Reply to Regrets?

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Regrets?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]Well, there were some  regrets with my first born kid but in the end he did ok.  By the time we were on our 3rd kid  we had figured out some college application stuff.  In the end, some kids are talented and end up doing the right things without even having a plan.  Luck plays a part too.

- Make sure that your kid masters the concepts of core subjects in middle school so that the "high GPA and rigorous courses in HS" can have a chance to happen.  Get a tutor if needed and don't let them flounder.  A "C" in Math  is very acceptable to the middle school for your child, but in reality, your child is floundering with a C and will not be able to be successful in high school in Math.  Algebra and Geometry need to be mastered in middle school.  Feel free to repeat these classes in high school if your child did not get it in middle school. Set them up to succeed by supporting them with tutors and enrichments early on.

- Every single homework, quiz, test, assignment matters and is included in your transcript.  You may also earn high school credits in middle school.  If you get less than 4.0 for a high school credit taken in middle school, repeat the course in high school. No need to start 9th grade with less than 4.0 in your HS courses taken in MS.

- Start foreign language early in middle school so that you can aim for foreign language AP in HS.  Even if you only take two years of foreign language in HS, you will still be at a high level of foreign language. In our public school, some kids took HS level foreign language from 6th grade, and they were done with FL AP in 10th grade.

- Khan Academy and college board are quite good for SAT prep. SAT is an exam that you can do very well in by just  prepping.   If you have mastered the content but still are not scoring well, get a private tutor or take a class.

- Summer between 8th and 9th grade - meet your HS counselor and establish a relationship with them.  One of the first things you should do is ask them to chart what courses you will probably take in the 4 years there.  Having such a spreadsheet is essential for you to do your planning for college as well as to meet graduation requirement. It also allows you to strategically take some classes during summer and free you up for other electives during the school year.  Remember that your high school counselor is an  immensely valuable resource and a guide who can help you to brainstorm many opportunities that suits your interests as early as the freshman year.

- If you are taking AP courses , you need to start studying for them the summer before. Remember that the AP exams are in May and some teachers stop teaching by end of March or mid-April. It is a shortened school year for APs and  you still need to  cover the entire AP course. Don't expect your teacher to cover the curriculum. This year, AP College Board site also have prep material and it comes to around 1/2 hour of studying every day. This means that if you are taking APs, expect to spend anywhere from 1/2 hour to 1 hour of studying for it every day. .

- Unless you are a very talented athlete or theatre person, these two activities take a lot of time out from a student's day.  So moderate the time that your kids spend on these activities if they are not getting recruited.  Also, cull down the many EC activities that your child did in middle school so that they can concentrate on 2-3 core activities in high school.

- Look at the COMMON APP and maintain it as a working document that you keep updating with your academic and EC accomplishment. The common app application essay questions do not change. Filling the common app helps you to identify what part of your application needs working on and you can be more strategic.

- Keep a record of any service hours that you need for graduation.  Our school district requires 75 hours of service hours starting from 6th grade to graduate HS. Aim to meet the requirements by middle school and then continue with service hours in HS also. Many honor societies have requirement of service hours logged in HS for each semester to qualify or maintain membership.

- Get your SAT out of the way early in the HS journey once you have finished with Algebra 2.   11th grade is a good time to be done with SAT requirements if you are well prepared and done with Algebra 2.  Many students take the SATs in the summer between 10th and 11th grade.

- Do take the PSATs every single year that you can.  It is practice for SAT and gives you a fair idea of how you will do in SAT. Plus, PSAT grades links to Khan Academy and they customize a study plan based on your performance for FREE.  Of course if you do well in 11th grade PSAT you can be in the running for national merit scholarship.

- Parents, sit through the free webinars that various for profit college counseling services put up. You don't have to sign up for their services but you can gain quite a bit of understanding about the college application process and the timeline of doing activities. 
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics