Is Your Student Rising to the Challenge of Preparing for College? Finding Solutions.

March 18, 2017February 5, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

In December 2014 Achieve, Inc. released the report Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? We think the information in this report is important not just for schools, but for parents as well. In our last post we shared some of the results of this survey. In this post, we share some of the implications for parents and students.

Preparing to succeed in college seems to begin earlier and earlier. Laying the solid foundation of academic skills, softer life skills, and getting ready for the admissions process takes years. Some of the work is conscious for your student, and some may happen unconsciously. Some is under your student’s direct control, and some of the preparation depends on your student’s school, family, and mentors. Can you help? The answer is a resounding yes, but not necessarily in ways that you might think of at first.

Both parents and students can, and must, take control of the college preparation process.

How does this affect me — or my student?

Achieve works primarily on a state level, and as a result of this survey the organization has made several important recommendations to states and to individual school districts. We think the information is important to parents, too, and we think that parents can, and should, talk to their high school students about some of these findings. Students who become aware of shortcomings while they are in high school rather than after high school are in a position to do something to improve their own preparation.

Is Your Student Rising to the Challenge of Preparing for College? What’s the Problem?

March 18, 2017February 2, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

In December 2014 Achieve, Inc. released the report Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? We think the information in this report is important not just for schools, but for parents as well. In this post we share some of the results of this survey. In our next post, we’ll share some of the implications for parents and students.

A new study has just been released about students’ high school experiences and how they relate to college experiences. It contains important information that parents can use to understand specifically how both students and parents can take more control of the college success preparation process.

It’s Time to Love Your Second Choice College

February 2, 2020January 26, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

As a parent, you want your child to be happy. It began when they were infants, and it hasn’t changed. And for some students about to head to college, happiness may mean learning to love their second choice college. They may need your help understanding how to do that

The facts are there. According to a recent study conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, fewer than 57% of students in the United States are attending their first choice college. That means that your student may wind up attending their second (or third or fourth) choice of college. It is interesting to note, however, that over 75% of students were admitted to their first choice of school. This means that your student (or you as a family) may make the choice to attend a school other than your student’s initial first choice.

Some research is also suggesting, however, that where your student attends school is going to matter less than their attitude and actions once they get there.

What can I do to help my student make the adjustment?

The first thing that you can do is to honor your student’s disappointment.

How to Help Your High School Student Work Now to Avoid College Remedial Courses

June 22, 2022January 19, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Is your student college ready? The answer may not be what you think. If your student has done reasonably well in high school and has high school diploma in hand, you may assume that your student is now ready for college. Unfortunately, in most cases this may not be true.

According to a recent study conducted by the National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization, ”Every year in the United States, nearly 60% of first-year college students discover that, despite being fully eligible to attend college, they are not ready for postsecondary studies. After enrolling, these students learn that they must take remedial courses in English or mathematics, which do not earn college credits.” Even those students enrolled in a college preparatory curriculum may not be as ready as they should be.

According to another report, released by Achieve, Inc., students who require remedial courses in college graduate at half of the rate of their college ready peers. Many students who do graduate need extra time to complete their degree.

Deferred? Waitlisted? Help Your Student Take Action

January 4, 2018January 5, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

The college admissions process is a roller coaster for everyone. Students spend months, or years, preparing — taking the right classes, taking tests, visiting schools, filling out applications, writing essays, securing recommendations. It’s exhausting and everyone is anxious for the process to conclude.

Many students send their applications for Early Action or Early Decision and hope to have an answer by December. Other students apply through rolling admission or regular admission and hope to know their fate by early spring.

But two specific situations can thrust your student into limbo. If your student has applied to school through Early Action or Early Decision and is deferred, she will need to wait to have her application reviewed with the regular pool of applicants in the spring. If your student applies for regular admission and is wait listed, she will need to wait, sometimes well into the summer, to hear whether there will be a place for her — and this will depend on the response rate from those who have been offered a place through regular admission.

When Disappointment Comes for Your Student

March 18, 2020December 18, 2014 by Vicki Nelson

Your student will experience disappointment. It is inevitable. There are the little disappointments that occur all through childhood, of course, but then there are bigger disappointments. It may be failure to make the team or get the part in the play, a grade that is less than desired, loss of a scholarship, college rejection or deferral, or low GPA. It might happen in high school or it might happen during college.

