My son is in 8th grade, I'm an immigrant - give me the College 101 please!

[Anonymous]

I didn't go to school in the US, and am feeling woefully under-prepared for my son's college application process. He's only in 8th grade but I need more visibility on what's ahead, so I can start nudging him in the right directions.

The basics: My son is STEM oriented, 4.0 GPA, does all schoolwork without any parental involvement and has always read way above his grade level. But he has zero motivation to do anything else - he doesn't even organize friend meetups unless his friends organize them, and his only sport is soccer because he's been doing that since kindergarten. In other words, he needs a heavy push to prepare for any major life change.

My questions:
1-Does he need to have any special skills/accomplishments to get into a place like UMD, aside from his 4.0 GPA? (I realize 4.0 GPAs are fairly common now.)
2-He has intermediate knowledge of Japanese and French, does that count for anything?
3-When does the 'resume building' need to start?
4-Does paid work count as a substitute for fancy academic accomplishments - for example, if he tutors?

Help please! Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to school in the US, and am feeling woefully under-prepared for my son's college application process. He's only in 8th grade but I need more visibility on what's ahead, so I can start nudging him in the right directions.

The basics: My son is STEM oriented, 4.0 GPA, does all schoolwork without any parental involvement and has always read way above his grade level. But he has zero motivation to do anything else - he doesn't even organize friend meetups unless his friends organize them, and his only sport is soccer because he's been doing that since kindergarten. In other words, he needs a heavy push to prepare for any major life change.

My questions:
1-Does he need to have any special skills/accomplishments to get into a place like UMD, aside from his 4.0 GPA? (I realize 4.0 GPAs are fairly common now.)
2-He has intermediate knowledge of Japanese and French, does that count for anything?
3-When does the 'resume building' need to start?
4-Does paid work count as a substitute for fancy academic accomplishments - for example, if he tutors?

Help please! Thanks.

Another immigrant here. For my kids, the resume building started in HS. Before that, they did not really participate in any significant ECs. HS offers many more opportunities to connect with like minded peers or follow some kids who are a couple of years ahead. Work absolutely counts, especially if it’s a real job, aka someone might actually yell at you, and the kid makes a good use of it in their essay.

[Anonymous]

You kid should do EC's and any job/volunteering that he likes or is complimentary to what he thinks he might be interested in (though not mandatory) - in 8th grade, the GPA is meaningless.

Testing (SAT/ACT) may or may not be important in 3-4 years when your kid is applying, so in the short term, grades and ECs/Employment as well as some volunteering are the way to go.

While an underclassman in high school, you may want to take on some informal visits to schools, just to get a sense of size, setting (urban, rural, suburban) and geography (new England, Mid Atlandtic, Midwest, etc)

[Anonymous]

Make sure you meet with the guidance counselor either at the middle school or high school this spring to chart out the best high school courses. Any activity or job is fine, just keep him busy and (unpopular opinion) away from dating.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP,

I would start by reading a general books on college admissions in the US. There are dozens of good ones out there and it will give you an overview of the process and how to approach it.

Here are a few that I think could be useful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307590321/ref=as_li_tl?imprToken=98AiqXqYA9WiJFyYbpN4nw&slotNum=9&ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307590321&linkCode=w61&tag=groandflo0b-20&linkId=eeeba055319746684e4aed3a900d1d64


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/142143637X/ref=as_li_tl?imprToken=98AiqXqYA9WiJFyYbpN4nw&slotNum=1&ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=142143637X&linkCode=w61&tag=groandflo0b-20&linkId=2750d5e5ec68eb5260e197aaa2c55b57

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0965608662/ref=as_li_tl?imprToken=98AiqXqYA9WiJFyYbpN4nw&slotNum=13&ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0965608662&linkCode=w61&tag=groandflo0b-20&linkId=b8e94eaab92cfc5be82906fc675d7369

[Anonymous]

In order of priority
Good grades in rigorous classes (honors and AP)
Test scores ( start thinking about these in 10th grade). My kid for instance took the SAT twice in 11th grade and took 3 SAT subject tests also in 11th grade
Extracurricular activities do matter. You don’t need a lot but you need at least one which you are very committed to so you can show passion, personal growth and give colleges a sense of who you are outside the classroom. Having a job is also a wonderful activity and tutoring is an interesting job. I personally think you still need another type of extracurricular activity in addition to the tutoring

That is pretty much it. Previous posters have given you good advice about researching colleges (I looked at the Fiske guide just before 9th grade), starting college visits (we started in 10 th grade with a focus on narrowing in on big vs small, urban vs suburban or small town and did more targeted visits in .11th grade

Pay attention to course selections in 9th and 10th grade. We wanted our kid to take a science, social science, humanities and foreign language every year because we did not know what the schools he applied to in 12th grade would expect. He will also end up taking AP Calculus, a couple of AP lab sciences, AP language and literature, a couple of AP history and one AP foreign language. The goal was to show he could handle

[Anonymous]

What race is your son, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What race is your son, OP?

Canadian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What race is your son, OP?

Canadian.

I'm not sure if this is considered a URM, but if so, you will have a great chance at good schools.

[Anonymous]

I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

Her question was about the US

[Anonymous]

He's 13 and in 8th grade. The next four years of high school are formative and it is a huge mistake to think it's only purpose is strategizing for college admissions. Focus on making high school a positive experience that expands his independence, good judgement and self-awareness. Help him find his interests, develop grit to overcome obstacles, and advocate for himself. Some kids will take a really straight path to conventional success, most do not. As parents, the best we can do is make sure there are plenty of safety nets in case they slip up. There are enough other forces to punish them otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What race is your son, OP?

Canadian.

I'm not sure if this is considered a URM, but if so, you will have a great chance at good schools.

I'm not sure (actually, I am) but Canadian is not a race. LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope it wasn’t OP who replied “Canadian”.

Why? The university process is different in Canada. For starters, ECs aren’t considered.

This is one of the reasons why my DCs are looking at schools in the UK (dual citizens) - no, E.C. considered (but they do have e.c.s, some good one) and no general ed. I don't know if Canadian univs. have general ed classes in college. I know that the UK doesn't, and that alone made DC want to consider UK schools.