Category Archives: college planning

college guidance, college planning, parenting

5 Things to teach your kids before they leave for college

images-1While educators are largely responsible for seeing to the academic needs of your children (although you will likely have to help a bit), your role as a parent is to prepare your children in other ways so that they can learn to care for themselves, live independently, make good decisions, and become functioning members of society when they leave home and strike out on their own. You’ll teach them all kinds of life skills during their time in your care, such as how to groom and dress themselves, the rules of appropriate social behavior, and the value of hard work. But there are certain lessons you’ll want to impart to your kids before they depart for the vaunted halls of learning. Here are five things to teach your kids before they leave for college:

  1. Proper nutrition. You’ve no doubt been cooking for your kids their whole lives, which means they could leave home with little idea of how to feed themselves. Unless you teach them, they won’t know how to plan a healthy diet, shop for groceries, or prepare nutritious and balanced meals. But these are skills that you can teach your teens throughout their time in high school simply by making them help you with every aspect. Although they will have limited resources on campus with dorm rooms short on kitchen amenities, a thorough knowledge of diet and nutrition will at least help them to make healthy choices in the cafeteria.
  2. Organization. There are a couple of reasons why organization is an important skill for college students to master. First of all, they’re going to live in dorm rooms that are roughly the size of a shoe box, and most likely they’ll be sharing them with other students. The ability to organize one’s space will make this situation far more livable. But knowing how to organize one’s time is even more important to the harried student who has to juggle classes, studying, activities, internships, and perhaps even a part-time job. If you don’t help your kids develop these organizational skills they may sink when you throw them into the turbulent waters of campus life.
  3. Cleanliness. Sure your kids know how to pick up their clothes and put them in the hamper, but can they wash them? Chores like dusting, vacuuming, and doing the laundry may seem pretty basic, but that’s only because you’ve been doing them so long that they’ve become second nature. Your best bet to prepare your kids to see to their own cleanliness is to start assigning them chores when they’re young so that they form lifelong habits that will travel with them to college and beyond.
  4. Financial concerns. It’s surprising how many parents fail to impart even rote information about personal finances. Perhaps they assume that it’s covered in school. Unfortunately, this leaves many students facing a pile of debt or even damaged credit by the time they graduate. So talk to your kids about the dangers of credit cards and teach them basics like budgeting, balancing a checkbook, and preparing for taxes.
  5. How to reach goals. By showing your kids how to achieve successes through visualizing their goals, creating a step-by-step plan of action, using affirmations, building confidence, and adjusting course as necessary, you can help them to reach their potential. Whether your kids are eventually bound for Harvard Law or MBA online programs, they’re going to have to take certain steps if they want to reach their professional goals.

Parenting is much more about teaching lessons and setting examples than just funding their educations. Take the time to prepare them for college.

 

college guidance, college planning, parenting

5 Things parents should know about students and depression

UnknownHeading off to college is a fun and exciting event in the lives of most young people, marking the beginning of adulthood and their first foray into a world without parents to feed, cloth, and care for them (although you will no doubt be contributing for some time to come). Certainly there are stresses, anxieties, and fears that go along with leaving the nest, but most high-school grads are more than ready to get out from under the yoke of parental supervision and start figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. In short, the good outweighs the bad.

But for some students, the dream of freedom can become a nightmare. Whether they’ve had previous bouts of depression or they experience the condition for the first time while they’re far away from home, they may fall into deep sadness, dejection, or even despair during their time on campus, for one reason or another. And if you fear that your college student is suffering from depression, there are a few things you need to know.

  1. Anyone can get depressed. It is a common misconception that depression only affects people who have a chemical balance, or those who have a history of the condition in their family tree. But under the right circumstances anyone can suffer from mild, moderate, or even severe depression. It could have to do with a lack of sleep and a poor diet (not just the cause of the freshman fifteen). Or your teen may find the workload, stress, and/or homesickness overwhelming. Perhaps there are social issues at play. The point is that you shouldn’t discount the possibility of depression out of hand simply because there is no medical history to support it.
  2. There are warning signs. Many parents are not informed enough to identify depression, but you know when something is off with your child. Luckily, there are common signs and symptoms you can look for if you think your student might be depressed. For example, fatigue on its own might not tip you off since most students are short on sleep, but if your otherwise sunny student suddenly seems pessimistic, irritable, disinterested, sad, or anxious, you might start to wonder if depression is to blame. And if your child begins to express feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, or worthlessness, or worse, has thoughts of suicide, the situation is reaching a critical stage and you need to intervene.
  3. Depression can be deadly. Depression is a disorder that causes people to lose interest in the things that once made them happy, and as a result, they may not want to go on living. You might think that this happens only in extreme cases, but when depression goes untreated it can quickly spiral into thoughts of suicide, especially in teens and young adults whose emotions are linked to hormonal changes (and whose limited experience hasn’t taught them that things will get better). It is therefore imperative that you take warning signs seriously.
  4. Stay close. If your college student is suffering from depression you need to make yourself available to help. This could mean calling every day to check in, arranging for both independent and family counseling, or even moving your child back home to deal with the condition. What you cannot do is let your child slip away when there’s so much you can do to help.
  5. Campus services are available. While some students may be unable to cope with both college and the onset of depression, others may be able to deal with or perhaps even overcome their disorder with help so that they can continue their education uninterrupted. And whether your student is at the University of Arizona or an Ivy League institution like Yale, you’ll find that there are services available on campus designed to help students suffering from depression that can ensure their safety and ease their burden so that they make it to graduation.

