Campus Bound

[#1]

What should my child be doing during the early years of high school to pave the way to college?

Although college seems far away to most high school underclassmen and their parents, the entire high school record counts for college admissions.  Any earlier accomplishments or difficulties are cleared away and students are given a fresh start in high school.  They have three years to accumulate the academic and co-curricular credentials on which colleges will base their admission decisions.  

Time and time again, we’re asked by parents of high school freshmen and sophomores questions about their children’s involvement in extra-curricular activities.  How many activities should they be involved in?  What if they no longer want to continue with piano lessons?  Is it better to be involved in community service or play a sport?  

Although colleges like to see students who are involved in their school and community, the first thing that an admissions officer is going to look at is the student’s transcript.  How strong of a curriculum does the student have?  What grades has the student earned?  Has the student challenged himself?  More often than not, the student must first meet the academic qualifications of the school before extra-curricular involvement is even considered.  

Therefore, encourage your son or daughter to do well academically even as early as the freshman year of high school.  Unfortunately, a lot of students don’t understand that their freshman year grades factor into their overall cumulative GPA the same amount as their sophomore and junior year grades do.  Instead, many students think they can wait until junior or senior year to start doing well in high school.  As a result, it’s critical for parents to encourage their children to challenge themselves academically while performing to the best of their abilities.  Also, encourage your child to develop a good relationship with the high school guidance counselor within the first year of high school.  Although it’s often difficult for high school freshmen to take the initiative to visit their guidance counselor’s office, keep in mind that most colleges require a letter of recommendation from your child’s guidance counselor.

After emphasizing academics, consider extra-curricular involvements.  There are no formulas or exact amounts of involvement that do or don’t work when it comes to college admissions.  Parents should encourage their children to get involved with activities that they enjoy.  Colleges review involvement to gain a sense of students’ passions, interpersonal skills, leadership abilities, and interests.  They do not seek only the students with lengthy resumes or impressive accomplishments; they want to admit students who will be involved on their campuses and will contribute to their communities in positive ways.

And finally, parents and students should be taking steps towards understanding how to finance a college education.  Parents need to continue to save for college as aggressively as possible during the early high school years.  There is a misconception that saving will significantly reduce your chances for need-based aid.  In fact, depending on how you save, the impact can be relatively minor.  Parents should take the time to learn about how the financial aid system works and plan accordingly.  Financial aid can play an important role in reducing the cost of college and you should take the time to learn about your chances.   By understanding YOUR likely costs (which can be different than someone else’s) it can help you to set expectations with your child and minimize friction and long-term debt in the future.   

When all is said and done, the last thing you want is to have your son or daughter enter the senior year saying, “I wish I had done this…or I wish I had known that.”  As parents, encourage your children to challenge themselves academically, get involved in activities that are of interest to them, and make certain you have a well-thought out plan to finance your child’s post-secondary education.

[#2]

I have to say that I am grateful for some insight into this process. I am currently navigating my 4th child through it and I am still baffled by what to do for her. I did not complete college and feel handicapped and ignorant. I have tried to ask the right people the right questions, and yet, still have not been what I would call successful. My question for my current freshman is, what do we do about the grades that she already has that are less than desirable? We have been doing the battle of extra-curriculars vs. academics with her this year. She is in honors courses, but is just now beginning to realize she must put academics first. Has she already lost her opportunity for college scholarships? Also, how do I get the HS counselors to help her when they are already so overbooked by hundreds of students needs? Is there a trick to getting them to pay attention to my child? Where do I look for scholarship opportunities that fit her? The internet searches I've tried seem very confusing. These are some of my questions that I would love to get some answers to. I am willing to do what I can, yet, need some direction of how to proceed. Thank you for taking the time to help us through this maze!

[#3]

Hi wtlorib,
I am a high school counselor in Wisconsin and what I would say (at least in our state)that I hardly ever write letters of rec for my students. The Universities/Colleges, both public and private, have requested that a letter of rec is best from an academic teacher and then an employer, coach, clergy, etc. They want to know what your child's work ethic is in class, maturity level, and do they take initiative to learn (are they passionate about learning). The only letters of rec that I write are for special circumstances. For example, students whose ACT score and GPA are not in synch with each other. For example, this year I have a student who is close to a 4.0 GPA and their ACT is pretty low. I know that this student is academically ready for college, they might have just had a rough time with this high stakes test, etc. There are really good scholarship opportunities at fastweb.com and the info is free. You might want to check into local scholarships in your student's high school. Try calling the university/college that your student is planning on attending and ask for their financial aid office to inquire about freshman scholarship opportunities. Hopefully, I have given you some decent info. Feel free to mail me if you have any other questions. Good luck!!

[#4]

My oldest is a freshman in college and we have already started preparing our youngest to apply herself her freshman year in high school. The oldest did not and had to spend extra time in AP and honors classes to get her GPA higher. As parents, we didn't realize the impact that first semester has on the GPA. Also, another good point you made was the fact that you really only have 3 years..with college aps going in early fall of your senior year,none of your senior accomplishments or grades are on those aps....Fortunately, our oldest was well rounded and had a bevy of activities so she received several scholarships and was admitted into a prestigous college. Thanks for your blog...

[#5]

You all bring up some good questions and points. Wtlorib, one thing to be aware of is that it is never too late for your daughter to improve her academic record. While all of her high school grades will be reviewed and evaluated, colleges do recognize when a student has shown academic growth and increasing maturity over their high school years. If she can begin an upward trend now and maintain it throughout the rest of her years, colleges will be less concerned by her freshman year struggles. As Kittyluvr’s experience shows, it is possible to bounce back from a slow start, it just takes more work. Some schools might be off your daughter’s radar screen after a challenging start, but many schools appreciate a student who has demonstrated growth.

Counselormom brings up some great ideas, too. One thing to note is that different schools and regions expect different roles and tasks of their counselors. In some schools, counselors write recommendations for all of their seniors and in others, as counselormom mentions, it is only in the exceptional cases that a counselor writes for their students. Get to know what the norm is at your school and you’ll be better prepared know what your next step should be.