Parenting Teens

Today, I’m running a guest post by none other than my 16-year-old daughter, who has written about easing the college application process! She’s going through some of the stages of this herself, and after slogging through lots of information, she thought she could point out some useful tips. Some of her information came from College Net, which can be a very useful site when putting in those college applications! Both my daughter and I, hope you find something useful here for yourself and your teen!

Between keeping your grades up and worrying about college applications, senior year can be hectic. Throw financial aid and scholarship applications in the mix, and things can get downright scary! However, with a little planning and research, getting ready for college can be much easier.

When a block of unused time finally rolls around, use it to research some of the colleges and universities in which you have had some interest. Look up information on campus life, and use resources like the Princeton Review to see what current students have to say about their professors, the food, and the curriculum. When you find a school that seems like a good fit, look at their admissions factors. For instance, at Georgia Tech, the average high school GPA is currently 3.71 (on a 4.0 scale), and the middle 50th percentile of combined SAT scores (Critical Reading and Math) ranges from 1260 to 1390.

Once you have decided on a small handful of schools to which you would like to apply, request applications from those schools. Alternatively, fill out the Common Application, which can be used at hundreds of colleges across the country. Take note of any other requirements on your application, such as essays, letters of recommendation, and a copy of your high school transcript. Take special note of the application deadline, and put that date everywhere you need to in order to send your application on time.

Once you have your name, birth date, and other basic information on the application, it gets a little harder. The application essay can often seem like the most difficult part of applying to college. Instead of grabbing a cup of coffee and planning an all night session to get the perfect essay, relax. Before you concentrate on the actual question, brainstorm topics, such as positive qualities you would like to point out to the admissions committee. Once you decide on your topic, start writing a rough draft of the message you would like to convey in your essay. Finally, look at the question on the application. Add or take away information to make your rough draft fit the question.

Even though many of us have heard this information constantly for some time now, fully understanding it can be very useful to students who will soon be entering college. A knowledge of how to handle applying to college can allow you to keep your current grades up, since many colleges still look at transcripts even from senior year, and have an advantage over other students in the application pool. Submitting all required materials can expedite the process so that you can relax, get your application in before the deadline, and possibly receive your decision letter early.

Armed with this information, and a blue or black pen, getting through all those college applications should be easy. Remember to give yourself some time to complete the applications, so that you won’t be stressing to get six applications finished in one weekend. Relax, and try not to let college get in the way of what little bit of high school is left. Don’t forget to dot the I’s and cross the T’s, and applying to college shouldn’t be any harder than that research paper for biology.

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The King of horror himself (Stephen, that is) has spoken about the writings of Cho Seung-Hui, the 23-year-old student responsible for the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. Stephen King’s take on Cho’s writings is posted at Entertainment Weekly’s website, where he serves as a contributing editor on pop culture.

He is frank about the fact that, in this day and age, his own college writings would have raised flags. King also speaks about a one-time student of his who raised red flags for him . He is quick to point out, though, that, in his own case, he had none of the other signs which would have pointed to him as a possibly violent personality-he interacted with his peers, never stalked girls, etc.

The following quote from King seems to pretty well sum up his opinion on Cho’s writings and his violent state:

For most creative people, the imagination serves as an excretory channel for violence: We visualize what we will never actually do (James Patterson, for instance, a nice man who has all too often worked the street that my old friend George used to work). Cho doesn’t strike me as in the least creative, however. Dude was crazy. Dude was, in the memorable phrasing of Nikki Giovanni, ”just mean.” Essentially there’s no story here, except for a paranoid a–hole who went DEFCON-1. He may have been inspired by Columbine, but only because he was too dim to think up such a scenario on his own.

On the whole, I don’t think you can pick these guys out based on their work, unless you look for violence unenlivened by any real talent.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am not unbiased where Stephen King is concerned. I discovered King in the ’70’s during my own teen years and have been a huge fan since then. I write horror stories myself, and have come up with some pretty gruesome storylines in my time. However, as someone who has also served as a social worker in the mental health field, I have to wholeheartedly agree with him here. The writings, on their own, do not mean that a person is violent. If so, many of today’s top novelists and writers would be in mental institutions!

So, if you have, or know of, a teen who reads and/or writes horror, don’t automatically assume that he/she has a mental problem! Look for other signs, such as isolation, anti-social behavior, etc. We all worry about our kids, but let’s not let that take over our lives.

[tags]Virginia Tech, Virginia tech shootings, Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly, Cho Seung-Hui, writing, parenting teens, parenting teenagers, teen writing, teenage writing[/tags[

If your teenager needs serious help with schoolwork, Sylvan Learning Centers can provide it. If your teen has been absent from school and needs to catch up, or just has subjects which give him/her a lot of trouble and other options for tutoring don’t seem to help, Sylvan can often be the answer.

I don’t want to sound like a commercial for them, but I have a friend who is a Sylvan tutor. She’s a certified teacher, as most of those who work for Sylvan are. I’ve seen how they work, and they can work wonders. I returned to college as an adult and needed to take my SAT’s again (since it had been about ten years after I graduated high school!). I went to Sylvan for their SAT prep course. I don’t think I would have made it without them!

They give your student an assessment, which tells them and you at what level your child is progressing, and provides useful information in helping them plan a program specifically for your student. Students receive individual attention, which can often be the key to helping some students grasp a subject. We all know classrooms are overcrowded these days and most teachers (no matter how good they are) simply don’t have the time to give students individual attention.

They offer tutoring for every grade K-12, as well as SAT/ACT prep and preparation for statewide tests. They give help in reading, math, writing and study skills-basics which every student needs to succeed. Sylvan has centers in most cities and in smaller towns as well. And they now offer online tutoring for those who don’t have a center near their homes.

It’s not inexpensive. Employing certified teachers for tutoring children usually isn’t. Their website lists current costs as ranging from $38 to $52 an hour, depending on your student’s individualized program. However, they guarantee that your student will improve at least one grade level in math and reading after 36 hours of instruction. How many other tutors offer a guarantee? They also provide monthly payment plans and loan options.

Sylvan is for serious problems. If your student has one-or needs help with those upcoming state tests, or with preparing for the SAT/ACT, try them out.

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Does your teenager have an interest in writing? Have them check out the website Teen Ink. This is a website, book series, and print magazine all written by teens, for teens.

This site has great features like interviews (the current one is with Alicia Keys), contests (current contest is an interview contest with the winner getting an interview with either Steven Spielberg or Martin Sheen), plus the opportunity for teenagers to submit their writings, artwork and photos to be published in the magazine, on the website or in the books.

Their daily features include the following:

*Fiction
*Non-fiction
*Poem
*Review
*Art
*Photo

In addition, they have resourceful links to things like college, summer jobs and teacher information. It’s a wonderful place for parents, teachers and teens to find out what other teens are thinking, saying and writing. So, check out the site and tell me what you think.

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