THE HIGH SCHOOL BLOG

Everything that is discussed here for 9th grade students is covered in depth in the book How To Pay For College Without Going Broke. Purchasing this book entitles you to a free 15 minute consultation with Reecy Aresty. Buy it here!

The Not Too Late “To Do” List

Ideally, the student did fairly well in the 9th grade and:

• Received good grades,
• Overcame some bad habits and developed some good ones,
• Took a language,
• Completed some community service hours,
• Joined a few clubs and obtained a position of leadership in at least one of them,
• And perhaps got on the good side of one or two guidance counselors.

Well done. If any of the above has not been accomplished - get cracking! You’re not exactly behind the 8 ball yet, but if you don’t catch up and waste just one more year, you certainly will be.

Remember: If you want a college education, you have to go out and make it happen. It won’t happen by itself. So, get out of bed and carpe diem (seize the day)!

The unprepared or under-prepared, oh, I’ve got plenty of time students who are just beginning college planning, should waste no time:

• Putting together their resume,
• Negotiating for better grades, (see Chapter 2),
• Positioning themselves for outstanding LOR’s,
• Searching for colleges they are qualified for, and
• Thinking about what they’ll major in.

If the student is career focused, so much the better. If not, and they don’t have the slightest clue what they’re going to do with their lives - parents should not be overly concerned. A recurring question asked on most college applications is, “What do you plan to major in?” One of the answers is, “Undecided.” Students will have until the end of the sophomore year to declare their major, but they had better be attending a school that will offer them enough choices!

They should not be pressured into making these important decisions now, or even after the first year of college. However, they should be encouraged to seriously begin thinking about the answers.

Warning! Parents should help steer students into a career they have the ability to excel in. A student who only received a ‘C’ in Calculus is not advised to major in Aeronautical Engineering. Those imagining themselves as a linguist for the United Nations should realize it isn’t going to happen if they’ve only taken two years of Russian. Ambitions and goals are necessary and admirable, but they must be realistic, and there’s no fooling an admissions officer, so don’t even try! Students should seek the advice of a guidance counselor to recommend one of the many computer programs to assist them with career selection.

Parent Involvement

Chances are that Ralph Waldo Emerson was not thinking of a parent’s involvement with their college-bound student when he said, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood,” but his words clearly apply to parents in this context.

I am a firm believer that every student needs all the family support and professional help they can get. Unfortunately, many parents only get involved after it’s too late, demonstrating a failure of parent commitment to their child’s education.

On the other hand, parents often complain to me that their student isn’t doing their part, and that they are doing all the grunt work. I tell them to grin and bare it during the high school years, because after high school, the entire burden falls on the shoulders of the student, and them alone. At that point and not before, the parent’s role will finally be over.

Truth be told, I only say that in the company of the student, hoping they read into it and recognize the between-the-lines wake-up call. Ok, it’s a bit patronizing as well. Frankly, what I’d do with a kid like that is light a fire under their behind and serve notice that it’s time to take life seriously and plan for the future - their future.

Every parent wants the best for their kids, so they usually do what’s necessary to insure their student’s happiness and success in the world. Unfortunately, there are some parents who leave the entire task to the student, and too many students fail miserably as a result. Parents must get involved with their students ideally in the 9th grade, but certainly no later than the 10th.

The “On-Track” 10th Grader

The On-Track “To Do” List:

• Continue meeting with guidance counselor(s).
• If possible, register and take the PSAT or PLAN (pre-ACT).
• Perform additional community service hours. Anything to do with the handicapped will be very well received.
• Join more clubs and ideally take on a leadership role - Key Club and Yearbook are great.
• Participate in sports.
• Continue to negotiate for better grades if necessary and whenever feasible.
• The student should prepare a list of about 20 colleges. By the beginning of the 12th grade, this list should be narrowed down to 6 to 8 schools.
• · If at all possible, plan a family visit to a few of these campuses during the school year. If it isn’t possible - do it anyway! I stress this because of a saying I learned as a child, “The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer!”

