Helping Your Child Prepare For College Applications

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Helping your child get into the best school possible can give them an advantage that can last for life. Due to the highly competitive nature of college applications, parents will want to take an active approach in helping their child to prepare a strong application and resume.

Appreciate The Value Of Professional Preparation

The world of college applications has likely changed substantially since current parents went through it. This can make it difficult for a well-meaning parent to appreciate the competitive nature of the application process, as well as the factors that modern colleges weigh the most. For example, it is common for colleges to place a greater emphasis on extracurricular activities than they have in decades past. By retaining a professional college preparation service for your child, you can ensure that they are receiving the most accurate and effective advice possible for their application.

Strike A Balance To Avoid Overpreparation

Both children and parents will often feel a tremendous amount of pressure when it comes to college applications. Unfortunately, this can lead to instances of overpreparation. While this may not seem possible, a child that is overly stressed will be less likely to perform at their peak on standardized tests and college application essays. Ensuring that your child is getting enough rest and able to take some time to relax can dramatically improve the effectiveness of your child's college preparation efforts.

Start The Preparation Process Early

There can be a surprising amount of work that will have to go into the process of preparing your child to apply to college. Unfortunately, parents and children that wait until the spring months to start the preparation process will often find that there is simply not enough time to get everything done. At the latest, you and your child should start this process at the end of their junior year. This will ensure that there is ample time to prepare for tests and gather the needed documents.

Have Contingency Plans In Case Your Child's First-Choice School Declines Their Application

Despite your child's best efforts, it can be possible for them to be denied by the school of their preference. While this can be an emotionally disappointing and stressful experience, having a contingency plan in place at the start of the application process will help to reduce the impact that this rejection has on your child's college options. Regardless of the perceived strength of your child's application, preparing for possible rejection is a prudent step to take because it is impossible to know the strength of the general pool of applicants for that year.

For more information on how to prepare for college, you can contact a college prep school.

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26 June 2019

Benefits of Educational Choice

I recently made the decision to move my kids from their public school to a private religious school. It isn't that I thought that the public schools were doing a bad job of teaching the basics, but I wanted them to have more than just basics. I wanted them to learn about our faith -- not just Sunday at church, but how it affects our lives every day. I felt that a religious school could help them see our religion not as some abstract thing that only happens in church, but as something that is relevant to the math and spelling words and science that they study every day. I know that I'm lucky to have the choice to educate my kids this way. If you're looking for something more from your children's education, you should also look into exercising your right to choose the direction of your child's education.