All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

parenting, Uncategorized, Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: It’s Party Time Again

 

party timeIt’s party time again—your teenagers are getting glammed up for proms and parties. But before they head out the door, there are some topics you should discuss with them. Here are three of my past posts discussing how to talk with your teens about partying that goes too far.

Drinking

It’s party season again and unfortunately that means underage drinking and possibly driving. Before your teen leaves for college, have a chat with him/her about the dangers of alcohol. I know you’re thinking: they won’t listen to me. But kids will tell you that they actually listen more than we think.

Watch this video for the truth about drinking

Hooking Up

What is hooking up? The term “hook up” is vague, but is usually defined as a no-commitment, physical encounter with a stranger or acquaintance. Hooking up can range from just a casual get-together to a make out session to sexual intercourse. Knowing this makes it difficult to discern just what it means when your college student tells you they “hooked up” with so and so.

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Drinking and Driving

Do you remember when you were a teenager? Likely you can recall bits and pieces, but as you have grown older, wiser, and more experienced, you may have forgotten the particular blend of hormones, peer pressure, and self-discovery that leads teens to experience a sense of both invincibility and the immediacy of everything going on in their lives. You no doubt shake your head, exasperated, when your teens decry your overly careful attitude, but the truth is that you are at very different places in life. Your teens have yet to know the heartache and hurt that has caused you to become so cautious. But you have been where they are, and if you try to recall how you thought and felt at their age you should be able to come up with ways to connect to your college-bound kids on a level they can relate to.

Read More

Read Wendy’s post: Partying and your college bound teen

___________________

Wednesday’s child may be full of woe but Wednesday’s Parent can substitute action for anxiety. Each Wednesday Wendy and I will provide parent tips to get and keep your student on the college track. It’s never too late or too early to start!

The bonus is on the fourth Wednesday of each month when Wendy and I will host Twitter chat #CampusChat at 9pm ET/6pm PT. We will feature an expert on a topic of interest for parents of the college-bound.

Wednesday’s Parent will give twice the info and double the blog posts on critical parenting issues by clicking on the link at the end of the article from parentingforcollege to pocsmom.com and vice versa.

App Tuesday, test prep

6 Test Prep Apps

 

test prep appsToday’s apps of choice are test prep apps. Some are free, others are free to test, and some are paid apps. Knowing how important test prep is, use them to help prep for standardized tests.

1. EduPath SAT Prep

EduPath’s adaptive platform picks up on a student’s weaknesses and exercises them until they’re strong. It’s optimized for in-between moments like waiting for the bus, between classes, or before bed. Their world-class instructors are trained in the same proven methodologies that power their technology, providing constant, seamless instruction between the App and live sessions. There is also an industry-first dashboard for parents that lets them see the student’s progress in real-time—and provides an easy starting point for positive conversations about the college admissions process.

2. SAT Question of the Day

Created by the College Board, the SAT Question of the Day App provides real SAT questions and SAT preparation materials from the test maker. With the question of the day Application you can answer a real SAT question each day.

3. ACT Student

ACT Student helps users anticipate and manage the ACT Test experience. Using the “Practice” feature, students can attempt answers to practice items and gain feedback from their attempts. “Account” allows users to log in for limited, read-only access to their own registration and score information. Accessing the link to ACT’s mobile site, users can find straightforward answers to typical questions test takers have about events leading up to the test and the test day itself.

4. eTextPrep

Though it’s not an app designed for a smartphone or tablet, this new mobile service is simple and targets the activity woven into nearly every high school student’s life—text messaging. Students receive three vocabulary words a day via text to help them prepare for the SAT, ACT, or an array of Advanced Placement tests. The eTextPrep premise is simple – students receive 2 to 3 SAT, ACT, AP, Middle School Challenge or  word-of-the-day text messages (SMS) that contain essential vocabulary words, their definitions and parts of speech. Students simply click, look and learn. It’s mobile. It works. It’s that easy.

5. BenchPrep

This comprehensive product for SAT and ACT is intended to help students prepare stress-free, giving them everything they need in one place; hundreds of practice questions, detailed explanations, and high-quality reading content from the world’s most respected publishers. With study plans to guide students along, and material that syncs across all devices, they will be ready for test day.

