college guidance, college planning

Do all college students follow the 4-year plan?

 

college students

A recent article in the Boston Globe brought this subject to mind.The author of the article brought to light that the path to college is not always completed in 4 years. Many students end up dropping out, transferring, postponing and even re-evaluating their career paths. The statistics are a bit staggering, but I’d have to say not that surprising. He pointed out that the 4-year college plan is NOT the norm.

There are times when college is NOT the right path for your child after graduation. I’ve had personal experience with this and have watched many kids crash and burn because they weren’t ready. Preparing your teen for college is important, but it’s also important to know when they are ready and to be prepared for the unexpected. That’s the hard part of parenting: recognizing the signs and helping them to make the right decision when the signs are there.

Here are two cases in point: both from personal experience.

Case 1

My brother entered college after graduating from high school because it was the thing to do. He thought he wanted to study geology. But once he entered he struggled. He didn’t possess the best study habits nor did he have the academic focus or the drive at the time to be successful. After a few semesters, he dropped out and went to work full time. During the next few years, he found his passion. He reentered college, graduated, attended seminary, graduated, and pursued his doctorate in theology. It wasn’t that college wasn’t for him. It was just that he wasn’t ready until he found his passion. Once he did, it was clear that he had the academic drive and commitment to graduate.

Case 2

My son graduated from high school and entered the military. It was clear that college was NOT for him and that the military was where he needed to be. After serving for 4 years, he went straight to college. He was not ready. He crashed and burned after just one semester and went to work at a full time job. After another year, he enrolled in a community college, retaking all the courses he had previously failed. He managed to receive a 4.0 and entered a 4 year university, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in Asian History. Once he was ready, his academic path was stellar.

You, better than anyone, know your teen. My daughter was ready and excelled, graduating in 4 years and attending graduate school and graduating in 18 months. While she and my son took different paths, they both graduated. It’s important not to discourage your child if their academic path has detours and they don’t follow the 4-year plan. Because according to statistics, it’s not the norm.

college costs, college planning, Uncategorized

Exploring Community College Options

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Many graduating seniors have decided to take the community college path before heading off to a 4-year university. They will tell you that they’ve made that choice for several reasons: cost, academic preparation, and the freedom to stay at home for the first few years. Community colleges aren’t just training grounds for technical careers, they are also the first stop for about 4 in 10 of college-bound high school graduates.

Here are 8 reasons why community college might be a good fit for your college-bound teen:

  1. They lack the academic preparation to succeed in a 4-year program.
  2. They want to get the basics out of the way before taking on a rigourous college courseload.
  3. Cost is an issue and by going to a community college for 2 years provides  relatively inexpensive start to a higher education.
  4. They need flexible class schedules to accomodate a full-time job.
  5. They lack focus and don’t have any idea what type of career they want to pursue.
  6. They need extra attention from instructors and a smaller class environment.
  7. They feel intimidated by the prospect of attending a 4-year college.
  8. They want to pursue a technical career and can do so with a degree from a 2-year college.

Community college might not be for everyone. But, it might be a perfect fit for your teen. And, if your teen is planning on making it the start of a 4-year degree plan, do some research and verify that the classes will transfer to the university they plan to attend. There’s nothing more frustrating than taking a class and finding out the credits won’t transfer.

admissions, college costs, college guidance, college planning, extracurricular activities, financial aid, scholarships, social networks, test prep

U.S. News & World Report-Best Colleges

This is not a commercial plug for this publication. It is however, an explanation of why I believe this is a MUST read for any college-bound teen. There are three options available for your use:

  • The print edition for $9.95
  • The online edition for $14.95
  • The combo package (print and online) for $19.95

If you don’t want to fork over the cost for either of these, you can browse their website and find a wealth of information.

It is my recommendation that you invest in at least the print version of this publication. If you’re in the process of choosing a college or even widdling down some choices, this publication will give you the needed information to make the right choice.

What does it provide?

  1. It is packed with articles about how to choose a college, how to prepare, how to get in, and how to pay for the education.
  2. It provides information about the best colleges concerning tuition, aid packages, student body, room and board cost, email addresses and website information.
  3. There is also explanation on how they determine their rankings based on several key measures of quality: academic reputation, retention, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources, graduation rate performance, and alumni giving rate.
  4. It is an invaluable tool for determining past financial aid packages and will help you gauge if applying to a top-tiered college will be affordable based on alumni giving.
  5. Schools vie for the prestige of being in this publication. If a school makes the list, you can be assured that the quality of the education you receive is worth every penny you spend.

And…Since this is such an invaluable tool for college-bound teens and their parents, here’s what I’m going to do:

To qualify for a giveaway of the U.S. News and World Report 2009 Best Colleges, simply sign up for my College Tips Email and post this on Twitter:

@suzanneshaffer is giving away a FREE U.S. News and World Report-Best Colleges 2009 http://tinyurl.com/kk6zg4

I will be choosing a random winner on June 15th. Spread the word to all your friends who have teens heading off to college !

admissions, college costs, financial aid

Choices. Choices. Choices.

