Hazelwood East High School
HEAT
Grade Level: 12
Talking to Parents about College and
Post-Secondary Planning
Lesson Number: 4
Goal Statement:
Students will become aware of the need to talk to their parents about college
and post-secondary planning.
Activity Statement:
Students will explore their feelings about talking to their parents regarding
post secondary plans. Students will also receive a handout about college plans to
take to parents
Procedures:
1. Begin by talking about the importance of good communication skills
2. Ask students what they believe is the difference between one-way and two
way communication. A lecture, written instructions for a test and memos
are examples of one-way communication.
3. Ask students to read the handout.
Materials:
1. Copies of “A Guide for Parents of Graduating Seniors”
Teacher Script/Discussion Questions:
1. Begin this session by asking students to discuss some of the realities of
being a senior. Remind them that it is not unusual for them to have
mixed emotions about what they plan to do after graduation. For those
students who are planning to continue their education, there is a need for
some open communication between the student and his or her parents.
This session will focus on this issue.
2. Divide students into small groups and discuss the following three
questions:
3.
4.
5.
6.
a. What are the most difficult post secondary issues to discuss with your
parents?
b. What do you think makes these issues difficult to discuss?
c. Do you think both you and your parents are fully informed about what
needs to be done regarding post secondary education plans?
If time permits, allow students to share their concerns with the whole
class.
Be sure to have enough time to pass out “A Guide for Parents of
Graduating Seniors.” Take a few minutes to point out how this resource
can be used as a guide to help open up some communication lines between
seniors and their parents. Encourage students to give this handout to
their parents.
Tell students that the Tips sheet is divided into three seasons: fall, winter,
and spring. Help students see that it provides gentle reminders for the
parents.
Finally, encourage students to take this resource to their parents AFTER
they have read it, so they understand what is being communicated.
Discussion Questions:
1. After skimming the “Guide for Parents of Graduating Seniors,” how do you
think this will help?
2. How easily has it been for you to discuss your future dreams with your
parents?
Integrative Closing Statement:
Seniors are experiencing many transitions in their lives. While seniors
are maturing and becoming healthy young adults, the need to connect with parents
is important. For most seniors, they must still depend upon parents for financial
support and assistance in order to continue their education. This session was
designed to give some time for seniors to explore their feelings around their
communication with their parents, and, specifically, to provide a generic resource to
discuss post secondary plans.
A GUIDE FOR PARENTS OF GRADUATING SENIORS
FALL
Assist your child as he/she begins to finalize his/her list of prospective schools. Monitor
the decision making process. Allow your child to process information independently.
Aid your child to establish criteria and evaluate characteristics. Take care to let the child
take charge and assume primary responsibility for this activity. Attend college fairs,
college nights and special workshops with your child.
Ensure that your child requests admission packets from prospective colleges early. It
takes time to complete application forms; secure teacher/counselor recommendation
letters and transcripts and file college entrance examination scores. It takes more than
just a few days or weeks.
Encourage your child to apply for admission early. There are various types of admission
processes; early, rolling, regular.
Check to be sure that your child has registered for the college entrance examinations
deemed necessary by the prospective college(s).
Remind your child that the earlier he/she takes the exam, the earlier the scores will be
reported. The later the test, the more likely the scores will not arrive in time for his/her
application to be considered by the admissions department.
Take steps to insure that the scores have been reported to the proper college and schools.
One wrong digit could send the results to the wrong school.
Transcript requests take time to process. Some schools have one person assigned to the
task; other schools may only process requests once a week; still others may process
requests upon demand. Encourage your child to identify the staff person who handles
transcripts and to contact her early.
Recommendation letters also take time! Advise your child to give counselors, teachers,
community leaders, and others who will be asked for letters of recommendation enough
time to complete their task. Remind your child that it takes more than a few minutes to
write a good letter of support and maybe even longer to type and mail by a certain
deadline. Encourage him/her to be considerate.
Continue to examine your family's financial status. How's the savings plan coming?
Will your child need t o look for several sources of financial assistance or just one or
two?
If financial assistance is needed, encourage your child to contact those foundations and
organizations that award scholarships and grants and apply for those that are most
appropriate. Be sure that your child has requested application packets and has complied
with the award dates.
