The National Parenting Center

Got questions? We’ve got answers!

When should your teen begin to plan for college?

When should your teen begin to plan for college?



When should your teen begin to plan for college?

As the holiday season nears each year, thousands of frantic high school seniors are faced with a major decision–choosing where they will send their college applications and, ultimately, where they will go to college.

Ideally, however, this decision-making process needs to start much earlier. The junior high years are not too soon. What can a family with a 13-year old do to help eliminate last minute senior year panic?

This is the time to reinforce your own involvement in your child’s education. Typically, in his push for independence, the junior high school student discourages your attendance at school open houses or parent-teacher conferences. He may resent questions about whether or not he has completed his homework or concerns about bad grades. However, it’s important to stay involved, even at the risk of annoying your child. Keep in touch with teachers. Insist on completed homework as a prerequisite to television privileges. Get help at this point if your child has any learning difficulties or deficiencies in basic skills. Whether or not he ultimately chooses to go to college, good basic reading and math skills as well as discipline and good time management will serve him well in later adolescence and adulthood.

As your child progresses on to high school, check with school advisors, counselors and, at your library, with college guides to determine basic entrance requirements, including essential high school courses. Make sure that your child is aware that, if he chooses a less challenging high school curriculum–such as only minimum requirements in math or science or no AP or Honors classes–he may not be able to get into the college of his choice, even with excellent grades.

The sophomore and junior years are the best times to explore college options by sending for literature, by attending College Fairs and school visits by college representatives. If possible, visiting colleges that your teen feels he might like to attend can also be helpful during these years. This can also be a time to take the SAT test for practice leaving time for your child to retake the test later on if scores need improvement. (Colleges tend to consider the highest score achieved if the student has taken the SAT several times.)

All of this planning and preparation can take much of the panic out of your child’s senior year!

An expert in the field of adolescent behavior, Ms. McCoy has authored eleven books on the subject including the best selling “The Teenage Body Book”. Additionally she has written hundreds of articles for major national magazines. Coordinator of the Clinical Ph.D. Program at California School of Professional Psychology and Staff Counselor at the Center for Individual and Family Counseling in North Hollywood, California.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HOW IT WORKS

 

A Seal of Approval review involves a multi-step process conducted over an eight-week period.

Parents and children, experience and review submitted products and services either already released or coming to market.

Participants fill out questionnaires for each product or service they test. They score based on 13 levels of criteria including quality, appeal, design, price, packaging, directions, desirability, stimulation, replay factor, and more. Results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received by testers.

There are three testing periods each year:

Report Period Testing Begins Submission Deadline Testing Ends Report Issued
SPRING ’24 February 15th March 13th April 19th May 8th
FALL ’24 June 1st June 24th July 31st August 15th
HOLIDAY ’24 September 1st September 24th October 31st November 15th

Each submission must be accompanied by a $295 product testing fee (we offer multiple submission discounts). This fee covers the cost of testing, nothing more. It is non-refundable and has no bearing on the result of the testing. Additionally, we require three samples of the product or access codes for online submissions.

FYI about the Seal of Approval

* The Seal’s winners will be announced in a media release distributed to over 4,700 media outlets, including Facebook, Mommy bloggers, TV stations, newspapers, and parenting influencers.

* The report is forwarded to buyers at over 350 major retail and online stores including Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Amazon features Seal winners on product pages.

* Each report is featured on TNPC’s website as well as TNPC’s Twitter & Instagram accounts and Facebook Page.

* Links to company websites and a license to utilize the trademarked Seal of Approval artwork on marketing, packaging and web design are available exclusively to Seal winners for additional fees.

* Submitting a product does not secure or guarantee being awarded a Seal of Approval

To submit a product click here.

HOW IT WORKS

 

A Seal of Approval review involves a multi-step process conducted over an eight-week period.

Parents and children, experience and review submitted products and services either already released or coming to market.

Participants fill out questionnaires for each product or service they test. They score based on 13 levels of criteria including quality, appeal, design, price, packaging, directions, desirability, stimulation, replay factor and more. Results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received by testers.

There are three testing periods each year:

Report Period Testing Begins Submission Deadline Testing Ends Report Issued
SPRING ’23 February 15th March 10th April 24th May 10th
FALL ’23 June 1st June 23rd July 31st August 16th
HOLIDAY ’23 September 1st September 22nd October 30th November 15th

Each submission must be accompanied by a $295 product testing fee (we offer multiple submission discounts). This fee covers the cost of testing, nothing more. It is non-refundable and has no bearing on the result of the testing. Additionally, we require three samples of the product or access codes for online submissions.

