It's a topsy turvy kind of day around here trying to pack and organize the kid's stuff (on the last day, of course) before departing to drop him off at college. We set up Skype, tested it, and he even had me talk to some of his friends on the laptop. It's all pretty cool. But still... It's moving out day. more »
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Saturday, August 7
Monday, June 21
A Proper College Send Off and Celebration
by
Suzette Valle
on Mon 21 Jun 2010 10:25 AM PDT
Our son's graduation is finally behind us! It was a TWO week-long celebration full of formal award presentations, sports banquets, mass, blessings, parties and lots and lots of family. Our first-born is the fifth in our family to go through the pomp and circumstance of graduating from high school, but the second one going on to a four-year University in the United States.
Also behind us are eighteen years of working with him to memorize everything from the alphabet to multiplication tables; prayers and game rules; from saying please and thank you to being compassionate, sympathetic and empathetic, to teaching him to say I'm sorry and excuse me. Eighteen years of hounding, harassing, herding, shepherding, leading, following, talking-till-blue-in-the-face and pounding into his brain as many life lessons as we could, and will now be in his hands to do as he sees fit come August 2010 when he moves into a dorm. All the high school academic requirements are met, plus many more social graces taught and hopefully learned. We'll know very soon how much of these daily lessons are instilled in him as he heads to college on his own. I know that if he trips and makes a mistake it will come back to us, the parents, but for now I'm content with the job we've done. To celebrate our son's high school graduation we threw a party for family and close friends who have been part of our son's life over the years. At times it felt like a mini-wedding, as one our guests told me, since I was running around in a mother-of the-groom type frenzy. In fact, I thought it kind of was a celebration of this magnitude, I told him, because goodness knows what'll happen at his real wedding - the bride will probably not let anywhere near the planning so at least I got to choose everything for this proper send off!
Also, I'm not your DYI type of mom, but have to say that when inspired by love for a child, I found the crafty side of me came shining through for this party. So if you'll indulge me for a moment, I'd like to share the details of the festivities and thank everyone who helped us to celebrate and send off our son to pursue the next stage of his education and personal development. The Personal Touches I made a memorabilia table displaying our sons various acamdemic and athletic awards, ceramic class pieces, and photos. I also made two books: a photo book at MyPublisher.com and a scrapbook with newspaper clippings and photos.
I placed rocks with stickers around the centerpieces as table scape.
I made a DVD with baby photos, friends, family, and video clips of some fun times during high school events and family events. I included photos with teachers, mentors and coaches and played it continuously on a rented screen and projector I ran with my laptop. I made rolled diplomas with napkins and tied them with tassels and rings inscribed with inspirational words.
Rentals Tablecloths and plate chargers were rented from Elegant Events in Chula Vista (619) 427-7080 (website coming soon). Please ask for Griselda if you call them for your next party. She will give you precious FREE advice to help make your celebration special; from how to save on decor to where to purchase it, she's a wonderful person and resource!
Voice and Video Rentals helped me with the equipment for the slide show. They gave me a tutorial on how to install it and use it - they even have a 24/7 hotline in case you run into technical difficulties! Food Mexican food was catered by Lolitas next to PETCO park. The service included delivery and heating boxes. It was awesome and scrumptious too! We served Miguel's Cocina Jalapeno Cheese Sauce and Ceviche from Northgate Market with chips as appetizers. I hired two waiters who made Margaritas and Sangria and served all the beverages (and helped with everything from set up to clean up!).
Cupcakes and cake were made by Coronado Cupcakery at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. Rosalina Ascolani is a Coronado High School Alum who also attended Georgetown University and owns this sweet bakery! The ChocoFlan was a gift to my son from a friend. Entertainment Instead of a DJ, I organized the mother of all trivia games complete with power point slides and prizes. I included questions ranging from school trivia to World Cup questions and I also had quizzes and prizes for the little ones.
