Dyslexia can affect one in five people, according to the National Institutes of Health. Once you have noticed the symptoms such as laboured or inaccurate reading and/or spelling. As well as difficulty rhyming, associating sounds with alphabetic symbols, sequencing and ordering sounds you can take the next step to be diagnosed. There are many ways to help Dyslexia.
Schools that specialize in Dyslexia
Schools such as CLOI’s Dyslexia PD offerings can often provide extra attention towards teaching them how to utilize, systematic and sequential instructional approach while reading and writing. The best method they use is a multisensory method. This can ensure that each plan is helping them to succeed with every journey with something like their writing and reading. They understand Dyslexia in a way that looks at it from different views to ensure that they choose the best method for them as every case is different. Having a personalized program is essential.
What parents can do to help
If your child has Dyslexia, you can often feel helpless. There are multiple ways in which you can help at home. Start reading aloud of your child as young as you can, even six months and younger can make a massive difference to their vocabulary. If you are not comfortable with reading aloud yourself, then playing a recorded book with your child can be an effective method. Work side by side with your child’s school to ensure that you can proceed with the same techniques at home to avoid confusion. Scheduling in reading time each day can encourage your child to read that will improve their literacy skills. You could do this by reading something of your own while your child read their book. This shows that you are there to support your child, and they will see that reading is an enjoyable activity to do together.
Support your child
Finding ways to support your child without being intimidating can be difficult. Expressing your love and support when they are reading or talking can help build their skills and show their strengths. This can be done by having conversations with your child regularly.
Designating a specific time of day to help them at home by organizing a place and time for your child to study. This space is then known as a place of work rather than play. This also means limiting the amount of time they spend on electronic screens and swapping them for reading practice.
If you are feeling alone at this time, then joining a support group can help you massively to provide useful information and emotional support. Building you and your child’s relationship to helping their strengths and weaknesses.
Hopefully, with this guide, you will be able to find different learning techniques to learn your child’s Dyslexia. Whether that is having support from a school such as CLOI’s Dyslexia PD. They offer comfort and personalized methods to help your child. And changing up your home environment to allow your child’s reading and writing to grow and improve.
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
Whether your student is a freshman or entering the last
semester of their junior year, you should be looking ahead towards graduation.
The first, and obvious question, should be—what’s next? What will your student
do after high school? Will they enter the job market, take a gap year off to
decide, enter the military, or will college be their next step?
If college is in their future, the college list should be a
priority. All decisions, goals and pursuits will be geared toward receiving an
offer of admission from those colleges on that list. Those colleges should be
chosen with much thought and planning. Your student’s goal is to first be
offered admission, and secondly be awarded aid that will pay for the education.
In order to craft a great college list, you and your student
must keep an open mind. With over 4000 institutions of higher learning in this
country alone, the obvious choices are not necessarily the best ones. Before you
haphazardly throw some names onto the list, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Look at the statistics and rise to the top
The best college is the college that fits your student’s
academic and social needs, and at the same time is affordable. The last thing
you want is for your student to graduate with debt; and the best way to
guarantee the most merit aid is to apply to a college where your student is at
the top of the applicant pool. If your student’s grades, scores, and
extracurriculars exceed those of the average applicant, a college will be more
likely to entice him with merit aid (scholarships and grants).
How do you know where your student falls in the applicant
pool? Use sites like College
Navigator and College Data
to compare your student with current students. Look at the figures for admitted
students: what is the average test score, what is the average GPA, how much
weight do they place on extracurriculars? If your student’s statistics are
above these average amounts, the college will consider them a highly desirable applicant.
Step 2: Consider the unknowns
Most students gravitate toward the known colleges—those with
national or state recognition. But there are so many excellent colleges within
each state that go unnoticed. These are often smaller private colleges offering
excellent liberal arts educations. These colleges have alumni that support them
and often provide continued support—translating into scholarships and grants to
new students. The larger state university may appear cheaper based on tuition,
but the smaller private college will often award more merit aid to entice
students.
