If the kid gets a B in the next year or two, stop checking.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, unless it's to laugh at all the psycho helicopter parents hyperventilating about whether or not their precious little flower won't get admitted to the Right School because they were only the runner up for that Nobel prize...

Anonymous wrote:I don't think it's too young OP. If a kid doesn't have his act together and plans by 8th grade, it can be too late for the top universities. I coach college entrance and have a lot of people coming in when the kid is a junior. It is way too late. You have to strategize sports, ECs, courses, etc. Don't listen to the naysayers. If you don't care where kid goes to college or only have money for State U. ...don't stress.

Case in point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a high-achieving, National Merit Finalist, #1 in the class kind of kid, the very best advice I can give you is to step away from this forum and not come back until spring of sophomore year.

Spend the time between now and then nurturing your child's love of learning, helping him/her find one or two areas of particular interest and - above all else - get him/her to read, read, read. Doing those things will hopefully lead to good grades, and prepare DC for the standardized test regimen.

We are a pretty laid-back family, and I've been a little surprised at how stressful and protracted this process has become. The later you can wait to start, the less time you'll have to spend in its throes.

I actually think spring of sophomore is bit late. Once your child is in HS, the process should start, IMHO.

Our high school (private) told parents to not think about college at all until the summer before sophomore year. Parents were told to take their kid to visit a few local campuses so the kid can get an idea of what a college campus looks like, see whether he/she thinks they might like urban/surburban/rural/large/small/public/private. No pressure, and summer campus visits are find. Spring of sophomore year is when things pick up slightly, but even then, parents were told to hold back and simply start thinking a little bit about the process, maybe visiting a few more schools during spring break of sophomore year to get some more ideas about campus size, location, etc.

Junior year is when the process really begins. Why create pressure too early. It's a stressful process, and your kid needs to focus on school and having fun too! College is not the be-all and end-all! After all, parents, college is when your child will LEAVE HOME!! Think about that!! All this preparation, and you won't be able to share the experience with your child as closely as you've shared everything preceding college. One parent advised me: This is the end of the time when your child will be living at home with you as a child. Enjoy it while it lasts!

There's a big difference between making sure your kid gets good grades in the most challenging courses he can handle and beginning the college search process.

I can think of two good reasons why you want to start at 9th - 1) starting 9th grade GPA matters for college admission and 2) what your DC takes in 9th grades sets the pathway for upper grade courses.

I'm not the PP and I probably wouldn't suggest starting in 9th grade. (We didn't really do anything until 11th).

But this new portfolio system seems to assume that applicants can/will/should? start that early:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/29/80-colleges-and-universities-announce-plan-new-application-and-new-approach

My hope is that this idea will die a quick death and your 6th grader will be spared, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As the parent of a high-achieving, National Merit Finalist, #1 in the class kind of kid, the very best advice I can give you is to step away from this forum and not come back until spring of sophomore year.

Spend the time between now and then nurturing your child's love of learning, helping him/her find one or two areas of particular interest and - above all else - get him/her to read, read, read. Doing those things will hopefully lead to good grades, and prepare DC for the standardized test regimen.

We are a pretty laid-back family, and I've been a little surprised at how stressful and protracted this process has become. The later you can wait to start, the less time you'll have to spend in its throes.

I actually think spring of sophomore is bit late. Once your child is in HS, the process should start, IMHO.

Why? What do you think a family should be doing when their college-bound kid is in ninth grade?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only thing you should be doing now is thinking about the financials. Make some estimates of what college will cost fir your kid and give some serious thought to how you will pay for it. Make a financial plan and put it into action.

Then forget about college at last until 9th grade. 10th is probably the right time to start actively thinking about college.

tks. where do i go for those info?

School Web site - look for cost of attendance

or just assume 60-65k/year for private
45k for OOS state schools
25k for IS state schools.

Assuming you get no Financial Aid (HHI of above ~160k or so will get, most likely, no FA) or no merit aids.

Anonymous wrote:The only thing you should be doing now is thinking about the financials. Make some estimates of what college will cost fir your kid and give some serious thought to how you will pay for it. Make a financial plan and put it into action.

Then forget about college at last until 9th grade. 10th is probably the right time to start actively thinking about college.

tks. where do i go for those info?

In 6th grade, one of my kids wanted to be a football player and the other one wanted to be a NASCAR driver - based on what they saw their sports heroes doing on t.v. Of course, they had never been to a football practice in the hot summer heat, they had never been tackled on the field, driven or crashed up a car, etc.

Were those realistic goals for them? No. But what kid doesn't want to grow up to be a sports star?

I guess I just don't know all that many 6th graders who have a clue as to what field they'll pursue as an adult. My kids have interests beyond sports, some of those interests are pretty in depth actually. But I don't know if they could realistically narrow their focus down with a very specific goal/field in mind. Not in 6th or 7th grade. How many kids really do that?

How do you handle it when a smart, even older, kid doesn't have a clue?

I don't think it's too young OP. If a kid doesn't have his act together and plans by 8th grade, it can be too late for the top universities. I coach college entrance and have a lot of people coming in when the kid is a junior. It is way too late. You have to strategize sports, ECs, courses, etc. Don't listen to the naysayers. If you don't care where kid goes to college or only have money for State U. ...don't stress.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find that a lot of folks use this form to humble brag about their kids. My child only has a 3.97 and got a 32 on the ACT is their any chance that he could get into a decent university with grades and a score like that? In the meantime other parents are looking at their kid's 3.6 GPA and ACT 27 score thinking..."Oh no, my kid will never get into college" .

It's better to just put your energy into what is happening today and see where that eventually takes them.

What's the point of doing that on an anonymous forum? Nobody knows who you are!!

Honestly? I have no idea why they do it. But it happens regularly enough that it's hard not to notice.

Anonymous wrote:I find that a lot of folks use this form to humble brag about their kids. My child only has a 3.97 and got a 32 on the ACT is their any chance that he could get into a decent university with grades and a score like that? In the meantime other parents are looking at their kid's 3.6 GPA and ACT 27 score thinking..."Oh no, my kid will never get into college" .

It's better to just put your energy into what is happening today and see where that eventually takes them.

What's the point of doing that on an anonymous forum? Nobody knows who you are!!