Resources Off The Internet Invitations and Thank You cards made at Shutterfly.com Banner and Graduation Party Sign from Shindigz.com
Purdue balloons, tissue boxes and game folders from Purdue.com Favors from Favoraffair.com Tassels for napkin rings from Tasseldepot.com Inspirational word rings and stickers for the rocks from Michaels (Disclaimer: Items used for this event were not sponsored by anyone. ) Monday, April 12
Spring Break - Heartbreaking Reminder
by
Suzette Valle
on Mon 12 Apr 2010 09:27 AM PDT
It was evident families were on Spring Break vacation over the last few weeks; malls had more foot traffic and shorts and flip flops were out in full force in our beach town. The sun was bright for them, but for some odd reason the warmth of their closeness made me shiver and pay more attention to these families walking our quaint main street, zigzagging in out of shops and restaurants all safely together enjoying quality bonding time. Watching them evoked the secure feeling I have each time the four of us are out enjoying a movie, having a simple lunch huddled together in a booth at our favorite restaurant, or when we're crammed in the family room watching TV. But, as I watched the carefree vacationers stroll past me, I got a sudden pang of impending doom, an abrupt reminder of what it will soon be like without the intact foursome in a future family outing. “Gotta start preparing mentally for the break,” I tell myself. Not the spring break kind though, the family-unit breaking kind. Spring Break is now over. It's Monday morning and the kids left in their little car, on their own, back to school. They hated waking up to a rainy day, but were happy to renew their special routine of jamming to music together with the windows rolled up before heading into the quiet classrooms. We had a whirlwind 10 days of jet setting across the country and up and down the west coast visiting the two colleges our son has decided are at the top of his list to choose from and head to this fall: Purdue University (way the hell out in Indiana!), and Santa Clara University in California (and oh, so close to home). I've known this huge milestone has been coming since my son was a junior in high school when the grueling college application process began, but denial kept me from imagining life without him -- I refuse to let this depressing thought take over me (like it's gripping me now as I try to hold back the tears while I write this). “Don't make him feel any guilt for leaving my nest; the one I quit my power job to build; the same one I worked so hard to keep clean, warm, fun and nurturing so that he would want to spend time in it, which he did,” I reassure my brain but, my heart doesn’t want any part of this. I hate this stage of parenthood! Now, I have to be the same one to heave him over the edge and hopefully see him take flight without landing too hard on his face at first. “Be strong, don't let him see you weak or cry because he'll feel the same way,” I think and forge ahead with all the plans for his big move to college. Something just doesn’t feel normal here, but I know that if he leaves and doesn’t come back to live with us again we did our jobs as parents. We should be delighted he even got accepted to decent colleges and feels the security and confidence to want to take this leap of faith from our cozy little nest. But, deep inside I’m really not so joyful. Proud, yes. Happy, not even remotely. In fact, I’m mad as hell! I just wish dammed UCLA would have accepted him so he wouldn’t be going so far away to a Big Ten school where sports are big, the classrooms are big, and the distance from home is even bigger. **Insert curse word here** *sniff** So, what are we parents supposed to do with all these emotions? *Curse word, again* Thursday, January 21
College Acceptance: Yaayy! Tuition: Not So Much.
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 21 Jan 2010 05:07 PM PST
The thunderous noise heard throughout the house was not due to the winds howling through bending palm trees during our recent storm, but to my overjoyed son jumping up and down screaming , "I'm gonna be a Boilermaker!!"after reading an acceptance e-mail which landed in his In box at 7:48 PM PST from Purdue University.
