As the title of this blog suggests, I allow my 6 year old to walk to school. In this era of parents driving kids to school, or even bus stops, I get some serious side-eye when I tell other parents that. Now, let’s be clear. He has an 8 year old brother that he walks with. School is about a quarter of a mile from our house with all sidewalks and no major streets to cross. Still, it’s a decision, much like allowing children to play at a playground alone, that could get me thrown in “mom jail.”
At Campus Bound, we typically don’t advise students to focus on specific colleges until junior year of high school. We provide more information about that in this recent blog post. However, some eager sophomores may want to get a jump start on certain things, including the college recruitment process for student athletes. In this blog post, we explain why an early start is helpful and the tasks that can get done now to ease the process down the road.
As we mentioned in this previous blog, winter and spring of junior year is the optimal time to visit colleges. And, you can click on the “tours and visits” blog category on our blog’s main page for more advice about how to make the most of your visits and why they are important.
During your first winter meeting with your Campus Bound counselor, you will get a list of colleges that fit what you are seeking. But once you get that list, and if you are looking at colleges farther away, how do you go about planning these trips? Campus Bound will attempt to be a travel agent in this helpful blog.
In these early winter months, seniors are wrapping up the college application process, and juniors are typically starting. There are two weeks that all juniors should already have marked on their calendars. If you don’t… do it now!
If you are a student who plays sports in high school, you may want to consider playing in college too. Talking with a high school coach, friends, family members, college athletes and college coaches can all help you decide if college sports may be right for you.
There is a saying when talking about colleges and universities that it’s nice when they have a “work hard, play hard” mix. If you think academics are the only thing that happens in college, you’re wrong. For traditional students, academics certainly come first, but the social aspect of college is a close second.
Winter and spring school vacations are the best time to visit colleges. Waiting until the summer means that college campuses will be empty and quiet and hard to gauge. Waiting until fall of senior year means that you will be extremely busy and it may not happen.
You may have a picture in your head about what touring a college is like, and you’re probably right. It will likely be a large group of current high school students and their families walking slowly behind a current college student who is walking backwards (dodging puddles and classmates) and pointing out the highlights of the school. There will be eager, inquisitive parents toward the front of the group, with sluggish teens lagging in the back. But don’t let that be you! Take control of your own college tour. One way to do this is to ask unique questions, and here we give you 40 to get the ball rolling!
One of the top concerns expressed by our students and their families is, how to create a good college list. We have talked about this before in this previous blog, but today’s blog helps students and parents identify the qualities that are most important for creating their college list.
It’s January, which means it’s officially kick-off season for juniors to begin the college process. If you start now, you can break the process down into manageable steps and it will all feel much less overwhelming! In this blog, we outline the typical winter timeline for juniors. If you get these things done over the winter and spring, your summer and fall of senior year will be much easier.
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