A Myth about College Planning: It's Not Too Early To Start!
By Avis Wright

A few weeks ago, a mother of a fifth grade student asked, “Is it too early for me to start worrying about college for my son?” With a smile, I offered the response, “It may be too late!”

Too often, parents wait until high school to think about the next step, college. For some, the mere thought of thinking past the immediate hurdle of high school admission is too much to bear. For others, the college search and admission process are complex and overwhelming. For whatever reason, many families err in not preparing for college while in the middle years. Many fail to understand that their middle school students need challenging middle school courses, sound study habits, strong talent development, and solid extracurricular activities to provide a sturdy foundation for future educational endeavors. Some take for granted that their students will somehow “automatically” learn to challenge the academic process, truly respect it for its worth and strive for excellence. They do not see middle school as the time for developing these attributes in their children. How wrong they are!

The middle school experience is the best time to introduce the student to the many academic characteristics that college admission offices expect to see. During these years, parents, teachers, counselors and community leaders can use their life experience and situations to instruct, model and advise. As critical adults in a young person's life, we are charged to identify and reinforce key priorities in college planning. It rests with all of us to offer as much support and guidance as possible to our young student. We must feel obligated to travel along on this journey. Questions and concerns regarding college preparation and planning will be asked and we must be prepared to help students explore until we find the answer.

College Planning Checklist for Middle School Students and their Parents

Because there are many tasks and so much information to gather and understand, college preparation can begin as early as grade 6. Besides the usual activities of collecting information about institution attributes, admission requirements and costs, prospective students and their parents need to focus attention on developing talents, enhancing academic skills and examining personal traits in order to prepare for the rigors of the college admission process. The “right” school, community, and extracurricular and character-building experiences will serve as the needed foundation for a solid undergraduate candidate. Make sure you have the right stuff for future academic study by using the following checklist.

Know your school administrators, teachers and guidance staff.
These very important people hold the keys to your educational future. They have the answers, suggestions, feedback and insight critical to a successful educational journey. These wonderful professionals are not only responsible for the knowledge you absorb, but will be of great assistance when moving on to the next stage. Their guidance recommendations and letters of support will prove invaluable when applying for admission to high school and college.

In particular, establish and maintain a positive working relationship with your child's guidance counselor. This valuable professional can provide information about curricula, accelerated courses, enrichment classes, summer opportunities for the gifted, and various educational options. Because this professional is familiar with your school and home communities, his or her prospective and expertise will prove invaluable when making plans for secondary and undergraduate study. In addition to selecting appropriate, challenging courses, the counselor can recommend programs and resources that will nurture the student's gifts and talents. A solid relationship with this person can bring many rewards.

Participate in the Midwest Academic Talent Search.
The SAT and ACT not only tell you about skills and abilities, but they say a lot about academic promise. These tests will identify strengths, weaknesses and offer some idea of how successful the student will be during the initial year of undergraduate study. Programs like the Midwest Academic Talent Search not only provide valuable information but invaluable testing experience. Taking these exams during middle school will allow the student to become comfortable with standardized tests. For some students, the more times these tests are taken, the better they perform. Preparing for the ACT or SAT by using study booklets as well as by reviewing results from past exams can help students to strengthen challenged subject areas and possibly also improve their scores.

Read, write, compute!
Reading, writing and spending time with math problems are wonderful ways to use spare time. Go beyond classroom and homework assignments by considering participation in enrichment classes, accelerated courses and independent study. The more you read, the broader your vocabulary will expand. As for writing, the phrase, practice makes perfect, fits. And, working math problems not only gives the brain new concepts to digest but practical, useful exercise. Broadening academic skills helps improve current performance and strengthen that ever-so-important educational foundation necessary for college.

Develop talents and interests.
Whether the interest is singing, dancing, art, computers, martial arts, writing, community outreach or anything in-between, take the time and effort to be the best you can be. Enhancing talents not only illustrates commitment and dedication, but shows growth and maturity in the talent area. Successful competitions, recognition from instructors, association with fellow peers, innovative projects and significant contributions to the field of interest catch the eye of admission officers. Don't be afraid to shine!

Enroll in enrichment and distance learning courses.
These courses show a willingness to learn and succeed outside the traditional educational setting. Participation illustrates to college admission officers that the student places a high priority on developing gifts and nurturing talents. Use these courses to explore unfamiliar topics, broaden knowledge in weakened subject-areas or learn new skills which will support personal growth. Information and experiences gained from these courses may lead to new interests in career paths or educational arenas. Enrichment classes and distance learning courses offer the opportunity for growth.

Pay close attention to extracurricular activities.
After-school sports and community activities are more than just fun! They can build character, enhance abilities and support the development of leadership. Friendships which can last for years are developed; and, self-confidence can sky-rocket. Extracurricular activities are important to the personal and educational facets of the college-bound student. If possible, try to select a few activities that are connected to college subjects of interest. The closer extracurricular activities are to possible college majors, the more rewarding the activities' experience will be

Set goals.
Set performance goals for individual courses (I'm going to earn an A- in English; I will try for every extra credit points available in this class). Identifying little milestones will whittle that “major accomplishment” into manageable pieces - and make your goals not appear so overwhelming. There is nothing like that feeling of accomplishment that comes when you have reached a goal! It encourages you to make even more goals and try new things. Setting goals is a valuable cog in the educational process.

Choose accelerated courses.
Don't opt for easy courses! Whether you are choosing a high school or university, take a long hard look at the curriculum offerings. Make sure there is a variety of rigorous and accelerated courses. Classes that are not challenging will not inspire hard work or encourage abilities to be stretched. To truly expand gifts and talents, classes that require students to reach beyond their comfort level of thinking and action are the most useful. Secondary schools and undergraduate institutions view challenging classes as a positive attribute of a strong educational program - illustrating the willingness of a student to work hard and take academic risks. Electing the easy way out in order to boost a class rank or grade point average will not benefit the learning process and may well endanger the opportunity to attend a premier institution.

Build up time management and study skills.
Preparing for a math exam is different from studying for a history test. Learn the different ways to review notes and prepare for classroom lectures and activities. Do you know of at least three methods of taking notes? Do you know how the best strategies for taking essay exams? True-False quizzes? Multiple choice tests? Do you spend your time wisely? Are you able to complete assignments in a timely fashion? How is your academic health? Support in the areas of time management and study skills will increase your chance of educational success. Teachers, guidance counselors, books and computer software programs are great sources of support for assistance in developing these skills.

…and this is just the beginning!

College preparation and planning takes time and effort. There are numerous books, computer-assisted guidance materials and advising professionals available to offer guidance and support. Set aside time to explore these avenues of assistance. Don't know where to begin? Try your middle school's guidance counselor or local high school's college (or senior-year) counselor.

Also, these organizations' websites have been found to be very helpful:
ACT www.act.org
The College Board www.collegeboard.com
National Association of College Admission Counselors www.nacac.com
Petersons www.petersons.com
The Sallie Mae Foundation www.salliemae.com
Illinois Student Assistance Commission www.collegezone.com

There will be more tasks for later: college exploration, the application process and obtaining financial assistance. As you see, there is much to do. Preparing for college takes time, dedication and effort. Don't wait until high school to begin. Start NOW!

Avis Wright is formerly the liaison for the Career Guidance Center, Illinois State Board of Education, director of placement for Chicago City-Wide College, college counselor and interim principal at Hales Franciscan High School, director of college counseling at St Ignatius College Prep, coordinator of University Without Walls Program at Chicago State University and program coordinator for Smart and NU-Vistas at CTD. She has written two books on college admissions and is currently the coordinator of Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarships at CTD.