6. AllenPrep

Allen Prep has published multiple test prep iPad/iPhone apps for multiple exams.  The ACT and SAT apps are free to download and include a substantial number of test questions for each section of each exam.  Once the apps are downloaded, you can access the question bank by entering a valid email address.  An email with an activation code will be sent to this email address.  Each mock exam includes a free sample test, covering all subjects, and includes hundreds of questions.  You can also make an in-app purchase of different test banks to target a specific area.

college planning, college prep, mom approved tips

Mom-Approved Tips: When Do You Start Preparing for College?

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preparing for collegeHow early is too early to start preparing for college? Should you start in grade school? Should you wait until high school? How and when do you begin the process?

Grade School

Some type A, over controlling parents will tell you they start grooming their kids for college in grade school. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But on some level, it’s not that crazy. In grade school you help them form the foundation for academic success and the attitude of serving others. Both these character traits will serve them well as they begin the college prep process.

Middle School

Ideally, middle school students should begin the pre-planning process for high school. Course selection begins at this level as well, carrying on into high school.

Recognizing this need, John Ma, a college counselor, begins coaching students in the 6th grade:

Building up true interests and strong extracurriculars and leadership positions can help students thrive during the brutal top-tier college app season. Booksmart kids with high test scores and high grades are a dime a dozen, and strong academic performance is simply expected at top universities. Highly developed extracurriculars that reflect a standout character and strong communication and leadership skills significantly increase chances for admission.

Middle school is the place to begin developing the traits that colleges consider key in the application process.

High School

It goes without saying that students who enter high school should hit the ground running. The intense years of college prep begin as they become freshmen. From making wise course selection courses to establishing a commitment to community service to striving to excel academically, students who approach college prep early will reap the benefits of their preparation.

If you look at college preparation as training your child to excel in life, you can see that setting the groundwork for success early in life will alleviate some of the stress and pressure during the college application time. A student who has a strong academic record, a solid commitment over the last four years to one area of community service, and planned ahead for application time will be less stressed and more ready to approach the highly demanding months of senior year.

As I like to say–preparation prevents panic. And the college admissions process will be much smoother if you plan early.

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: The Best Scholarship Podcasts

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college scholarshipsEach week, Celest Horton, of How to Pay for College HQ, interviews experts in the field of college admissions, college prep, financial aid and scholarships. Her goal is to help parents pay for college without going into debt.

This week, I’ve chosen to highlight some her best scholarship podcasts. If you aren’t subscribed to her podcasts you should do so immediately. Perhaps these few will wet your appetite and make you want to listen to more.

 Scholarship Gold Consulting

There was so much information to cover, there were two podcasts. Her guest, Elizabeth Hartley, has been building her credentials and experience for the last 20 years by pursuing and receiving full scholarships, judging for scholarship competitions, coaching students who win prestigious full scholarships all across the country and guiding hundreds of students through the college search, admission and financial aid process. She is also the founder of Scholarship Gold Consulting where her clients have secured millions of dollars in scholarship funding and admissions into their most desired schools. Head over to her website and sign up for her free monthly newsletter, it’s so filled with helpful information.

The C Student’s Guide to Scholarships

Can you imagine being told by your High School Guidance Counselor that you will never make it to college and to just give up and look into vocational schools? That is what happened to Felecia Hatcher, but she didn’t let it stop her.

Author and Founder of Scholarships.Org

Gyan returned to college in her 40s and received a BA in Psychology and a Masters in Professional Coaching. As an educator and a nontraditional, disabled, first-generation student, she is uniquely qualified to write a series of books that provide detailed listings of scholarships and advice on how to find genuine scholarship opportunities online. She shares her knowledge with parents and students on her website, in her books, and through coaching calls on Skype.

Jason Lum of Scholarship Edge

Jason’s background and track record are impressive. Jason graduated from America’s most competitive programs at Harvard, Berkeley, and Washington University in St. Louis. Jason also received rigorous training in leadership and coaching from MIT and Columbia University. He’s also an expert in college advising, having graduated with honors from UCLA’s program in training professional independent college counselors.

