I love all of the interactive pieces that scaffold the writing process in the essay courses.
Applications, SATs/ACTs, school activities and celebrations are a large part of your senior year of high school, and you may find yourself feeling anxious – there’s just so much to do! Not to worry. Follow these simple steps and spend some of your summer getting ready for college – knocking off items from your to-do list will ease your stress and make it easier to just enjoy being a senior.
We suggest these five ways to make the most out of the summer before senior year – without going overboard.
1. Start working on your college admission essays early.
Start early, start today, start yesterday! The Common Application essay prompts have already been posted, and writing responses now will cut down on the stress of senior year as well as provide plenty of time for editing.
Consider talking to your parents, or someone older, that may be able to provide encouragement and serve as a sounding board for ideas. You could consider coaching services that help with college applications, or, a general summer writing course to help hone your writing skills – so critical for success in college! (Meemli can help you write your essay without breaking the bank – ask them about it.)
2. Calculate the cost of college and discuss with your parents
The most expensive universities may not be the best choice. Sit down with your parents and calculate the total cost of in-state, out-of-state public, and representative private universities, and figure out how much help you can realistically expect from scholarships. Do some research, there are many resources on how to do the financial planning for college, here’s one to get you started.
Will your parents be contributing to your education? Will you have to apply for student loans? Will those loans impact your choice of major and career down the line? These are all questions that you need to answer. Be forthright and realistic to set the parameters of your college search.
3. Work on teacher recommendations
Do you have an idea of which teachers will write the best recommendations? If so, try to stay in contact with those teachers over the summer. Don’t be too pushy, but make sure they’re aware that you would really like a recommendation from them.
You can also draft a recommendation “cheat sheet” that highlights key achievements, important projects and major extracurriculars. This will make the teacher’s job a lot easier, and shine a spotlight on what you’ve achieved outside of the classroom.
4. Learn how to do important household tasks
When you’re at college, you will be faced with new household tasks that you may not be used to doing: managing money, doing laundry, cooking, etc. If you haven’t already, start getting a feel for these tasks over the summer. This will give you plenty of time to ask questions and make mistakes in a low-risk setting.
This could also be a quality bonding time with your family and give you a chance to impress them in new ways!
5. Remember to have some fun!
Finally, don’t forget that summer isn’t just a time for padding extracurriculars, volunteering, interning, or academic enrichment for getting a jump-start on next year’s classes. It’s also about relaxing, recharging and just being a teenager. With all the pressure of getting into The Right College, just being a kid sometimes falls by the wayside.
Try to relax, do an activity that’s fun but not necessarily college-essay-worthy, and generally lead a healthy teenage life. While using this summer to get a head start on your to-do list, make sure it is an enjoyable time too – it’s the last one you’ll have before you are a college adult!
What are your plans for getting ready for college? We’d love to hear about them!
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(A refresh of one of our favorite posts!)
Mother’s Day is close to Teacher Appreciation Day and that is most appropriate! Teaching doesn’t happen only in the classroom with “real” teachers. There’s a teacher inside every mother, read on to see how mothers are teachers too. Another reason to say “Thank You Mom!” – not that you needed it
Early childhood
Mother’s lap is a child’s first classroom. The first five years of life impacts how well babies learn and grow throughout their lifetimes. This is probably when mothers do their most intensive teaching to a child who’s doing a fantastic job imitating a sponge and soaking up every bit of knowledge.
The survival stuff.
Learning to eat, drink, climb stairs, crossing streets safely, identifying a dangerous pet from a friendly one. The basics for staying alive.
Social and emotional must-haves.
With every hug and cuddle mothers teach their children about love, trust, friendship and all those intangibles that make life worth living.
Learning readiness.
Even if you may not call them ‘academics’ (though many do, even for toddlers), mothers give children the building blocks for learning: language, math, science, arts. It may be mommy-and-me play, but the mom is teaching and the little one is learning a lot (maybe that why kiddos need those naps!).
