There’s so much frenzy and hype about college admissions! Folks like me have careers based on that need, to resolve the confusion that comes with it.
Four years of challenging high school courses, maintaining a high GPA, navigating extracurricular activities, becoming leaders, participating in social service, taking standardized tests, developing an interest in a career, staying healthy, showing initiative, growing, learning to drive, dodging the addiction maladies of our society, dealing with pubescent angst and last but not least, getting enough sleep – are what our children endure, some very successfully and some not so, for at least four grueling years just so that they could get into a college! Some get into their dream schools while some accommodate, but are we sure the lunacy ends here?
During the high school years, many a times, under the table scaffolding provided by parents and the schools, the teens scrape by. There’s always mom there to fix a meal if one is challenged for time. There are teachers doling out note-taking and study skills to ensure student success. There’s the school laying down the path of the coursework and as the teens traverse the pre-college years there’s a feeling of team-work and support. However, what happens in college is often left to chance! “We’ll cross the bridge when we come to it” at its best to “Ignorance is bliss!” “The less I know, the better I feel!” said a challenged parent!
Let me take you to that new frontier… after everything that a child had undergone and more, what about these questions that may crop up: “Is this the right college for me? What if I don’t like my major? What major should I choose? What’s a foundation course? When should I take these courses? What’s the difference between an advisor and a major professor? ... etc” Panic not! While there are all kinds of support services available at the universities (and the support extends beyond academics to other social areas so that the students make the most of their college experience), we are here to assist you too.
We at CollegeChalkboard provide that essential bridge by allowing our students to make that leap from being a successful high schooler to an effective college student. Our free year of support is extended to all our students who we’ve helped place. We aid them in building a solid footing inside and outside the classroom in their college. We direct them to programs and orientations where they learn about academic and graduation requirements. We are here to explain what these requirements mean, so that from the very preliminary stages the process is crystal clear.
We help them by directing them to career counselors to help answer their questions in choosing a major and/or careers related to the major.
Those who may need help in writing, we direct them to the pertinent Writing Centers.
Equipping them with pertinent questions, we direct them to the relevant sources so that they can get personalized services they need to achieve their academic goals.
If life gets too stressful, we suggest where help may be available. Familiarity and our history during the high school years has made it possible for us to have the goodness of fit, where we know what will or will not work for the students. More often than not, a familiar, objective person is what a student needs to alleviate their issues. Parents sometimes may or may not be able to provide that objectivity.
Our help is not limited to academic and social realms only. Dorm related, personal health related, travel related and beyond are all we do – just because we care for our students and want to ensure they succeed even when they have gone past us!
By the second year, they are pros ready to give us advice and that’s the way we like it here at CollegeChalkboard!