I recommend parents encourage their students to look into the College That Change Lives . These colleges are built on the premise of “building the knowledge, character and values of young people by introducing them to a personalized and transformative collegiate experience.” Also consider technical colleges like Penn College that combine a liberal arts education with hands-on career training.
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.
Two good sources for college statistics are College Navigator and College Data. These two resources will
help you make an informed college choice. Numbers aren’t everything, but
consider these eight
important stats when you and your student are looking at schools:
Percentage of student who are employed after
graduation
Step 4: Let the money do the talking
There’s no point in adding a college to the list if it’s
unaffordable. Your student will be disappointed if offered admission and the
cost makes it impossible for them to attend. Before applying, research
the financial
aid footprint of every single college on the list. How much aid do
they typically give? How much debt does the average student graduate with? Use
their net price calculator and determine what it will cost to attend there
before applying. If your student is offered admission, there will be no surprises
and disappointment if you do your due diligence before the application process
begins.
Colleges offering small percentages of financial aid in the
form of scholarships and grants should only be considered if you can pay or
your student makes applying to scholarships a priority. You can’t count on
scholarships or grants, but your student can certainly do everything to position
themselves at the top of the applicant pool to receive them.
Step 5: Do a side-by-side comparison
How do you compare colleges once you have a solid list? Your
student should develop their own rankings based on their personal choices and
priorities. These items might include the obvious items like academics and location,
to such unconventional items like Greek life and campus appearance. List all
the items on a chart, giving each item a plus (+) or a minus (-) and tally up
the scores. The colleges with the highest scores should make the final list.
Colleges with lower scores might not make the list or need further evaluation.
By following these five steps, your student can create a
strong college list of colleges that fit them academically, socially and
financially. You might discover some hidden gems while navigating the search,
just as my daughter did (and fell in love!).
Life can throw us curve balls when we least expect it, don’t you think? It doesn’t matter how old we are, what we are doing at that precise moment, rich, poor, in love, on our own. Life can be full of champagne but easily be filled with bitter lemons at a moments notice. Often we don’t really know what path we should be taking, we just go with what feels right, what we think we should be doing, or just basically making the best out of the deck of cards we have been dealt. So what is next when life can be ever-changing? If you find yourself at crossroads don’t despair especially about education. Here are some of the things that you could consider to help you make the right decision on what might be next for you.
Learn something new and go back to school
Maybe learning is going to be the right thing for you, and perhaps you want to study to work towards gaining qualifications and degrees in specific areas or industry. This can be a great way to understand what career you want to take. Whether you decide to study from home or attend a university, the experience not just studying can really help you decide on what you want from life moving forward.
Taking a job that’s linked to your degree
Once you have gained your qualifications and degrees you may be wondering what is next and there are a number of things you can do with it. You could continue your educational journey, be more specific in the areas you work in and learn on the job. You could use your degree to gain a graduate job where you can be given an underlying overview of a company and a different role to play, there is more information here about how this could be a good option for you. Or you may have done all you can with the educational side of things and secure yourself a job that is specific to your degree and qualifications.
Travel
Traveling is often the most popular way to spend a GAP year, and many students backpack across different countries, exploring their hidden gems and enjoying experiences like no other. However, you can also incorporate travel into your studies, and take advantage of trips for University students. They can work well alongside your courses as well as giving you amazing experiences. Traveling to remote parts of the world can also give you a new perspective on life and how you see things. Which can often change you as a person and help you later on in life.
Volunteer and gain work experience
Maybe you want to use the time out for something good, and volunteering can be a great way to do it. Not only sure you doing good for someone or something, but you are also gaining valuable work experience in a different environment, which could help you seek out employment in the future. Volunteering can be something you do sporadically, or you could choose to focus on it full time.
Let’s hope these suggestions help your consider your options regarding further education.
You would be
surprised at the amount of material that comes across your high school
counselor’s desk: from scholarship opportunities, to college
admissions counselor recommendation requests, to leadership positions, to
volunteer opportunities. Making friends with your counselor may well be the
most important and valuable relationship your teen cultivates during high
school.
