Plain talk about college

Until a student and his or her parents start looking closely at the college application process, it’s pretty easy to assume that it’s going to be a cake walk   Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.  Read more »

All the high schools I have worked in have been college prep high schools.  Consequently, the students who attended there tended to get quite a bit of information and help when it came to applying to college.   Perhaps I was naive when I entered the profession, but I actually believed that all schools pretty much provided the same info to their students when it came to applying to college.  That belief was shattered when I volunteered to work at the counselors’ table at local college fairs.  It was there that I witnessed the gap – sometimes chasm – between the assistance students in college prep schools were receiving as opposed to those who were not enrolled in those types of schools.

The reason for the gap is simple:  the counselors in those schools are asked to do the impossible.  Their caseload is too large to do much more than put out fires.  While I believe most would love to do more college counseling, there simply is no time to do so when you are doing scheduling, watching out for at-risk kids, and a host of other duties.  I admire their dedication and commitment in spite of being in a fairly consistent state of being overworked.

Here’s what worries me sometimes.  I think parents are often like I was in those early years, assuming that all students get pretty much the same help with college stuff no matter where they go to school.  They have no idea what their students aren’t getting and how much more help they may actually need.

As an independent college counselor, my only job is to give kids the help they need to find the right college and get through the application process.  I am right there when they have a question or need a different perspective.  I go to conferences and stay as current as possible with the changes and trends that are going on in higher education.  I know how to find schools that have good support for students with learning differences, as well as those with good dance programs.  I even know a lot of the admissions representatives that work in my area, so I feel comfortable calling them and asking questions. That’s what it takes to do my job well.

The thing is, not everyone can afford to hire an independent college counselor – nor does everyone need to.  Sometimes all a student needs is a little help and a bit of direction.  For those students, I am offering a very affordable workshop on how to conduct your own college search.  (This is one of the most essential, and difficult, parts of the college application process.)

If this sounds like something that might be just what you need, there’s still room this Saturday, March 20.  The workshop is being held in Tacoma – which is a really easy drive from Seattle on the weekend.  For more information and to reserve your spot,  go to: www.collegenavigation.net/workshops.

Everyone has their own ideas on what it takes to get to college.  Some say it’s taking AP courses or getting an IB diploma.  Others say it’s all about GPA and acing the SAT.  Still, there’s community service and leadership to be considered. Oh, and don’t forget the essay!  People spend lots of money on special programs and schools in an effort to improve these things, trying to get an edge on college admissions.

I’m going to tell you a secret – the best college prep is free and it starts long before a student ever sets foot in high school.  It’s called reading.  In my many years in education,  it is the one thing I have seen that consistently sets kids apart from their peers.

Yep, it’s that simple.  Encourage a child to read and you have handed them the best college prep available.  (Even the people at CollegeBoard will tell you that the absolutely best way to prepare for the SAT is to read.)  A kid who reads is exposed to new words and ideas.  They also have a broader experience of how words can be used, which often translates into improving their writing ability.  As a teacher, I could tell which students were avid readers the first time they turned in a written assignment.  The same was true in discussions.  The readers in the class seemed to take the lead by bringing in new ideas and perspectives.  Even now, when a student shows me their standardized test scores, one of the first questions I ask is, “Do you like to read?”  I am rarely surprised by their answer.

The truth is students who like to read tend to do better in AP classes and school in general.  Perhaps that is because their familiarity with the written word gives them an edge when it comes to gleaning information from reading assignments or putting their own ideas into words.  Words on a page are like old, familiar friends to them.  Even though they may not love the piece of literature they’ve been assigned to read, they are not intimidated by it.

The great thing about this best of all college prep tools is that it is free!  In a world where socioeconomic status can make a huge difference in the opportunities available to a student, reading is the great equalizer.  Children who read know they have options; once they know that, all things become possible.

So, if you want to know what to do to make sure your child is prepared for college, take them to the library and teach them that the books there can take them anywhere they want to go – including college.