We had about 50 parents in attendance.
Our central message was this: don't forfeit your child's present for the future.
In addition, we oriented our parents to our program's purpose, process, and pieces.
We ended by giving parents a list of 10 things to do in regard to college planning.
Here they are.
1. Begin mapping out your curriculum plan for all four years in the Upper School.
2. Aim for Breath and Depth: four years in five core subjects, moving upward to the next level of rigor (English, math, science, history, and foreign language) [Selective colleges aren’t looking for passion on the transcript; they are looking for appropriate level of challenge + consistent performance)
3. Become involved in leadership roles in your activities; take advantage of leadership opportunities available to you. (“To whom much is given much is required”)
4. Work hard in all your courses. This will improve your ACT score. Read more. This will improve your PSAT and SAT scores.
5. Take the PSAT in October for experience with standardized testing and to evaluate your progress.
6. Make good use of your summer; get a summer job (responsibility), go to camp, travel, take a course, etc. (What do you do when you don’t have to do anything?)
7. Make use of family trips and vacations to take a first look at colleges. Aim for variety: small, liberal arts; mid-size private university; big, public university; specialty schools. (What did you learn about yourself while touring the school?)
8. Begin in the spring using Casady’s Naviance program to explore colleges, search for those that seem to match your interests and abilities. Do the Learning Style module. Begin building your resume. Keep “Journal” notes about your freshman experience.
9. Parents: begin financial planning for college now! Don’t wait! Investigate college costs, saving plans, etc. and begin saving now!
10. Parents: read from cover-to-cover the College Bound Field Guide located on our College Counseling web page http://www.casady.org/podium/default.aspx?t=21741
