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A note from the desk of Lori Konsky The economy today makes it paramount that students and parents work together towards making sure that they succeed. The key is to plan and prepare early. Our children need a goal and we can help pave the way to create a timeline and picture of what is needed and expected. I have found with tutoring hundreds of students and by helping the families by guiding them on what to do and when that by engaging in the process early the students build confidence and are successful in finding the right fit for what they want to do after High School. Here are a few of my recommendations for the best case scenario, of course you can jump in at any time and you should!! 8th and 9th grades Visit a state college and a private (smaller) college and pick up information on entrance requirements. If they play a sport visit that coach and talk about the team and what it takes to play the sport in college. This creates a picture for the student that will let them know why the GPA and ACT/SAT scores are important. Knowing early on, that freshman year is just as important as the senior year can save heartache later on. When students wait until Junior or Senior year to look into this they sometimes are behind the eight ball and have lots of making up to do. 9th and 10th grades Join a club at school and become involved in leadership activities. Skills USA, Scholar bowl, Model UN, WYSE, Science Club, Envirothon, and Chess Club – find a passion and stick with it! It is not the number of activities that you partake in, it is the fact that you helped to grow that club or activity and you in turn grew and learned from your experience! Study and take the ACT early – Three times a year you can take it at a national test site and get your test booklet back. Take the test in June, December or April and fill out the TIR form and pay $17 to have the booklet sent back to you. Now, study and look at what you missed!! Take a class, study from an ACT book, find a tutor – the key is to get your feet wet early to find any hidden items you may be dealing with. Pace, confidence, forgotten formulas, all of these can be addressed and fixed with experience and confidence! When you go on vacation – visit colleges in the area and along the way! Keep creating a picture of what and why needs to be done! 11th and 12th grades Keep visiting colleges during the summer. Narrow down your choices. Fill out scholarship applications and start looking at the Common Application to see what information you need to fill it out. Fill out your FAFSA for as early as possible (Jan 1 and ASAP after) of your senior year. Look at majors and find the college that offers what you want to study! Look at the scores and GPA needed. Look at local, regional, school specific scholarship opportunities! Now, this timeline is just to give you an overview of what needs to be done. If your student is going to play a sport, dance, band, cheerleading – you have extra homework to do. You need to look into the different tiers of college NAIA to DIII and see where the right fit is. You must contact coaches early and market yourself. The coaches do not comb papers and online to find YOU! You spoon feed them the information and meet them to market yourself. The process is fun – just start EARLY! Many successful students that are getting merit scholarships start taking the ACT/SAT early and take it 3 or 4 times to get the composite that they need. Lots of tricks and tips! Call me if you need assistance.
"All the things we achieve are things we have first of all imagined." |
