Preparing For Higher Education
How important is it for my child to go to college?
Higher education is really very important. In the age globalization, children need to have access to challenging curriculum in their schools, and schools are responding to that with state standards. You have to be competitive, but you have to be flexible because in effect we don't know what the future is going to hold. We know it's going to be more technical out there; we need people to have good values. We need people that are really literate, that can compute well. Higher education just provides a venue for people to find success in a globalized market. It's important that students have access to that, and you as parent, it's important that implant that in their head.
When should I start preparing for my child's higher education?
A parent should start preparing for their child's higher education when the child is born. I can't underscore that enough. You plan financially, you plan for the kinds of activities that you're going to do as a good parent. You don't want to wait until the child is in eleventh grade or twelfth grade to have that conversation with your child. It's an expectation that you have that your child will attend higher education and that is from the very beginning.
How should I financially prepare for my child's higher education?
There are a couple of federal programmes that allow you to invest in certain IRAs, for example, that provide tax benefits for you to do so. That's one way of financially preparing for your child's higher education. Basically, it's an attitudinal thing that you must do. It is best if you get the youngster to start with his own savings account, where he takes some of his allowance, or she takes some of her allowance, and puts some in a future fund for education. That is the best way of doing it so that you are involving your child in that decision. So, it's not, "Will my child attend a university?" It's more, "What will my child study at what university?" That can be determined a little later, but the fact that your child will attend a university or a college is a given fact. That's the reality.
What's the best way to academically prepare my child for college?
Actually, the way to really help your child is to make sure that your child likes school and is challenged by school. It doesn't really matter where you live as a parent You could live in an inner city and as long as your child loves school and the school is providing access for them, they'll make it through the system. If you live in a suburban area in the United States, usually that's a little easier in that the focus is not distracted by other social areas. They're really focused on getting your kids -- providing them access, getting them into the frame of going to university so everything works out well. It's just convincing your kid and letting them celebrate the fact that they're in a school setting and this is fun. Discovery, self development is fun: that's the ticket to higher education; it's not the money.
How can I help my child become an attractive candidate to college admission boards?
Basically, you want your child, in order to prepare adequately for college and be attractive to college admissions tutors, to have experience that is academic in nature, to do well in school; but also socially, to do well in terms of communication. Also, physical activity, to be healthy, be involved in sports, that sort of thing, so that they're very well rounded, makes them attractive to college admissions tutors. Many university admissions tutors will look at your academic scores, but they'll also require an essay, and out of that essay, they're going to see what your values are. Are you geared towards lifetime learning? You'd be a good candidate. Are you geared to support others? You'd be a good candidate. Are you flexible? Are you able to manage your time? You'd be a good candidate. So all of those kinds of activities that make your child attractive to college admissions tutors, you as a parent can provide your child. Opportunities to manage their time, opportunities to make decisions make them attractive to college admissions tutors. Do they go to a football game, or do they study for their history test? They make that decision, and you help them make that decision. Well, maybe I can go to the football game on Friday, and I'll study Saturday morning, that kind of stuff. Those are good traits that make your child attractive to college admissions tutors which you as a parent can foster when your youngster is in elementary school or middle school or high school, because they'll have an impact later on and basically it provides them with the success strategies to make them attractive to college admissions tutors.
What grade point average does my child need to get into college?
In general, your child would need a B, a 3.0 grade point average, GPA as we would call it. However, it's a little bit more complicated than that and the reason I say that is a student in California, for example, in New Jersey and certain states in the United States that have community colleges, all you need to be is 18. You don't even have to be a high school graduate. You can get F's in high school if you want and if you present yourself and enroll at those universities, they will accept you. So really, it depends on what university you want to attend. The more Ivy League universities would require higher grade point averages, stronger letters of recommendations from your student's teachers, and perhaps a more stringent essay requirement. The state universities would be a little less. But basically, the community colleges, at least here in California, 18 and you can get in. So it's a question of does the youngster want to go and, hopefully, the answer is yes.