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The college acceptance letters arrive. You would think it would be easy after that. Your teen has gotten into their 1st choice school and it’s simple; you fire off the acceptance letter to that school and the deposit and it’s a done deal.

But wait. What if some of the other schools offer financial aid packages that are just too good to be true? Like for instance: a full ride, numerous academic scholarships and grants, along with other incentives like reduced housing for the freshman year. Since the college market is highly competitive, it’s possible that you could be faced with an even more difficult dilemma: attend your 1st choice school OR attend a school offering a better financial aid package.

That’s exactly what happened to us. Through a series of events out of our control, the high school neglected to send my daughter’s mid-year transcript to Boston University.  Because we neglected to follow up, we did not know that was the case. When her financial aid package arrived from BU, it was completely defunct of ANY aid, except a small Stafford Loan. All the other colleges offered her multiple academic scholarships based on her mid-term transcript. One phone call ascertained the reason behind it and since the tuition was incredibly high, it knocked out her 1st choice school immediately.

Here are some lessons we learned:

Always follow up on important submissions to colleges–it’s your responsibility to verify they received ALL documentation prior to the financial aid decision

When your acceptances and financial aid packages arrive, compare them carefully. It’s highly possible that an aid package from an expensive private university will outshine the aid package from a state funded public university

Remember that there are many factors to take into consideration when making the final choice: aid package, course offerings, size, location, and don’t exclude your “gut” feeling.

Be sure when you apply that every school in your application pool is one you would like to attend. If you are offered a free ride to a school that was bottom on your list, but you put it there for a reason, you want to be able to seriously consider choosing it.

And…my personal final thought:

Everything happens for a reason. Although my daughter was not able to attend Boston University, another Boston college was in her pool of schools and it turned out was a much better fit for her in the long run.

If you do your homework in advance, the choices, although they might be difficult, will end up being the right ones in the long run and your teen will enjoy a wonderfully exciting and academically challenging college experience.

admissions, college costs, college guidance, college planning, extracurricular activities, scholarships, social networks, Uncategorized

"Has the mail come yet?"

We’ve all asked that question throughout the course of our lives. But for a senior in April, it’s a daily stress point. Because it’s the month that college acceptance letters arrive. It’s the month that all their hard work (and yours) finally pays off. When they rush home from school and open that envelope and see this word, “Congratulations…” (they rarely read past that word) it’s one of those life moments that brings all their high school struggles into perspective.

The New York Times has devoted a series, “The Envelope Please”, to stories of seniors who received that envelope. There are numerous accounts of acceptances and even rejections; because rejection is a part of the process many times and something we all have to learn to deal with. If you’re a parent of a soon-to-be senior, you should read the articles. It might help you with that all-important time down the road.

I remember very clearly that month in my daughter’s life. She had a list of 7 schools that she had applied for admittance. Her #1 choice was Boston University. She had worked so hard with admission interviews, phone calls, and making sure her application was complete. When the letter arrived she was afraid to open the envelope. But when she did, she jumped up and down, screaming with joy and excitement.bu-acceptance-letter

As it turned out, she was accepted to all 7 of the schools that she applied to.  The four years of hard work paid off and the wait was over. Now the decision followed: which school would she be attending? This decision was a difficult one. And one that many parents and teens struggle with. Why? Because for most families, college choice is weighted by the amount of the college’s financial aid package. As it was for our family.

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about that decision and the lessons we learned along the way. If you’re a parent of a college-bound teen, you won’t want to miss that post.

Do you have a teen that just received their acceptance letter this year? What was your experience like? Was it a positive one?

college guidance, test prep

College Test Prep for the rest of us

sat-test-prepLet’s face it. Those students who have some sort of test prep prior to taking the SAT and/or ACT tend to do better. There are always those Type A parents that shell out hundreds and thousands of dollars to get their teens ready for test day. Those programs are available to anyone, but what about the rest of us who can’t afford that added expense because we’re scraping together all our extra pennies saving for college?

Since preparation ALWAYS pays off, here’s some good news on how your teen can do some summer test prep on a limited budget:

  • Check out the SAT and ACT official websites. They have free resources that your teen can use from sample essays, to practice tests, and the SAT question of the day. Signing up for this free email is a great way for your teen to get acquainted with the types of questions on the SAT test.
  • Use the resources available at the library. Many libraries offer FREE prep courses. In addition, you can check out practice tests books.
  • Check out The Princeton Review online. They offer all kinds of FREE practice tools and are offering a NEW SAT Vocabulary challenge for $4.99 for the IPhone and the ITouch.
  • Check out test prep companies in your area. Many of them offer FREE, no obligation tests for students.

