One Mom's College Planning Advice

Here's an article from Great Schools with some college planning advice from a mom whose sons both got into good schools. One point I noticed was her advice to start visiting colleges right after 8th grade, which is earlier than I've heard from other sources, but seems like a good idea. She also recommends sampling different campuses from all over the country, so the kids get an idea of the kind of vibe they're looking for. Here's the link:

http://www.greatschools.org/college-prep/planning/580-one-moms-timeline.gs?page=1

Private Colleges and Financial Aid

While many of us would like to see our children at a top private college, we simply cannot afford the $40,000+ a year pricetag and don't wish to see the kids graduating with crippling student loan bills. However, according to the following article some of these schools may not be as financially out of reach as they appear. Food for thought.

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/113708/best-values-private-colleges-kiplinger

Musings on My Kids' Activities

So the High School Superstar book has set me thinking about the kids' interests and activities and which ones could turn into that extraordinary accomplishment that can give them an edge.

A few years ago I was researching what activities help with college admissions and came across a source that said team sports help, while individual sports don't. Also that the yearbook committee or school newspaper help. Unfortunately I don't remember what the source was so I can't link to that. I had that in mind when I encouraged my kids to join soccer in elementary school.

I'm afraid we've let our son's activities get out of hand. He's been eager to try a variety of things, and once he starts he doesn't want to stop. So at this point he plays soccer and baseball, takes karate lessons, takes piano lessons and plays viola for the school orchestra, and goes to religious education classes.

We recently cut boy scouts from the list, which I was glad to see go because the amount of time it required, even though I know that colleges love an eagle scout. I insist on religion for middle school, but he'll have the important stuff out of the way by the time he hits high school so I'll let him choose whether to continue or not at that point. We enrolled him in karate because he's a small kid and saw himself as weak - even though he did the second most chin-ups in his class during gym. We're hoping the karate will make him feel that he is strong, and able to defend himself if he must. I don't see it developing into the type of activity that will make colleges take note, though. He enjoys the social aspects of soccer and baseball, but is not a terribly strong athlete. He'll probably play in high school, but again, I don't see them developing into anything spectacular.

I think the piano and viola could turn into something - but the interest just isn't there. He never sits down to play his instruments when he's bored, just for fun. Only during his scheduled practice time. We chose piano for him, but he surprised us by asking to join the school orchestra and play viola. I think the luster of that has worn off for him. Still, of all the activities he does now, music seems to hold the most promise. But it's early days, and I'd like to hold out for something that he really loves and can pursue with passion. But what?

My daughter plays piano, soccer, takes ballet lessons and goes to religious education. She is a talented ballet dancer, and that could potentially be her extraodinary accomplishment. The danger there is... what if she wants to become a ballet dancer??? She has a wonderful scientific mind - it would be a shame to see it go to waste. And most dancers are washed up by the time they hit thirty. Then there's the body image issues and the pressure to maintain an unhealthy weight. I think ballet is a great hobby, but I don't know that it's the kind of career I want my daughter to have.

Now I do have an idea. My daughter is adopted from a different country and we've been planning to take a trip there in a year or two and have been learning the language at home, on our own. Maybe we could make that country our extraodinary accomplishment, for both children. Learning the language, maybe starting a club at school - there's a Japan club already, why not one for a different country? I even have an idea for a related charity the kids could start that would be pretty easy for them to do - in a few years, of course - with very little help from me and would take very little cash to get up and running.

Now a kid raised in that country could do it better, but it will be more unusual coming from an American kid, don't you think? But then that raises the concern that it won't be such a stand-out interest for my daughter because she is from that country originally, even though she's been raised in a family that is not.

We'll keep it in mind, keep exploring their interests and see what develops.

School Choice

Sonny just started 6th grade and we chose to enroll him at a charter school in a nearby town. This decision has baffled some of our neighbors, since our local schools have a great reputation. However, several factors went into this decision, and we're confident that this was the right choice for our son.

For several years this school has come in as one of the top five public high schools - often number one or two- in our state in rankings by US News and World Report, the Washington Post and others. Moreover, all the other schools in the top ten are in and around the biggest city, on the other side of the state. So this is the best school in the region, and its only 25 minutes away in the town where my husband works. The local school comes in at around 60, which isn't bad considering there are over a thousand schools... but it's not the BEST.

It is a college prep school, and it is very clear that academics is the most important thing going on at that school. Sonny has been in school for just two weeks and already has 2 to 2.5 hours of study and homework a night.

