My oldest child is entering his junior year of High School. What things should we be doing... ?

Question

to help him get ready for the process of applying for college or scholarships?

He's taking 3 Honors classes this year. He has good grades, but not great. (3.0 average)

Also, he may have a shot at getting noticed for basketball. He made Varsity as a Freshman, but hasn't played much. There were 9 Seniors on the team last year. This season he will be a starter. He was the leading scorer for the Freshman team 2 years ago, and the leading scorer for the JV team last year.

What kind of things should we, as his parents, be doing to help him position himself to get into a good college and possibly receive a scholarship?

Thank You in advance for your help!

Answer 1

If the school offers a Leadership club or class, make sure he is in it.  If not, have him choose extracurricular activities like volunteering with youth, possibly as a mentor.  

He might qualify for a sports scholarship or one of the many community based scholarships.

If the school offers AP (Advanced Placement) programs, have him take those.  I earned university credit for the three AP classes (Physics, Chemistry, Calculus) that I took.

Answer 2

junior year is the most important, its what all colleges look at first. flat out tell him, no BSing. get the best grades possible. be hard on him, its okay. it wont be nice but trust me it will be so worth it.  i was not that great, just okay, my sophmore and freshmen year, but junior year my parents were so strict and constantly had me monitored. they didnt even let me watch TV on weekdays! as much h**l as it was, i got the best grades i have ever had and now i proudly attend UCLA :)

also have him do as much extra ciricular activities as possible. wether its sports or clubs.

have him be in various clubs, just for fun and stuff. it looks really good applying for college.

honor classes are good too, but if you already have your mind set on some career try taking classes related to that.

[im in law school and i took debate classes and media and etc.

it scored some extra points]

good luck!

Answer 3

Being on the basketball team since freshman year will definitely help a lot, maybe another extra curricular activity would be good, and he should continue to take honors classes and AP classes too.

He will start applying for universities early senior year so right now he should start researching different universities to see which ones he likes, and also to see things like the average GPA of incoming freshman so that he could know what grades to aim for, or average SAT scores. You have to pay about $50 to apply to each school, so the research will help in narrowing down choices and to see which schools are worth applying for. As for scholarships, he should start applying now, getting full paid scholarship is difficult.

And one other thing, he will need many letters of recommendation for college applications and scholarships next year so he should stay in contact with his teachers and his coaches.

Answer 4

talk to the academic counselors at his school

Answer 5

Just make sure that he is diligent in his studies.

It would be good on his application if he could put on some community service or extracurricular activities.

Colleges like it when the students have two or more years of a foreign language, so now would be the year to start.

:)

Keep him away from illegal substances!

Answer 6

start looking at colleges now! he should research colleges he likes (collegeboard.com has a fantastic match maker tool that you answer questions and it finds schools that match your preferences). try and visit as many as possible (or similar schools in your area if the ones that hes looking at are too far away). you can start looking at scholarships, but finding the college is more important at this point in time. keep up his grades. as far as sports go, once he finds schools he's interested in, contact the athletic department and see if they can have a scout come out and see him, or see if you can send in a video of him playing. As far as you as his parents go, just be supportive and keep him motivated. Good luck!! (I am starting my freshman year of college, so i just went through this process!)

Answer 7

A 3.0 is pretty good get him on the b-ball team again. He might have a shot at getting a basketball scholarship

Answer 8

Well Academics and Sports

ur kid might get a scholorship for b-ball

also

PRACTICE FOR THE SAT's WITH HIM!

Answer 9

Honestly, unless he's like.... 7 feet tall, I'd forget about basketball and scholarships.  He'd have a better chance at winning the lottery.  He should still play in h.s. if he likes it, but he will have better luck buckling down and getting his GPA up tremendously.  Basketball will just take away from precious study time he will need to get into a 4 year and if his ACT or SAT isn't high enough, he won't get into any University.  

In his Junior year, he needs to schedule to take an SAT or ACT (depending on what part of the country he is in) at least twice.  You both need to know where he stands academically and the entrance requirements to the schools he's interested in.  The Junior year should prob be the most academically challenging for him, because by the time he's a senior its a bit late for the basics.  He should be in Chemistry, and at least Algebra II and taken Geometry already and his second foreign language class.

I would also encourge both of you to explore school options with him on the internet, the costs, and the admission requirements and process.  You should also talk with him about possible careers, arrange a 'take my kid to work" day with several careers he might be intererested in.  Maybe the two of you can do a little game, each of you have 3 days to write down as many occupations as you can possibly think of.  It alwasy amazes me how many high school kids can only come up with and have any details on only about 10 jobs.

To be prepaired finaincally, you might consider doing the Dept of Educations "fafsa 4caster" to give you an idea if he might qualify for federal finanical aid.

Good luck.

Answer 10

take as many AP and Honors classes as you can.  this will increase the stress and pressure, but colleges don't want athletes that are constantly failing their classes.  but if he has a 3.0, he is in ok shape...but push him more.  start filling out scholarships NOW!!! there are plenty of scholarships for students of all ages, espicially juniors.  also, start looking at colleges that he might be interested in, even if he doesn't really want to go there.  when looking at colleges, make sure that you visit the camups.  what sounds great and perfect online isn't the same as what the campus really feels like.  Good luck! I'm sure you'll be fine!

Answer 11

First of all, congrats on being good parents and caring about how you can help your son, build a future!

The best things you can do are support him, encourage him, always be there for him, let him know that you'll always be there for him, and love him like you already do - which obviously you've already done, so, sorry to repeat what you already knew :-)!

To help him prepare for the college application process, and for scholarships, do what you can to help him study, or to help him learn how he learns best - then encourage him to study with that in mind.

