A Message to First Year College Students and Their Parents

August.

The time of year when first time college students are excited (and maybe a little nervous) about starting a new phase in their life.

The time of year when parents begin to realize that their 'baby' is no longer a baby and is about to spread their wings and fly.

I have written some things in the past to parents and students about how to navigate this time of life that merit re-visiting.

For parents,

What Does "Test Optional" College Admission Mean for Homeschoolers?

I received this request from Jennifer this week:

           I would like to see you write on your blog about the potential new trend

          of colleges not requiring test scores for admission. George Washington University

          dropped this requirement for incoming freshmen. How do you feel this will

          change admission for homeschool graduates if it becomes more wide spread like

           expected? I can see it being a potential double edged sword.

From Homeschool to College, An Expert Opinion

 I recently had the opportunity to be a podcast guest with Lauren Gaggioli at Higher Scores Test Prep.

 Lauren introduced the podcast by saying this:

 Karen shares her tips on how to prepare homeschooled children for the college admission process. While Karen’s tips are great advice for the homeschooling families in our audience, she shares great tips that – frankly – all families (even traditionally schooled ones) will benefit from. 

Look at This Loan

"Tell your mom friends who are still homeschooling about that."

Such was the advice I received from a friend as we were discussing college and how our students are paying for it.

She was telling me about the Texas Be On Time Loan (or BOT).  How had I missed this no interest loan that would be forgiven if a student graduates in 4 years and maintains at least a 3.0 GPA? 

I probably discounted it due to the nature of its name:  loan.  We prefer our students not need to take a loan for undergrad.  However, this loan intrigued me.

What my friend Melanie wants you to know, however, is that this loan requires students to have completed a "Recommended or Distinguished Achievement Program - Advanced High School Program or its equivalent."

College Applications: Now We Wait

Even though I have been silent lately on my son's college application process, it doesn't mean he hasn't been busy.

He has applied to:

College Admissions Essay

 
In the mail today, I was excited to receive my review copy of  Admissions Essay Boot Camp: How to Write Your Way into the Elite College of Your Dreams.

I don't think my son has elite colleges in his dreams, but it is always a good idea to write an excellent essay, so I was interested to see if this book would give us any new insight.

Help Your Child Become Successful at Life- an interview and giveaway

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats

Many of us (myself included) are often so focused on  filling the pail with "everything they need to know",  that we forget to light the fire of learning.

I recently found Jonathan Harris' website 10KToTalent. 

Preparing for College: Be Smart, Not Scared

I stumbled across a 'college planning' website recently that is written by a mom who is scared.  A mom who started researching college scholarships when her daughter was just a few months old!.  Wondering how she is going to put her kids through college keeps her up at night.

To that mom, and any like her, I say, "Stop.  Stop being scared.  Stop wasting your time."

Guest Post: Success Without College

 Today's guest post is from my friend Courtney at Minivan Mom.  I think we were the very first customer at their body shop.  That is where I first met her husband.  I asked Courtney to tell us their story about how they are succeeding without  college degrees.  Courtney and her husband were both homeschooled and now homeschool their children.  She has some great advice here.  Enjoy her story (and this picture of her adorable family).

Photo Credit: Abbie Gibson Photography

What To Do About the New SAT (uncut version)

As you probably noticed in my last post titled What To Do About the New SAT, my editor believes in brevity.   She thought my original post was verbose, but I wanted to share it anyway.  What follows is the uncut version of the post.

The SAT is getting a makeover.

Current high school freshmen will be the guinea pigs for this test in Spring 2016, according to the College Board.

There is a lot of ‘chatter’ on the internet in response to this announcement.

What can students do about the new SAT?  

Don’t take it.  

What To Do About the New SAT Test

The brevity of this post is brought to you by my mean editor. 

Don't like the new SAT? 

Take the ACT instead. 

The end.

* the 400+ word unedited version of this post is coming soon

Free College?

Recently, I was talking to my friend Courtney about the cost of college and the average student loan debt for college graduates.

She asked, "Have you heard about colleges that you work to pay your tuition?"

I responded, " Do you mean like College of the Ozarks?"

She said, "I haven't heard of that one, I was thinking about Berea College. Are you familiar with that school?"

"I have heard of it," I said, "but, I didn't know they did that."

After doing a little research, I discovered that College of the Ozarks in Lookout Point, MO

 and Berea College in Berea, KY are very similar.

ONE BIG MISTAKE MANY COLLEGE STUDENTS MAKE

Have you ever gone to job websites (Monster, Career Builder, Craigslist, etc.) and noticed which types of jobs have the most listings? The least listings?

Have you ever looked at the job market for what your student is interested in pursuing? Even better, has your student researched the job?

Very often, students are told to follow their passion when thinking of a college major or a career.

At first glance, this seems like good advice.

An Overlooked Way to Fund College

 I recently stumbled across an overlooked way to fund college. 

 I heard two different people comment, "My employer would have paid for me to attend college, but at the time, I didn't see a need for a college degree."  Both of these people now wish they had taken advantage of that often overlooked way to fund college.

Why should your student explore every funding option available?

What About High School? Planning Homeschool High School

When homeschooling high school, having a plan and keeping records becomes more important.

Beginning with 9th grade, a 4-year plan is necessary.

How do you make a 4-year plan?

Create the Perfect College Finals Survival Kit

When my oldest girls were in college, I belonged to a county mom's group for that university. Every spring and fall they would offer a finals kit that we could purchase to be delivered to our students during finals week. This was always a fun time for the moms group to get together and assemble the kit with items one of the club members purchased in bulk. A creative container was always part of the finals kit, too.

While I loved the idea of a finals kit, I was never very crazy about the contents: candy and junk food. This made absolutely no sense to me. During a time when the students would be having more stress, less sleep, and erratic meals, we were going to provide more sugar and processed food to their already weakened immune systems?

My solution was to create a personalized finals kit

Writing Resources

Why College Freshmen Should Declare A Major

Some students know by seventh grade the path they want to pursue.  Others have no idea the career path that interests them.  Many students enter their first year of college as an Undeclared major.  They intend to get their basic subjects out of the way while they explore and contemplate their career options.

Of my five children who have gone to college, only one entered freshman year as an undeclared major and then I never allowed that again.  It seemed like a logical choice for that student since she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do and she was a little bit afraid to declare a major for fear she would be ‘stuck’ with that choice forever.

Why do I not allow Undeclared majors anymore?

Coping When Your Child Leaves For College

 

SMU class of 2016- my child is in there somewhere!

So your child just left or will soon leave for college. You, the parent, are probably feeling emotions that range from "I feel like my right arm was just cut off" to doing a happy dance.

I've never done a happy dance when my children went to college, but I have felt like my right arm had been severed. Some of my friends have gone into a short term depression or felt at a loss for several weeks. It is almost a mini grieving process. It is a strange thing for that child to be gone, even if there are several more children still at home.

How do you deal with it?

Dorm Room Cooking

My son is not in a dorm this year, but he is not in an apartment either.  He is in a room- a no kitchen, no closet, bathroom down the hall kind of room.  We had to get creative for his kitchen essentials- microwave, refrigerator, crock-pot, and toaster oven.  This post is for him as well as students in the dorm (or even an apartment) who need cooking ideas for the microwave that goes beyond popcorn and pre-packaged food.