? You don’t have to guess. You can use a tool like Collegedata.com to determine if a college uses demonstrated interest in its admission decision. The colleges are asked to rate 19 admission factors by using these four categories: very important, important, considered, and not considered. Each year, colleges are surveyed and this data is used to compile the information on its website.

To access the data, you simply search for the college, click on the Admissions tab, and scroll down to the Selection of Students heading. Then you can see the importance a college places on a student’s level of interest. Harvard, for example, lists this as “not considered.” In comparison, the United States Naval Academy, lists it as “very important.”

Every college is different so it’s important to check before applying to determine whether a college visit or another demonstration of interest is warranted.

To learn how your student can demonstrate interest for a college, read my article at TeenLife.com.

academics, admissions, college planning, college prep

How To Create a Perfect College List from 5 Experts

college list

With any project or goal, you look to the experts to help you reach success and achieve the goal. These five experts know all there is to know about creating the perfect college list.

What’s Critical in a College Admission Checklist

According to Lynn O’Shaughnessy of The College Solution Blog, using  a college admission checklist is critical when your child is applying to colleges and universities.

Allowing  a teenager to apply to any colleges without a solid game plan can be a financial and academic disaster.

There are five college check-list items that you and your child should accomplish before sending out applications.  If you’ve already submitted your applications, you can definitely still do some of these tasks:

  1. Use Net-price calculators
  2. Check the generosity of individual colleges
  3. Apply for financial aid as soon as you can
  4. Consider including a mix of schools
  5. Check academic departments

Read more . . .

What makes a good college fit?

Debbie Schwartz of Road2College.com offers parents advice from multiple college experts and points out with thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, finding the “perfect” school is a seemingly impossible task for any high school student and their parents. 

Many college hopefuls have their eyes set on a particular dream school, while others may feel overwhelmed by endless options varying in size, location, reputation, and expense. 

Applying to and gaining acceptance to colleges is daunting enough, let alone deciding where to attend in the fall. 

So how exactly do you make the right decision?

Keep in mind that the true secret to college success is not necessarily attending the most selective or prestigious university.

It’s finding the right school for you where you can be your best self. And much like with dating or job-hunting, there is no one-size-fits-all college, but instead, a number of potential great picks for every individual student. 

In this article, you can find the answers to these questions:

  • Good Schools: Are They a Thing?
  • What is a College Fit?
  • How Do You Find the Right College?

Read more . . .

Your College List: Researching the Academic Side

Katherine Price of Great College Advice, reminds parents and students that picking the final list can be a daunting task.  One way to narrow things down a bit is to really look into the academic departments at the schools you are interested in.  Since academics is one of the most important aspects of attending college, it is important that students feel connected to the curriculum and the major that they could potentially be studying.

When looking at college academics, consider these topics:

  • Look at the curriculum
  • Go beyond what majors are offered
  • Get to know the faculty
  • Research special programs and events

Read more . . .

How Are You Conducting Your College Search?

Jeannie Borin or College Connections, reminds us that in conducting the college search, it is important to make sure a college list is well balanced with “reach,” “50/50” and “likely” colleges that fit the student’s profile academically and socially. Thorough research is necessary to be sure that students are applying to the right colleges for them. The research will also come in handy when completing applications and when answering essay questions that ask why an applicant wants to attend that college.

Here are some helpful tips that should help in your college search:

  • Examine the campus life
  • Explore academic programs
  • Review college statistics
  • Other factors to consider

Read more . . .

Using Statistics to Find Your College Fit

I always recommend that parents and students take a close look at the college statistics.

You might be surprised to know that in addition to all the factors students use to choose a college, there is one they might overlook: statistics. While location, major, campus appeal, and others are certainly important statistics will help you and your student make a more informed college choice.

Why statistics? Statistics will help you determine some of the key factors involved in choosing a college. With statistics you increase the odds of your student being accepted, receiving more financial aid, and graduating on time. You can also determine the class sizes, the freshman retention rate and the odds of finding a job after graduation.

