Mom Knows College with Lea Saccoman

Impressing Colleges with Extracurricular Activities

June 12, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

Now that summer’s here, many teens will participate in extracurricular activities to keep them occupied and, hopefully, inspired and growing as awesome humans.

And, of course, everyone knows that colleges look for students who’re meaningfully involved in activities outside of high school classes. Colleges care about the character of the students they admit, so what your teen does during non-academic hours tells them a lot about who she is as a person.

So, what should your kid do to really shine on that application outside of getting good grades and test scores?Continue Reading

The Week Before the ACT: Help Your Teen Prepare

May 29, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

It doesn’t matter how well-prepared students are for the ACT exam – there just seems to be no mercy when it comes to feelings of apprehension and cases of the jitters.

Ideally your teen has at least an idea of what’s on the test and has taken a practice exam or two to become a little more familiar with its format and content. Knowing how to prepare and and what to expect will help greatly on test day.

But even if you haven’t enrolled your teenager in an ACT prep program or bought books to study with, you can help overcome a little bit of the stress your teen’ll surely feel the week leading up to the test.

Preparation and expectation-setting are key.

Check out these tips to help your kid get through the exam a little more comfortably.

How to Help Your Teen Choose a College Major

April 17, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

When you were graduating high school, what did you think you’d be doing right now? Did your 18-year-old-self really accurately predict what career you’d be in and how your life circumstances would evolve?

Imagine being your kid, applying to college, thinking that the choices he makes right now will dictate his entire future.

One of the most daunting parts of applying to college for many teenagers is deciding what to major in. This isn’t the same as choosing an ultimate fate, though. And it’s up to you to help him overcome that if he’s feeling that type of pressure.

We can’t possibly expect our kids to say, “Mom, for the rest of my life I want to do this thing. Forever.”

It’s perfectly OK that your own kid isn’t sure just yet what he’d like to study.

Share these tips with your teen to help decide when, and how, to choose the major that will be the best fit.

Let’s begin with the most important thing first:Continue Reading

The Week Before the SAT: Help Your Teen Prepare

April 3, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

It’s tough to be a high schooler, right? All of the tough classes, college entrance exams, extracurriculars…

It’s. A. Lot.

No wonder your teenager’s a hot mess.

Well, hear hear, Mom. You can help your teen overcome a little bit of stress the week leading up to the SAT exam, at least. Because that one’s a doozy.

Preparation and expectation-setting are key.

Check out these tips to help your kid get through the SAT exam a little more comfortably. (And so you stay a little more sane, too, in the process.)

Making Colleges Take Notice with Demonstrated Interest

March 20, 2017 by Lea Leave a Comment

We all know that admissions officials at colleges are the gatekeepers to entry for hopeful teens.

Of course they’re going to be looking for an impressive GPA, good test scores and glowing letters of recommendation from each student. But there are other things your teen can do to stand out that other students might not be doing.

With thousands of students clamoring to get in, what’s a student to do to get noticed?

The application process isn’t just an unknown for your teenager – it’s risky for schools, too. When colleges decide which students they’re sending offers of admissions to in order to fill up the freshman class, they typically want to have some certainty that the students they’re admitting are actually going to accept. They’ve got quotas to fill.

Demonstrated interest is used to make decisions for admissions.Continue Reading

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