Jason won over $250,000 in scholarships, winning virtually every major national award available to college students in the USA. He graduated debt-free.

Monica Matthews-The Scholarship Mom

Monica Mathews is the proud mother of three sons and has earned the title of Scholarship Mom when she helped her oldest earn $100,000 in scholarships. Her second son is a Freshman this year and has currently been awarded $27,000 and will continue the application process while in college. She has written a simple, but easy to apply and understand booklet for parents and students: How to Win College Scholarships.

 

college planning, college prep, websites

Custom College Rankings

 

For seniors, the college search is almost over. On May 1st, they will make their final college choice and look toward graduation and the fall when they become a college student.

For sophomores and juniors, the search has just begun. We’ve been learning about choosing a college over the last several weeks, with posts like: How to Choose a College, 7 College Search Apps for Parents and Students, and The Student Role in the College Visit. Students and parents are looking for tools that will help them as they begin that college list.

custom college rankingsWhat is Custom College Rankings?

Custom College Rankings is an amazing site created to help you view all the college statistics on a spreadsheet and change the criteria of the spreadsheet as you view it. There are over 2900 colleges and universities with statistics for each gathered from the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education.

How does it work?

According to the site, you can use the spreadsheet in three ways:

  1. To find colleges by using as many filters as you like on the spreadsheet.
  2. To compare colleges by checking the boxes on the spreadsheet of the colleges you want to compare.
  3. To look up the statistics for a specific college.

Why create another college search site?

It’s creator, Susie Sadowsky holds a B.A. in accounting from Michigan State University and an M.S. in computer science from San Diego State University. After helping her two teenagers through the college admissions process, she created CUSTOM COLLEGE RANKINGS to give others what she wishes had been available to her.

Her motivation is to help parents with the college search process and save them some of the frustration that I encountered when helping my children through this process. After reading how US News ranks colleges she realized that she didn’t care about several of the criteria they were using. Thus she wanted to create her own rankings. She wanted to combine the search for colleges and data gathering into one central area. The best way to do this she determined was on a spreadsheet

Ms. Sadowsky explains what’s different about her rankings:

  1. My spreadsheet combines searching for colleges with comparing data of colleges all in one spreadsheet. Many websites are good at helping you narrow down your college list but the data for your list of colleges can only be found on separate pages for each college.
  2. Fine tuning of filters when searching for a college. One thing that frustrated me when I was using other college search websites is when it came to specifying your desired size the choices were limited.
  3. Other websites do not include the crime statistics.
  4. My website ranks all colleges together. Other websites like US News rank Small Liberal Arts Colleges, Large National Universities and Regional Universities separately.

Take it for a test drive and let me know what you think. Custom College Rankings is just another tool parents can add to their arsenal of college prep.

 

 

Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: Stress During College Prep

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teen stressStress. It’s a killer. Parents and teens deal with stress on a daily basis; and when the college prep season arrives, the stress intensifies. Do you know what to expect and how to deal with it? Just as with any family situation, anticipating problems that can or might arise should help you respond properly and deal with stress during college prep.

Imagine these scenarios

  • Your teen announces he’s going to die if he doesn’t get into his first choice college.
  • You hear other parents talking about their student to his headed to the Ivies.
  • Your teen says she can’t possibly go to college because her boyfriend isn’t going there.
  • After multiple tries on the SAT, your teen announces that she’s never going to get into any college.
  • It’s been months since your teen started his essay and all he’s written is–“My life-changing moment is . . .”
  • On a college visit, your teen says, “I’m just not feeling it.”
  • Your son is sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor surrounded by college catalogs with a lost puppy dog look on his face.
  • Your daughter has a tentative lists of colleges that are completely out of your price range and she starts crying when you point that out.

What’s your first reaction?

First you walk outside and scream. How could you have possibly given birth to this person and who has taken over the body of your once agreeable child. Then you take a deep breath, and respond. Never, and I mean never, let your teen see you stressed and frustrated. Your attitude will rub off on them. Their stress will increase with your stress. So stay calm and remember that this too shall pass.