The worst thing a parent can do is ignore the problem. Stay attentive and listen, and above all, find help when needed.

college guidance, college planning, parenting

5 Things you can do to help your kids succeed in college

photogirl2Every parent wants their kids to succeed, but most flounder when it comes to figuring out their role in contributing to those accomplishments. It’s not so hard when kids are little; teaching them to tie their shoes, share their toys, and look both ways when crossing the street is fairly easy. But as your kids get older they may become more resistant to your efforts and advice, even when you’re trying to help them reach their goals. This is a natural phenomenon. As children enter adolescence they begin to develop a strong urge to assert their independence. This is an important part of forming a separate identity and figuring out who they are and what they stand for. Without going through this phase they cannot hope to become mature, confident, and competent adults. So to some degree you need to let them make their own decisions, even though it’s your job to keep them safe, rein them in, and give them a reality check once in a while. And of course, there are still many ways that you can help them to succeed when they get to college, even if they don’t necessarily want your advice.

  1. Planning. When it comes to planning for college your kids may need help studying for SATs and PSATs. You might not be able to quiz them yourself but you can certainly hire a specialized tutor to ensure that they get the best possible score (increasing their chances for both admission and scholarships). And although they may have their hearts set on a particular university, you must urge them to find other suitable schools and apply to several so that they have plenty of options. You can even arrange for campus tours to help them make this life-altering decision.
  2. Financial aid. You might not have the money to cover the entire college tab, but thanks to student loans, scholarships, grants, and other resources you probably won’t have to. That said, most lenders will expect parents to cover a portion of the bill, based on income tax returns. And you probably want to contribute to the ongoing education of your children anyway to increase their odds of earning a degree and finding gainful employment (rather than living in your basement for the rest of their lives). A nice bonus of helping your kids financially while they’re in college is that it can ease their stress level so that they can devote more energy to their studies.
  3. Emotional support. While most kids are raring to go when it comes to leaving home, many find the stresses of their new situation to be somewhat overwhelming. So whether they’re trying to cope with homesickness, anxiety, or social issues, you can help to keep them on track by making yourself available for calling, texting, Skyping, and other forms of communication, listening to their problems and consoling or advising them as needed.
  4. Professional connections. If you happen to know people in the industries your kids are studying for careers in, you can use your connections to get them internships or perhaps even part-time work during their college years. This can help them to determine if they’re on the right track even as they gain valuable experience (along with school credit or a paycheck).
  5. Room and board. If you don’t have the money to give your kids the campus living experience, you can at least offer them room and board for free while they’re in school instead of making them get a job to pay rent somewhere else. This will give them the freedom to focus on school without having to worry so much about money or spend their time working to pay the bills when they should be attending to their studies. Whether your student is starting at a community college, attending a nearby university, or studying from home with a program from http://www.onlinenursingdegrees.maryville.edu, their opportunities for success in college could increase dramatically if they live at home.

Taking the above advice and putting it to practice will go a long way in ensuring they will succeed in college.

college planning, financial aid

FAFSA time means NOW!