What is the "SAT"?
The SAT is a private exam that's usually used to screen students by universities. In some cases there's a certain level, a certain number, a score that's required. Usually it's not in isolation. The SAT is one number that universities use. They look at report cards as another number. Then they look at your background and your essay as another factor. They put those factors together, and then they'll say, “OK, you are now admitted to UCLA or to Harvard or to whatever university.”
What is the "ACT" exam?
The ACT is parallel to the SAT, in that it measures basic skills in mathematics and language arts. Also there's a subsection in computation. So it's just another system of measuring a student's abilities. Some universities prefer the SAT and others require the ACT, it just depends on the university.
What is the "PSAT"?
PSAT is a test, the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. It is normally administered to 10th and 11th graders as a practice setting for taking the SAT and ACT. It allows students to react a little bit, to prepare better, identify some weak areas and areas of strength, and then they can kind of concentrate on those weak areas.
Is there anything my child can do to prepare for a standardized college admission test?
There's a lot of things that a youngster can do to prepare for a standardized test. You can go to a bookstore, for example, and buy SAT Prep tests and there's tons of materials there. You can talk to your counselor usually high schools have either a career counselor in a career center that has those books there available for student checkout or there's a specified twelfth grade counselor that knows a lot about scholarships or testing requirements and that person can provide guidance for the students and for parents. Oftentimes, there's meetings that the high school provides for those parents that are ready to have their students attend or take these SAT tests or PSAT tests. So you can ask questions in those parent meetings. So look for bulletins that come out from the guidance department.
Is it normal for my child to change his mind about what he wants to study in college?
Yes, it is very normal for a child to change their goals. As they go through, normally in elementary school they want to be, actually, if you ask them very young they'll say I want to be a fire truck and later, as they develop their skills, in second grade they want to be a fireman, and later, as they get into middle school or high school, they want to serve people so they begin to fine tune themselves. Then they get into the university, statistics actually shows us that they would change their majors an average of three times before they get their bachelor's degree. That's a normal process and it needs the supportive of that change. Most of them are very sensitive to that. Sometimes the parents get a little concerned because they say, wow, my son can't make up his mind. As the child grows, they find that they have different interests and that means that they're going to reshape themselves. The first two years of the university are, usually, what we call, general Ed requirements. Everybody takes the same kind of basic classes and it allows that change to take place. So you, as a parent, have to allow that also. As a parent you should really encourage it so that they're sure that when they step to that latter part of their college career, that they're really set on becoming an accountant or a classroom teacher or whatever it might be.
What options are there for families who can't afford college?
There's a lot of options. Let me just identify a few. Work-study programs that are available at colleges or universities, where students are actually working in the cafeteria or driving a bus, that sort of thing, and earning their way through. There's scholarships that are available, both private scholarships and public scholarships. Almost every university across the country has a financial aid office, in which students can qualify, and you'd be surprised at the amount of money that's necessary. Depending on the loan, some middle class families can apply, depending on what university they want to attend. So, the best thing to do, is talk to the guidance counselor at the school, because they would have the answer that can be fine tuned to your particular situation. That would be the best answer possible: talk to the counselor at the school.
What if my child doesn't want to go to college?
If your child doesn't want to go to college, there are other higher education opportunities for the child. I would really question why, though the child doesn't want to go to college. However a community college, for example, does have vocational programs. In California, there's a Regional Occupation Program called ROP, that is available in most high schools in California. Many other states have them: Texas, New Jersey and New York have them. They provide technical classes for students like auto mechanics, that sort of thing. What I find is that students that take those classes in auto mechanics (by the way we learn a lot of calculus in auto mechanics now because there is so much electronics) do transfer to community colleges and get their licenses in auto mechanics, engineering and so forth. It's such a motivational tool. We're finding as long as kids have access, most kids want to go to college. So if you have student that doesn't want to go, I would suggest you involve your school's counselor in that, becuase there could be some other factors. I'd be really concerned about that.