The 3 Honors classes are good, and probably is what your school district calls the equivalent to "AP" classes (advanced placement), but if not, and they offer AP classes aside from the Honors classes, he may consider taking one or two for the remainder of his high school days.  

Also, many high schools these days have several different 'programs' that their students can graduate from: recommended, advanced, or distinguished (or something similar) - if your son's does, see where he's at in reference to his credits etc, and if he can swing it, try to 'push' him into the distinguished category (this may help him earn extra free grant $$ from the government (ACG - academic competitiveness grant).

Start saving $$ if you haven't already, to help him out with college costs (especially if you have a high family income, he will be expected to pay out of pocket, or with loans - more so than the average student with a lower income family).

Great that all those seniors in basketball are now gone, and the spotlight can be cast upon your son . . . if he works hard to be the top scorer again this year, chances are that college scouts will see him and watch him over the next two years, so I wouldn't try to 'send video' at this stage of the game.  Believe me, scouts know where to look, and know who to look at, and also, your son's coach has 'in's' with college scouts, so he can be sure he draws attention to your son when he's ready for that, but of course it will never hurt if you make it a point to get to know (but don't be pushy!) your son's coach, and inquire if he thinks your son may qualify for a basketball / sports scholarship.  

Attend college-night when it's held at your school, so you can obtain information about all the colleges, and get on literature mailing lists so you get all the facts brought right to your door.  

Go to http://fafsa.ed.gov to peruse the information on different types of financial aid, application deadlines etc.  

Go to http://collegeboard.com to peruse a wealth of information on applying for colleges, what to look for, how to select the college that's right for your family etc. . .

Go to http://fastweb.com to search and set up preferences for all types of scholarships - - and have your son start applying as soon as he is qualified to - for each scholarship !

Go to http://princetonreview.com to peruse another wealth of information on preparation for the SAT etc.  

Do not necessarily believe that your son will do better with a SAT review or preparatory course, my daughter's friend took one, and she did worse afterwards, than she did before - just going on the knowledge she acquired in her normal course of study.

Keep him clean, and away from the 'bad apples' that would love to spoil the nice sweet pie you all are preparing with him.

Do NOT make him work, but DO require that he 'give back' to his community in some way - as community service type stuff is what colleges LOVE to see at this point.  Whether it be volunteering with the local Humane Society walking dogs every w/end for a few hours, volunteering with the Red Cross or other non-profit, serving food at a local shelter, partnering up with church mission groups to help the needy during the summertime, volunteering as a tutor to help children at the local middle or elementary school with math or whatever he's good in.   He MUST have some volunteer work on his 'academic resume' to assure he gets all the endowments, scholarships and other 'free' help he can!  

Good luck, and again, congrats on being concerned, caring parents, the world needs more like you folks :-)!

Answer 12

I would suggest it is never to early to begin exploring his career interests using personality inventories and requesting vocational aptitude tests from his school counselor. A good book for him to read is called "What Color is My Parachute?"

Also, calling preferred college advisors to discuss the potential sources of scholarships, financial aid etc.

Google the word FASFA as pell grants can be applied for online right at tax time for each school year.

He may want to ask for practice ACT or SAT exams, often known as 'benchmark" exams just to prepare for this entrance formality. Teacher references are also useful for the formal application process.

Each college has a student handbook which you could request to begin familiarizing yourselves with the requirements. If he is seeking a professional athletics career then call their Professional Associations for additional tips. For example, social workers have the Board of Social Work Examiners and the National Association of Social Workers. Physicians have the American Medical Association. School coaches can lead you in the right direction.  

Answer 13

get into AP classes?

if he is going to be sport oriented then i suggest getting him a personal coach because over 60% of the students that get sport scholarships have their own coach/trainer

Answer 14

My son will be a senior in High School this year.  We were told that colleges look at the first 6 semesters of High School grades.  After that, the paper work is not processed quick enough for the colleges to consider the grades in their process.  We found colleges seem to look at the courses the student takes and how hard they are (Honors Biology instead of Jewelry Making).  

They also wanted what amounts to a resume.  The better the college, the more stuff they wanted your kid to have been in- and not only be in, be the president of it, too.  

Stick with the Basketball, as that will be a good thing to put on the "resume", and also consider some extra curricular activities.  We are active in our church, so my sons did a lot of volunteering there. Other things we've attempted:  Habitat for Humanity (local chapter), Church Youth Group participation, school play (theater), trip to help rebuild in the Midwest after flooding.  

Things I would have liked to convince them to do but they never did:

creating a lawn mowing service in the summer, Key Club at school, tutoring younger kids in math.  

Also, I don't know if this info is helpful, but when you apply to a college, you have to write an essay.  I always wondered what that was.  It's basically the 5 paragraph essay format they learned to write at school.  The questions vary, but one college we are applying to asks for the following-

250 word minimum on one of the topics listed below

Evaluate a significant experience or achievement that has special meaning to you.

discuss an issue of personal, local, or national concern and it's importance to you.

Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you and describe that influence.

Discuss your reasons for wishing to pursue a college degree.

A HUGE deal for colleges is the SAT.  Every college we went to said they looked at other things, too, but in the end, they kept talking about the SAT.  Some friends of ours took it many times, and got into top colleges.  They apparently do just take the top score, and ignore all the others.  Make him take the test as many times as you can so he will get a top score.

Finally, pay attention to what you do with your finances in the next year or two.  When you apply at colleges, they want you to fill out a FAFSA (federal aid form) before you do anything.  We knew we would not qualify for federal aid, but it is the hoop you have to jump through to get the whole financial thing started at any college.  On the FAFSA, they want you to list your tax info.  Based on what they see there, they give scholarships and financial "awards".  Some colleges have a lot of money to give away.  You don't want to do something that is going to give you a windfall on your tax form so the college thinks you are better off than you really are.