When did you really start college admissions prep?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dc always tried different activities and sports but really to figure out the stuff they liked. Worked hard in school and got good grades. I was diagnosed with cancer when my dc was a sophomore so there was not much college planning at my house. After my treatment and recovery from side effects my dc was a rising senior. The stress at our house was awful. We were able to take dc on two college tours (one was local). There was no money for test prep etc because the medical bills were not getting paid by the insurance. DC hung in there and did well and got into 4 match schools and denied at two reaches. I am still alive and hope that some of these hard working brilliant students out there will discover some better treatments for cancer! The real purpose of all this hard work done by these students is so they can go out into the world and improve lives no matter where they go to college.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer and I hope that you are in remission. Your child sounds like a real trouper and kudos on his/her acceptances into 4 schools! What a horrible and scary time it must have been for him/her and then the added stress of maintaining grades, applying to colleges, etc., wow, that's a lot. I hope that s/he is at a school that s/he loves and I hope that s/he is thriving!

[Anonymous]

Thanks pp. Yes dc is at a school they love so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP meant when are we all orchestrating the kids college apps by starting them young in sports or other hooks that might get them into college. I just don't do that. I have a sophomore and he does have EC activities that he chooses and he does decent at school. If it turns out his particular activities don't mean certain colleges want him, oh well, there are a lot of colleges.

I know a boy that had a college counselor since 8th grade, the counselor chose his activities and classes, even when they were not things he particularly wanted. He is a good kid and had very good grades and super scores, but is not a hook and is not an URM.

In the end, he was shut out of the top 20 schools and ended up at a big state school. He is very happy there, but it also taught me that his pressure and lack of control really didn't gain him anything. I choose to be more relaxed - at least this year. Next year will be different I'm sure.

Thank you for this - I sometimes feel like I'm the only one not pushing my kid to do things. I have always made suggestions for activities but let her choose what she wants to do. Compared to her peers, she does very few activities but she's a bright, creative, and kind kid and I'm sure there will be a good place for her somewhere.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in junior year and we didn't do much regarding college apps.
He is doing 4 APs and 2 Honors and only plays rugby.
I am currently looking at school websites but he is not really involved or shows any interest..

[Anonymous]

Our DD is current Sophomore at highly competitive school in FCPS. She is trying to decide whether to take both SAT and ACT or just SAT in Jr year (anyone on the forum have genuine advise on which is better please share. tks!). Just making sure to keep up the GPA and possibly do 1-2 clubs, not a sports kid. Other than that not much research into college admissions. We'll probably start touring in state colleges next spring to get general idea about the admissions requirements.

[Anonymous]

Summer before junior year, an SAT prep class

[Anonymous]

depends how you define "admission prep". starting 9th records are official...

[Anonymous]

I am surprised (with kids in high school) how many kids have developed a strong interest and something they excel in by 9th grade. A sport. Art. Instrument. Something. I think that gives kids a leg up in high school. So I would say kids in this area really start preparing in middle school.

[Anonymous]

I considered "college prep" to have officially started the moment there was any class track selection to be made, because in my opinion that decision impacted the next year's classes which would impact options for the next year's classes continuing like a chain of dominoes all the way through high school graduation. In MY mind, therefore, MY job as the parent to guide my children through the "college prep" process began in 2nd grade when I did what I could to support their admittance to the AAP 3rd grade class.

My children were kept fairly unaware of this, however, as I did not believe putting pressure on kids at that age was appropriate. We began discussing college prep -- sort of -- when it was time to choose classes for 6th grade. By this, I mean that we talked with the kids about what a good four-year high school plan might be, in order to ensure that they used the middle school years to obtain the prerequisites they would want for the classes they wanted in ninth grade. It could be considered "college prep" because the main information we used to determine how their high school schedule should be planned was what classes were best to have for college readiness/admissions.