Warning! Don’t make the common mistake of visiting a college campus when school is out. If nobody’s there, you won’t be able to get a feel for the campus or have the right people available to answer your questions. Be sure to plan trips far in advance.

All students should begin writing practice essays by the 10th grade. They should go online, download college applications of schools they might apply to, identify the essay questions, and write a few practice essays. This is invaluable preparation for the work that must be completed in just a little more than a year.

Depending on the school, applications cannot be submitted until late August or early September of the senior year when they become available directly from the colleges or online.

By going through the motions of reviewing the applications and completing last year’s essays, the family (and I stress family), will have a much better grasp of what’s taking place, and a greater chance that all applications will be submitted without mistakes.

The Common Application (CA)

For members of the Class of 2007 and beyond, I have recently changed my opinion on the CA and now strongly recommend that the student complete it for the 298 schools that use it. For a list of these schools, visit:

www.commonapp.org/commlist.htm 
<https://app.commonapp.org/index.cfm?
Remember: Most college applications require an LOR from a guidance counselor and/or a teacher as part of the application itself. It’s never too early to begin developing the kind of relationship with counselors and teachers that will insure an exemplary LOR.

The Early Bird Menu

Many parents and students confuse early admission, early read, early decision, early action and early notification. Using these admission options correctly will shape the course of the student’s college years:

Early Admission

Typically, the student applies to college at the beginning of the junior year and simply goes through the process earlier. However, this strategy is seldom used as it only applies to the most exceptional students who complete all high school requirements prior to the 12th grade, or even earlier. Early Admission is not binding. Nonetheless, it is strongly recommended that the student demonstrate a college level of social and emotional maturity before implementing this strategy. Schools often get into a bidding contest to recruit the truly exceptional student, some offering full scholarships for the privilege of having such an accomplished student on their campus!

Early Read

A number of colleges will offer to calculate a family’s EFC without any obligation on the part of the student to apply to their school. All you need to do is send them all your financial information at the beginning of the 12th grade! Sounds like a good deal, right? Wrong!!

If the student eventually decides to apply to that school, the aid offer has already been predetermined. Surely you wouldn’t feel comfortable having the IRS calculate your taxes, so why would you have a college determine your EFC? Avoid this at all costs!

Early Decision

This is a program with earlier deadlines and notification dates than the regular decision process. Students who apply for an Early Decision program commit to attending that school and only that school! This is a binding contract that restricts the student to only one school.

Once accepted, the student must notify all other schools applied to and request that their application be withdrawn. A student can apply to only one school for Early Decision.

The plus here is, if money is not an issue and the family will not be applying for financial aid, Early Decision is highly recommended because then the student will have a decided advantage in the admissions process!

On the other hand, if financial aid is an issue, the danger is that the student must attend that college regardless of the financial aid offered! This option should be used with extreme caution.

While Early Decision adds some leverage to being accepted, the financial consequences can be devastating because the student must accept that school’s financial aid package no matter how inadequate it might be. I only recommend Early Decision under very specific circumstances:

· The Student is applying to only one university or to Princeton. As of 2001, the school has been meeting the financial need 100% in scholarships and grants with no loans.

· Student is a legacy applicant - one or both parents attended the school as an undergraduate.

· Even more so, when 3 or 4 other family members (parent, sibling, or grandparent) have attended the school.

· If the student is qualified and has absolutely no desire to attend any other school.

· The family is not applying for financial aid and money is no object.

Although most of these scenarios are not commonplace, under these conditions I actually encourage Early Decision.

Note: Attempting to rescind an Early Decision acceptance is something I almost never recommend unless there was some terrible, unforeseen emergency or life and death situation in the family.

Early Decision II

Offered by some schools, it is virtually identical to Early Decision except the application deadlines are later, usually January 1st. As with Early Decision, only one school can be applied to. Follow the Early Decision criteria above and proceed accordingly.

