College Preparation: It's Never Too Early To Start
By Michele Blandino
Most people assume that the time to start thinking about college is during the junior year of high school. By that time, the student usually has some idea of what they want to study as well of some sense of where – at least geographically – of where they want to spend their college years.
While it’s true that the majority of the search process can take place during the junior ad senior years, the actual preparation process should begin as soon as the student begins high school – that’s right, freshman year.
Academic Work
Students interested in attending college should choose a course of study that includes college preparatory classes such as English literature, algebra or geometry, world history and a foreign language – these are all subjects that many colleges require for application.
The freshman year is also a good time to stress the importance of developing good study habits. If you feel this is an area of concern for your child, make an appointment to speak with a guidance counselor or one of your child’s teachers and ask for recommendations on how to make the needed improvements. For students needing a significant amount of help in this area, facilities such as Sylvan Learning Centers and Huntington Learning also offer courses in organization and study skills.
Finally, remind your child that beginning with the freshman year, each and every grade earned during high school will become part of their official transcript and will be used by colleges and scholarship committees in weighing decisions regarding admittance and financial aid.
Becoming Involved
The importance of extracurricular activities cannot be overestimated. This doesn’t mean that your child needs to be a star athlete or sign up for every club however, participation in two or three activities should be encouraged. Where possible, try to spread participation between fun activities (sports, theater or music), academic interests (literary publications, forensics, or academic competitions) and service activities (SADD, Peer Mentoring, etc.).
There are a number of reasons why participation in activities is highly regarded by college admission personnel. First, membership in an organization shows that the student can work in a group. Next, particularly in the case of service organizations, it shows that the student is interested in contributing to their community. In fact, many colleges will give preference to students who, in their estimation, will make a positive contribution to the college community. Further, since participation in extracurricular activities usually requires an added investment of time, students who do participate usually find that they are better able to manage their time.
It should also be pointed out that participation in activities does not need to be limited to those offered at school. Students should also be encouraged to lend their time and talent to community and religious organizations, particularly if they are able to lend their time in a way that will help them explore potential career choices.
Explore Scholarship Options
Scholarships are not only available to graduating seniors; there are some scholarships – actually one-time cash awards that are available to high school juniors, sophomores and even freshmen that can be applied toward college costs. Sites such as Scholarships.com and FastWeb have extensive searchable databases containing information for all types of scholarships.
