Mummy in the foothills

lisa67

Thanks for posting this thread Sue. My son is a high school sophomore and sounds a bit like yours...only does as much as he needs too and keeps telling me not to worry when i bring up the college thing.
He wants to go into the police force but can't until he's a USC and seeing as our LPR could be a while away I'm looking into our CC for a couple of years (it has dorms so he could live away from home if he wants to) and then going onto a criminal justice degree.
I'm trying to keep calm about it all, but sometimes it just seems so complicated

Sue

Your welcome. It's nice to know that others are going through a similar thing. I was beginning to think it was just me going into slow panic mode.

Thanks to everyone for all your great tips, and advice. Please keep them coming.

lisa67

I know that a US friend of mine, her son got about $12,000 in scholarships by taking the time to write to a lot of different companies and doing a lot of research about smaller grants that are out there that people often don't know about or can't be bothered to apply for because they are small compared to other scholarships. I'll FB her and see if she can give us any hints on where to find out about these smaller scholarships

mandpete

My son just started his freshman year at college. During his junior and most of his senior years in high school it was like banging my head against a brick wall trying to get him to give me an inkling of what his major might be and where he wanted to apply. He took his SATs in June of his junior year and did very well even though he never revised for them. We did the FAFSA application in January and subsequently found out we would be getting nothing. His counsellor kept sending us details of scholarships and funding but a lot of them he didn't qualify for. The most common reasons - not a US citizen, and household income.

I spent most of my time on collegeboard.com finding out lots of information about the whole college process.

Friends were amazed that he had left it so late to apply to colleges and eventually in March of this year he applied to four and was accepted at all of them. This was after changing his mind 4 or 5 times about what his major was going to be. In the end he decided to go to an in state university on the honors program. I have a strong feeling that he will change his major again.

I was totally stressed about the whole college thing for over a year but after more or less stumbling our way through the process everything worked out OK. My husband and son were very laid back about it and I have decided when it comes to my daughter applying to colleges that's how I am going to be.

Mummy in the foothills

Also don't forget to check with the company/organization you work for, many have pretty good scholarships, I know my friends Ds got $10,000 a year (for 4 years) from his Dads work so long as his grades stayed above a 3.0 And they did for that amount My poor kid got $500 from a local organization that covered books, it was a big help the first semester.
You can also do a google search for scholarships, some are for Children born to immigrants, or of Scottish descent, or all kinds of obscure things. Try whatever you may fall under.

Xebedee

Having dropped out of 2 English colleges, one American one and finally gone fully thru the US college system (BSci) as an adult, I'd say that going from high school straight to a 4 year school is a waste of time unless your kid has a clear and defined idea of what they want to do. Maturity is very rare in US kids - it seems more so in England too these days.
So many spoiled brats in America waste their parent's money (pension/house equity) as they experience quasi-freedom for the first time - most drink, toke and screw their parents investments away with little regard for class study.

I have also met many parents who grumble about their daughter/son's 6th year in a 4 year programme.

(My intention for my own two will be that each takes a gap year (minimum) back home with me after high school and they will work and learn life a bit. Only when they are mature enough to understand the costs and meaning of college will they go to a JC at family expense.) From JC, you can transfer into most schools to finish (if you want to finish 4 years).

At 18, an American kid is too unexposed to life - going to college at 22, 25 or 30 is no big deal. You still have to do your time in the trenches in your job anyway and it might be better to get a 2 year practical degree and do night school at company expense in the long run.

Its a big concern - its true, but I'd rather my own get a job in the trades that they like and are good at (plumber, electrician) than suffer "the curse of competancy" until retirement.

Just my 2 shekels.

Englishtart

Some great advice/help/experiences in this thread, Thank you to all

We spent a large part of our evening last night doing research, trying to 'help' Son decide, or at least get an idea of what he would really enjoy doing as a career. He had decided against paleontology because he didn't want to end up in a classroom teaching, now he has decided he might enjoy that after all He has narrowed his choices down to three, I had never heard of the other two (Forensic entomology and evolutionary biology) They all have a heavy science requirement, we have decided to look into colleges that offer a strong science base and then once he is 'in', he can get started and then change direction as/when needed.

I am going to be making an appt' with his guidance counsellor (no college counsellor at his HS) so hopefully, things may look less complicated after that Then it will be time to start researching scholarships

Bill_S

Those are fascinating subjects, but career choices will be pretty limited... exactly the kind of practical advice that teenagers tune out. Any chance he could get into pharmacy school? Plenty of opportunities for research or teaching later on if he wants, and an Rx license is a great insurance policy.

In the interest of disclosure, that's what I did - pharmacy school ---> research.

Englishtart

I did mention that to him, I told him that he will probably end up in front of a classroom anyway, at the end of all his (10 yrs) education!

We looked up a few proffessionals in the fields to see how they had gotten to their goals, very interesting careers, but you are right, pretty limited.

I will talk to him about going the pharmacist route, really he just needs to get on the ladder, he can make more directional choices along the way.

Ideally he needs a philanthropic mentor...how are you fixed?

Ozzidoc

This would be relevant to population genetics and epidemiology

Bill_S

I'm a researcher, remember?

Englishtart

Yeah, I had never heard of it before he mentioned it as one of his interests, he has always had a very curious mind, loves to go to museums, went to fossil displays and even joined a junor dinosaur club when he was about 7, he can tell you pretty much anything about names, dates, habits etc of all prehistoric beasts I found it fascinating doing the research, if I were his age I would love to be in his shoes, with the curiosity and enthusiasm he has for his future

Englishtart

ahhh right! oh well.

Sally Redux

Some really good points there. We were just talking about how much less self-sufficient my son is than we remember being at his age.