How to get your middle school child into college

, you need to think about college early. Most colleges start accepting applications when your child is in their junior year. Some had a deadline for early admission of October of your child’s junior year. Many colleges are very competitive. If you have not sent a child to college before, you may not be aware of the competitiveness of some programs. I hope that this article helps you get your child into the college of his or her dreams. First off, you need to determine your child’s interests. What you are looking for is a single interest that can be used as a thread to combine all other activities. You are not looking for your interests; you are looking for your child’s interests. Your job as a parent is going to be to make sure that your child grows into a leader that gets good grades and excels in an area of expertise. Once you choose an area of interest your job will be to find activities involving that area so that your child can grow. Debbie is a mom who found out early that the colleges in her area are very difficult to get into. Debbie wanted to help her daughter Grace to become a person that colleges want to admit. Debbie noticed that her daughter Grace loved children. She frequently caught Grace teaching her dolls how to read or caring for them. Debbie decided that Grace would be a perfect teacher, but when she talked to Grace, Grace said she wanted to be a nurse and take care of sick kids when she grew up. Debbie searched and found out that pediatric nursing is a very competitive field. Pediatric nurses need to be very good with math, they need to be leaders, they need to love children and they need to be able to have the endurance to work long hours. She also discovered that most nursing school have wait-lists or will only accept applicants with A’s in Math and Science. She read that Magnet Hospitals want their nurses to have Bachelor’s Degrees and while a 2 year degree might get her hired as a nurse, it would not put her in the place to get the job of her choice in her area. She also found out that their local four year degree program was highly competitive and received thousands of applications each year and accepted 40 students. Debbie knew that her child had to stand out among the applicants. An application with straight A’s in math and science would not get her noticed because everyone needed that in order to apply. Debbie decided that Grace would need to stand out among the applicants and they needed to start when Grace was in 9th grade. Debbie chose a thread of “Children” for Grace. Grace would need to get really good grades in school. Debbie knew that even with a single B in a Math or Science class that Grace’s dream of becoming a Pediatric Nurse might not ever come true. Debbie decided that she would work with Grace during the summer and after school to make sure that she understood Math and Science. Debbie was not a mom who said, “Oh, I could never learn algebra”. Sometimes, Debbie even pretended that she didn’t know how to do the work and allowed Grace to teach her because a person who can teach the material knows it well enough for a test. What could Grace do to get recognized? First, Debbie and Grace met with a guidance counselor and discussed awards given out at school. Debbie was looking for an award that Grace could get that involved leadership and working with children. The counselor said that in 10th grade, the students could join an after school club that helped tutor younger kids and read stories to them. She said that the child who put in the most hours from 10th grade until 12th grade got a service award. Debbie asked questions about the award and found out that most kids only volunteered 2 days per month and a lot of them got bored and quit. The counselor said that the hours were always posted on a board in the hallway that was updated monthly. The counselor also said there was a monthly car wash where the kids could volunteer and donate the money to charity. Grace said it sounded fun and thought she would like to do that too. Debbie realized that car washing was not in Graces thread, and decided that Grace could do the car wash for fun sometimes, but it would not be her focus. Teaching kids to read involved her thread of “children” and offered an award, so it would be something to focus on. Grace grew a little older, working on her grades and keeping with her focus. One day she came home from school and said, “Mom, a lot of girls at school want to become nurses. Some of them have nurse family members and one person’s mom is a nursing instructor, but I don’t know her very well”. Debbie asked Grace if there was a club that involved a lot of the girls and Grace said no, there was a science club, not it was more for computer science than healthcare science. Debbie talked to Grace about starting a club. Grace thought it would be a great idea and went to her school to find out what the process would be to start a new club. She wrote an outline of what she wanted to see in the club and took her idea to the assistant principal. The assistant principal thought it was a great idea and a week later, the Future Nurses club was formed. While this did not follow the “children” thread, it met the guidelines of leadership and nursing. Grace volunteered to be the interim president until one could be elected, and when elections were held, Grace was disappointed that she did not win. She felt that she had worked hard and started the club and that she should be president. Debbie realized that while it would have been great for Grace to be elected, she founded the club and that was a leadership role that would go on her college application, plus Grace was learning a lot from the club. The nursing moms came in to talk about nursing and Grace learned a lot about her future career. Debbie was looking for other ways to make Grace stand out and noticed that a local hospital allowed student volunteers during 5 weeks of summer. Debbie discussed the project with Grace and Grace was excited. Her foundation had already been laid, so the application process was easy. Grace was a hard worker in school and got all A’s in Math and Science. Her volunteer work during the school year and her leadership in starting the Future Nurses club made her the perfect candidate. Grace later learned that the hospital only allowed 12 volunteers and there had been over 50 applicants. While in the hospital working, grace struck up a conversation with the gift shop cashier and found that the hospital has year round volunteers in the ICU help desk. Grace inquired and found that not only did the hospital have ICU volunteers, but they also hired a person for the Pediatric ICU help desk. volunteered for the ICU help desk once her time was complete as a hospital volunteer. Grace watched carefully for a part time position to open for the Pediatric Help Desk. Grace found out that she had to be 18 years old to work at the Pediatric Help Desk. She was disappointed, but she knew that she was lined up to get that job when it opened. Debbie’s mom noticed that while Grace was volunteering for the hospital and still helping kids out with reading, there were no new leadership activities to put on her resume. Grace brainstormed with her mom and Grace decided that she wanted to talk to the local library about starting a program for handicapped children. She wanted to take one Saturday a month to read books and come up with activities that the children would love. Grace knew what kids liked because she had tutored so many children already. The library staff loved her idea and made only one change. They wanted music and reading. The next thing Grace knew, she was being paid to sing and dance with children and she loved it. Grace was set to graduate near the top of her class and received the award for having the most hours teaching children. Grace also got an award for leadership for starting the Future Nurses club which had grown during her time in school. Grace was still a junior when it was time to apply for colleges and she decided to apply to two colleges in her state that had very good nursing programs. Grace opened the applications such as, “Why do you want to attend this school” and “What do you expect to be doing in 10 years”. There were also questions about her experiences and overcoming difficult situations. Grace wrote about not being elected as president of the club she started. Debbie was not sure that Grace should write about a failure, but when she read Graces final essay, she decided it was a good essay. Grace talked about learning so much from starting a club that she was able to meet with adults and start the library program on her own. She spoke to what she learned, not what she lost. A few months later, Grace found out she was pre-accepted to both universities. What can you learn from Grace? How did her “thread” help her get into the college of her choice? Do you think that she would have gotten in if she had chosen to become “well rounded” and not focus her efforts in one area? Do you think Grace would have made it into the school of her choice if she had not had outside activities? What about if she had not studied hard and had gotten B’s in her Math and Science Classes? How did Debbie’s involvement change as Grace grew older? Did Debbie push Grace? Head over to the next page:  Steps for getting you child into college