Happy New Year!
Dear Students & Parents,
Happy New Year!
We hope this upcoming year brings you more confidence, trust, and gratitude for the process you are a part of and your journey moving forward! At CollegeStrategy, we are honored to be a part of your college planning journey.
As the new year begins, we hope you have set big goals for yourself! This month’s newsletter will help you do so.
The newsletter breaks down action steps for each grade level. Each grade level breaks down the action steps for both the student and parent in that grade level. Be sure to seek out your own specific grade level/section and read the outlined tips.
If you have not logged into your College Strategy account in 2+ weeks, please be sure to revisit your “Recommended Student To-Do Actions” lesson to jump back in and keep moving forward through the process.
Freshman Students
Plan for a great spring semester!
While you have already begun the second half of your freshman year, it’s not too late to make adjustments and plans for a great semester (or trimester). Consider the following areas to improve your academics and involvement this spring.
What study habits do you think are working well for you? Which might need to be improved?
What activities have you been involved in so far this year? Which would you like to get involved?
What goals do you have for the remainder of your freshman year? A certain GPA? A specific grade in a challenging class?
It’s important to make goals and work hard to accomplish them.
Start building relationships with your teachers/coaches/club advisors/etc.
When it comes time for you to fill out your college applications, you will have space to request letters of recommendation from three people. These recommendation letters are an important part of the process. That means building these relationships throughout high school is essential.
In addition to applications, having relationships with these members of your community can help you tremendously throughout your high school career. For example, if you are having trouble in math, you can request some additional help from your teacher. Requesting help will be much easier and less scary to do when you have created that connection.
Freshman Parents
Review your student’s course schedule for the upcoming semester
It’s always helpful to look at a student’s course schedule just to get an idea of what classes they’re taking this upcoming semester or trimester. Talking with your student about any trouble areas will also be beneficial.
For example, let’s say your student is struggling with math. Now that you know this, you can encourage the student to seek help. Many high schools have “Math Labs” where students can go for extra support. Otherwise, teachers are likely to provide additional assistance during specific periods of the day or at lunch upon request.
In addition, talk with your student about how those classes are going and ask questions like the following:
How are your classes going for you this year?
How could you challenge yourself more next year?
Have you considered what courses you’ll take in the future?
Discuss with your student the reasons s/he wants to go to college
It is never too early to begin this conversation. Having an open line of communication about the future is so important.
The student may not know what s/he wants to major in, but it is likely s/he has considered the future in some capacity. Start that open line of communication and keep it flowing throughout the next four years.
Sophomore Students
Consider scheduling a campus visit for the spring
This visit can be either official or unofficial, but get on campus and look around! It could be a campus nearby that you and your family pass by frequently or a college you’ll be near during spring break. While you still have a while until college, and your college list might be just beginning to grow, it is never too early to get a feel for different campuses.
Start building relationships with your teachers/coaches/club advisors/etc.
When it comes time for you to fill out your college applications, you will have space to request letters of recommendation from 3 people. This is an essential part of the process, which means building these relationships throughout high school is so important.
In addition to applications, having relationships with these people can help you tremendously throughout your high school career. For example, if you are having trouble in math, you can request some additional help from your teacher. Asking for help will be much easier and less scary when you have created that connection.
Sophomore Parents
Review your student’s course schedule for the upcoming semester
It’s always helpful to look at a student’s course schedule just to get an idea of what classes they’re taking this upcoming semester or trimester. Talking with your student about any trouble areas will also be beneficial.
For example, if your student is struggling in math, then finding someone at the high school to provide some extra help is an option. Many high schools have “Math Labs” where students can go for additional support. Otherwise, teachers are likely to provide extra help during specific periods of the day or at lunch upon request.
In addition, talk with your student about how those classes are going and ask questions like the following:
How are your classes going for you this year?
How could you challenge yourself more next year?
Have you considered what classes you’ll take in the future?
Discuss with your student the reasons s/he wants to go to college
Now is the perfect time to begin this conversation. Having an open line of communication about the future is so important.
While the student might not know yet what s/he wants to major in or pursue, the student has likely considered college and the future in some capacity. Start that open line of communication and keep it flowing throughout the next four years.
Junior Students
Schedule some official campus visits for the spring
If you haven’t already, be sure to schedule some official campus visits for the spring. If you’re able to do some visits over spring break, that’s great! Otherwise, you should find ways to incorporate these into your spring schedule.
Another option is to schedule these for the summer. However, if you do this, you will not see the campus alive with student life like it usually is during the school year.
Work on your College Exploration spreadsheet
Keep adding colleges to your list! Dig deep into research as you consider the many options out there. As you learn more about specific colleges, decide whether or not they will remain on your list.
The best way to go about this is to collect as many colleges as you can that interest you. Use your college search websites and build that list. Then, start deeply researching one college per week or maybe one college every other week. You can adapt this plan to fit your needs.
As you dig deeper and learn more about each of these colleges, be sure to record admissions requirements for the colleges you are excited about. There is more on this in the next section.
Junior Parents
Schedule some campus visits for this spring
If you haven’t already, be sure to schedule some official campus visits for the spring with your student. If you’re able to do some visits over spring break, that’s great! Otherwise, you should find ways to incorporate these into your spring schedule.
Another option is to schedule these for the summer. However, if you do this, your student will not see the campus alive with student life like it usually is during the school year. The same can be said for visiting on weekends. We want your student to get a feel for what campus life is like.
Many high schools do offer excused absences for campus visits. Your student just needs to go to the main office and request a form.
Take a peek at your student’s College Exploration sheet
Throughout the next six months or so, we highly recommend checking in here and there on your student’s College Exploration sheet. This spreadsheet is where they are collecting all of their college research. Checking in will create a sense of accountability moving forward, which helps to move this process along.
There are so many options out there for your student, and we want to be sure that s/he is considering all of the colleges that are available to him/her!
Senior Students
Send first-semester transcript to your colleges
While you sent in your transcripts during the fall of your senior year, most colleges do require a full senior year transcript at the end of senior year, as well. This is something you need to be aware of. If you have not received any correspondence from your college about this, you can reach out to the admissions office to learn more about doing this.
This leads perfectly to our next point.
Don’t catch senioritis!
It is extremely important that you continue to work hard throughout the senior year and don’t give in to the contagious case of “senioritis.” Since you will need to send your transcripts at the end of the year, you must show the colleges that you are continuing to challenge yourself and get good grades. If your transcript does not reflect the transcript you sent with your application, they can withdraw their acceptance letter.
Senior Parents
Schedule some last-minute campus visits (if necessary)
If there are currently any colleges on your student’s list that he or she is considering that you have not yet visited in person, be sure to get out and visit that campus with your student. Your student has until May 1st to commit to a college, and we highly recommend seeing a campus/town in person before committing.
Encourage your student to avoid senioritis
It is extremely important that your student continues to work hard throughout the senior year and doesn’t give in to the contagious case of “senioritis.” Since your student will need to send his or her transcripts at the end of the year to the college s/he chooses, it’s essential that the student continues to show the colleges that s/he is continuing to challenge him or herself and getting good grades. If the transcript sent at the end of the year does not reflect the transcript sent with the application, they can withdraw their acceptance letter.
Quote of the month
“The new year stands before us,
like a chapter in a book,
waiting to be written. “
– Melody Beattie
We hope this month’s newsletter will help you continue forward through your college planning journey, and we’ll be back in a month with more!
Until next time…
All the best,
Hannah at CollegeStrategy