However, the important question is not whether your student will experience disappointment (they will) or even when, but what will you and your student do when the inevitable happens?

Your student may look to you, even without realizing that they are doing so, to model how they should handle this disappointment. Whether it is an admission rejection or academic probation, it is important to see this as an opportunity to model your attitude and behavior for your student. How you respond may affect how they react to the situation. Remember when your student was little and fell down? Often, the first thing they did was look to you. If you smiled and laughed, they often got up and were fine. If you were alarmed and fearful, tears came.

Beyond Admissions: Preparing Your High School Senior for College

June 22, 2022December 8, 2014 by Vicki Nelson

As the parent of a high school senior (or junior) you may be doing everything that you can to help your student make decisions and get into the college of their choice. This is an important time and there certainly are a lot of things to do. As your student works on the college admissions process, you may be drawn into the whirlwind along with your student.

This is a good time to stop and think about how the college admissions process has involved you either directly or indirectly.

Your student is

preparing for PSAT, SAT and/or ACT exams,
making sure that extracurricular activities and community service are documented,
keeping grades strong,
cleaning up social media accounts,
attending college information workshops,
completing financial aid applications,
compiling lists of schools,
attending college fairs,
working with guidance counselors,
making college visits,
getting all paperwork organized,
writing essays,
sending out applications,
and finally — waiting impatiently for admissions decisions.

It’s no wonder students — and parents — feel overwhelmed. Just thinking about the process can be exhausting. And once those applications are in the mail, you may feel as though the real work of senior year is done. Now you just wait — at least until letters arrive and new, and final, decisions need to be made.

New Student Convocation May Launch Your College Student’s Year

August 21, 2019August 21, 2014 by Vicki Nelson

What is college convocation? You’ve dropped your new freshman off at college and they say that they will be attending convocation. For anyone unfamiliar with college traditions this may be a strange term and you wonder what is going on. Fall convocation for new students, or for all returning students, is a common experience at many colleges and universities.

According to most dictionaries, the most technical meaning of convocation is a large formal meeting of people. The term used to refer to gatherings of bishops and other religious clerics, but now has been broadened to refer to meetings of members of a college or university to observe some sort of celebratory ceremony. Convocation is often associated with the beginnings and endings of the school year or of a student’s college career.

Some colleges include convocation along with a commencement ceremony to mark the ending of a student’s college education as well. At some schools, degrees or diplomas may be handed out at convocation. Many schools now include an opening convocation at the beginning of the school year as a ceremony to welcome new students or to welcome students back for a new year.

Is Your Student Getting Cold Feet About Going to College?

July 19, 2018July 10, 2014 by Vicki Nelson

Your student has been planning to attend college. Your student was excited about the prospect of attending college. Perhaps your student has already been accepted to college. Perhaps, it’s only a few weeks until your student leaves for college. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but it can happen anytime during the college process. Your student is suddenly struck with second thoughts and decides she doesn’t want to go.

If your student has just announced that she doesn’t want to attend college after all, you may be dumbfounded. It was such a long hard process to apply and be accepted to college. What happened? What changed her mind? What do you do now?

Perhaps the first thing that you should do as a parent is to stop and take a breath — even before you say anything. Don’t panic. Postponing the college experiences may be a very good thing for your student — or it may not. Here are some things for you and your student to consider and discuss that might help both of you decide what to do next.

What to Do This Summer to Be Ready for a Successful College Start

May 4, 2021May 23, 2014 by Vicki Nelson

Once your student has been accepted to college, both you and she breathe a sigh of relief. The admissions ordeal is over. It’s time to relax a bit and enjoy the final part of senior year with all of the high school festivities taking place.

But once your student has walked across that high school graduation stage, the work of preparing for college begins. Although your student may very happily wait until the last minute to begin packing those boxes for the move to college, there are tasks that you and he should be undertaking now to be sure to be ready. These tasks may differ somewhat depending on your student and his school, but be sure to help him begin to focus on getting ready for the big move.

Take a look at some of our suggestions for getting started now – for college success in the fall.