 

February means FAFSA. Parents of teens all across the country are filing out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid. As Jerry Maquire said…SHOW ME THE MONEY. Here’s something every parent needs to know–the money does run out. If you snooze your lose.

financial-aid-FAFSA

Here are 4 articles you should read NOW about filing out the FAFSA:

Got your FAFSA done yet? Here’s why you need to hurry. (from Dr. Strange College blog)

10 Good Reasons to file the FAFSA (from my blog)

6 Ways to Get help on the PROFILE and FAFSA (from The College Solutions blog)

Tools to help you complete the FAFSA (from Education Quest)

If you haven’t done it, time is running out. Don’t wait until your taxes are filed (use last year’s figures if necessary–you can always update the figures once you file). The FREE money goes quickly and you want your piece of the pie.

college costs, college guidance, college planning, financial aid

Website Heads Up: Frugal Dad

frugal dad

When I come upon a website that I think is a valuable resource for parents I like to spread the word. I came across this site: FrugalDad and found it loaded with parent resources. According to the “About” page:

What we at FrugalDad have noticed is that our readers were largely worried about two things in the aftermath of the financial meltdown: their retirements and their kids’ educations. A lot of very smart people are out there offering retirement, investment and personal financial advice. We didn’t want to become just another voice in the crowd, so FrugalDad.com has decided to focus its subject matter more narrowly on issues of higher education and how to pay for it. Although there are other sites that offer advice on the same types of topics, FrugalDad.com brings its own unique voice to the conversation – a voice that has been featured and profiled in the national media ever since it appeared on the scene.

FrugalDad is a blog, news, and research site that aims to inform the public on financing for higher education. The site offers a prolifera of news that can and will affect how families will save and pay for college as well as tips on how to finance an education in a way that makes sense for most people. This site is special because it was created by a father who had trouble financing a university education for his children. Along with life lessons and insights, this blog brings you news and tips that will be beneficial to parents and families with children who are planning to go to college.

Spend a few minutes browsing the site, checking out the blog posts and using their “find a cheap college” search tool.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, websites

College Abacus: A tool for students and parents

In last week’s state of the Union, President Obama announced the creation of the College Scorecard. This is another step in the attempt to give parents and students an accurate picture of the cost and the value of college degrees.

1e342df6726f7f3d837e203664b752a0

Another tool, College Abacus was the first website to enable students to compare their net prices across 3000+ other schools in one place, College Abacus is available now in both Spanish and English.

college abacusWith the support of their new grant from the Gates Foundation’s College Knowledge Challenge, College Abacus will go two steps beyond the College Scorecard. At their official launch in September 2013, College Abacus will provide college-bound students with an easy way to generate individualized net-price results and the results page will include the full sweep of required items from the scorecard. The ShoppingSheet function, now in development, will allow students to manually enter data from their college aid award letters, thereby enabling them to compare financial aid packages with ease and to view their awards within the context of their net price calculator results. By 2015, they expect to collect sufficient data to begin issuing accuracy scores for net price calculators – a step yet to be taken or even encouraged by the Department of Education. Though net price calculator results are not intended to be exact, we at College Abacus believe that schools should offer students results that are within striking distance of their final financial aid award.

Mark these sites and use them to help you determine which college is the best value both during college and after graduation.

college guidance, college planning, parenting

7 Things to LOVE about the college prep process

3 Comments

imagesValentine’s Day always reminds us about love. But I doubt many parents, or students would associate love with the college prep process. Frustration, stress, angst would most likely come to mind.

I’m an eternal optimist and I can find at least 7 things to love about the college prep process. Hopefully reading these will ease your stress and help you see that there is much to love, even though you feel you are in the midst of a nightmare.

  1. Time with your student-The college process requires you to spend quality time with your teenager.
  2. Reaching another milestone-Applying to college signifies another milestone in your child’s life moving toward adulthood.
  3. College visits-Being trapped in a car for hours and days with your teenager is a godsend for most parents.
  4. Finding scholarship money-It goes without saying that scholarship monies help you feel the love.
  5. Celebrating life’s accomplishments-With every application students are required to list their accomplishments. This is a time for you to celebrate and be proud.
  6. Reading the recommendation letters-Feeling the love from the adults who have been involved with your student academically and personally should make every parent proud.
  7. Receiving acceptance letters-Feeling the love that colleges have for your student can be a proud moment in a parent’s life.

You would probably have a similar list of what NOT to love, but for today let’s “feel the love” and concentrate on the positive aspects of the college admissions process.

 

college guidance, college planning, infographics

Is your student unprepared for college?

1 Comment

As parents, we want our students to excel in everything that they do; this desire for excellence culminates for most parents at high school graduation. Your student studies, works hard, completes all the graduation requirements and you anticipate that they are prepared for college. But is your student really unprepared for college?

Should we be assuming that high school prepares them for college? Does education need to change in this country to better prepare students for the rigorous course work and academics in a college setting? Are schools simply “teaching the test” to students and not encouraging them to learn?