Middle Childhood
The kid is off to a “real” school, with “real” teachers (yes, they do play a big part in a child’s life) for most of the day and mom is no longer a primary source of their learning. But moms are still teaching, though some of what they teach is now influenced by external factors and there are new areas to explore.
School learning.
At this stage, mothers are primarily focused on helping their child learn to handle the requirements of school, the “schoolwork” and “homework”, not to mention the tests, the projects, and the to-do lists that the teacher sends home. Learning how to cope with school is important and a trusted, loving source like mom makes a huge difference.
Skill building.
Even though a child is school, moms may find themselves helping (“teaching”) him how to do math or interpret the guidelines for a book report while teaching study skills and habits (turn off the TV while doing homework!). This is the time when a mom also encourages the child to try other activities like sports and music, so she can learn new skills and get a taste of the many wonderful things she may enjoy learning and doing.
Character development.
This started during the early years and will continue through adolescence, but now the mother and child can name the traits (honesty, kindness), identify their presence or absence in role models and discuss why they’re important. Mothers will be finding teaching moments everywhere from shopping trips to soccer fields!
Adolescence
The pre-teen and teen years are a significant transition, and mothers may be shifting to a more supportive role in their teaching. Most of all, what they’re doing now is helping the child prepare for adulthood and all that it entails. Mom is getting her child ready to take on the world!
Academics.
Maybe moms don’t help their children with advanced math anymore, but they try to find someone else who can or encourage him to go talk to his teachers. Maybe they can’t critique an essay, but they help their child brainstorm what she should write about for a personal statement. And moms teach their kids how to plan and juggle various commitments and deadlines – after all, they do plenty of that themselves!
People Interactions.
It’s about dealing with their peers (Friends! Boyfriends! Girlfriends!), as well as about speaking up at school, asking for summer jobs or help from people they know. And mom is there to teach them how to recognize, accept and handle their feelings and manage their interactions (and give a hug and box of tissues when needed).
Awareness.
Young teens are learning about the world and their role in it. They may become aware of the major problems (environment, inequality etc.) and mom may be part of many long (and heated) discussions on the future of their world. Moms are learning something themselves while offering guidance in understanding these complex issues that will affect their children’s adult lives..
Practical Stuff.
There’s a long list of “simple” things that they get their child to do like managing money, doing laundry, cooking meals. All the things they need to know to be able to head out into the world on their own.
Let’s face it, once kids have discovered the Internet, it is easy to believe that they can learn “how” to do just about anything from a YouTube video. But not the “way we do it” and usually not the “why”. And Moms have been answering that question from the time when humans first learned to call out for ‘Mom!’.
What was one valuable lesson you learned from your mother?? We’d love to hear from you!
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There are some universities taking applications in May for fall! Check if your target colleges are listed here and get ready to submit your applications.
(For transfers or other requirements, please check the college website for more details.)
Need some help reviewing and polishing up your essay? Meemli can help – get it reviewed by Stanford-trained educators!
Meemli wishes you all the best in your college applications!
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Spring is here and with April is around the corner! Check if your target colleges are listed here and get ready to submit your applications.
(For transfers or other requirements, please check the college website for more details.)
Need some help reviewing and polishing up your essay? Meemli can help – get it reviewed by Stanford-trained educators!
Meemli wishes you all the best in your college applications!
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Now that you’re well into the second half of the school year and summer break is not too far off (though it seems that way!), do you feel you’re getting into a rut? Maybe it is time to step back and think about what you want and work out your own personal plan for getting the most out of school before the break.
On top of building study skills and getting serious about college, we recommend spending some time on simple ways to get the most out of your school year and the time spent with your peers – and having fun while you do that, too!
Connect!
There’s no one-size-fits all high school experience; everyone is different. But there are some things every student can do to enrich that experience. The key is that each student should make their own plan and do it their way to get the maximum benefit – and enjoy the process!