WINTER
Assist your child in the completion and submission of student needs analysis forms. The
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and other similar forms should be
submitted at the beginning of the calendar year. Any forms submitted before January 1
will be returned to your child. These forms will ask for YOUR income information – if
you have not completed tax forms, most of these forms will allow you to estimate your
income and tax contributions.
Continue to monitor and assist your child in his/her efforts to submit admission
applications and to chart acceptance and rejection responses. Encourage your child to
“touch base” with persons who have agreed to write recommendation letters. Advise
your child to monitor timeliness and insure that deadlines are not missed. A wall chart or
file folder can be useful in keeping track of the correspondence.
Ask your child to monitor the progress of the mailing of his/her transcripts. Some
colleges will ask for transcripts to be sent during the first term of the senior year and once
again during the winter or spring terms. Requests vary. Encourage your child to allow
time for these documents to be processed and mailed.
Assist your child in the filing of financial forms requested by the school. Some colleges
will have their own financial aid application packets as well as standardized forms.
These need to be completed also. Ask your child to contact the financial aid department
of the school to see if additional documents are necessary.
By now your college bound child should have received and SAR (Student Aid Report).
If the form is correct, it should be mailed directly to the college. If it is incorrect, new
information should be sent back to the financial aid form agency. Contact your child's
guidance counselor for more directions.
SPRING
Encourage your child to discuss his/her college fears, thoughts, and ;dreams with you, the
counsels, and teachers. Support your child as much as possible during decision making.
Aid your child as he/she prepares letters of acceptance and rejection to be sent to various
colleges. Encourage your child to send letters as soon as he or she has made a decision.
Join your child as he/she considers and decides upon the terms of the financial aid award
package offered. Suggestion: Discuss each source of financial aid separately. Offer
;your interpretation of the meaning and usefulness of loans, grants and scholarships. Ask
the school counselors for assistance and information. Encourage your child to view you
as a valuable resource.
Help your child to enhance his/her test taking, study, and note taking skills. Stress the
importance of these skills when tackling college-level study.
Encourage your child to maintain a log of all transcripts mailed to the schools. It will
also help to keep a list of all the institutions that accepted his/her request for admission.
SENIOR INFORMATION SHEET FOR PLANNING FOR COLLEGE OR POST
SECONDARY TRAINING
The senior year is important in making college and post secondary plans. The following
overview offers you some guidelines for applications and necessary procedures.
RECOMMENDATION TIME:
Ask teachers who know you fairly well. Make sure the teachers know something
about you, what you enjoy, and things at which you excel. Be sure they can give you a
good recommendation. Guidelines for securing a better recommendation:
Be prompt.
Your teachers are swamped, so give them plenty of time.
Give teachers all necessary
materials, including your application deadlines and a stamped, addressed envelope.
Waive your confidentiality rights. Pick your recommenders wisely. Don't pick a
teacher just because you received an A in the class; its important that the teacher knows
you on a personal level. Send a thank you note.
ESSAY TIME:
Some schools will ask you to write an essay for admission. Here are some
fundamentals: Good writing is writing that is easily understood. Avoid the overuse of
adjectives, adverbs, “big” words, the word”however” and exclamation points. Buy and
read Elements of Style by Strunk and White. You'll refer to it forever. Have one good
writer critique your essay, and another proofread it. Stick to the length required. Get
your point across by not repeating information from other parts of your application,
avoiding generalities, maintaining the proper tone, and writing about something you
really care about unless the topic is assigned. Avoid the following topics: relationship
with girl or boyfriend, religious beliefs or political view, drugs, sex, alcohol, and
controversial topics like abortion.
MISCELLANEOUS:
If you are not happy with the Spring ACT or SAT, retake in October. If you need
to take the SAT II, now is the time.
Send in your applications as soon as they are
ready. Apply to your first choice by November 1st. Out-of-state schools have early
application deadlines.
Extracurricular: Colleges prefer that you focus on a few
worthwhile: students newspaper, student government, the choir/band/orchestra, varsity
sports, community service, all state anything, founded your own business.
Acceptance
letter: Keep your fingers crossed for fat envelopes. Some colleges are going to accept
you and some are not. Don't take it as a personal insult. It's tough to choose among lots
of people you have never met.
Decisions: You may have to choose between the
training schools or colleges that have accepted you. This may be a good time to revisit
the schools.