College Bound: Fall College Prep Checklist for 9th Grade Students

College success is not an automatic occurrence; it has to be intentionally crafted and planned.  In my line of work, I often see high school seniors who are way behind the college prep curve.  Unfortunately, these students are usually in the underrepresented populations (minority, low-income, first-generation).  I truly believe knowledge is power. With that, I have made it a life goal to make sure families are equipped with the right knowledge, at the right time, to make a good decisions about their child’s future.

Starting as early as the 9th grade, there are important things that parents and students can do to facilitate the college planning process. While senior year is the year to sign, seal, and deliver, the freshman year is the time to lay the foundation for a career path, college choice, and scholarships.  9th grade is a great time of exploration. Students should be exploring career options, talents, hobbies, and co-curricular interests.

Academic. Make sure students do not fall behind in their Algebra I course.  This course is important to success in other math courses in  both high school and college.  If at all possible, arrange for a couple hours of after school tutoring to make sure they understand the material and to build up their confidence. For Louisiana parents, make sure you understand TOPS requirements and double check your child’s schedule to make sure they are taking the correct courses. 

Career. Parents should encourage students to write down a broad list of possible careers and research them.  If they need a little help, they can take a free career aptitude test that gives several possible career options base on personal interest and preferences. With or without incentive 🙂 , students can report back to parents on the results of their career search.  For each possible career option, students should find out the educational requirements, salary range, locations, and potential employers.  Thinking about career paths early on can help narrow down college choices later.

Financial & Social.  While scholarships are appropriate to tackle in the junior year, students can begin to sharpen their competitive edge by joining organizations early.  Scholarship application reviewers like to see that students have attained leadership skills and are well rounded students.  However, the first step in becoming an officer or leader in an organization is to join early and become a dedicated member. Make sure your student diversifies their co-curricular activities by joining one academic, athletic, community service or a special interest group.

 

Who Graduates College? Take a guess!

I read a great New York Times post about how talented, low-income and minority students experience hardships on their path to getting their college degree. While the article highlights the socioeconomic gap that permeates college graduation rates, my message is clear: NO MATTER YOUR BACKGROUND, KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM fills any gap. As I have worked with hundreds of students as college academic coach, I see a pattern in those students who achieve and those students that don’t.  It’s not that they are incapable of doing these things, but no one has ever inform them of the best practices in getting a college education. Why aren’t they communicated is another discussion about whose job is it to REALLY prepare our student for college. There are 5 things students can do to overcome any educational hurdle and obtain a college degree. Unfortunately, these things are not communicated to parents and students and students walk blindly into college.

1. Get involved in a bridge or transition program.  These programs are effective for so many reasons and many have proven to help retain and graduate more students from marginalize populations.
2. Identify a peer, faculty, and staff mentor and foster a relationship.  Many low-income students are also the first to go to college in their immediate family, which means there are not as many people in their network to properly help them get adjusted to college.  However, establishing a mentoring relationships with faculty and staff can fill this gap.  Having a person of accountability and someone that can give you unbiased advice can help students remain focus and on track after theyencounter normal bumps and hurdles of college life.
3. Utilize all campus resources especially academic support. This a biggie.  Tutorial services can be wrongfully thought of as remedial for some students.  However, students who use academic support services have higher grades than those that do not.
4. Get involved in professional and social organizations.  Students who are social engaged on campus have a higher retention and graduation rate than those who just go to class and go home.
5. Ask for help. With all the un-student friendly bureaucracy of college, a simple academic or financial aid issue can quickly snowball into a major problem.  Many times students feel helpless and don’t know who or where to turn. Simply asking for help or direction can make a huge difference.

 

Raising College Grads: Home is where SMART starts! Part 2

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In Raising College Grads…Part 1, (Read Here) I discussed how many college success skills are developed or strengthen outside of the classroom during their k-12 years.  Skills like reading comprehension (not just reading),  writing, and critical thinking take time and consistency to develop. “Smartness” and college success just doesn’t happen.  It takes a lot of behind the scenes work.  I heard all the time growing up that I was smart, like it was this unattainable thing that everyone couldn’t reach.  Well, that’s not my philosophy.  Being “smart” is not something nature or genetics hands to anyone on a platter. It has to be nurtured consistently.

Below are some simple strategies parents can use to increase their child’s potential for academic success in K-12 and beyond.

1. Subscribe to positive magazines to help encourage reading such as Jet, Ebony, Time, and National Geographic. Reading can give students broad knowledge that will help them, in general, learn easier. Reading expands the vocabulary and builds imagination needed to think critically. Students also become well-rounded when exposed to current events and cultural issues.
2. Make TV viewing educational. Ask your children to write and read aloud a summary of what they have just watch. Check for details like characters’ names, descriptions, and events.  A critical level in higher order thinking is the ability to summarize details and pick out main ideas. This is also a top college study strategy. (This may take some incentive).
3. Choose a word of the week that the family must spell, define and use in a daily conversation. Expanding your child’s vocabulary will make reading comprehension, writing and standardized testing easier.

Stay tuned for more strategies that you can use to increase your child’s potential for success!

Raising College Grads: Home is where SMART starts! Part 1

“That school does nothing for my child!”  “That teacher doesn’t teach my baby anything.”  “This school district is terrible.” “We have the worst education system in the nation”.  

If I had a nickel for every time I have heard those phrases I would be at least a thousand-aire :).  Yes, a formal education is necessary.  However, students CAN NOT learn everything in 8 hours per day for 9 months per year, for 12 years. Impossible! Yes, I’m all for education reform (not the one that in the news…but a real change). But while all the change is taking place (whenever it happens) your child still has to become educated.  Jobs and colleges will not accept excuses for why a student does not have the qualifications to compete. While parents feel helpless and restricted in providing quality education for their children because of finances or locale, the real TRUTH is: Everything your child needs to compete academically with the best is at home! 

The ultimate goal of K-12 education is not to pass a standardized test but to become a productive adult that can solve real life problems and make wise decisions.  Most real life problems occur outside of the classroom. Therefore, the most important lessons students can learn are at home and in extracurricular activities.  No, i’m not a parent, but I am a child who succeeded despite coming from a minority, low-income and first-generation household and a “medium”-quality school district.  The things that I was exposed to at home over-compensated for any lack that I may have experience in my K-12 education.

In “Raising College Grads: Home Is Where SMART starts! Part 2” I will give several tips and strategies that parents can considered in making sure their child is academically prepared for college.