It’s no surprise to parents that high school counselors are busy. They juggle regular counseling duties, paperwork and college prep. Most have too many students to advise and most are required to spend so much time on paperwork that it’s impossible to speak with every student. Research shows that the average counselor to student ratio is 470-1. All the more reason to cultivate that counselor relationship and ask for help.
High school
counselors are eager to help when asked and recognize their value and part in
the college prep process. Here are five ways high school counselors can help
with college prep:
1. Help with planning high school courses
A
school counselor can guide your teen in choosing courses that will challenge
them academically and prepare them for college. There is no substitute for a
solid academic, college focused education. Your teen’s transcript will be the cornerstone of their college
application and college admissions counselors weigh the content of that
transcript to determine your teen’s
ability to handle a rigorous college course load. A college education builds on
the knowledge and skills that your teen has acquired during junior high and
high school. Most selective colleges with the highest admission requirements
look for students who have taken challenging science and math courses beyond
the basics.
If
you high schools offers AP (Advanced Placement) courses and exams, the
counselor can recommend the courses that colleges look for on a transcript. AP
courses are college level courses in approximately 16 different subjects
helping students to prepare for college level work while still in high school.
After the course is completed, your teen can take an AP test in the subject and
many times receive college course credit. There is a difference between Honors
classes and AP classes. Honors classes are advanced classes. AP classes and AP
Honors classes offer the opportunity for testing once the course is completed.
Having these difficult courses on your teen’s transcript communicates that they are up for the challenge
of college and they can successfully complete college-level courses.
Many
schools also offer an opportunity to take Dual Credit courses. Counselors
should be able to provide you with information if this program is available. A
dual credit course is a college course taken by a high school student for which
the student earns both college and high school credit at the same time. Some
courses are taught at the high school campus during high school hours while
others are taught at local colleges during the day, evenings, and weekends. By
participating in the dual credit program, it enables your teen to make
substantial progress toward their college degree before finishing high school.
Students who begin taking courses in their junior year can earn thirty or more
college credits by the time they graduate from high school if they also take
summer classes at the college. It is possible to earn sophomore status even
before they start college full time.
2. Recommend colleges
High school counselors stay in contact with colleges and their
admissions representatives. They can recommend the colleges that best fit your
student’s interests, academic profile and other criteria such as
size and location. Helping a student understand his or her academic standing
and how it can affect the chance for admission is a key part of the college
prep process. Counselors have mounds of literature about colleges and
universities that can help your student choose the right route while looking at
their interests and career aspirations in the process.
Counselors have information related to college fairs and
on-campus meetings with college admissions representatives. These opportunities
help students gather the information they need to help make an informed college
selection.
3. Put you in touch with volunteer opportunities
Counselors receive information about volunteer opportunities and
community service projects. Once the counselor knows your student’s areas of interest, they can
put them in touch with the activities that fit those interests. Some high
schools even offer academic credit for volunteer work through service learning — a program that offers hands-on
learning through service to the community. To find out if your school offers
service learning, talk to your school counselor.
Your student’s volunteer work illustrates
your interests and character. When you list your volunteer work on your college
applications, you show admission officers the value you’ll bring
to their campus community. Since volunteer and community service are important
aspects of the college application, be informed about these opportunities when
they become available by staying in contact with your high school counselor.
4. Provide you with scholarship applications
High school counselors receive scholarship information and
applications each year from those companies, organizations, and colleges
offering scholarships. They provide information about the PSAT and National
Merit Finalist Scholarships as well.
Students should visit their counselor regularly to inquire about
any new scholarship applications their counselor has received, especially
during senior year. In many cases, the counselors also have information about
local scholarships, which can be hard to find online. These scholarships offer
the best odds of winning for your student since few apply and the competition
for the scholarship is less than widely popular national scholarships.