Tears of joy, mixed with gratifying emotions of knowing someone likes him as a student and being able to plan where he'll be sleeping in September, all came together at once - and was quite overwhelming. We hugged, we cried, we took deep cleansing breaths knowing the suspense was finally over. The loss of control over our kid's future home is finally back in the driver's seat, and it's a good feeling. Now, reality hits. Financial reality that is. The joy of possibly attending a Big Ten school is quickly overshadowed by the tuition costs we must resign ourselves to pay for this quality education, whether we like it or not. College tuition is a hot topic these days, especially in our difficult economic times. According to USA Today, "tuition, fees, and room and board per year at four-year public schools jumped 46%, from an average of $10,440 in 1999-2000 to $15,210 last year, when adjusting for inflation. For private four-year schools, costs rose 28% in that period, from an average of $27,740 to $35,640 (per year). " Paying for a college education is almost equal to the price tag of an average home in our home state. For many, it's simply impossible to happily part with this kind of money, or risking re-mortgaging the family home when home loans are scarce. Luckily, I remembered I have the latest press release from The Princeton Review's (TPR) 2010 "Best Value Colleges" survey and I quickly went down the list to find out if Purdue University was listed as a 'Best Value' school among the top 100 colleges in the country. First, let's define 'Best Value College' according to TPR, shall we? "The Princeton Review selected these institutions as its "Best Value" choices for 2010 based on its surveys of administrators and students at more than 650 public and private colleges and universities. The selection criteria covered more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs of attendance, and financial aid, using the most recently reported data from each institution for its 2008-09 academic year." Said Robert Franek, Princeton Review SVP-Publisher, "We know many families and students have serious concerns about paying for college in these tough economic times. Among the nearly 16,000 respondents to our 2009 'College Hopes and Worries Survey,' of college applicants and parents, 85% said financial aid would be 'very necessary' for them this year. However there are many first-rate institutions offering outstanding academics at a relatively low cost of attendance and/or generous financial aid, including some that may surprise applicants. We’re pleased to have again teamed up with USA TODAY to identify and commend the 100 colleges that do just that and do it best in the nation." The Princeton Review "Top 10 Best Value Private Colleges for 2010" are: 1. Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA) 2. Harvard College (Cambridge MA) 3. Wesleyan College (Macon, GA) 4. Princeton University (Princeton NJ) 5. Yale University (New Haven CT) 6. Williams College (Williamstown, MA) 7. Rice University (Houston TX) 8. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA) 9. Amherst College (Amherst, MA) 10. Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA) The "Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges for 2010" are: 1. University of Virginia (Charlottesville VA) 2. City University of New York – Hunter College (New York NY) 3. New College of Florida (Sarasota FL) 4. Florida State University (Tallahassee FL) 5. University of Colorado (Boulder, CO.) 6. State University of New York at Binghamton (Binghamton NY) 7. Univ. of Georgia (Athens GA) 8. Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) 9. Texas A & M University (College Station, TX) 10.University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK) It turns out Purdue isn't on the list this year, but it was consoling to know it was one of The Princeton Review's "Top 100 Best Value Colleges in the Nation" in 2009, and "The Princeton Review has named Purdue among the top 20 colleges in the nation in a number of categories including best athletics, best college newspaper and best campus food in TPR's "371 Best Colleges". This bit of information gave us hope that we might be able to send our future Boilermaker to study at his new home in the Midwest after all...without becoming homeless ourselves! Thursday, December 31
Separation Anxiety? Have A Lemon Drop
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 31 Dec 2009 11:23 AM PST
I finally went on a much needed Girls Night Out (#GNO for you Twitterers) with a few new delightful friends. ... more » Tuesday, October 20
Rob Franek's "371 Best Colleges" hits San Diego
by
Suzette Valle
on Tue 20 Oct 2009 09:00 AM PDT
Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla, CA hosted Senior Vice-President and Publisher Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s author of 371 Best Colleges, 2010 Edition one of Franek's most popular publications for the college-bound set.
Alex Valle and author Rob Franek Parents and teens filled the store anxious to get advise on how to choose the right college and navigate the application process -- a necessary evil these days for any teen who wants to continue their education after high school -- from the man who's done all the leg work for the un-initiated. Rob conducts over 120,000 interviews with college students and visits campuses to obtain vital information and assess each university’s strengths and weakness in a variety of criteria. From the best value category to the infamous party list of schools, 371 Best Colleges offers inside information difficult to find in any one place. Dorms, food, weather, teacher-to-student ratios, location, tuition, freshman class profiles, etc. it’s all in one essential book! Among the many tips Rob shared with nervous parents, I’m going to share this simple, but painfully revealing, exercise he had us do at the beginning of his presentation (this was tailored to Write down your top ten colleges. Now, cross out the Ivy Leagues, UC schools, and USC. Also, cross out Now, do you have two or three colleges left on your list? In amazement, the entire room only had between these exact numbers of schools left on the list. Why? It’s simple. We’re all applying to the same schools. Not surprisingly, we left the presentation bewildered and carrying the voluminous book because a change in game plan was now necessary. If you’re in this same panic-stricken stage of the college application process, it behooves you to get this weighty tome pronto! It will save you many tedious hours of surfing the net to find out stuff (besides the academic requirements to get in to your first-choice college) like which school has the best food or housekeeping included in the dorms. Thank you Rob! Thursday, June 18
SAT® Vocab Challenge App for iPod - Review and Book Giveaway!