Numbers aren’t everything, but consider these eight important stats when you and your student are looking at schools:

  1. Rankings (simply as a baseline for comparison)
  2. Financial aid percentages
  3. Acceptance rates
  4. Student-to-professor ratios
  5. Freshman retention rates
  6. Graduation rates
  7. Student indebtedness
  8. Percentage of student who are employed after graduation

Read more . . .

academics, admissions, college guidance

High School Juniors and the Pandemic

high school juniors

High school juniors may be wondering how the pandemic will affect their college plans. Your student may be asking: 

  • How is this virus going to affect my future college application? 
  • Are these abridged AP exams going to count? 
  • I worked so hard this year, took a rigorous curriculum, but now how can this pass/fail grading highlight my improved grades? 
  • My prestigious summer program was just canceled—what can I do for the next several months? 
  • With all the seniors currently asking for gap years, will this mean there will be fewer spaces in future years?”

These are all valid concerns. Most of these questions don’t have black/white answers yet and as each day passes, colleges are making decisions that will most likely answer all of your questions. Your student can take comfort, however, knowing that every junior is facing the same challenges and concerns. They aren’t alone in their uncertainty.

We can’t know the future, but we can deal with what we know now. As time progresses, the options will change, but for now, here is some helpful information:

Standardized Testing

The June SAT and SAT Subject Tests have been cancelled. You can click here to see the up-to-date information. As it looks now, they are planning tests for August 29, September 26, October 3, November 7 and December 5. If schools don’t reopen in the fall, the College Board will provide a digital at-home version.

The ACT test that was scheduled for April 4 was cancelled. You can reschedule your test date here for June 13, July 18 or schedule a future test date.

To account for all the disruption, colleges will most likely decrease the weight that standardized test scores carry in the admissions process. That being said, if you are able to achieve a high score despite disruptions, you will have an advantage among other applicants.

For the 2020-21 application cycle, many colleges, including selective ones, may choose to move to test-optional admissions. This means that applicants are not required to submit any standardized test scores. 

You can find a list of schools who are currently going test-optional here. 

Academics

The majority of students are now engaged in online learning. Because of this and the decision by most schools to use pass/fail grading, grades from the second semester of junior year will not count for very much in the admissions process. If your student has an option to take a grade for the current semester, I would advise them to do so. If not, colleges looking to see growth in a student’s profile will focus on grades from the first semester of senior year instead. If your student is applying early, colleges won’t have first semester grades available.

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities, especially ones offered through schools and the ones that require face to face interaction, have screeched to a halt. Colleges are aware of these challenges. However, students who find ways to remain engaged despite the pandemic will stand out. 

Just because you can’t participate in the normal activities, be creative. Here’s a list of ways you can still volunteer locally:

College Visits

Even though you haven’t had the chance to visit this spring, you can still visit virtually. Connect through social media with current and past students and ask questions about their college experience. You can find them on the college websites, instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Considering all your options

Since the impact of the virus has certainly changed everyone’s outlook on the future and possibly affected your family financially, your student might want to consider some alternatives to the traditional path to college. Talk to your student about taking a gap year and working at an internship or job, going to community college for the first two years and transferring, attending classes online, or even looking at the military as an option.

Other things to consider

Colleges may choose to accept a higher percentage of next year’s applicants early in an effort to lock in more students. Or colleges may also be looking at their list of deferred students and hold spaces open for them in the upcoming class. Financial aid may also be affected because of less alumni contributions with less money to spread around. Colleges will also be feeling the financial impact of the virus and have less money to give as merit aid.

academics, admissions, college planning

Language and Music enhance your Student’s Education

language and music

We all want the best for our children. As soon as we know they’re on their way, we start making purchases to meet all of their needs once they do arrive. We do our utmost to get them into the best schools so that they can have more choice when it comes to what they want to do in terms of career and their future. But there are other things you can do besides securing them a spot in a great school that produces great results. Here are a few things that you can encourage them to do to increase their skills, their abilities and their knowledge. Just make sure not to be pushy. If your child doesn’t enjoy something, don’t force them to do it. Instead, find something else enriching that they’re actually passionate about. This will create the happiest and most rounded child in the long run.

Encourage Them to Learn Another Language

As your student enters school and continues through high school, the best time to learn another language. Generally speaking, children do tend to pick up new languages more easily and quickly. Learning a language encourages an understanding of different ways that grammar can be used. It creates a wider vocabulary. But most importantly, it encourages an appreciation and respect for other cultures, as well as an ability to communicate with others who may not speak the same first language as your child. In the long term, fluency can help them to spread their wings, increasing their job opportunities when they eventually begin to look for work. Many Private Schools will have a wide choice of languages to offer, but smaller schools with more limited funding may have more limited options. Nowadays, learning languages, however, can be easy to do at home online. Language learning apps and software are constantly improving and your kid could genuinely pick up a second language through Rosetta Stone, DuoLingo or Babbel.