5. Write recommendation letters
One of a counselor’s most important responsibilities when
it comes to college prep is providing a recommendation letter to the colleges.
It stands to reason that if your counselor knows your student and has assisted
them in college prep, they will be more likely to write a much more
knowledgeable and personal recommendation letter.
My daughter and son attended a
rather large high school. At the time, being uninformed and unaware, we did not
understand the value of this relationship. When senior year came along she
missed several scholarship opportunities because the counselor did not even
know she was applying to several of the colleges. When recommendation letter
time came along the counselor refused to complete her recommendation stating
that she did not know my daughter well enough to write a letter for her. My
daughter had to explain to several admission committees why she was not able to
obtain a counselor recommendation. Spare yourself this complication by
cultivating the counselor relationship.
The high school counselor
relationship is a key part of the college prep process. They exist to help
parents and students work toward their goals after high school—college prep is a key part of the help they provide.
Start each year off with a meeting with the school counselor, ask questions, and ask for help with college prep. Utilizing this
resource can help parents and students stay informed and equipped throughout
the college prep process.
This article was originally written for and published at TeenLife.com
The first semester of senior year is filled with anticipation. It’s your last year of high school and you have so much to look forward to, such as graduation and college. But in order for seniors to reach those goals, you have some high-priority things in the area of college admissions and creating the best college application that you can.
1. Get recommendation letters.
There’s no time to waste. Teachers and administrators and other mentors are busy people. With multiple students asking for recommendation letters, you want to be first in line. If you’ve done your homework, you have built relationships and now it’s time to ask for that college recommendation. Choose people who know you well and will be able to make the recommendations more personal.
2. Complete the college essays.
It’s time to put the finishing touches on that college essay you began working on over the summer. Remember the essay is your chance to demonstrate who you are. Be yourself and don’t try to write what you think admissions officers want to hear. Once your essay is completed, have someone proofread it before submitting with the application.
3. Finalize your college list.
It’s time to nail down your college choices. Review your notes and anything you learned during college interviews. Look at the entire picture for each college: Is it a fit academically, socially and financially? Are you at the top of the applicant pool and in the best position to receive merit aid? Make sure you have some colleges on your final list that are reach schools, some that are perfect fit schools, and some that are schools where you are pretty much ensured acceptance.
4. Visit the colleges on your list.
Fall is the perfect time for college visits. Not only will those visits help you finalize your list, but visiting a college demonstrates interest. Once the colleges receive your application, they will check to see how interested you are in attending and that will influence admissions officers. While you are on campus, schedule an interview and an appointment with the financial aid office. Ask questions that will help you finalize your college list.
5. Complete the FAFSA.
The FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – is available online. You should make filing it out a priority and the sooner the better. Colleges will be awarding financial aid this year along with their admissions decisions. You want to be first in line for this merit aid, so file now. Students who complete the FAFSA are not only eligible for federal aid, but for college-based aid such as grants and scholarships.
6. One last task: Submit your college application ASAP.
Consider submitting your application early. Applying early decision or early action means you will hear from the colleges sooner and also get information on your financial aid award. If you apply EA (early action) you’re not bound to any one college and you can apply to more than one. If you know the college you want to attend and it’s your absolute first choice, you can apply ED (early decision). You are bound to accept the school’s offer of admission, however, and you cannot apply to other colleges.
The college search
is easily stressful for both parents and students. The amount of knowledge a
parent needs to help their student navigate through college prep can be overwhelming.
From choosing the college, to deciding how to pay for it, to making the final
decision, it’s hard not to become stressed and frustrated.
Both my children
attended college but took different paths. One entered college straight out of
high school and the other after four years of military service. Even though the
college search for each of them was different, during their individual searches
I learned some valuable lessons.
Expand your search
beyond the usual perimeters
When you begin the
college search, you should cast a wide net. Many students limit themselves to
state colleges, colleges with prestigious names and even nearby schools. There
are over 4000 institutions of higher learning in the United States and even
more if you expand your search beyond our borders—Canada and even
internationally. Canadian colleges offer excellent educations and are often a
better financial fit than many U.S. colleges.