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 18 Jun 2009 12:40 AM PDT
“Grab your iPod and go study for the SAT!” I certainly never thought I’d hear myself say this to my college-bound teen since it’s usually the exact opposite coming out of my mouth during study time. Taking advantage of the widespread use of the iPhone and iPod Touch apps, a new vocabulary-building game could be just the thing to help increase any student’s SAT scores. Modality, maker of popular iPhone and iPod Touch apps, teamed up with the Princeton Review and recently launched the SAT® Vocab Challenge, a study application for prospective SAT takers to use on the go. This innovative study game was just awarded the “Editor’s Choice Award” by the Children’s Technology Review, a leading authority on children’s technology products. Four timed, fast-paced games challenge the user to master 250 words and their synonyms, antonyms, definition and connotation, including the Princeton Review’s “Hit Parade”, the 100 most likely words to show up on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Using the mobile device's touch, shake or swipe alternatives, the user selects the correct answer and the app keeps track of each mastered section.The app makes “aggressive game play” out of the otherwise wrote memorization of vocabulary words and is simple to use, fast, effective, and best of all portable, which is exactly what today’s students are after; smaller, or better yet, non-existent cumbersome books to tie them to a desk!
Speaking with Robert Franek, Vice President of Publishing for the Princeton Review and author of “The Best 368 Colleges”, I couldn’t help but join him in his enthusiasm for this innovative test-taking tool. “For testing geeks like me, this application could be the way to move SAT scores, which is key to getting into college” he told me over the phone from New York. Franek is also an SAT teacher, worked as an admissions officer, and is in charge of the Princeton Review’s website: www.princetonreview.com The SAT® Vocab Challenge, at $4.99, is available from Apple's iTunes and is cheaper than a class or test prep book - certainly lighter too. A student can take advantage of idle time to learn as they play, especially while sitting on the bus, car or other transportation, when kids today tend to immediately plug into their music (during summer vacation, you can take your modern equipment to the beach and learn while you tan too!). The learning curve for this game is pretty flat given even my incoming high school freshman could use it with relative ease. Fun, addictive, easy and cool are a few words both of my high schoolers used (pre-SAT vocab mastery game, of course!) when I asked them to describe the iPhone/iPod SAT app. I see additional benefits to this handy test tool: · Technology and our kids go hand in hand. It’s probably a true statement to say that a majority of high school students, regardless of socio-economic level, own some kind of technology, and not because it’s a luxury, but a necessity: laptops, computers, cell phones or iPods are part of kids’ assortment of accouterments they can’t survive without in today's technology-dependent environment. The new SAT Vocab Challenge app can fit right in with students' regular use of the favored iPod or iPhone. · Not all kids can afford a college test prep course, tutor or those robust Princeton Review college editions. At $4.99, and available at Apple’s App Store, practically anyone could take advantage of this new service by the Princeton Review, experts at helping students prepare for the college admissions process. · Swiping or shaking the devise to select the answers in the game makes it fun and interactive. Besides the four basic games, all 250 words can be accessed to find out the definition, part of speech, an example of its use in a sentence, and by touching the “listen” option, a little voice (and not your parents) will tell you how to say it! · The app can also help ally fears or apprehension about what is in the make-or-break college entrance exam and how it works. Frenak pointed out that an added advantage to this product is learning speed, accuracy and the process of elimination. “The [SAT® Vocab Challenge] game mimics the test taking environment incorporating the use of these skills which we teach in the classroom”. Accessible to all, a snap to use and certainly a lighter version of any test prep book around, this new study app can be used practically anywhere and anytime. I asked Robert about future SAT related apps, and the good news is there are more in the works! After testing The Princeton Review’s new SAT® Vocab Challenge app, I’m convinced this handy learning tool will be changing the way kids and parents tackle test-prep study time. BOOK GIVEAWAY! The frst two readers to correctly answer the following question in the comments section will win the publication titled Princeton Review's Guide to College Visits! A $20 value, yours FREE for doing your homework! I'll be verifying your answers using the SAT® Vocab Challenge app, but you can go old-school and use ... a dictionary! Make sure you leave your name and e-mail along with your answers too. What are the synonym, antonym, connotation and definition of the word Supercilious. All four answers needed to win. Good luck! Tuesday, June 2
Can the iPod/iPhone help your college-bound student study for the SAT?
