A Note to Parents

What are the lessons to be learned?

Asking for recommendations, interviews, campus visits, essays, mounting paperwork, all of a sudden it is upon us consuming many burdensome hours and hopefully resulting in the completion of the common application.

Your child needs to set realistic goals when it comes to the selection of college. The match between the right school and the appropriate applicant is mutually beneficial to both. The individual student grows within a certain type of school environment because it suits him perfectly and, in turn, he is most productive in that school setting just because it effectively nurtures his inclinations. Figuring out which academic institutions would allow you to thrive requires research, tenacity and commitment. This is an active process which really ends up a contest among peers.

My sincere advice is to explore college with your son or daughter as early as the subject willingly permits. The freshman year is certainly not too early. Collecting information can be done at your fingertips on the net. My honest opinion is that the main characteristic that your child must consistently display, despite academics, is steady commitment. This is a long term enthusiasm, an unyielding passion about some meaningful activity that matters and can make an impact on the world. Broadly based, whatever instills a feeling of accomplishment that indicates future leadership qualities in a youngster makes that person a viable admissions candidate. You can greatly encourage and support your child in identifying and developing their interests and talents. Exposing your children to music lessons, dance class, sports, and the like contribute to the well rounded student.

When you are ready to visit campus, most agree that the ideal time for the visit is when college classes are in session. In this way, you can observe the active classroom and note crucial factors such as class size, i.e. is this a large lecture hall with the instructor speaking through a microphone to 200 students or rather a small classroom with 25 attendees? Ask particularly about accessibility of professors to students. Is there a common dining hall?

For the academically average student, extracurricular activities can make the difference between acceptance and rejection. In IB, for example, volunteering is required for the diploma, as is the study of a foreign language. In today's highly competitive environment, high school students are expected to do some sort of community service. With increasing frequency, college students in their advanced years choose to perform their community service and volunteering overseas in developing counties. Create special opportunities for your youngsters and do not step away from new challenges that may arise. Work in developing countries is a growing trend and partaking in it presents the chance to expand civilization in every sense linguistically, economically, socially, physically and so forth. No longer do we sit behind desks and study chapter after chapter in one esoteric subject for four years laboriously taking copious notes. Parents you must understand education today is global, requiring of our students flexibility of input on any number of levels. Conceivably, and as an advanced student, your child can take his / her skills to China, India, and emerging parts of Africa to teach in those cultures.

Give these institutions of higher learning reasons to seek out your child. Create sophisticated youngsters by doing all you can to acclimate them to the increasingly complex world in which we live. Good luck to all the families!

 

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