There are a lot of things that going to a good college will do for the future of your child. They will obviously get a very good education that can lead to a good job. But, there are so many other benefits that come with it that range from having a great social and professional network to a lifelong connection to their institution.
Every parent wants what is best for their child so it goes without saying that there is a lot of pressure for them to do well enough to get into an ivy league school or any other top tier college.
The issue is how young can you start preparing your child? Is there a perfect age in which to start building them up to have a better chance? Knowing how to get into the best universities is a matter of being a well rounded person. In this article, we will go over how you can set your child up at a young age to have a better chance at their dream school.
Start around middle school
While there are many advocates for starting children on their path to going to university as early as first grade, there isn’t much of a proven benefit to doing so. Sure, some high profile elementary schools will get them some attention but not many admissions officers put much weight on these things.
Where they begin to develop as individuals is around 11 or 12 years old and this is when they can start making a name for themselves that will get the right kind of attention when they are applying.
Get them involved
It’s important for them to start doing this now that helps them to build their resume as well as their character. Colleges will short list candidates that show civic mindedness at an early age.
If there are ways for your child to get involved in events with the local community then this will help a lot.
As far as academics, they should be in all AP classes during junior high. This is important because if they have shown that they can handle the rigors of AP classes they will have the ability to take some dual enrollment courses in high school to help them earn college credits.
Visit colleges freshman year
To truly inspire a young student to reach for higher goals, it often is a good idea to take them to see some of the schools that seem like they would be a good fit. Once there, they will get a sense of what campus life is like for students and get a chance to meet some there.
They can get an understanding of what they will need to do while in high school to get into those colleges or ones like them. This gives them a sort of roadmap to stick to to make sure they get into the best school for them.
