The first thing to remember when helping your child prepare for university is to remind them that their future is not set in stone. You can go to a community college and still end up the CEO of a major company. There are as many different pathways as there are people. Universities, of course, are a great tool and a good degree can help you get into the right doors sooner. It is also entirely what you make of it, so to help your child learn as much as they can, both in the classroom and outside of it, follow this guide to help them prepare for the best university career possible.
Encourage Them to Get an Internship, Volunteer, and Get Out There
The very best universities look for the exceptional, and to be exceptional, your child needs to get out there. Rather than stress that they need to do this in order to get into a great university, your child should do it because it’s fun. Help them try out new things. Volunteer together with your local community, encourage your child’s interests and help them develop a set of skills that will give them the tools they need to succeed in the world. There is no right or wrong thing to do, just try to build them up so that they are active and go after what they want.
Help Them Prepare Their Applications
Before they can start focusing on bringing the skills they have learnt outside of their high school to university, there is the application process to contend with. Helping them prepare for these applications will come in three steps:
- Selecting the right schools
- Preparing for the standardised tests
- Creating custom applications
There can be a lot of hoops that your child will need to jump through in order to compile a great application. The more competitive the school, the more work they will need to do. That is why it is important to start this process off by finding the best schools by the department. Even an Ivy League school can be a poor fit if you want to take a humanities course at a largely science-led institution.
The next step is to help them take the standardised tests. Whether SAT or ACT is preferred, there will be a variety of prep courses to take. By taking ACT test prep at Manhattan Review, you can better prepare your child not only for the test itself but for the exam situation.
Once that is all done, it is time to go through with them to help them craft a unique personal statement and resume to send off to the universities of their choice. Your child will be accepted, and they will have a great university career, so don’t put too much pressure on just one school.
Continue to Support Them
Helping them prepare before university is a great way to help them be an ideal candidate and get into the school of their dreams, but that doesn’t mean your support should end there. Help strategise with them so that they can find the ideal balance between their education, extra-curricular activities, social life, and health. There is no time limit on success, but if you can help them take steady steps forward without compromising on their wellbeing, you will help them succeed on their own terms.