Where do you turn when you need help dealing with stress?

As luck would have it (or perfect foresight), tonight’s #CampusChat at 9PM ET will help you answer all your questions about teen stress, especially around the college prep process. On Twitter chat #CampusChat Wednesday, April 23 at 9pm ET/6pm PT, hosted by Wednesday’s Parent, guest Fern Weis of YOUR FAMILY MATTERS, LLChttp://www.yourfamilymatterscoach.com provides her tips and suggestions for dealing with stress during the college process. Later, check out Smart College Visit http://www.smartcollegevisit.com for a recap of the chat.

Read this to learn how to join the chat.

Read Wendy’s blog: Stressing Out the College Process

App Tuesday, college visits

Apps for College Visits

 

college visit appsParents and students are using apps for all stages within the college prep process. Imagine being able to be guided on a tour with your smartphone. Or being able to plan college visits before you go on them. Or being able to organize all your visits to search and find the schools by uploading photos to serve as a reminder of your visit.

These apps for college visits can enhance your campus visits:

Quad2Quad

Quad2Quad’s mobile App takes the hassle out of college visit planning. Quad2Quad is a virtual travel assistant, curating and assembling the most important college data for the user. Quad2Quad enables families to plan college visits without spending hours combing multiple college websites.

College Visits

With the Welcome to College CollegeVisits iPhone App, you can organize your college visits. Use the App to search and find schools to add to your list, rate your college visits, keep personal notes on each visit, share your feedback with others, and upload photos to remember your time on each campus.

Student Bridge

StudentBridge is an augmented reality app that allows students to access information during a campus tour or while roaming campus alone. Someone might be looking at a residence hall, but may not be able to get in to see what life is like. If they click a video that’s overlaid on top of that building, they can then see some content that’s produced by the university that gives a good sense of what happens in that building.

College Specific Apps

Colleges are now creating their own apps to help students navigate around campus. Two such apps were created by Smart College Visit: Visit Virginia Tech and Explore UNH. These apps offer an electronic map, driving directions, a walking tour, admissions information, restaurant and hotel information, historical sights, and more. Visit the college’s website to find out if that college offers an app to its students.

 

mom approved tips

The Best of Mom-Approved Tips

 

best of mom-approved tipsThis week, I thought it would be great to gather my all-time favorite posts of the best of Mom-Approved Tips. In case you missed some of them, here they are, gathered together in one place.

Practice Tough Love

Parenting is easy if you give into your child’s every whim, never be consistent with discipline, or simply don’t pay attention. Parenting children who strive for excellence in everything requires some tough love. And tough love is not easy; especially when it comes to the raising a motivated, educated, and successful student.

How do you, as a parent, raise a child that’s motivated to strive for excellence where their education is concerned?

Don’t Fear the Gap Year

Don’t fear the gap year. Not every student is ready for college after high school. Some simply aren’t mature enough, and others simply don’t know where they want to go or what they want to study. And if this is the case, would you want to spend thousands of dollars on college if it meant they dropped out their first semester? Of course you wouldn’t want to do that.

Teach Your Kids the Value of Money

When your kids are away at college they are going to be responsible for their own spending (and saving). There will be offers galore from credit card companies because college students are their biggest target market. If they hook them while in college it usually means they have them for the rest of their lives.

A Different Take on Helicopter Parenting

It’s no surprise that parents have become so involved in their kids’ lives that school administrators have begun to label us; helicopter parent, snow plow parent, and bulldozer parent. But it can’t all be bad; after all, parents are actually involved. Is this a bad thing? As with anything there are extremes. And it’s possible that a few bad parenting experiences have shed a negative light on all of us.

Top 10 Tips for Parents

On Monday’s I dispense my parent advice and this week I shared some of my past “Top 10 Tips for Parents”. Some might be reality checks, some will provide you with new information, and some are just for fun.

