Kids Are Our Future

Students need take right classes and earn good grades, develop good study skills and study habits, and prepare for college entrance exams.

Colleges expect the students to have an academic foundation in Math, Science, History and Geography, Writing Composition, English and Foreign Language. Most colleges require students to demonstrate their abilities by doing well on college entrance exams.

Plan early
A college education builds on the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier years. It is best for the child to start planning a high school course schedule early, in the seventh or eighth grade.

Parents should play an active role in helping children select high school classes which fit their needs. If needed, parents may hire a tutor for the children and encourage them to take courses, or pre-tests, that will equip them for the college entrance exams.

Develop good study skills and study habits
Good study skills increase study efficiency, and good study habits keep the student being motivated to achieve his or her goal.
Tips for improving study skills:

• Set a clear goal and break it down into several smaller goals
• Make a plan listing all the tasks and deadlines
• Stay organized by using a to-do list considering priorities
• Preview before class
• Review after class and before a test
• Review the plan and adjust it appropriately
• Stick to it

Take the right classes and get good grades
What are the right classes in high school? Depends on what kind of colleges the student wants to attend, since the courses required for college vary. Refer to the school guidance counselor and the following sites.
College Prepare

To prepare for college, there is no substitute for the student getting a solid and broad academic education. This means the student should take challenging courses in academic subjects and maintain good grades in high school. The student’s transcript will be an important part of his or her college application.

Take AP(advanced placement) courses and exams as possible as the student can and get good grades. AP courses are college-level courses in different subjects; they help students prepare for college-level work while they are still in high school. Students who take AP courses are often more prepared for college.

Take the Standardized Tests that colleges required
Many of the high school courses are essential preparation for the college entrance examinations, such as the SAT or the ACT. The general SAT test is referred to as the SAT I and the SAT subject test is called the SAT II. The SAT measures verbal and mathematical reasoning abilities. The ACT Assessment measures English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning abilities.

Students applying to colleges in the East and West usually take the SAT exam. Students applying to schools in the South and Midwest often take the ACT; however, students should check the admission requirements at each school to which they are applying.

Usually, the tests are offered in the junior and senior years of high school. In order to improve his or her score, a student can take more than once.

Many schools offer PSAT/NMSQT (the Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) to tenth or eleventh grade students. This practice test helps students prepare for SAT. A student who does well on this test and meets many other academic performance criteria may qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program.

Some colleges also require that an applicant take one or more SAT subject tests (SAT II) in major areas of study. SAT II subject tests are offered in many areas of study including English, mathematics, many sciences, history, and foreign languages. It is a good idea for a student to consult a guidance counselor about this early in high school, and it is recommended that the best time to take an SAT subject test is right after the student has taken a course in that subject.

A positive school experience is both academically challenging and rich in extracurricular activities for college preparation. Colleges like to see students who can balance outside class activities and maintain good grades.

Social skill, leadership skill and other interpersonal skills are all important for college preparation. By getting involved in school- and community-based extracurricular activities and gaining work experience will all help students develop these important skills, which bring them lifelong benefits.

Become involved in extracurricular activities
Many schools and communities provide activities outside the classroom for high school students to explore their interests and talents. For example, school clubs, the student newspaper, musical activities and volunteer work. If a student has excelled in one or more of these areas, she or he will stand out from the crowd.

Research summer programs are good for college preparation as well. Many colleges offer arts camps and college prep courses during the summer for high school students.

Gain work experience
Many colleges view community service and work experience as valuable experience that enhances a student’s college application.

By performing community service or getting a part-time job, students can gain work experience, which can teach them discipline, responsibility, time management, reliability, teamwork, and other skills. For example, students can participate in community service activities such as tutoring elementary school children or volunteering in a local hospital or a senior center. By such activities, students can make valuable contributions to society and in the meantime can help themselves to identify their career interests and goals. In addition, students can gain working related skills, and apply classroom learned knowledge to real-world problem solving.

Some schools offer academic credit for volunteer work. To get more information, talk with the school guidance counselor.

A summer job is also a good way to gain work experience. However, need to be very careful, not to affect other activities, such as school work. If you are interested in the topic please refer teens and jobs.

In order to help a high school student to choose a best college for him or her, it is better to choose a major first. I did a little research on popular majors for college students in U.S.A recently, so as to provide a reference to a student on choosing a right major.

Bachelor’s degree

Business includes Business Administration and Management, which is the most popular selected major, finance, marketing, and accounting, which has a high demand right out of college.

Social sciences and history includes anthropology, economics, geography, and political science, which is a broad major that will require an area of concentration. Some choices are voting behavior, public policy, statistics, campaigns, and diplomat.

Education is a popular major targeting on becoming K-12 classroom teachers. Areas cover math, sciences, foreign language, music and industrial arts etc.

Psychology is a major, which studies people and their behaviors, can be help for many fields beside psych. Such as human resources, public relations, market research, sales and so on.

Nursing major serves hospitals, schools, corporations, military, nursing homes and clinics. Due to population’s growing and aging leading to the severe shortage of nurses, students graduated from this major are pretty much guaranteed a job.

Communications major is commonly known as Mass Communications. Specializations could be print journalism, advertising copywriting, web content development, television production, public relations and so on.

Biology majors do a lot of research and development and work in a laboratory or the field. Whether the student is interested in trees, microbes or medicine, this field is wide open. Genetics, biotechnology, and medical research are fields are the popular ones. Many move on to become biochemists, environmentalists, optometrists or veterinarians. Common employers of biology majors include hospitals, national & state parks, universities, pharmaceutical companies, research firms, aquariums and zoos.

Engineering majors include Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical engineering, which need math and science courses.

For higher degrees, the ranks changed by the Education Statistics from U.S. Department of Education, National Center.

Master’s degree

Education, Business, Engineering

Doctor’s degree

Education, Engineering, Health professions and related clinical sciences, Biological and biomedical sciences, Psychology