by
Suzette Valle
on Tue 02 Jun 2009 10:45 PM PDT
I'll be interviewing Rob Franek, author of the Princeton Review's "Best 368 Colleges" about the soon-to-be-available SAT Vocab Challenge game from Apple’s App Store for iPhone and iPod touch, and I need your help ... more » Thursday, May 28
"Parent's Guide to College Life"- Essential reading for parents of college-bound kids
by
Suzette Valle
on Thu 28 May 2009 08:08 AM PDT
You hold in your hands the coveted thick envelope with the name of your child's top college choice printed on the front top left corner. Yes! You let out a collective sigh of successful relief and feel you're finally done with the stressful college admissions process. After sending in the signed acceptance letter and financial aid documents, you sit, exhausted and spent, and wonder, now what? The next step is probably the most difficult for many parents: preparing your child, as well as yourself, to move him or her out of the home and into college housing. Fortunately, The Princeton Review's bible-like tomes you relied on for information about college admissions, also offers books to help parents with a child at the college doorstep cope with the gamut of emotions, and learn the new rules of the college game. As the parent of a high school junior, I was thrilled when Random House asked me to review an insightful book by Robin Raskin, "Parent's Guide to College Life: 181 Straight Answers on Everything you Can Expect Over the Next Four Years" (Random House, 2006). In her book, Raskin tells us mortified parents what the real deal is with college life these days, and she gives it to us straight; from communicating with our home-free child, to packing, selecting dorms, nutrition, illness, emergencies, theft, depression, roommates, grades, insurance, fires, etc. The author conducted extensive interviews with so many college and admissions staff, that it's likely she mentions something about your child's future (or present) college too. More importantly, she asked college students and parents themselves about the college experience, not only the academic and social aspects of life on campus, but how they handled the separation from home and parents. Not surprising, the parents are the ones to suffer most -- and break more rules than their freshman college student! "Hi, My Name is Control Freak..." As soon as I started reading the first chapter about communicating with your college student, I knew the author was speaking directly to me; a parent with knowledge about how to use all the available instant messaging technology, and thinking of using it as a substitution for being there. Robin found out that's a big NO, NO! (Darn it! How's my son going to know when it's time to change his socks?) In the chapter titled Long Distance Parenting, Raskin establishes the pros and cons of not letting go of our college-offspring in one fell swoop. Though disappointed, I quickly digested the reasons for the few-and-far-between texts, IMs and email exchanges parents should sustain with their kids while at college. From the outset the author admits, "This generation of parents is America's best educated ever". With this in mind, Robin advises tuition-paying parents about what is appropriate parental behavior and lays out the rights parents actually have while their kids are at college, and also helps us "tame the parent monster". Yes, you read correctly, rights. Had you heard of Family Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) before today? I hadn't, and thanks to this information in Robin's book, I am more empowered to take on any university administrative nightmare that might come my way like problems with a roommate, campus security encounters, or even being able to find out my still-dependent student's grades. College-student confidentiality is a complicated matter bordering on CIA level security -- believe it or not, we do not have the right to know everything about our students! The other nine chapters are equally gut-wrenching for parents. Take illness for example. Does your kid even know how to use a thermometer, let alone recognize symptoms? Would he or she know when it's appropriate to go see the campus nurse? With the swine flu hysteria we lived through recently, how does campus staff deal with these types of situations? Robin Raskin holds nothing back, and reveals much more beyond the partying, drug use, sex, fraternity life, and other much publicized aspects of the college experience parents usually hear about on national news. The topics the author analyzes go deeper than the usual nutrition, washing, cooking, drinking parents want to know about. Will they be safe during a fire? Should we get personal insurance for those expensive items they'll leave in plain view in their dorm? Should we get involved if there's a problem with the roommate? Answers to these questions plus the practical advise, tips and information Robin got from speaking with university deans, staff, financial advisers, parents and students is shared in this guide with a heartwarming tone and sensitivity for parents embarking on the road to college for the first time. I received this book at a crucial moment in the planning stages of our son's future college life; we are in the throes of analyzing a lot of information from a variety of colleges trying to select where he would like to apply. Adding this book to our collection of materials shed light on other factors we should look into when considering colleges too! "Parent's Guide to College Life" gave us a no-nonsence peek at what our son might experience once he's there, where ever that maybe. Friday, February 20