The summer after 8th grade was when we really started planning for their extracurricular activities and volunteer endeavors. We had them do test prep and take their first SAT or ACT (depending on the kid) in 10th grade. We intended that test only for practice, but one of our kids did well enough (34 ACT) that she chose to take no further tests and to just use that score on her applications.

[Anonymous]

I never saw sports/physical activity or arts as preparation for college (or as an admissions strategy). Exposed DD to both early on and let her decide which activities to pursue. Generally, I encouraged her to look for things she could do solo or with a partner and for the rest of her life if she wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I considered "college prep" to have officially started the moment there was any class track selection to be made, because in my opinion that decision impacted the next year's classes which would impact options for the next year's classes continuing like a chain of dominoes all the way through high school graduation. In MY mind, therefore, MY job as the parent to guide my children through the "college prep" process began in 2nd grade when I did what I could to support their admittance to the AAP 3rd grade class.

My children were kept fairly unaware of this, however, as I did not believe putting pressure on kids at that age was appropriate. We began discussing college prep -- sort of -- when it was time to choose classes for 6th grade. By this, I mean that we talked with the kids about what a good four-year high school plan might be, in order to ensure that they used the middle school years to obtain the prerequisites they would want for the classes they wanted in ninth grade. It could be considered "college prep" because the main information we used to determine how their high school schedule should be planned was what classes were best to have for college readiness/admissions.

The summer after 8th grade was when we really started planning for their extracurricular activities and volunteer endeavors. We had them do test prep and take their first SAT or ACT (depending on the kid) in 10th grade. We intended that test only for practice, but one of our kids did well enough (34 ACT) that she chose to take no further tests and to just use that score on her applications.

So you decide extra curricular activities to help in college admissions, rather than interests. Volunteer activities based on what you get back (college admissions) rather than what the kid is interested in?

I can only hope the colleges can see though your pathetic attempts to game the admissions.

[Anonymous]

7th grade otherwise you will lose the race.

[Anonymous]

Both my kids schools (one at private and one at MCPS) started the college process in 9th grade. Both did parent programs around course planning, test prep etc so you knew what to expect. Our MCPS did the PSAT for 9th graders.

We didn't start in earnest until the end of sophomore year to start thinking about colleges we might be able to visit over the summer and in the fall of junior year to start o narrow the options. We didn't start real college visits until spring of junior year when we had SATs scores.

In terms of molding into college applicants, we didn't do that intentionally but both kids were at a k-8 school where you had to apply out for 9th grade so had already been through a version of the process once. Both kids were athletes and had lots of interests so it was not forced.

[Anonymous]

7th grade. Got into Princeton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DD is current Sophomore at highly competitive school in FCPS. She is trying to decide whether to take both SAT and ACT or just SAT in Jr year (anyone on the forum have genuine advise on which is better please share. tks!). Just making sure to keep up the GPA and possibly do 1-2 clubs, not a sports kid. Other than that not much research into college admissions. We'll probably start touring in state colleges next spring to get general idea about the admissions requirements.

I could have written this post!
Sophomore in magnet program so a pretty academic kid. Trying to thread the needle with having him do whatever is required to get into a good program without adding to what is already a high intensity high school experience. Also wondering whether he should take both SAT and ACT and trying to figure out how many AP classes he should take.
10th grade seems like a good time to figure out all of this. It sounds like 11th grade will be a very intense year with SAT test, ACT ? maybe, 2 or 3 AP classes, maybe SAT subject tests and college visits so if we can do any advance research now so we are not flailing around then that would be good. He will spend the summer after 11th grade doing a research internship so we would like to spread things out as much as possible.
We have been saving for years now but we are still going to be a little short and have not really had any specific colleges in mind until recently. He is a hard working, academically oriented kid, who is equally good at and interested in the humanities and the life sciences and we have not wanted to push him in any particular direction and have not pushed any particular college or type of college in our discussions. We've had frank discussions about finances and the trade offs of spending the college fund for undergrad vs. going public as an undergrad to have some left over for grad school. My biggest hope as a parent is for him to end up in a place where he is happy and feels supported by peers and faculty.