Newsday: Getting an early jump on college plans

[All4MyDaughter]

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Getting an early jump on college plans
By Dave Marcus

Jacob Roberts is the model college applicant. He has spent a year and a half surfing through Web sites that discuss campuses. He has visited Tulane, Stanford, UCLA and the University of Pennsylvania, and he's talked to graduates of his high school about their experiences at college.

He has also written a resume that notes his 3.97 grade-point average, his volunteer service to help Katrina victims in New Orleans, and his work on the debate team and student council.

Roberts is only in 10th grade at Jericho High, but he's a veteran at the application process. For him, the preparation will have stretched on for nearly as long as he'll spend earning a degree at Harvard, Yale, Penn, George Washington University or other schools he's considering.

Click to read the entire article

 

[BahamaBreeze]

This article got me all jittery. Ugh. We don't live in the NY area, thank goodness. Here nothing like that goes on. At our HS they are starting college info earlier in Jr year. Thats about it. Thanks for the link though. It was just unbelievable to read.

 

[Az1698]

My school competes w/ that school (we are like 10 mins away./)

 

[speciald]

The good, the bad, and the ugly, eh?!

"Those who get excited about college early are likely to take rigorous high school courses and try a range of extracurricular activities, she said. "

Not a bad thing. They also start thinking about what they really like as they're doing labs/EC's and look around for opportunities like internships/shadowing they might not have time for later. Seeing my D start the process a bit early as a rising junior was an eye-opener for my freshman son, which was also a bonus. Two completely dissimilar kids - she's focused on academics and likes to be organized, he's focused on athlethics, social life, and takes it all as it comes. But as he heard us discussing requirements of various programs, reviewing her choices for classes and internships, etc. he realized that academics are going to be very important to him very soon - even if he's still planning to be recruited for sports!

Overall, I'm not sure I see anything "wrong" with the kids who want to start researching colleges/majors before 11th grade, as long as their parents aren't maniacs making them do it! Sounds like that was providing some sense of control or security to him and as long as they're still connecting to their high school activities, what's the harm?

Laissez-faire on the part of the parents can swing the stress level too far the other way too. Some of my D's friends are very stressed right now as they have no idea what they're looking for, haven't visited any schools to see what they might like or dislike, and those who haven't even taken their SAT/ACT for the first time yet are doubly stressed. For us, doing it in stages over 2-3 years was a much more leisurely way to go. While there will still be stress (at least until that first acceptance letter comes), D feels she's really had time to think about her choices and do internships that helped her pinpoint her likes/dislikes.

Since this is SDN, and we all know both how valuable and expensive those degrees are, I strongly suggest that PARENTS take the time to educate themselves early about the child's potential interest and the level of financial backing it may take. Info given in college night session is often not accurate and so much depends on the college and student's individual situation. Look at how FAFSA/Profile actually works, estimate your EFC, find out if your employer/clubs offers scholarships, get the family finances in the best shape possible, find out how merit aid works, know which lenders to avoid, etc. In my experience, that's one area too often left 'til the last minute with unhappy consequences for eveyone!

 

[itisaniceday]

This article got me all jittery. Ugh. We don't live in the NY area, thank goodness. Here nothing like that goes on! Horrible!

 

[CopToEM]

This article got me all jittery. Ugh. We don't live in the NY area, thank goodness. Here nothing like that goes on! Horrible!

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