2. High School will present some
new challenges and more
freedom to your student.
• Attendance becomes more important.
• Teachers teach each student for 5 months
rather than 10 months. Each semester brings
new experiences.
• Less lenient policies on missing work.
3. • Less reminding and organizational help
from adults at school.
• More choices of classes, especially 10-12th
grades. Think ahead – prerequisites etc.
4. What parents can do to help
students succeed high school.
• Encourage good attendance and on time
arrival for school. Avoid making dentist,
doctor appointments and taking vacations
during school days / hours.
• Monitor your student’s social media accounts
– colleges look at these! Set a good example
in your own use of social media.
5. • Model a good balance between work, fun
and rest. Help your child find a good
balance too.
• Foster independence. Support your child,
but don’t do it for him.
• Let your student meet challenges herself.
This builds confidence and reduces
insecurity! Facilitate real-world
experiences. (Summer jobs)
6. • Resist the pressure to choose a career path
early. Now is the time to explore! Encourage
your student to choose classes that will help
expand their knowledge of careers. Keep
career cluster requirement in mind (but also
in perspective) as you help them choose.
• Understand AP, honors classes look good to
colleges, but not if you overload and don’t do
well in them!
7. What are colleges looking for? A
student who will enroll and stay for
4 (or 5) years!
• Mental toughness – do they challenge themselves?
How do they handle difficulties? Are they quitters?
• High GPA – in rigorous courses. AP, honors, IB, CCP
classes all look good.
• Solid ACT/SAT test scores.
8. • Passionate, deep involvement and commitment to
a few interests rather than shallow participation
in many. Leadership within those activities.
• Community Service – how do they choose to serve
others?
• What makes this student unique? The college
essay is a great place to address this question.
• Some colleges value letters of recommendation
from teachers who know you well.
9. What parents can do to help in the
college process.
• Help your student explore colleges early and often.
Ask your student to show you their CFNC.org account
and the results of the interest inventories they have
already taken. Encourage them to take more interest
inventories, study their results and research colleges
that have good programs reflecting those interests.
10. • Students often focus on famous sports programs at
universities or where their friends are going rather
than important things like majors and programs
universities offer. Help your student define what
matters vs. the hype.
• Understand colleges are businesses. They are in it
to make money and they are very competitive
amongst themselves. Your goal is to get them to
compete for your business. They are looking for
students who won’t quit. Students who quit take
their money with them!
11. • Don’t pressure your student to narrow down
their interests too soon. Kids want to have a
plan, but this often means they ignore other
options. Choosing too early could result in
changing majors which means not graduating in
4 years.