Introducing Them to Music

Learning an instrument is a truly impressive skill. It can also provide social opportunities for your child, as they may grow up and have fun joining orchestras, bands or other musical groups. Music comes hand in hand with a host of benefits mentally too! It significantly improves memory, as the mere act of learning how to play an instrument places a high-working memory load on you. They’ll need to remember how different notes sound, where to place their hands on the instrument to create those notes and what order to play the notes in. As well as this, playing an instrument intrinsically encourages improved hand-eye coordination. Your little ones will have to learn how to play without looking at their instrument – instead, reading from music sheets instead.

These are just a couple of different activities you can encourage your students to get involved with to maximize the scope of their education. They’ll greatly benefit from either. If they’re not interested in these options, there are plenty more out there. It might just be a matter of a little trial and error before you find the perfect option for them.

admissions, gap year

Colleges Contemplating Not Reopening in the Fall–What does that Mean?

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COLLEGES NOT REOPENING

Many of you are in this college limbo. Your student was accepted to college in the fall, you’ve accepted the offer, and now there’s talk of colleges not opening campus to students. The concern is that if one college does it, they will all follow suit–just as they did in March with the closings.

We are already seeing rumblings and articles in the news about colleges not reopening in the fall. Here are just a few:

Boston University Is First To Announce It May Postpone Opening Its Campus Until January 2021

Boston University appears to be the first American college or university to announce that it may not resume live classes until January 2021. If public health officials deem it unsafe for students to congregate, the campus could remain closed until the start of next year.

Richard Ekman, president of the non-profit Council of Independent Colleges, says that some of the 659 colleges in his group have begun quietly to consider whether they too will have to postpone campus openings. Some are discussing start date delays of a month. Others are looking at more extended closures. “They’re all waiting to get better health information,” he says.

Already, universities are planning for a fall without students on campus — just in case

“We’ve got to be prepared for 100 percent online and virtual and 100 percent on campus and everything in between,” said University of Massachusetts president Martin Meehan. The UMass system lost more than $100 million this school year due to COVID-19 and the refunding of student room and board fees.

Will Universities, Colleges, and Law Schools Campuses Reopen in Fall 2020?

Universities and law schools aren’t ready to make a decision because the pandemic is so fluid and there is so much uncertainty, nor do they have to yet. But the question is being discussed on a daily basis, and we have spent a good deal of time speaking with college presidents, provosts, and deans and trying our best to get the most recent and trust-worthy epidemiological modeling and medical community input.

Even if campuses reopen this fall, colleges worry many students won’t return

“This crisis is causing massive disruption to students, institutional operations and institutional finances. On some campuses, it is creating an existential threat, potentially resulting in closures,” Ted Mitchell, the group’s president, wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Even colleges with deep reserves are expecting a painful financial blow from the pandemic. Brown University was among the first to announce a hiring freeze, citing “dramatic reductions in revenue.” Yale University followed on March 31, asking departments to update budgets in preparation of a “significant loss” in revenue.

‘We’re on the edge of the precipice’: How the pandemic could shatter college dreams

Early national surveys ocof high school seniors are showing those who initially were bound for four-year colleges changing their first-choice schools for something less expensive. Some of those surveyed say they are thinking of giving up on going to college in the fall entirely.

The financial stress for families was cited. About 63 percent of students said they would still enroll in college but were worried about whether they could attend the school of their choice, while 17 percent said their plans have changed, according to the education consultants Art and Science Group.

Students with changed plans said in the survey that they would take a gap year, enroll part time at a four-year institution, go to community college, work full time or enroll in a certificate program. Some still didn’t know what their plans would be. Other surveys have also found similar conclusions.

Already, universities are planning for a fall without students on campus — just in case

Colleges and universities in Massachusetts and across the country have begun planning for what was once an unthinkable scenario but now may be a real possibility: a fall semester without students on campus.

University officials said they are trying to figure out how to re-open safely, how much public health testing is needed for students and staff to be on campus even if there’s no coronavirus cure, whether large lecture classes should be held, how many staff to employ, whether to augment their online capabilities, even what to charge students for online classes.

What will your student decide to do? Will they decide to take a gap year? Will they choose to enroll close to home and save money while living at home? Will they enroll and be satisfied with taking classes online?

Hopefully, colleges will know more by July and be able to make a concrete decision. It’s certainly uncertain times we live in and it’s especially affecting college students and their families.

admissions, college guidance, college planning

How Many Colleges Should Your Student Apply To?

