Mom Knows College

A Parent's Survival Guide to College Planning

3 Ways to Stand Out on the High School Transcript for College Admissions

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3 Ways to Enhance Transcript for College AdmissionsSo, everyone knows that good grades in high school is important for college admissions. But there’s way more to that transcript that admissions officers look for than just a student’s grades.

First, let’s review what’s on the high school transcript. It’s a copy of your teenager’s permanent academic record, and includes:

  • courses taken from all schools the student has attended
  • dates each course was taken during each semester (or trimester)
  • codes that indicate the difficulty level of the course (college prep)
  • college courses, if taken
  • grades for each course
  • grade point average (GPA)
  • ACT, SAT, AP test scores (+ sometimes state exam scores)

The transcript is the very first thing that admissions officers look at – and is the most closely scrutinized.

Sure, test scores, school activities and essays are important to colleges when considering students for admissions. But the most revealing document that’s out there is the transcript. It shows how a student has challenged himself (or not) and how he’s excelled in coursework (or slacked off).

Colleges want to admit students who go above and beyond and challenge themselves. That starts with the types courses they’re taking, the difficuly of each course and the grades they receive in those courses.

Your teen should be taking this very seriously in high school, starting as a freshman.

Let’s take a look at what your teen should know about making the best impression possible here by understanding what matters most on the transcript.Continue Reading

Getting Tutored: How to Convince Your Teen of the Benefits

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Getting Tutored - Convincing your Teen of the BenefitsAhhh, new beginnings. It’s the start of a new high school year and things are fresh and perfect. Your teenager’s starting over with great grades this semester (ok, sure – no real grades yet, but no bad ones, either). There’s a sort of light feel around all of this.

And then we get deeper into the fall, and things get a little…contaminated. Homework piles up, quizzes and tests are held weekly. And I find that this is when the wheels start getting a little loose.

As a mom of two teenage girls, I want to help them out. And of course I care deeply that they’re successful in school. At the very first sign that they might be faltering, I tend to go into mom-mode and freak out with them, just a little. Which isn’t the best way to react with your kid when you want her to be on the right track. The mom-daughter dynamic gets all mussed and it’s stressful for everyone.

If this sounds like you at all, my personal advice to you is this:

Get a tutor for your kid. Outsource it. For the sake of Pete.

Although teens are becoming more comfortable with the idea of having tutors than they have in the past, you still might have to do a little convincing. I did. Teenagers don’t like to be labeled and often don’t want others to think they need help. And the last thing that they want is another adult telling them what to do.

But tutoring isn’t like that, and it’s your job to enlighten your kid to it.

I’ve taken some effective steps in convincing my girls that getting a tutor to help with schoolwork is the way to go. It’s helped tremendously with grades and in finally achieving an incredibly peaceful family life at home.

And I think these techniques will be useful for you, too.Continue Reading

4 Ways to Help Your Teen Succeed this School Year

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4 Ways to Help Your Teen this School YearSchool’s back in session! And whether you’re the type of mom to a) loathe the end of summer break and miss your teenager terribly, or b) make a pitcher of mimosas to celebrate the morning your kid leaves, there are things to know to make back-to-school (and the school year) easier for both of you.

Back to school means different things for different students, and the emotions can vary from “I can’t wait to get back to see my friends” to “omigosh, I’m so freaking nervous about the whole thing.”

Let’s prepare now to help our teenagers through a demanding, often anxiety-enducing school year by getting off to a stellar start and maintaining that over the next 10 months.Continue Reading

4 Great Books for Teen Summer Reading – Self-Development Edition

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4 Great Books for Summer Reading - Self-Development EditionNow that you’re talking with your teen about things to do this summer to impress admissions officers, he’ll probably want to fill some of the time in between with a little summer reading. (Ha, OK – that’s if you’re lucky enough to have an avid reader).

Any type of reading is valuable over the next few months – it doesn’t matter if it’s War and Peace or comic books. The goal is for your teen to expand horizons, practice reading skills and increase vocabulary. (Ka-Blam! Krakk!)

The following is a list of books I recommend for teens interested in doing a little self-reflection, learning and personal development this summer. You might want to check them out, too!Continue Reading

3 Science-Based Study Tips You’ve Never Heard Of

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3 Science-Based Study Tips You've Never Heard OfThe funny thing about school is that students are expected to study but, amazingly, there’s no class called “How to Study.”

Go figure.

Everyone knows the common study habits that have been encouraged over time: highlighting text, summarizing reading passages, reading and re-reading material. It turns out that these routines can be very inefficient, and in some cases counterproductive.

There are scientifically proven ways of retaining information much more effectively. And couldn’t we all use advice like that?

I’m a “tell me why that works” junkie, so I’ve put together some science-based methods proven to help retain information. Finals are coming up, so share this with your high schooler. (And use this for yourself the next time you need to learn something.)

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