Here’s an infographic created by CollegeAtHome.com showing that a large percentage of our students in this country are NOT prepared for college. Ask tough questions, get some answers, and be proactive BEFORE your student heads off to college. The time to ask is now–before they become overwhelmed and drop out.

Unprepared

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

FREE “Plan for College” Videos

PlanForCollegeVideos5

When we see the word FREE, we automatically ask ourselves, “What’s the catch?” The promise of FREE usually includes statements like “pay shipping and handling” or “a small subscription cost”. This time FREE means FREE!

My good friend and colleague,Paul Hemphill, is offering to my parent and student readers the opportunity to get his time-honored and valuable video series for FREE. There’s no catch. He’s  doing it because he believes in them and he believes that parents and students need some help with the college process. Paul has sold these videos in the past, but he’s willing to GIVE THEM AWAY to anyone who subscribes to this email link.

http://forms.aweber.com/form/29/616398929.htm

He’s not going to sell your email or contact you about his coaching services. As hard as it is to believe (in this skeptical, not trust anyone culture) there is NO CATCH. Every week, you will receive two emails with video coaching related to the college admissions process. He has unique insight on how to “market” your student to the college and he knows how to get results with this tactic. While counseling clients over the last several years, he has developed this series to share with them during the coaching process. My readers get it FREE!

Here’s what you can look forward to over the next 52 weeks:

  1. Relevance: The videos are topical and address the immediate concerns of most parents and students. By contrast, you will never see a video on how to get into an Ivy League college since the great majority of students will never apply to the Ivys. “My approach”, says Paul, “is not to waste the viewer’s time.”
  2. Controversial: Some of these college admission tips on video are disturbing to colleges, but this isn’t the market for which the videos are designed. Colleges will repel at the suggestion in one video that parents make multiple deposits on the standard May 1 deadline. Another video suggests that a student should absolutely apply to at least 10 colleges.
  3. Short: These videos are no longer than 2 minutes in length; long enough to contain a lot of useful information and short enough to satisfy short attention spans in a fast-pace culture.
  4. Content: The focus is on what will work for both parents and students. For example, a video will suggest what topics must be avoided in writing the college application essay. Or, how a parent can save $11,000 by what a student does with free time.
  5. Humor: It may be in the form of a funny story that drives the point home, or a one-liner, maybe even a facial expression. Introductions to the video’s topic are intended to grab your attention. One video starts this way: “I’m going to show you how to be shallow and superficial in a college admissions office!”
  6. Approach: Each video presents a problem and then suggests a viable solution. Some  solutions are so simple that you’ll conclude you haven’t seen or read about this anywhere else. “My own clients,” says Paul, “are universal in their opinion that these videos are to-the-point and no-nonsense all the way.”
  7. Themes: The easier ways to pay less for college and the easier way to get in. Paul looks for every angle that will make it easier for you to pay for college, and he leaves no stone unturned on some original and creative ways to get into college without appearing brass or slick.

If you still aren’t convinced, listen to all of Paul’s testimonials from current and past clients.

 

http://www.collegehelp.biz/my-testimonials.html

 

What’s the best part? For you, it’s absolutely FREE. And if you aren’t interested or don’t find these videos helpful, you can unsubscribe at any time. I know, however, that you will be so impressed that you will contact Paul to help you and your student personally with the process.

What have you got to lose? The thousands of dollars you will save by watching these videos and FREE help with the college admissions process!

 

admissions, college guidance, college planning, Guest Posts, test prep, websites

Compare Colleges side-by-side with FindTheBest.com

Whether you are eagerly awaiting those acceptance letters or are still applying (or both), the fact remains that you need to pick the best school you can go to, and you need to find out which particular college that is.

FindTheBest is an unbiased, data driven comparison engine that allows students and parents to look at schools. Researching colleges and universities becomes so much simpler with filtered options such as location, tuition, average SAT score, size, religious affiliation and other important factors. And once those acceptance letters start rolling in, students can create custom comparison lists to see the differences between each school side-by-side.

Parents should also look into college scholarships, fellowships, and grants to mitigate the financial burden that arrives when a child is sent off to college, and students should look into them to shorten the years that it will take to repay student loans.  FindTheBest also has a comprehensive list and information including enrollment level, minimum GPA, gender and background specificity, and scholarships to particular schools.

If your student is still a junior in high school, then the SAT and ACT test prep class comparison tool will help you get that high composite score that colleges love to see. Test prep classes run all year-round, but the best times to take the tests are in the spring.

The college application process is fundamentally imperative to the success of a student’s academic career.  These tools were developed with that in mind, and all of them are completely at your disposal to use in navigating the college maze.