A few years ago I wrote this article for TeenLife online. With school starting and students beginning their college lists during junior year and finalizing the list at the start of senior year, this advice is particularly timely.

colleges

Most teens will tell you that making the college list is one of the most stressful times in their life. It’s a process that begins with a little bit of knowing what you like, what your goals are, and that intuition that every student takes to the table. Knowing yourself, your likes, and your dislikes will help you in the process.

There’s a theory among teens and many parents, which says, “The more colleges you apply to, the better your chances.” In theory it makes sense, but there are other things to consider besides hedging your bets with numbers.

Three Considerations When Applying to College

1. The Cost

College applications can be time-consuming and pricey, costing as much as $100 per application, unless you get the fees waived by the school or an organization. Ten schools at $100 each is $1,000. These application fees are non-refundable and aren’t applied toward your total cost of attendance. Although this should not be the only factor in determining the number of applications submitted, it should be considered.

2. The Time

Applying to college takes a tremendous amount of time, and each college has their own specific application criteria. The average college application usually takes about two hours to complete, not including writing the essay. Common sense dictates that the more applications you have to complete and collate, the less time you will spend on each individual application. The applications are your way of communicating who you are to a college—it’s not the time to spread yourself thin to rack up the numbers.

3. Quality vs. Quantity

Allen Grove, an admissions expert in the About.com College Admissions Guide, thinks it’s a little ridiculous when students apply to a dozen or more colleges. He can’t imagine how the student visited all those campuses, in addition to doing extensive research, and then decided that many schools were good matches.

“You see students who apply to every single Ivy League,” Grove says. “I just have to wonder if the student who is going to like Columbia (in New York City) is really going to like Dartmouth (located in a town of around 11,000 people). I find that unlikely, so I often think students who are sending out that many applications haven’t done their research.”

How Many is Too Many?

Most admissions officers generally advise students to apply to about five to seven colleges, but no more than 10. That includes a couple of safety schools (schools you’ll no doubt get into), a couple of match schools (schools you meet the requirements for), and a couple of reach schools (schools that are less likely to accept you).

In a Huffington Post article, Maura Kastberg, Executive Director of Student Services of RSC Your College Prep Expert, concurs with that advice. “There may be 20 colleges you want to attend, or you could have your heart set on just one. When you are applying to college, be practical. Most students should apply to somewhere between five to seven colleges. There are no guarantees that you will be accepted to the school you desire, but you should have a good idea about your chances of admission to each school.”

What Are the Criteria?

If you’ve done a thoughtful job when compiling your list, you should be able to answer the following questions (provided by Carolyn Lawrence of AdmissionsAdvice.com and contributing author to the College Admission Book blog): (http://collegeadmissionbook.com/blog/how-many-colleges-should-students-apply)

1. Can I explain why all of the colleges on my list are right for me?

If your answers to this question are superficial—such as rankings, prestige, location, or a friend’s suggestion—it’s likely your list is too long. Before you add any college to your list, you should be able to explain how the college aligns with the things you personally need to be happy and successful in college.

2. Will I have enough time and energy to put my best effort into every application?

Even the simplest applications require time and effort. Can you really handle the work involved in completing 15 or 20 applications? Be honest with yourself. It’s better to do an outstanding job on fewer applications than to do a so-so job on too many.

3. Do I love my “safe bets” as much as I love my “reaches?”

Build your college list from the bottom up; fall in love with the schools that are most likely to love you in return before you add colleges that are less likely to admit you. If you do, you’re apt to find that you really don’t need to apply to as many colleges as you think you do. Finally, don’t let fear sway you into panic mode.If you’ve carefully thought about the reasons why every college is on your list, and do your best job with each application, you’ll end up with great choices!

Even with all the right information, facts, and figures in place, choosing a college is more than just a list on a piece of paper. Most students will tell you that they just “knew” when they set foot on campus they knew it was right for them.

In an article for The New York Times, Jordanna Suriani, an admissions counselor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, writes that students who apply to several colleges because they’re undecided are doing themselves a disfavor come April when it’s time to make a decision. Once you get that acceptance letter, you have even less time to make a choice.

Ms. Suriani advises, “Figure out what you need and want now, and apply to schools which offer you most, if not all of it. Forget about trying to get as many acceptances as possible to places that don’t speak to you. Trust me. Come April, you’ll be glad you did.”