Moving outside your
comfort zone might help you and your student find a better fit. My daughter had
her heart set on a large university and while doing a college search, we
unearthed a small private college in the same city that was a better academic,
social and financial fit for her. Keep an open mind and don’t discount a
college simply because of name, location, or lack of notoriety.
Do the leg work
Do your research
before narrowing down the final college list. Look at statistics. They will
tell you so much about a college. You should compare graduation rates,
financial aid award percentages, freshman retention rates, admissions
acceptance rates and more. Make your choices based on your research statistics
and whether or not the college fits your student’s academic and social needs.
College visits for
you are fact-finding missions. College visits for your teen are highly
emotional. You can expect to hear words like “I’m just not feeling it”, “I won’t
get out of the car”, “I don’t like the look for the campus/buildings”, and
other irrational comments. Just remember that feelings are a part of the final
college choice. You can’t expect your student to make their new home at a
college they don’t like, for whatever reason.
I experienced this
with my daughter. She received an offer of admission and a full-ride
scholarship from a college we applied to but never visited. Based on the website,
location and academic offerings she felt it would be a good fit. When we
arrived on campus in early April for our first visit, she refused to get out of
the car. She didn’t like the look or the size of the campus. Of course, I was
completely frustrated with her, but she just instinctively knew it was not the
college for her. Looking back, even though it seemed emotional, she knew what
she wanted and ultimately chose the perfect college she felt was a good fit.
Organization is critical
You will be bombarded
with information during your college search. The key to keeping track of it all
and staying on top of all the deadlines is to stay organized. Your teen should
set up an email purely for college information and correspondence. Make it
official by using firstname_lastname @gmail.com. All college correspondence will
come to this address and your teen can set up folders to help organize it.
You should also
maintain a filing system for organizing paper. This might be anything from
college brochures to scholarship materials and applications, to keeping track
of accomplishments for the resume. Keep all college-related materials in one
place—a college landing zone.
Ask for help if
necessary
Some parents like me choose to work alone and guide their student through the college process, while others choose to hire a professional college consultant. Choose what is best for your family and its own financial resources. If you choose to work alone, there is a wealth of information online from blogs and social media. If you have a question, leave a post on a Facebook page, comment on a blog or DM someone on Twitter. Most professionals are happy to help with anything that might stump you.
You can also seek advice from your high school counselor, teachers or even college admissions staff. You don’t have to flounder around hoping you have the right information. Approach the college search with knowledge and determination and your student will succeed!
The summer is half over, but if you’re lucky, you can steal some reading time. With a teenager in the house and college (or something else) on the horizon, a prepared parent is a less stressful parent. When school starts, you want every tool in your arsenal and these summer reading suggestions can help arm you for the task ahead.
Nancy takes the
everyday aspects of the college admissions process and puts them into terms
that parents can easily understand and relate to by using humor. And if that’s
not enough, she sprinkles some of the best college admissions advice along the
way by tapping into her own personal experiences and her network of college
experts that she utilizes throughout the book.
When Zac Bissonnette
headed off to college, he had the funds to cover the tab. Bissonnette has seen
the currently flawed system first hand. He’s a contrarian, and his book is
packed with studies and statistics to back up his analysis. It’s a magical
combination that college-bound students and their parents should read, even if
there’s plenty of money set aside to pay the tuition tab. There’s no harm in
learning ways to get the biggest bang for your buck and the best education
available at the same time.
The best part about
Monica’s e-book is that it’s simple and easy to understand. If you follow her
easy 10 step program, the scholarship process becomes doable for any parent and
their student. You can sit back and hope that your student does all the work,
or you can offer help and support by grabbing a copy of Monica’s book,
reading it, and rolling up your sleeves.