If you encourage your teen to take advantage of these preparation tools during the summer, they will be less stressed and more prepared when test day rolls around in the fall.

Uncategorized

Being a Parent College Coach: The 3 C’s

 

Parenthood. There have been thousands of books written on this subject. From my experience, the hardest part of parenting is coaching them to do things themselves and attain increased levels of independence. As far as the college process goes, you have 3 roles as a parent. I like to call them the 3 C’s of Coaching.

Chart the Course

It’s your responsibility to help them plan for the future. It all starts in the 8th grade as they prepare themselves to enter college. Picking the right classes and mapping out a plan for the next four years is crucial.

Catalog the Journey

Keeping track of the next four years is critical. You will be amazed at the plethora of activity your teen will be involved in over their high school careers. When senior year rolls around and you’re applying to colleges, their resume is a vital part of the application package. If you’ve done your job and helped them catalog their awards and accomplishments, the resume part of the application will be painless

Cheer them on to find their passion

This doesn’t mean do it for them. It means guide them and encourage them to be a part of the college process. Help them understand that their grades matter. Encourage them to become well-rounded teens by volunteering and being involved in school activities. Guide them to find their passion and use that passion to help them establish their personal brand–that brand the sets them apart from all other applicants.

I’ve observed parents that push and poke and nag their teens to be like them. I’ve witnessed teens feeling overwhelmed by the expectations of parents who wanted them to be successful to dissuade their own insecurities as parents.

Be a cheerleader, not a taskmaster. If you follow the 3 C’s (Chart, Catalog, and Cheer) your teen will be happy, well-rounded, and prepared for college.

admissions, extracurricular activities

Summertime is Volunteer Time

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I can’t tell you the number of times my kids said, “Mom, I’m bored.” Most of the time, it was during the summer. After the first few days of summer excitement wears off, the boredom begins to set in. And this is the perfect time to encourage your teen to volunteer.

There are several reasons why volunteering is beneficial to your teens:

  1. It’s the right thing to do. It teaches them to give of themselves.
  2. It can help them determine their interests (volunteering at a children’s hospital, at an art or science museum, at a library,teen-volunteers at a sports camp, at Habitat for Humanity–all of which might spur their interest in future careers)
  3. Colleges like to see well-rounded applicants. Volunteering will show them that you a)made valuable use of your time b)that you are a person who is concerned with others.
  4. It teaches them that work can be fulfilling and gives them a head start on having a positive work ethic.
  5. They won’t sit around the house all summer complaining about being bored.

Volunteering is one of those “life lessons” that teaches your teen moral responsibility. The plus is that while they are learning the life lesson, they are improving their chances of college acceptance. For me, it’s a win-win proposition.

If you have any volunteer suggestions or work for a charity or a business that utilizes volunteers, we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment here for my readers!

college guidance, college planning

Preparing your teen for college: It’s all about guiding, not doing

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parent and studentDo you know a parent who attended an Ivy league school and obsessed about their child attending the same school? Have you heard of parents who attended Texas A&M and insisted that their children attend as well?

Being a parent 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 parenthood 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.

If you take the time to teach your child how to apply for scholarships, how to apply for financial aid, and how to fill out a college application, you are teaching them to become independent. You are providing them with skills that will carry over into the job market and into their lives when they begin their own family. If you do it for them, they won’t learn anything and will continue to be dependent on you for other tasks as well.

But, how can you teach them if you don’t have the right tools? How can you help them to prepare for their college years if you didn’t go yourself and have no idea where to begin? That’s why I’m here! To help you find the right tools to help your teen succeed. If you have the tools and know how to use them, you can guide your future college student confidently and be assured that his college experience is personally and academically beneficial.

It’s all about the right tools for the job. I’m here to help. If you have a question about college preparation, please post it here and I’ll be happy to help. I’ve been there myself and I know how overwhelming it can be. I also know how important it is to be prepared.

What is your most pressing college question?

admissions, college planning, scholarships, social networks, Uncategorized

Ready. Set. Go.

The 2008-2009 school year is coming to an end. Seniors will be graduating and moving on to college, technical school or trade school. Juniors will officially be seniors with a busy year ahead of them before walking across that stage next May or June. Senior year is NOT the time to coast, relax and develop senioritis. It’s the time to get all your ducks in a row and start a timeline for college planning. Here’s some suggestions from experience that might help.

Summer

  1. Start refining your college list by viewing college tours online and deciding which schools you would like to pursue further by visiting and requesting an admissions interview.
  2. Do some online practice tests of the SAT and/or ACT to determine your weaknesses. Spend time over the summer studying and improving your vocabulary, math skills and essay skills.
  3. Start writing your application essays and refining them so they will be ready for submission.

Continue reading Ready. Set. Go. →

Helping parents navigate the college maze