Many parents will tell you that one of the most difficult stages of parenting is when children reach their teen years. For some families the difficult times stem from attitudes, but in other cases, the difficulties come from parents not knowing how best to support their children through high school. One of the most difficult phases of supporting one’s children through high school comes when it’s time for kids to apply to colleges; this is a time when parents find themselves particularly at a loss.
Rest assured that college applications are a difficult time for all parents. Whether the difficulty comes from trying to stimulate your kids to visit schools or whether you’re just plain worried that your child’s grades aren’t good enough to get them into a college of their choice, parenting is, at this stage, no easy task. Information and advice from school counselors can be a good source of support both for parents and for the students, regardless of the actual phase of college applications that the students are at.
Whether your kids are actively getting ready to apply to schools or not, it’s a good idea to have a firm handle on what colleges are looking for when they peruse applications. This knowledge reduces parenting strain and arms you with the information you need to support your child’s choices. There’s some good news and some bad news involved when it comes to what schools are looking for.
American colleges and universities place the most weight with grades and course selection during high school. Parents whose children have gotten sub-standard grades should be aware that this is the first thing that most admission’s officers look at. Grades in high school are important because they reflect working attitude and motivation. The good news herein lies with the weighting that different course selections get. If your child gets a lower grade in a high-level course, it is considered a better grade than the same low grade in an ‘easy’ course.
It’s for this reason that parents should continue to support their children who want to take difficult courses. Taking difficult courses reflects willingness to work hard and an interest in academics. In short, know that grades are important, but that it’s not only the actual grade that matters.
Schools also do look at SAT and other standardized test scores. At most schools, grades are given more importance than test scores, but test scores do enter into the picture.
College application reviewers do also look at your child’s essay, their activity/work involvement and the recommendations written for them by their teachers or guidance counselors. Though these more personal elements only enter into the equation once grades and test scores have been reviewed, they are considered important by many colleges and universities.
The reason that colleges look at the personal side too is that they are interested in having young people who are not only good students, but who are also involved in other endeavors and who are potential leaders and absolutely are good citizens.
This is the reason that an application where not all the grades are perfect and the test scores are mediocre can be helped by the fact that the student behind these numbers is a conscientious young person. If your son or daughter is failing out of high school, community service probably won’t be enough; however, a solidly well-rounded candidate has a good chance of finding a good fit school despite a few less-than-stellar grades or a low SAT score.