“Ring in the New Year with Some College Planning Cheer!
Dear Parent,
The New Year has arrived! The holidays are officially over and for many that may bring on a huge sigh of relief! Even though the holidays are a wonderful time to get together with family and friends, it can also be overwhelming and stressful. We have all been recovering from the holiday festivities and wondering if letting out that extra notch in our belt is from the over-indulgence from the past month or maybe we mistakenly pulled out our “skinny” jeans. Egg nog and second helpings of ham aside, the commencement of a new year is always a time to reflect on the new year and all of the possibilities it holds.
Most people like to have a fresh start. Whether you are a person who makes resolutions from year to year, everyone seems to like to have a chance to start something that may have been on the back burner or move forward on goals and aspirations that have already been in progress. Each New Year gives us an opportunity to contemplate and consider areas that need tweaking or maybe start something completely new. The New Year is a time to make out your list of priorities for the year and make certain you are moving forward on them.
The New Year is also the perfect time to continue with the momentum you’ve already started with your child’s college aspirations. If you’ve stayed on top of all of the preparations for getting your child into college, kudos to you! If you’re like most people, life and time constraints can get in the way of getting all the things done that you would like to have accomplished. Please understand that College Planning Network is here to help you with all of your college planning needs.
Use this newsletter as supplement to the research you’ve already done towards planning for your child’s college future college plans. There is much that is within your control that can help you and your child get into the college of his or her choice. If you start early enough, you will increase your chances of your child having a variety of colleges to choose from. You can choose to read through the entire newsletter which will give you insight into the different stages or you can go immediately to the stage that applies directly to your child at this point in time.
FRESHMAN YEAR
Freshman year is about half over. Your child is most likely acclimated to the high school environment and hopefully has transitioned smoothly. This is the year to assess where the strengths and weaknesses lie to make sure you make the most of all your child’s abilities.
· Plan for an excellent Spring Semester
By now, you’ve assessed how the Fall semester has gone. Has your child done well overall? Does your child need to get some extra help in certain areas? These are all questions that need to be answered as you prepare for the next semester. If there are adjustments that need to be made in regards to extra tutoring or additional guidance in a certain area, be sure to have that available for your child so that the Spring semester can begin without a hitch.
· Consider having your child take the Explore Test
Explore is an assessment and college-readiness test for 8th and 9th graders. Explore can not only help students prepare for the high school curriculum but also their college academics, as well. Explore covers questions in the English, Math, Reading and Science areas. It can also provide some insight into areas that your child has particular natural aptitude and that may eventually be a career direction.
· Discuss reasons why your child wants to attend college
Ask your child if s/he already has ideas about what is being considered as a career choice. Ask your child how college will help him or her achieve those goals. If there are clear goals set before attending college, your child more than likely succeed during the experience. Knowing why and how college can get you to where you want to be in life is sometimes just what children need in order to flourish.
· If you have already saved money for college, then it’s never too early to get your financial plan together
Protect the money you’ve saved. If you have money saved outside of your company’s retirement plan, talk to your College Funding Advisor about repositioning those assets into accounts that are not exposed to the financial aid formulas.
SOPHOMORE YEAR
The sophomore year is fully underway and your child is half-way done! Use this time before getting back into the swing of school work and school schedules to assess where things are with school and your child’s progress so far. Utilize the tips below to help you along the way.
· Meet with the guidance counselor
If you haven’t already done so, have your child check in with the high school guidance counselor to go over goals for college. Make sure that the course load your child is taking coincides with all of necessary requirements for entering college. Your child’s guidance counselor can be a fine resource for any and all of these questions and will make sure your child stays on track.
· Seek out potential mentors
Do you have a friend you know from church or a local group or club you’re involved in that has made a connection with your child? Does your child feel inspired by this person personally and professionally? Speak directly with your friend or acquaintance about discussing with your child what s/he likes about his/her profession. One on one discussions are invaluable for getting insight into particular occupations. Your child can prepare questions beforehand to make sure that all bases have been covered and that the time between your child and the potential mentor has been used to its fullest advantage. If you or your spouse has a job that has piqued the interest of your child, take him/her to work with you. Let your child see what a day in the life of mom or dad is like. Your child may be pleasantly surprised and may have a better appreciation for you.