Inside the Mind of a College-Bound Teen

The stress of the college admissions season weighs heavy on your college-bound teen. I read an old article today from a NY Times blog and I felt it was worth sharing to help you go inside the mind of a college-bound teen and see just exactly what they are feeling.

online learning, Uncategorized

Getting a Degree Using Distance Learning

 

distance learningHere’s the simple truth for you and your child – moving away to attend a university is an expensive prospect, and, in the current economic climate, makes it increasingly difficult to pay room and board.

A college education is expensive– for everything from accommodation, course textbooks, tuition fees, and food – and many parents find it hard to cover those costs without skyrocketing debts. It could be time to look into how you can stop your child suffering financial hardship.

One option is a distance learning degree, as supplied by numerous top-quality providers. While your student will miss out on the social aspects of the campus lifestyle, they also won’t be struck down with more debt than they can handle in student loans. More than this, the world of distance learning has become more of an option than it used to be. Now, with the handy tool of the internet, research is just a button press away, and tutors can be easily contacted via messaging services such as Skype or email.

High-quality research and education

Sites like JSTOR, Google Books and Google Scholar are fantastic wells of information, and are a world away from questionable sources such as Wikipedia. Indeed, the web has evolved so much that numerous students at brick-and-mortar universities probably use it more than their campus library.

In educational terms distance learning is on par with a university, and surpassing it in terms of convenience and cost. However, it’s important not to mistake an online degree for a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

For those of you not savvy to MOOCs, they are essentially free, unaccredited university modules that allow you to dip into certain courses and pick up an education along the way. Despite being created with the best of intentions, they can’t hold a candle to a university sanctioned distance learning degree, and you won’t complete a MOOC and gain any official qualification.

The main issue is whether or not you can afford college. As tuition fees rise and wages freeze, you might not be able to give your teen the campus lifestyle they desire. But you can still give them a top-quality education in a non-traditional way. Give distance learning a look to see what your options are.

If you are still unclear regarding some aspects of online education, then it may be best to check out an online resource center. These are generally segments on the websites for online Universities and they will provide you and your child with all of the information they need regarding online schools. Many schools are also open to answering any questions you ask via email. It takes just a few moments to review this information with your child and the result will be that both of you gain a greater understanding of the online education system.

Scholarship Friday, scholarships

Scholarship Friday: How to Find Scholarships Online

 

scholarships onlineThe full title of this book is Get a College Degree Without Drowning In Debt: How to Find Scholarships Online. This is NOT your average scholarship book. While many scholarship books list the names and details of the scholarships, this book takes a different approach by providing you with the search sites and ranking them. With so many scholarship search engines available this will save your college-bound teen valuable time and energy.

What makes How to Find Scholarships Online unique is:

  • The internal links that send you directly to the search sites.
  • The scholarship search engine ratings.
  • The extensive list of scholarship search engines.
  • The step-by-step guide on how to begin your search.
  • The list of online resources related to scholarships: blogs, podcasts and videos.
  • Demographic search links (i.e. military scholarships, minority scholarships, etc.)

Authors Gyan Devi and Myrriah Lavin explain their detailed reasoning behind spending time on scholarships with facts and figures, ending with this statement:

. . .  spending 450 hours applying for and winning scholarships takes substantially less time to pay off your student debt than the 2,940 hours at a part-time undergraduate job, or the 1,470 hours working full time after graduation. The choice is yours. Wouldn’t you rather work for 450 hours at a job where you set your own schedule and the better you are at your job, the more you’re paid?

Scholarship research and writing is a part-time job that pays you handsomely and allows you to work from home, in your jammies, on your own schedule. But, more importantly, it gives you financial freedom upon graduation to live debt-free and make decisions about your life that aren’t driven by monthly student loan payments for the next 20 years!

In a world of so much information and very little time to assimilate it, Gyan does all the leg work for you. She has followed these steps herself to pay for her own education and has proven her technique personally. The great thing about an ebook is that it provides you with an online copy, allowing you to go directly to the links provided.

Interested? If you are (and you should be) today is your lucky day! Gyan is providing my readers with a coupon code good until May 31st to download the book for FREE. That’s right: FREE. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Just follow the link below:

Get a College Degree Without Drowning in Debt: How to Find Scholarships Online

USE COUPON CODE: SL92E at checkout