When you are trying to get your child into college, getting a place seems like the be-all and end-all. However, the bigger picture is that college, while a formative time in a young person’s life, is a stepping stone to securing a role in their desired career field. Indeed, your child will still need support with this as they navigate their way through college. Read on to find out how you can help.
Continue reading Creating a Career Plan
There’s a new documentary on PBS called “Try Harder!”. It chronicles the lives of some students at Lowell High School, a prestigious high school in California with predominantly Asian students. Their goal–get into the Ivies or the UC colleges. Why? Because according to them, anything else communicates failure.
I was struck by one young man who said, “If I don’t get into one of these schools, I won’t make a difference in the world or be successful.” How sad. What type of message are we conveying to our students? Try Harder.
Continue reading Try Harder–Is This the Message We Want to Convey?
It’s seems unreasonable for us to think that our college-bound teens should know what they want to study in college. They haven’t had many career-related experiences other than part-time jobs while in high school or during summers and breaks. Knowing this, should we assume that our college-bound teens should be able to choose a major when they enter college?
Let’s consider some key points about college majors:
Continue reading Does Your College Student Need to Declare a Major When They Start College?
In today’s world, we are all looking for bargains. How much can I save on this purchase? Is there a coupon for that item? The college decision process should be no different. You never want to pay full sticker price on a car, and you shouldn’t pay full sticker price for the college education. Here are just a few money saving tips on how to find the best college bargains.
You can start your search by looking at the colleges who are generous with their financial aid by meeting the highest percentage of financial need. How do you find those colleges? It’s simpler than you might think. You can research them at the College Board’s site: Big Future. You need to follow the box at the bottom of the page that says “Find Colleges” and click the search button.
For a step-by-step guide, you can read The College Solutions Blog with photos of each step and how to use the tool.
Continue reading How to Find the Best College Bargains
I want to take a gap year before I go to college” are some of the most feared words by parents. What do we fear? We fear they won’t want to go back to school after being off for a year. We fear they will lie around the house, watch TV and play video games. We fear they aren’t thinking clearly and have no idea what they are saying. And for those competitive parents, it’s not what they planned.
Don’t fear the gap year. Not every student is ready for college after high school. Some simply aren’t mature enough, and others simply don’t know where they want to go or what they want to study. And if this is the case, would you want to spend thousands of dollars on college if it meant they dropped out their first semester? Of course you wouldn’t want to do that.
Continue reading What Parents Need to Know About a Gap Year
Some students find that choosing a career can be a complicated process. If your student is about to graduate from high school and heading off to college, they should be armed with the best college courses to take to prepare for a future career. Let’s take a look at some of the options:
Biology degree programs expose students to the plants, animals, people, and thus the ecosystems in which they thrive. For anyone with a general interest in science, a biology program offers many opportunities. This will help you get into more specific areas of study that you might not have considered before. Biology classes also tend to be very hands-on and attract people with natural problem-solving skills.
Continue reading Preparing for a Future Career by Choosing the Right Courses in College
I spend a good deal of time talking about preparing your student for college and offering good college advice. But believe it or not, that’s not my total focus. My focus is helping parents help their child find the best path after high school graduation.
It’s because of this focus, I was happy to read a post on Grown and Flown today called: Dear Friends and Family, Please Keep Your Snarky Opinions About My Teen’s College Choice to Yourself.
If you’re on Facebook (where most of us moms hang out) you’ve probably come across posts from proud parents announcing their high school senior’s college plans. Hiding in the shadows (and they shouldn’t be) are those parents whose senior chose to take a different path after graduation.
Continue reading No Thank You: Keep Your Unsolicited Advice to Yourself
Summer is approaching and you can look forward to hearing, “I’m bored”. My grandsons say this at least once a day and I’m sure your teenager has uttered these words as well.
Here are some suggestions to help keep them busy over the summer while using the time to promote learning and family togetherness.
Enrolling your student in a summer program or signing them up for a few classes during the summer break can help keep them occupied. This will also give them a chance to socialize and make new friends. If your child is not interested in any formal extracurricular activities, there are still plenty of options for keeping them busy.
For example, you can encourage them to start a garden, join a sports team, or take up a new hobby. There are also many fun DIY projects that kids can do around the house or in the yard. Encouraging your teenager to be creative and engage in positive activities will help prevent boredom during the summer break.
Continue reading Fighting Summer BoredomToday’s guest post is from Brad Schiller, an MIT graduate, as well as the CEO and Co-Founder of Prompt, the world’s most respected and fastest-growing college essay coaching and feedback company.
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There is a secret to successfully helping your student with their college essays.
Before we get to it, we have 4 questions you should consider to help alert you to pitfalls that often plague parents who “just want to help” during college application season.
But before we even get to those questions, let’s begin with the bottom line: the best thing a parent can do for their college-bound student is to be loving, supportive, and simply there for them. And that’s not easy.
Applying to colleges is stressful and often emotionally draining. As college essay coaches, we see this all the time. Make it your top priority not to correct grammar, improve writing, or get your kid into a “better” school, but to make this year as good as it can be for you and your teen.
Continue reading Supporting Your College-Bound Student Without Going Crazy
Your children are going to college. You may think it will be easy because you’ve been saving for it. But seeing the college fee structure, you’ll know it will not be easy. Coming out of the stress-induced fog might help you manage the costs.
Here are five things you can do to help you on this journey of paying for college:
Now that your child is off to college, as parents, you’re now left with taking care of the expenses like tuition, housing, and school supplies. Sitting down and looking into your finances is step one for parents. The next step is to make a budget, reevaluate your finances, and look into every savings account because the college costs are now added to your other expenses.
Continue reading 5 Changes Parents Should Make When Paying for College