When I was in college I applied to several colleges. I even applied early decision to Johns Hopkins University with a goal of going in to genetics. I took the ACTs. I wrote my college essays. I got accepted [not to Johns Hopkins]. And I went off to college.
But that was a long time ago.
Both my husband and I are currently students. He’s at a local community college. And I’m at the nearby state university. This time around we didn’t apply to colleges all over the country. We didn’t have any essays to write. And we didn’t have to take the SATs. This time we just chose colleges nearby so we didn’t have to uproot our family or switch jobs. This time it was easy.
With our oldest being a sophomore in high school we’ve started to think about what needs to be done to prepare for college. We are a little rusty on all of the details. And I’m not naive enough to think his college aspirations will be as easy as our choices were in our adulthood.
That’s where College Admissions Together
There are several chapters on understanding your teenager; understanding how their crazy brain works. I found this chapters very helpful, not just during this college application process, but in parenting my teenager in general. It’s been several years since I was a teenager and I’ve completely forgotten how temperamental teenagers are and how indecisive and lazy they can be. The authors provide several tips on how to navigate through the teen years and how to motivate them in to action.
College Admissions Together reminds you to assess schools based on what is a good fit for your child. Don’t get too hung up on getting your teen in to your old alma mater or an Ivy League school unless it’s truly somewhere your child will excel. The authors remind you to look at your child’s personality to determine the size, the atmosphere, the location and much, much more about the school. They also discuss your constraints as a parent, such as cost.
There is a whole chapter on responsibilities. Who is responsible for what task in the college search? There are some things you need to leave to your kids (such as the essays) and some things the parents need to step up and control (like keeping track of the timeline). This chapter is very helpful in making sure you and your child stay organized during this time.
I highly recommend this book to any parent of teenagers. I thought I was prepared for this stage in our lives, but this book brought up things I completely forgot to consider. This is such a huge help in our college adventure. Senior year isn’t the only time to be thinking about college. Even with our sophomore we need to start having those discussions, begin to research schools and possibly go on some campus visits. This is a big, life changing time and this book will help get you prepared.