· Review the course schedule
You and your child can go over your child’s course schedule. Make sure that your child is taking courses in the English, Math and Science areas that are challenging but not beyond his/her abilities. These courses matter the most when being considered by the admissions committees for college. These courses have a higher bearing than some of the other classes.
· Study hard!!
All of the planning in the world is for naught if your child does not have the academics to get into a good school. Make sure the resources and atmosphere is there to create the best environment for your child to do his/her best.
· Protect your money!
You’ve worked hard for your money. Protect that money by talking to your College Funding Advisor about keeping those dollars out-of-sight from the financial aid formulas.
JUNIOR YEAR
Your junior has reached the halfway point of junior year. You’ve *hopefully* fully recovered from the holidays and are now looking toward getting closed in on the rest of this school year. Peruse the tips below for some help along the way.
· Go over college catalogs
You’re most likely getting a lot of college information either via their websites or from the catalogs themselves. Take some time to go over each of the schools. Create a family night to discuss what each of the schools has to offer. Ask each member of the family what they like or dislike about each school and why.
· Arrange campus visits
It’s that time already. Plan now which colleges you and your child would like to visit. After you have assessed your criteria for the ideal school, narrow your list down to a list of possible schools. Make a list of questions you’d like to ask key people when you make your visits.
· Review admissions criteria
Now that you and your child have narrowed down the list of possible schools, now take the time to go over what the admissions criteria are for each school. Find out if your child is on track with each school and if your child falls short then make corrections in those areas.
· Keep up with grades!
Making sure your child is keeping up with his/her grades is of paramount importance. The better your child’s grades are the better the chances of getting into his/her top choice school. If your child is lacking in this area it is never too soon to get the help that is needed to get him/her back where s/he needs to be. And, if there is a sudden drop in grades and it is uncharacteristic behavior for your child, be sure to have an open discussion about why things are not progressing as they should.
· Get your financial game plan in place!
Guard the money you’ve worked so hard to put away. You want to protect what you’ve saved for your child. Perhaps you have money either in mutual funds, bonds, stocks, or CDs. Those funds are typically calculated against you in the financial aid formulas. However, by working with your College Funding Advisor, there may be ways of moving those funds to accounts that won’t be held against you when you’re applying for aid.
SENIOR YEAR
Here we are at the threshold of the end of your child’s senior year. What a wonderful and exciting place to be. While you may have ambivalent feelings about your child “leaving the nest,” remember this is something that you have all been preparing for some time. This last semester will most likely be the most memorable for your child filled with lots of “firsts”. Make sure to treasure this last bit of time you have before s/he leaves home for school.
· Send first semester transcript
Make sure your child requests from his/her counselor the transcript from the previous semester. This can be sent to the schools to which your child has already applied.
· Encourage your child to continue to challenge his/herself
Senior year is usually marked by a serious case of “senioritis.” Those of you unfamiliar with this term would not want your child to catch a case of this unnecessary and detrimental syndrome. Your child may want to “blow off” some of his/her classes as the senior year nears its end. Make sure to try and head this off. Help your child to stay motivated in his/her classes and make sure s/he attends school and class every day.
· File your taxes!
You and your child should file your tax returns as soon as possible. You will need the information from your return to update the FAFSA. As long as we have all of your necessary information, we will ensure a timely and accurate FAFSA submission. These forms can be a nightmare so we’re glad to take the pain of this part of the process off your back! You will also want to double check that your state and the colleges that your child is applying to do not require any additional financial aid forms. If they do require additional forms, please forward the school’s financial aid forms to us as soon as possible so that we can complete them for you as well!
· Keep your money safe from Financial Aid Formulas!
A College Funding Advisor is there to help protect the money you’ve worked so hard to put away for this important occasion.
The New Year is upon us and we can take advantage of this time to reflect on the year that has past and move forward with our goals. We at The College Planning Network know that one of those goals is to get your child into college – regardless of whether we’re in a good economy or a bad one. Please call upon us for any needs that you might have along the way. We are happy to answer your questions and assist you along this journey. May the New Year be filled with health and prosperity for you and yours.
Your Friends at The College Planning Network