College Preparation Guidance
A Timeline for Students
College is a whole new world and if you haven’t prepared for it at least on some level, then you’re really putting yourself at a great disadvantage. Most American high schools likely heavily on college prep, but getting ready for college involves more than taking a couple of prep courses and filling out an admissions application.
Guess what? Proper college preparation begins while you’re a child. When children are young parents can instill the college expectation, that without a doubt children are going to attend college. This type of preparation can positively shape your outlook and help you develop an early sense of your educational and career goals.
By the time you enter high school college goals become uppermost in the decisions you make regarding courses, grades, achievement, academic habits, extracurricular activities and even part-time jobs.
Develop an Academic College-Oriented Mindset
Prepare for college well enough in advance by nurturing a college-oriented mindset. How do you do this? Create an image in your mind in which you can visualize yourself on a college campus or in a dorm room. Self-affirming images like this have powerful effect on our lives. This image, over time, makes the idea of college an absolute in your life.
Parents or guardians are influential components in the college factor. Ideas that may help plant the college seed in your child’s mind:
- Talk about college when your children are young.
- Ask kids what they’d like to be when they grow up.
- Prompt teenagers to consider long-term goals and actually visualize themselves far in the future.
Make Use of Counselors and Other Resources
A huge part of college preparation is visiting with your high school counselor, often. Counselors are usually invaluable resources. However, most are not able to come search for you—you must go to them.
How your high school guidance or career counselor can help you with college prep:
- Help you narrow down college and university choices.
- Provide guidance for career and college majors that best suit your personality and skills.
- Tips for scholarship and grant programs.
- Advice for choosing high school course work that will give you an advantage.
- Assistance with scholarship essays and applications essays.
- Guidance with confusing financial aid applications.
Make it a habit to visit your high school counselors regularly: keep them up to date on you, your life and your goals.
Understand College Application Requirements Early
Along with paying a visit to your counselor often, you should also read about or pick up copies of college applications very early on. Even if you don’t plan on attending a certain college, it can be extremely helpful to you to know what a college application looks like and what it entails so you can prepare accordingly. Your best bet would be to have a tentative list of colleges you’d like to attend so you can evaluate their applications early. Doing this will also help you understand what high school classes you need to take, any extracurricular activities you need to take part in and any other tasks you need to complete in order to be competitive on your application.
Develop and Program Good Habits Early
Habits you develop in high school can help make your adjustment to campus and dorm life that much easier. Here are a few tips:
- Get accustomed to getting up early as if you had to attend an 8 a.m. class: buy an alarm clock.
- Work a part-time job and set a personal spending budget you have to stick to; funds will be really tight once you’re on campus.
- Put money away into a 529-college savings account as early as you can; make saving for college part of your responsibility.
With proper preparation, college is a realistic goal with outstanding benefits. Ideally, parents and students work together toward this common goal. However, students can pull their own weight as well, by following these tips and by acknowledging the importance of a college education.