Early Action

Except for Early Decision candidates, I encourage all students to apply for Early Action at colleges that offer it. Students apply from September 15th to January 1st and notices usually go out between December 15th and January 31st, (dates may vary).

Applying for Early Action has one definite advantage - since the competition is so fierce, the sooner a student applies the better. For the barely qualified student, there is an absolute advantage. It would be highly unlikely such a student would qualify in the general applicant pool, as they would be competing against far too many honor students and would pale by comparison. Always implement this strategy!

Remember: Students apply to college at the beginning of the senior year, and any grades beyond mid-term may not count at all! Whenever possible, I encourage students to apply for Early Action, which usually ends January 1st.

Early Notification

This is similar to Early Action, except that some schools might also ask for a commitment to their financial aid package well in advance of the traditional May 1st deadline. Unless they make an offer you can’t refuse - ask them to extend their deadline until the family has had sufficient time to consider all offers from the schools where the student has been accepted. I would strongly advise against negotiations because the student will be at a serious disadvantage with no other offers to compare and accepting could be a very costly error. Avoid this like the plague!
Rolling Admissions

This is a most advantageous school policy for applicants, as the college will notify students of their status within a few weeks of receiving all necessary application documents. These schools will usually accept a student until their quota has been satisfied. Check the admissions policies of the schools you’re applying to and implement whenever available.

Open Admissions

Some 4-year, most 2-year and virtually all community colleges will offer all applicants admission on a come-as-you-are basis. Implement when available.

10th Grade Summary

1. Review the transcript for errors, omissions and inconsistencies.

2. Continue accumulating community service hours in a variety of activities. This summer, if possible, work out of state. It will be well received by the colleges, as they will see this as “risk taking.”

3. Continue updating the resume.

4. Make sure parents continue to be involved with every aspect of the process.

5. Obtain a great LOR or two from teachers and counselors.

6. Write more practice essays.

7. Continue reading and increasing your vocabulary. Learn 5-10 new words every week.

8. Continue negotiating for better grades - by now it should be paying off.

9. Update the list of college choices, which should now be taking shape.

10. Continue with Honors and AP classes, and take more if possible.

11. Parents and students should continue nurturing relationships with teachers and guidance counselors.

12. Prepare the athletic summary - if applicable - and become familiar with NCAA guidelines.

13. Students should call or email the schools where they are planning to apply and request a copy or subscription to their campus newspaper. You’ll be amazed at how helpful and revealing it can be.

14. Set up a grid with all college information and the criteria most important to you. (See Appendix 3)

15. Plan official visits and continue checking out schools on the Internet and locating alumni in your area to get another perspective on the colleges the student will be applying to.

16. Keep in contact with anyone you met during your 9th grade college visits. They may be helpful when it comes time to apply.

17. Take a class or two in summer school.

18. Plan the 11th grade schedule to stay on track.

19. After reviewing your options, consider entering an IB Program next year - it’s your last chance!

20. If you want Uncle Sam, continue researching ROTC schools and keep in touch with your US Senators and Congressmen.

21. By now, students should have some idea which schools they will be applying to. Remember, that for most schools your numbers should be within the top 25% of all applicants. “Reach” schools, those the student barely qualifies for, shouldn’t be totally out of reach!

22. Performing Arts students should check with their guidance counselor(s) for college fair schedules. (See the “Atypical Students” in Chapter 6.)

23. Fine Arts students should check with their art teacher(s) for college art fair schedules. (See the “Atypical Students” in Chapter 6.)

24. Fine Arts students should try to establish a relationship with a world-class talent in their field - show them your stuff, and get an LOR. (See the “Atypical Students” in Chapter 6.)

You have now completed college planning for the 10th grade. Are you ready to move on to the 11th grade? Well, you’d better be! It’s time to get serious about going to college, and if not already done so, you should begin to properly position the family fortune. (See Section II)

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