Top 8 Tips for Parents to Prepare Your Child for College

Top 8 Tips for Parents to Prepare Your Child for College

No parent wouldn’t wonder that the time flies when it comes to realizing that your child is finishing high school and is about to start a college program. As much as the parents want their offsprings to remain kids for as long as possible, it’s a high time to prepare them (and ourselves) to a whole new college life. In this article, I’ll give you 8 effective tips to make high-school-to-college transition as smooth as possible.

1. Choose the College and Program Together

Now, I wrote “together”, not “for them” and this is a crucial difference. You may have more life experience than your kid, but that doesn’t mean they should complete your dreams, enter the school you always wanted, but your parents weren’t able to afford or choose the program you want them to. By the end of high school, many teenagers have a vague idea of what they want to do in life and some are still in the process of thinking and trying to envision their path. Either way, you’re here to help them to make their own decision, and the best way to do it is to provide facts about their future profession, give a list of schools you consider the best fit, and ask them to come up with their top list to compare and make a choice.

2. Enroll Into a Prep Program

After you know what college you’ll most likely enroll, check if they offer the preparation program for the freshmen. Why would it be a good thing to do? First, you’ll know more about the education process from the inside. Second, your kid will have a chance to meet future groupmates, professors, learn about the place, and get ready for the placement tests better. And there is a chance of not liking any of it, but it’s easier to quit the prep program than a whole course and waste one year.

3. Explore the Financing Options

If you don’t need to pay for tuition for some reason – well, congrats, you’ve just resolved the most difficult issue concerning the admission. Those who aren’t exempt from it need to know all the options on how to finance their kid’s education. You can apply for the Federal Student Aid program, ask for the most suitable student loan in the bank, compete for the student sponsorship and get financial aid, or follow recommendations of the college workers. Another option is to consider the local community college for the first two years to save up some money and transfer to any other college after graduation. This is a popular practice nowadays as the first two years aren’t as professionally oriented as the last ones.

4. Make Sure They Know Their Rights

If you don’t know your rights, how can you tell that someone violates them? Justice, equality, and freedom may have become empty words for you, but for the younger generation, they aren’t and shouldn’t be. Because they know their rights, they can demand the quality of education they deserve, they can stand up for the abused, they can live in dignity and continue building a civil society. This will help them to learn the rights and wrongs, which will decrease their chances of becoming someone who doesn’t care about other people.

5. Encourage to Compete

A competitive spirit is every successful person’s must-have. Competitiveness and efforts always count and sometimes they can give you a free enrollment to a prestigious university. Think about the NBA, at least. Those who are the best at what they do get invitations from the best colleges in the world to study and play for their teams. And it’s not sport-only. If you teach your kid to strive for the best, work hard, and compete with themselves and others, it will pay off very soon.

6. Make Sure They Respect

Themselves, you, people who have different worldviews or preferences, personal space, private property, privacy policy, and everything that is not theirs. Yes, I know, it doesn’t happen overnight, it requires time, and it is a collective family effort rather than a one-on-one exercise. The thing is, college is a huge melting pot, and it shouldn’t boil with hate, disrespect, or bullying. If your kid knows it well before they go to college, they will teach their peers the same.

7. Teach Them to Prioritize

Studying well is crucial for every freshman, but if they sacrifice everything else for burning the midnight oil over books, that can harm the quality of life. You need to teach your kid that there is a time for work and time for play, and neither is good alone. Here you have a good set of tips on how to master a subtle art of time management from a leader among the American universities, so they know what works.

But why should your kid know it beforehand? Well, effective time management will help them to prevent stress, get ready for the important exams, become a professional in one’s field. Most importantly, it will teach them not to waste time on unnecessary stuff.

8. Refrain from Judgements

This is the hardest part not to judge the kids for the choices they make. You know what being a teenager means, so try to be a parent you wish you had when you were 16 and turn your home into an always welcoming place where you practice what you preach.

Last but not least, support your kid and be an example they would love to follow in their professional or personal life. This will give them a solid ground to develop strong character, stand their ground, listen to others, and fight for what’s theirs. And if this is not the most important knowledge they should take away from their teens, I don’t know what is.

Author’s Bio

Eve Maygar, blogger and education expert at PapersOwl. She helps the students to reach their study goals by regularly publishing tips on how to optimize the learning process and get high grades without hating school. She provides professional advice to students and their parents at the time of admission.