This is a book to help
parents of middle and high school students. This book prods parents to ask if
their teenager will be ready, willing, and able to handle self-management,
personal safety, roommate conflicts, personal finances, interactions with
teachers, academic responsibility, and much more. Included in this book are
numerous interviews with parents, college students, school counselors and
advisors, law enforcement per- sonnel, teachers, medical personnel, and school
administrators. At the end of each chapter are examples of how parents can
prepare their teenagers for a successful college experience and turn their
students into confident, reponsible young adults.
For college admissions help, give your child that “unfair” advantage in applying to college, without cheating, offering bribes, using legacy, or giving donations. Here’s the kind of insider information that’s made the author’s own clients refer him to their friends for the past 17 years. It’s a free, fast and entertaining read that’s designed for the hard-bitten realist who takes nothing at face value, especially in light of the college admissions scandal of 2019. This ebook comes with an option to take advantage of the author’s free videos that are designed to expand and update the book’s content when necessary.
The second edition of
The College Solution, which contains approximately 90% new material, is aimed
at helping parents and teenagers become empowered consumers as they navigate
through the college process. Billions of dollars are available to pay for
college, but not everybody gets their share. It’s not always the families with
the brightest students or the parents who are struggling financially who
receive the most money. The College Solution shares the secrets of how you can
capture some of this money for your own family. The book provides advice on
such topics as financial aid, merit scholarships, athletic scholarships,
admission hooks, the important differences between colleges and universities,
college rankings, the best student loans and the latest online tools to
evaluate the generosity of schools. O’Shaughnessy presents an easy-to-use,
proven road map for getting past the ratings, and finding the right schools at
the right price.
I’ve read plenty of
books on college admissions. Some are so scholarly heavy that you need a degree
to figure them out. Others are so shallow you can find most of the material in
your teen’s high school handouts. Zinch’s book is neither of the above. It’s
geared toward the student, but is also extremely valuable from a parent’s
perspective. Zinch reminds the student that while the college process
often involves the entire family, the final choice must be their own. I
agree with this whole heartedly. Every parent should grasp this truth.
The authors observe how conventional universities are coming
to resemble for-profit diploma mills through inexpensive, Orwellian-titled
“distance learning.” At Florida Gulf Coast University on the outskirts of Fort
Myers, students in Humanities 2510 sit in dormitories or at home studying
painting, sculpture, and architecture via online lectures. Adjunct professors
with modest credentials answer questions by e-mail; telephone calls are not
allowed. Multiple-choice tests emphasize dry facts and figures. Short papers
are required, but students don’t have to attend performances or see art in
person. In lieu of customized grading, instructors draw on “sample stock
comments” they slap on student papers. “Humanities 2510 seems close to cramming
for a quiz show,” the authors write. To readers, it might just seem like a rip-off.
Jodi Okun’s book launched today and the presales put it on the
Amazon #1 Best Seller list. This book is more than help for financial aid
questions. In it you can find out how to give your student the financial skills
they’ll need for life, with talking points and scripts to help you with
important conversations you need to have before college. Jodi provides parents
with expert advice and in this book shares her experiences of helping parents
pay for college.
In this
book, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research, on conversations with admissions
officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as
a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children,
their stressed-out parents, and society at large. While empathizing with the
parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Lythcott-Haims
offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of
allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience,
resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.
College is the biggest expense for many families, larger even than the cost of the family home, and one that can bankrupt students and their parents if it works out poorly. Peter Cappelli offers vital insight for parents and students to make decisions that both make sense financially and provide the foundation that will help students make their way in the world. Adding to the confusion, the same degree can cost dramatically different amounts for different people. A barrage of advertising offers new degrees designed to lead to specific jobs, but we see no information on whether graduates ever get those jobs. Mix in a frenzied applications process, and pressure from politicians for “relevant” programs, and there is an urgent need to separate myth from reality.
Using the
world-renowned Meyers-Briggs personality testing system, the author leads the
reader through a self-assessment to uncover their specific personality type. The
results of this personality assessment suggest appropriate careers that are
most suitable for the unique characteristics of each of the 16 personality
types. By better understanding your strengths, you can be more open-minded and
self-empowered in determining the focus of your career and your own needs when
it comes to feeling satisfied.
