Category Archives: Colleges & Universty

Homeschool Parents – Helpful Hints For Your Role As College Planning Counselor

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College planning is essential for all high school students and parents. It is especially important for homeschool parents. Although you wear many hats, becoming your child’s guidance counselor is only one of your duties. After a long day of being a teacher, parent, chauffeur, and homemaker, assuming the role of a college planning counselor is usually placed last on your list. Finding the time and making college planning a major part of your highschooler’s curriculum leads to success in high school, college, and career.

Scholarship and Financial Aid, Career Selection, College Selection, and Test Preparation are critical components to assist you in this overwhelming task of being a college planning counselor. Plan your long and short term goals to include the following areas in your daily, monthly, and yearly guidance goals:

Scholarship and Financial Aid

Paying for college should be every family’s long range goal. In addition to having a plan of action in your family’s budget, you need to ready your child’s credentials by creating a balance of academics, community service, and leadership. These are positive factors in having the edge over other candidates for scholarships. Find the right information sources and secure the proper applications for scholarships and financial aid. It is important to complete these applications in the proper manner and meet deadlines. Missing a deadline could cost you thousands of dollars in scholarship money.

Career Selection

Research careers that match your child’s interests and abilities. Include career guidance in assignments, tests, inhome and outside activities, and long-range projects. Investigate all aspects of careers including college requirements and job-outlook. Plan your child’s course of study and college selection to fit career plans. Talk to your child about his or her likes and dislikes and merge these desires with lifetime career goals.

College Selection

Secure as much information on colleges from colleges and other sources. In selecting colleges, keep college majors and cost as priorities. Then, plan college visits to a variety of colleges. You could even make it a family outing or vacation. Meet with college representatives, tour the colleges and then return home and talk as a family to help your child narrow the selection. Consider the location, size of enrollment, admission requirements, majors, deadlines, cost, and financial aid availability.

Test Preparation

Most colleges require SAT or ACT college entrance test scores. Seek information as to the dates, times, and registration requirements of these tests. Encourage your child to take the tests well ahead of graduation. The Fall of the llth grade is a good starting point. If you are not satisfied with the scores, have your child take the tests as many times as needed. Students are able to keep the highest score. Know what scores and deadlines are required for your particular colleges, as admission/scholarship scores and deadlines vary from college to college. Get as much help as necessary from outside tutors or classes on test-taking strategies and preparation. Also, merge test-taking skills into your child’s daily assignments, homework, and tests. One point on a college entrance test could mean getting into a college or receiving scholarship money.

Assuming the role of a high school guidance counselor is not easy since guidance and counseling is a specialized profession. However, you can make this puzzling task easier for yourself and your homeschooler by making a plan and working the plan one step at a time.

College Success – What Does it Take?

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College success is not as difficult for most young students as learning how to take on adult responsibilities. Letting go of adolescence and becoming an adult is more challenging according to Carl Pickardt, Psychologist and adolescent specialist. If you take responsibility for showing up to class regularly, turning papers and work in on time, and sacrificing some of the time spent with friends in favor of more study time, you have won half the battle for achieving college success. Being responsible for meeting the demands of college (ability to respond and step up to the plate) is one of the keys to college achievement.

You already have been using some of the higher level thinking skills needed to succeed in college. You use these skills when you solve your life problems and overcome obstacles. Your lack of success in college will not be because you are not smart enough. There are many different types of intelligence and my experience in working with hundreds of students has shown that practically every student is smart in one way or another. For more information on different types of intelligence other than IQ, you can read the theories of Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences), Robert Sternberg (Successful Intelligence) and Daniel Goleman (Emotional and Social Intelligence).

In addition to self-responsibility, there are three other factors you will need to succeed in college:

1. Learning how to learn and study skills — You need to learn how to learn effectively and the ways that you learn best. Most colleges offer at least one college success course which can teach you these skills. These courses also need to be taught to high school students, but sadly few high schools provide them. A good college success course will teach you: how to study and learn, reading comprehension strategies, your best learning styles and types of intelligences, how to set and reach your goals, time management, discovery of your talents and strengths, career exploration, writing skills, note taking, problem solving, and more.

2. Work Ethic — Good study and work habits will lead you to success in college and in the work force. Good study skills will only be effective if you apply them. They will be worthless to you if you do not use them.

3. Motivation — Without motivation you will not consistently use good study skills, work habits and your intelligence and potential. There are two types of motivation, the carrot (pleasure) and the stick (pain). When you use these together you will have a powerful motivational combination. Keep your long-range goals for achieving a college education in your mind’s eye. For example, let’s say you want a degree in secondary education to become a teacher. Visualize and imagine yourself as a teacher who is making a positive difference for your students. Enjoy the positive feelings that come when you see yourself as a great teacher. This is the carrot and a reminder of one of the benefits (pleasure) you will experience by achieving your goal. Also remind yourself of the stick (pain) or the consequences if you do not achieve your goal of completing a degree in secondary education. It can deprive you of becoming a teacher. Reminding yourself of the benefits and consequences will help you to stay motivated and persistent. Also break your long-range goals into small steps. Every step accomplished provides you with positive feedback and will increase your motivation to reach your long-range goals.

You can succeed in college, in your career, and in your life. Where to begin? Start with college success by taking responsibility, learning how to learn effectively and how you learn best, using good study skills and work habits, and by fueling your motivation to succeed. Use these four keys and you will open the door to college success and the gateway to your dreams.