Parents Countdown To College Coach

Are you ready for the countdown to college? Let's check that out

Being a parent, you definitely want to provide your child the best facilities for future success. Therefore, it is essential for the child to attend the right university or college for the best opportunity. Unfortunately, getting admitted to the college of one’s own choice may be convenient as it was previously. Furthermore, in the early days it was needed to consider the payment for college costs. In present situations, an “average college graduate” owes $ 37,100 as debt. On the other hand, the “average salary” for a graduate student is $ 50,000.

Preparing for college signifies developing goals and staying determined. Goals are required to be developed in order to remain focused on the target. Thus, as a parent you need to have some sort of goals before sending your child to college. You need to identify the facilities provided by the college and whether they suit your child’s preference or not. Preference of child matters as they have to survive the entire college days and have to build a future. As a parent, you need to do a lot of research on college based on your formed goals. Colleges need to be selected as per the target you want. Sometimes colleges portray some great facilities about them though it turns out to be insignificant in real life.

Sitting on the sideline and watching your child struggle is quite difficult. Not being able to make the right decision can affect your child’s career. The child may not get the enough of his preference to develop his or her career.

Want to know the colleges that provide the best merit aid? Here it is...

You need to discover the colleges in context to your set up goals. Search for the website of a specific college. Scroll down to their “financial friendliness” and further click merit for students with financial needs. You can get the best idea from the website regarding the financial support that college can provide. Accordingly, you can sort the colleges that are most generous to least generous. It can be useful for you as well as for your child to discover the college as per the requirement and financial support.

You need to encourage your child to “kick in” financially. Children need to be encouraged to invest in their education. You may be capable enough for affording the cost of your child, though students when contributing monetarily happen to prioritize the education more. Your child needs to be aware about the effort of earning money and the requirement of education in today’s world. Discuss the money matters with them in the early stages of the college search process. There are certain processes by which a child can contribute:

• “Work study programs”
• “Summer internship”
• “Low interest student loans”

The above processes can be effective for your child in contributing to education. Even if your child does not qualify for “work study”, you can encourage them to be a part of “time job”. They can do a time job when they are in college. This will not only release the pressure of financial burden, further it will enable the child to think twice before skipping classes. Your child will always try to find out ways for bringing in finance for study. This will keep the education process going and your child can succeed.

You don’t pay the sticker price. Do you?

In daily life, you don't really pay the sticker prices for buying a product. Same goes for paying college fees. All people require a bargain and the same goes for college too. Never believe the lie that “you are at their mercy”. You are not. You happen to be the consumer. It is totally your duty to make a fair financial decision. Colleges charge too much in some cases with the number of facilities they provide to students. You need to stand up in such circumstances and bargain for the appropriate charge. This is to be done for the betterment of your child and to prevent falling into traps.

Parents have a thought that stages colleges are the right areas of bargaining. That is actually not the truth. Believe it or not, approximately 90 % of the private colleges provide merit aid in the form of scholarships for accepting students. Considering the stage colleges may have less charge, you need to pay the right amount after the financial aid is processed. Processing of financial aid does not mean that you are required to pay less than the charge amount.

Do you consult with your child about their preference?

You need to always keep in mind that decision regarding education always up to your child. Don’t ever try to force him or her since ultimately it will affect your child’s career. You need to have a conversation with your child regarding their choice of study. You can help them in reaching their desired zone by adding up their thoughts.

Don't pressure your child to pick a specific college. Selecting the college can be exciting though it can be stressful for most children. One thing that you can do for your child is to show that you believe in their ideas and their ability to make “good decisions”. You tell them you will be really happy to support and provide assistance. This will enable your child to make a “sound decision”. Never ever compare your child with other children. It just builds up more pressure in the child rather than providing them support. All the children are different in nature and have different areas of interest.

You need to make sure that your child is well aware about the academic opportunities with the chosen field of study. Your child needs to have sound knowledge regarding the opportunities in future. You being a parent can help your child in discovering the breadth and depth of academic opportunities offered in college. Evaluating your child needs to be prioritized and their thoughts regarding the opportunities need to be properly cemented. Thus, parental support is quite important for a future career.