The most important role you, as a parent, can play in helping your child get admitted to a college is to act as his or her biggest supporter. Let your child know how important you believe a college education is, and how proud you are of his/her decision to apply. Even if you've never been to college yourself, or no one in your family ever has, you can offer advice and guidance that can help your child plan for a successful post-secondary education.
Talk with your child about the benefits of a college education; e.g., the financial advantages, acquiring lifelong skills, pursuing a desired career. Together discuss your child's strengths, interests and aspirations, and come up with careers that might "match."
The most important thing is to get him or her to read, read, and read some more. The more a student reads, the more interest he/she will have, and the more prepared he/she will be for high school classes. (The College Board website's Planning for College section at www.collegeboard.com/planning has a list of recommended books for college bound students.) Work with the school counselor to make sure that your child is taking the most difficult classes that he or she can handle. In the 9th and 10th grades, your child should be taking laboratory science classes and any honors classes that are offered. In the 11th and 12th grades, students should be enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) classes if offered at the high school. A good rule of thumb: the more competitive the college's admission requirements, the more AP or IB classes students should take.
The answer is yes, but make sure that he/she is taking the most challenging classes that he/she can handle. If your child is having problems with a particular subject such as algebra, make sure he or she is enrolled in that subject's lab class if there is one.
You have probably heard that college costs continue to rise each year. Unfortunately, this is true. So how does one pay for college these days?
There is a lot of financial aid available for students – federal loans, grants, scholarship money, and work-study programs. It's just a matter of finding out about what's available and applying for it.
The U.S. Department of Education's Preparing Your Child for College-A Resource Book for Parents (www.ed.gov/pubs/Prepare).
The College Board website's Parent's Guide (www.collegeboard.com/parents).
The Parents section of the Mapping-Your-Future website (www.mapping-your-future.org/parents/).
U.S. News & World Report's current rankings of colleges and universities (http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php)
Small liberal arts colleges, large state universities, Ivy League and other highly selective schools - there are thousands of schools to choose from. The important thing is to find a school that is a good fit for your child and one that is within your financial means. Together, you and your child must research, plan wisely, and focus on your goals. There are some really great colleges out there that would welcome your child as a student; at Broward College, we can assist you greatly with the process of finding the right fit for your child once he or she is ready to transfer to a school in the United States.