The local school is way too focused on sports. We have heard from numerous parents that kids who aren't sports stars in that school are second class citizens. The state awards for the music program are hidden away in a side hall while the football trophys are displayed at the front entrance. The kids don't get MLK Jr. day off, but school is cancelled so they can attend the girls basketball semi-finals in the state capital. I was already seeing this attitude in elementary school - Sonny knew which of his friends made it onto the travel baseball team's A, B and C squads -which we didn't let him try out for - but didn't seem to think much of his own accomplishment of getting a gold medal for reading the most books in the fourth grade. I have nothing against sports - my kids are both in sports. We think sports are great for keeping them healthy, teaching them important skills for working with a team and fun social activities. We don't stress the competitive aspects at all. The charter school has a soccer team and a baseball team. Those teams don't win a lot, but if my kids want to play sports, they'll be able to.

The charter school has graduating classes of around 70 or 80 kids each year and class sizes of 15 to 20. The local high school graduates around 500 kids a year. My kids will be getting much better attention.

Finally we love the approach and the attitude towards teaching and learning at the charter school. Each of the teachers we've met LOVES to teach - you can see it in the way they talk about their subjects and their classes. They have an energy and excitement about teaching that the kids pick up on. Also, in addition to the standard science, math and social studies classes, they offer fun classes where kids can explore their interests, like a class where kids read books and watch the films made from them and discuss the similarities or differences - Sonny is taking that one next term. Also they devote four weeks entirely to classes like that at the end of the year, or the kids can study countries like Greece or Spain and then travel there for two weeks with the school. They can learn to knit, act, play Risk, dance, fly - it makes learning FUN for the kids and helps them uncover new interests and skills. Meanwhile, the local middle school kids study math, history,english, science and music or gym - and that's it.

Yes, we're confident we made the right choice.

Colleges - Time to Think Globally?

At this point we have a vague idea of the colleges we're shooting for. We live in the midwest, so reputable midwestern schools are on the list. Schools like the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Notre Dame and Northwestern are all on the list. Some of the Ivy League schools are on the list - Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Stanford and MIT. Sonny expressed an interest in the Foreign Service last year, so Georgetown was added to the list.

Unfortunately, finances are a big issue here. Although Sonny's had a college savings plan since he was 6 months old, we haven't contributed enough to cover the tuition at the exclusive private universities, which makes the public universities more feasible for us.

However, this past week I came across a list of the worlds top universities that makes me think we should be thinking globally. According to the QS World University Rankings , the top university in the world for 2011/2012 is the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, with a pricetag of $18,000 to $20,000 a year for international undergrads. Harvard comes in at number two at double the price - $38,000 to $40,000 for a domestic undergrad. MIT and Yale took third and fourth places, both at $38K to $40K, and the UK's Oxford University was fifth at $20K to $22K for international students.

Food for thought.

My Kids and Me

So let me tell you a little about my kids and me. I'll call them Sonny and Sweetie. I think they both have great potential - but of course, I'm their mother. I see my role as helping them to develop that potential so that they can be whatever they choose and attend whatever college they choose.

Sonny is 11 years old and just started middle school. We enrolled him at a college prep charter school nearby that is consistently rated among the top 5 public high schools in our state, most years coming in a number one or two. Sonny has an excellent memory and gets top grades in school, but struggles with math. Fortunately, I've got an engineering degree so I can give him extra tutoring at home. He is an avid reader, and won the gold medal for reading the most books in his grade in elementary school twice and the silver once. He plays soccer in spring and fall, baseball in summer, does karate year round and plays piano and the viola.

Sweetie is 8 years old and just started third grade. In first and second grades she got top grades - but from what I've seen in third grade the material gets much more challenging, so I'll be keeping a close watch on her progress. Sweetie loves science and is constantly asking questions about how the world works and coming up with science experiments. It's not uncommon to stumble on a soda bottle filled with seeds and dirt that she's placed in a dark corner of the garage to see if it would grow there, or to find her in the bath trying to discover how to make the biggest soap bubbles. She's very creative - loves coloring and sometimes writes stories just for fun. Sweetie plays soccer in spring and fall and takes ballet during the school year. She takes piano lessons all year.

As for me, I earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan, so I've got experience getting into a challenging program at a selective college. These days I prefer to work as a freelance writer, which allows me the flexibility to take an active part in my children's education and activities.

My husband earned a bachelor's degree in English literature, then went on to medical school after taking extra clasees in math and science. He is a family physician.

My Mission

My mission: To help both my kids to get into great colleges.

My kids are in 6th and 3rd grade. I'm more focused on the 6th grader right now, but the little gal will benefit from my research as well.

I'm starting early, I realize this. Some might say ridiculously early. But I have a neighbor who was dismayed to discover when her daughter began applying to colleges in her senior year that they requested info on volunteer activities - and her daughter had done nothing in all her years of high school. I don't want my children to be caught unprepared.

So I will use this blog to keep track of my research, my plans, what works and what doesn't, and if any other parents and students can benefit, that's great.