If you have a high school student, especially one who is
focused on the goal of attending college, your summers aren’t just vacations.
Gone are the days when you took the kids to the pool, the library and the park.
Gone are the days when your time was consumed with planning the summer family
vacation and creating a chore chart for the kids to complete chores before play
time.
You (and your teen) have other goals in mind. You’re thinking about using the summer to take care of some college prep tasks to get ahead of the game. Searching for scholarships, doing some test prep, visiting colleges, and having some serious talks about money will consume your summer days. How do you survive?
Share the tasks
It’s unthinkable in this competitive college market to
expect a young teen to handle it on their own. Times have changed since we
applied to college and there is much more to do than simply apply. You can help
them make decisions, help with scheduling, even do some detective work
searching for scholarships they are eligible for. This will ease the burden on
them and alleviate the overwhelming stress that most teens feel about college.
Schedule and plan
We all know that we don’t ever have the time for a task if
we don’t make the time and schedule it. Use any planning tool that works best
for your family: an online calendar, an app for your smartphones, a huge wall
calendar or a Google doc. Everyone knows—without a plan, you plan to fail!
Stay organized
I’m a huge fan of a college landing zone—everything in one
place. Colleges still send information through the mail, registration forms and
receipts need to be printed and saved, and flyers about scholarships need to be
catalogued and filed. With everything in one place, it’s easy to find anything
related to your student’s college preparation.
Make time to talk…and listen
Conversations are crucial to staying on the same page with
your teenager. Make the time to talk, even if it’s driving to sports practice
or shopping together at the mall. These small conversations are key moments for
you to gauge their temperature and share some encouragement. If stress is
present, you can help relieve it. If they feel overwhelmed and need help, you’re
there for them. Talking about their future and truly listening prepares you
both for senior year when things will proceed at the speed of light.
Of course, you want to have fun this summer; but a little work and some focused preparation will make the next school year seem doable. Use the summer time wisely.
When you have children, you know that you always have to play the right kind of role in their lives. And that can feel quite overwhelming. You need to keep them safe, you need to ensure that they’re healthy, and until their old enough to make the best decisions for themselves, you also need to guide their futures too.
This is why we’re often so interested and invested in the college process. When it comes to college prep, you’ll often know that you need to be actively involved. But sometimes, you won’t know what that looks like, or what you should be doing in order to help them prepare. So let’s take a look at some of the things that will help.
Grades
To start with, you’re going to want to make sure that the basics are covered – grades. Because your kids will need to have good grades to get into the best colleges. Or, at the very least, you need to know what the grade requirements are, and ensure they can keep up. This needs to be seen as the base.
Extracurriculars
But you do have to remember that college is about more than just grades. So many kids have fantastic grades, so it’s important to standout in other ways. This is where extracurriculars come in. There are lots of impressive extracurriculars that your kid could try. Think about their interests and where their strengths lie, and then sign them up as early as you can to see where they flourish.
Tutoring
Now, it’s also a good idea to think about tutoring. When it comes to getting in, a college prep tutor could be great. Your child many not necessary need tutoring academically, but it can often help to work with someone that knows the process, and can help you get in!
Summer Camp Prep
From here, you’ve then also got camp to be thinking about. Summer camp can be so rewarding for your kids, alongside tutoring. So why not think about enrolling them in a camp that can help? You could look into something specialist, such as CT STEM classes, or just a general camp that covers off a wealth of different areas. Either way, this experience can help them develop for the future.
That Je Ne Sais Quoi
Finally, you may also want to think about the little things that will help your child get into their dream college too. Now, not everyone will want to go Ivy League – but even other top schools can be competitive to get into. And it’s nice for you to think about ways for them to stand out. Do they have special interests? Any experiences that they can press? Having that little special something, or je ne sais quoi, can really help when it comes to applications. So pinpoint their special qualities and run with it.