Get the Most from Your Teachers
Is there one class you enjoy far beyond the rest? Perhaps it’s the subject matter that interests you, and you want to study it more in college. Chances are, you like that teacher too, as they’ve taken the time to make learning about the subject something you really care about.
Go beyond asking about homework and tests and really talk to some of your favorite teachers. They can be a source of helpful ideas on everything from which major may suit you best in college to which events you should attend to feed your passion, whether it is in drama or math. Of course they can help with your college or job recommendations too, but getting to know great teachers and staying in touch can be an enriching experience in your life.
Get extra from extracurriculars
You’d have heard it a zillion times by now “Take advantage of your school’s extracurricular activities to boost your college application and resume”. Sure, a better college application is one of the key benefits you get from participating in various clubs and sports.
But don’t do it just for padding your list of accomplishments. (And oh by the way, admissions officers can see through just-checking-off-a-box kind of engagement.) Get involved in what interests you and you would enjoy – whether it is for the fun peer group or the challenge and excitement of the activity itself.
At this point, you’re probably already in clubs and sports – if you’re not, go ahead and see if you can still join, it is better late than never! – so now’s a good time to check if you’re getting the most out of these activities. Are you learning new things that you’re excited about? Are you meeting the kind of people you want hang out with? If you feel that your experience has become routine and not so interesting, you still have time to make changes. See if you can get more by changing your role, getting more involved, or if need be, switching to something else.
Get more from your friendships
By now you might have a core set of friends at school. First, take the time to deepen the friendships you already have. Seek out the people you want to spend time with, and make it a point to go do some fun activities with them in between your study sessions. School is one of the few places where you’ll have the time and access to friends that you need to build great friendships that could stand the test of going off to different colleges/cities/careers in the future.
Apart from your core group, now’s also the time to get to know more of your peers. Build your network! It is not a cold, calculated move to help your future job prospects, but another way to enrich your life. The more people you know, the more diverse your experiences and the more you learn about the world we live in. If nothing else, you’re less likely to be bored!
Get more from your community
Actually, it is all about “get more from your community by giving more of yourself to it”!
Community involvement is also another favorite “must-do” to put in your college application. But, once again, it’s not just about the application, it’s what you get from it. Do you see a pattern here? Often, what you do to enrich your life and expand your horizons end up being good for your college applications and resumes!
Working for a cause you care about with a group of passionate, like-minded people is a joy into itself. And you don’t have to wait for any specific time to do it. There are opportunities throughout the year, to suit any particular interest and time availability. You can do anything from organize a beach or park cleanup to creating quilts or blankets for the homeless. Opportunities abound, and you get to pick what you like to make a difference!
Get more as a senior
If you’re a senior, you’re already counting down the weeks to graduation and seriously trying to keep off senioritis. Still, there’s plenty more you can get from the last few months of school!
As your high school life is winding down, now’s the time to get the most out of everything you can, and the list above works well for seniors too. Get to know the teachers you care about and make sure you can connect with them after school. Spend more time with friends who may be heading off in different directions, and connect with more people you’d like to stay in touch with (after all, that’s what social media is for). Have fun with your clubs and sports (and if you can’t, don’t waste too much time on them). And, make connections in your community too. If you’re volunteering in nonprofits, schools etc., get to know the leaders and staff there. You may want to work there during summers, or you could recommend others who might. If you care about something or someone, figure out a way to keep them in your life.
Schools are not just about academics. They offer so much for you to enjoy, and there are people for you to enjoy it with. Take the time to savor it all! And one final tip, smiling more helps!
What are your thoughts on how to get the most out of school? Leave a reply to share with us!
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It’s almost springtime and there are some college applications due in March! Check if your target colleges are listed here and get ready to submit your applications.
(For transfers or other requirements, please check the college website for more details.)
Need some help reviewing and polishing up your essay? Meemli can help – get it reviewed by Stanford-trained educators!
Meemli wishes you all the best in your college applications!