As the parent of a college-bound teen, you want to know what college administrators think about admissions practices. Knowledge is power and you can use it as your student begins to apply to colleges. If you know what the colleges are focusing on and what administrators consider important, your student will have useful information as they apply.
Continue reading College Administrators Weigh In on Admissions
Financial aid is on the minds of every soon-to-be college student and their families. Will you qualify? How much will you receive? How do you apply? How do the colleges disperse the aid? No matter where you are in the college application process, you should avoid these six financial aid mistakes that could cost you thousands.
Continue reading 6 Financial Aid Mistakes
Getting a head start on college prep can make the fall and spring less stressful for parents and students. Seniors will need to be prepared for the overwhelming amount of college admissions activities once school begins. Tackling (or preparing) for those college related tasks now can help ease some of the pressure in the fall. Get ahead of the game and prepare in advance; be ready for your student’s senior year to begin with this college prep checklist.
Continue reading Back to School: College Prep Checklist for SeniorsIt’s that time of year again and your college-bound teen is headed back to school. Every year presents opportunities to get a leg up on the college process. If you and your teen plan strategically before school starts, you’ll have some goals and be able to hit the ground running.
Here is a quick list of back to school tips, broken down by each grade level. The activities are to be done just as soon as your teen gets back to school:
Continue reading Back to School Tips for High School Parents
For the next several days, I’m going to be sharing some Back to School tips for parents. These tips will be for current high school parents and those parents whose students are heading off to college.
Today’s tips are for parents of current college students, especially those who are heading to college for the first time.
Continue reading Back to School: Preparing for Upcoming College Expenses
If you have a college-bound student, how do you help them will college prep while letting them own the process? What is the parent’s role?
With all the talk of helicopter parenting, over parenting, and parents refusing to allow their students to become independent adults, it’s important to understand how to coach your teenager without crossing the line.
An article in Forbes magazine quoted a study conducted by Florida State University focusing on some of the issues with today’s parenting:
Helicopter parents are “overly involved, protective parents who provide substantial support (e.g., financial, emotional, physical health advice) to their emerging adult children, often intervening in their affairs and making decisions for them.
Individuals with parents who engage in highly controlling, overprotective behaviors have been characterized as being overly needy in terms of seeking attention, approval and direction from others,” the authors wrote in summarizing past research. “In addition, they have been found to utilize more ineffective coping skills, express higher levels of narcissism and demonstrate lower self-efficacy.
In contrast…
“Developmentally appropriate parenting can promote healthy decision-making and a child’s development of autonomy, increasing the likelihood that their children will become independent, well-adjusted, problem-solving adults. They tend to cope better with stress, have more self-esteem and experience less depression.”
Knowing this…
As a parent, you most certainly think about your child’s future and so often college prep is a part of that future. You may see them as an engineer, a teacher, or a doctor. You may picture them at your alma mater, or being the first in your family to attend college. Maybe you just hope they find a passion and pursue it. Whatever you hope, you want what is best for your child and to support them in achieving their goals.
College prep is a team effort. While the student leads the team and is ultimately the one who makes the final decision, parents can participate. This is an overwhelming process to handle alone and parents can ease some of the tremendous stress and burden.
Continue reading 10 Ways Parents Can Help With College Prep
College preparation does NOT begin during your student’s senior year. It starts in middle school with a discussion about college and decisions related to high school course selection and gets off to a running start their first day of high school. While you might be astonished and astounded by this statement, the truth is if you take it to heart, your student will enter senior year prepared and at the top of the college applicant pool.
Following are five steps to take once your student enters high school to prepare for their senior year and the college admissions process. These steps will help you and your student have less stress and be less likely to panic due to lack of preparation when that all-important college application time comes along.
Continue reading 5 Steps to Prepare for the College Admissions Process
It’s exhausting searching and scouring the internet for the right information when it comes to helping your student prepare for college. But what if you could use ONLY ONE RESOURCE and find everything you ever wanted to know about college prep? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Here it is. I’ve done the research, examined the links and their resources, and compiled a list of 100+ college prep resources for you. (If you know of others, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!)
Continue reading 100+ College Prep Resources
Positive parenting is about guiding, not doing. The old adage that implies “teaching is more profitable than doing” holds true with your teenagers as well. It’s important to impress upon your children the importance of an education.
It’s not beneficial to ram a specific college down their throats and tell them if they want to attend college it will be your choice. That’s not parenting, that’s dictating. And while parenting requires a certain amount of rules, it does not benefit your child to force them into a decision that does not match up with their passion.
Continue reading Positive Parenting During College Prep