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St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

Parents of Teenagers

Helping Your Child Prepare for College

  • Educate Yourself. Find out the requirements, choices, and processes involved in planning your student's college program. Your student will need your assistance and advice.
  • Plan Carefully. Certain majors encourage students to meet with a department adviser early on to choose classes. Keep future goals in mind when planning classes.
  • Stay In Touch. Check the university calendar for admission requirements to plan his or her senior high school program accordingly. You will also want to know the university's important dates (such as class registration, when bills are due, deadline to drop classes, etc).

Activities your High School Student can be doing now to help with their career development

  1. Encourage your teen to volunteer for a local organization. Volunteer work boosts self-esteem, teaches responsibility and looks great on college and university applications.
  2. If your teen is interested in a community issue, suggest she get involved in a local organization or committee.
  3. Talk with your teen about any big decisions he may be facing and about the values that will influence his decision. Thinking about values and how they influence decisions will help when it comes time to decide on careers and majors.
  4. Talk with your teen about what she's learning at school. Ask specific questions about what she finds most challenging and why.
  5. Ask your teen about concerns or problems he's facing. Together, devise a plan to resolve these issues.
  6. Discuss the importance of personal achievements with your teen.
  7. Give your teen more responsibility by asking him to be in charge of a household chore such as recycling and taking out the garbage.
  8. Encourage your teen to try a variety of summer jobs or to plan her own summer business, such as mowing lawns, painting houses and washing cars.
  9. Assure your child that it's okay not to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives. They've got time to figure it out.
  10. Explain that bad decisions they may make as teenagers can limit their career choices later. No one will hire an accountant with a theft record or a lawyer who plagiarized in college.
  11. Listen to what your teen says about what they'd like to do and support their decision.
  12. When your student wonders, "Why should I go to college?" parents can offer these reasons:
  • More opportunity. A college degree provides a wider range of jobs to choose from.
  • More money. A person with a degree from a four-year college earns considerably more than a high school graduate.

Adapted from By Karina Bland/The Arizona Republic
Sunday, November 30, 2003