The Calm Before the (Exam) Storm - The College Application Season Approaches
by
Suzette Valle
on Fri 20 Feb 2009 10:43 PM PST
It's February, the middle of winter, and we're shivering with anxiety as we look a the calendar and see exam dates starting to line up like a series of storms on a weather map; ominous approaching deadlines for tests any student with dreams of going to college has to take. The relative calm of our 17 year-old high school junior is about to turn into a rainstorm of the El Niño kind: relentless, merciless and abate less for the next three months. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), which is on high school students radars starting freshman year, is upon us after three years of PSATs and many e-mails from the Princeton Review, the College Board and a host of other entities claiming to be the expert sources for all things related to the college application process. During the first three years of high school, we've accepted the reality our college-bound student has to face just to be able to apply to college. So brace yourselves as I try to break down the approaching hurricane of examinations into smaller showers of information we can hold an umbrella to. Disclaimers: Most families are caught up in the dream of having their child attend an Ivy League school as the only key to their future success. Having this goal is admirable, however, not every student is cut out for these schools no matter how hard they work. Based on this, the tips I offer below are not necessarily geared to helping your student get into this level of school, but a broad overview of what we discovered (some of it in hindsight), going through the application process. I'm not an expert or counselor, but simply have some experience I'd like to share with you because I did a lot of research helping my son throughout this process - and, frankly, it'd be a waste if I didn't! Below are some tips I hope will help you weather the pre-college exam storm: 1. PSAT- Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. Starting freshman year, high school students practice for the real SAT. I highly recommend that your student take this each year, and use the scores from freshman and sophomore years to gage how much preparation your student will need for the real test(s) his junior year. If taking the test during the later part of junior year, prepare now! If your student's goal is a perfect SAT because his or her dream college is an Ivy League (but he's not gifted like Einstein), then hire a private tutor - don't waist your money and time on courses. If you can't afford the tutor, then enroll in prep courses, preferably during the summer of junior year, to prepare for the tests offered in September or later. Having said this, if your child doesn't fall 'naturally' in the genius category, then make sure the school the student is applying to fits his academic strengths. Too many families get caught up in the competitive college dream without giving thought to the sacrifice the amount of work required at these prestigious cathedrals of education entails - and may be setting up their student for a very rude awakening. It's also important to go to the meetings provided by both the high school counselors and visiting colleges. A wealth of information is shared at these presentations and will avoid you many hours of research. My husband and I attended two scores-back sessions for the PSAT (sophomore and junior years), and after leaving the first session with a higher level of anxiety about what our son needed to do to increase his score, a year later we walked out of the second session more at ease with the unavoidable reality: Study and prepare for the real SAT in March of his junior year! This first test will reveal if your child will need to take more tests and if professional help is needed. 2. AP Exams - Students take Advance Placement course exams, usually starting sophomore year, if they enrolled in AP courses. As a junior, these tests will be taken in May. The extra grade point from taking AP courses is helpful to boost GPA, but be aware that most competitive colleges will look at 'unweighted' GPA, and both grades are reported on the student's transcript. So, why take AP courses? Colleges want to know if you were able to do this college-level work. I know, it doesn't make much sense to me either, but this is another way to 'weed' students out. Seems unjust, doesn't it? 3. SAT- Scholastic Aptitude Test and ACT- These are 'The Biggies'. According to our son's counselor, he can take them as many times as he wants (needs) to improve his scores and choose the best ones to send in with college applications. Score Choice is a new system for reporting test results, but you'll find most Colleges want to see all test scores reported, and Admission Officers will see the improvement (and persistence) with each score.You only need to report one set of scores; either the SAT or the ACT, but not necessarily both. 4. SAT Subject Tests - College-bound students definitely have to take at least two of these subject area tests, one in each level, to apply to top schools in the country and also if you're applying to USC and University of California schools: 5. Prep Courses - Our local high school counselor doesn't advise paying the high fees (around $1,000) for a preparation course. Instead, she is convinced that taking the PSAT as a freshman, sophomore and junior, and the SAT twice should yield higher scores each time. So, if your child took the PSAT his freshman year and got a score of 1,200, the same PSAT taken his junior year should have shown a score improvement to around a 1,600 simply due to two more years of knowledge plus good grades. With a little studying and preparation, this score could be even higher for the real test. However, if your student's target is over a 2,000 (and you can afford it), hire a tutor from the start, especially if the scores on the PSAT were not high (1,600) from the beginning. 6. College Coaches - If you just can't hack doing the research yourself, and you have another $1,000-$2,000 to spare, a college coach will work with your child on filling out applications, writing the all-important essay, and doing research on what colleges are best suited for his or her major. (Having someone other than yourself work with your child during this grueling process might also save the relationship between you and your student from becoming very strained). If you'd like to explore this route, I'd go in for a consultation with a college coach freshman year. Otherwise, save this money and spend it on the first year of college books. 7. Community Service - This part of the application is very important and can help separate your child from the pack. Start getting involved with a cause or club as a freshman - and stick with it throughout high school. This is what colleges would rather see instead of 'lose connections to several activities'. Besides sports, leadership, initiative and involvement are key to a well-rounded student. Keep this in mind, every student applying to the top schools in the nation has the following profile: . Valedictorian . High GPA 4.0+ . High SAT scores 2,000 . ASB or other Student Body involvement . Sport and Team Captain. Athletic Letters and Awards are included in this category . Community Service 8. 4.0 - Keep those grades hovering around 4.0, especially your junior year. Only encourage your child to do this if you want him or her to choose the college he would like to attend, and not have the college choose him. For the top ranked UC schools, a 4.0 has become imperative. To this end, we offered our 3.6 GPA student (previously 3.8, but we took a break from nagging and look what happened!) the following advice: Parent to child in February: "The next three months will determine the rest of your life. A 4.0 will get you into almost any school you choose. Can you put the Xbox away, unjam the ear buds from your head, and stuff the iPod in a drawer for the next three months? It's only for three months, and this small sacrifice now will give you a life-long reward. Please? Child to parents: "How can that be? I've got one more year to go." Parents: "Unfortunately, your college application will have your transcript up until the end of your junior year. These will be the grades admissions officers will use to determine if you are good enough for them". Child: "Darn it!" Finally, after all this is said and done (hopefully by the end of junior year) take the summer off. Really? No, not really. The summer between junior and senior year should be used to do something meaningful; create a unique internship (good ideas are available at College Board.com), get an interesting job related to your college major, or volunteer with a philanthropic organization. All this work is important to fulfill the community service requirements many colleges have today, and some say makes for a well rounded student. Don't curl up with a good book and hot chocolate when the raindrops hit your rooftop this month. Instead, grab Newsweek's How to get into College Fall 2009 issue, or the SAT prep book and help your child start answering some questions like this one taken from the College Board's Official Question of the Day: Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A. Chilean novelist and short-story writer María Luisa Bombal wrote innovative and influential stories featuring heroines which create fantasy worlds in order to escape from unfulfilling love relationships and restricted social roles. 1. heroines which create 2. heroines, they create 3. heroines, they created 4. heroines who create 5. heroines that were creating Want the answer? Just leave a comment and I'll give it you! Finally, remember, this too shall pass... |
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