FYI about the Seal of Approval

* Winners of the Seal will be announced in a media release which is distributed to over 4700 media outlets including Facebook, Mommy bloggers and TV station websites.

* The report is forwarded to buyers at over 350 major retail and on-line stores including Amazon, Walmart and Target. Amazon features Seal winners on product pages.

* Each report is featured at TNPC’s web site as well as TNPC’s Twitter & Instagram accounts and Facebook Page.

* Links to company websites and a license to utilize the trademarked Seal of Approval artwork on marketing, packaging and web design are available exclusively to Seal winners for additional fees.

* Submitting a product does not secure or guarantee being awarded a Seal of Approval

To submit a product click here.

HOW IT WORKS

A Seal of Approval review involves a multi-step process conducted over an eight-week period.

Parents and children, experience and review submitted products and services either already released or coming to market.

Participants fill out questionnaires for each product or service they test. They score based on 13 levels of criteria including quality, appeal, design, price, packaging, directions, desirability, stimulation, replay factor and more. Results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received by testers.

There are three testing periods each year:

Report Period

SPRING '24

FALL ‘24

HOLIDAY ‘24

Testing Begins

February 15th

June 1st

September 1st

Submission Deadline

March 13th

June 23rd

September 24th

Testing Ends

April 26th

July 31st

October 31st

Report Issued

May 14th

August 15th

November 15th

Each submission must be accompanied by a $295 product testing fee (we offer multiple submission discounts). This fee covers the cost of testing, nothing more. It is non-refundable and has no bearing on the result of the testing. Additionally, we require three samples of the product or access codes for online submissions.

FYI about the Seal of Approval

* Winners of the Seal will be announced in a media release which is distributed to over 4700 media outlets including Facebook, Mommy bloggers and TV station websites.

* The report is forwarded to buyers at over 350 major retail and on-line stores including Amazon, Walmart and Target. Amazon features Seal winners on product pages.

* Each report is featured at TNPC’s web site as well as TNPC’s Twitter & Instagram accounts and Facebook Page.

* Links to company websites and a license to utilize the trademarked Seal of Approval artwork on marketing, packaging and web design are available exclusively to Seal winners for additional fees.

* Submitting a product does not secure or guarantee being awarded a Seal of Approval

HOW IT WORKS

A Seal of Approval review involves a multi-step process conducted over an eight-week period.

Parents and children, experience and review submitted products and services either already released or coming to market.

Participants fill out questionnaires for each product or service they test. They score based on 13 levels of criteria including quality, appeal, design, price, packaging, directions, desirability, stimulation, replay factor and more. Results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received by testers.

There are three testing periods each year:

Report Period

SPRING '24

FALL ‘24

HOLIDAY ‘24

Testing Begins

February 15th

June 1st

September 1st

Submission Deadline

March 13th

June 23rd

September 24th

Testing Ends

April 26th

July 31st

October 31st

Report Issued

May 14th

August 15th

November 15th

Each submission must be accompanied by a $295 product testing fee (we offer multiple submission discounts). This fee covers the cost of testing, nothing more. It is non-refundable and has no bearing on the result of the testing. Additionally, we require three samples of the product or access codes for online submissions.

FYI about the Seal of Approval

* Winners of the Seal will be announced in a media release which is distributed to over 4700 media outlets including Facebook, Mommy bloggers and TV station websites.

* The report is forwarded to buyers at over 350 major retail and on-line stores including Amazon, Walmart and Target. Amazon features Seal winners on product pages.

* Each report is featured at TNPC’s web site as well as TNPC’s Twitter & Instagram accounts and Facebook Page.

* Links to company websites and a license to utilize the trademarked Seal of Approval artwork on marketing, packaging and web design are available exclusively to Seal winners for additional fees.

* Submitting a product does not secure or guarantee being awarded a Seal of Approval

Edit Company

PayPal Payment

"*" indicates required fields

Submission Summary

In case of Agency:

Product/Service
Suggested Retail Price
Suggested Age
Description
Notes
Image
Payment Method*
Hidden
Hidden
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Credit Card Payment

"*" indicates required fields

Submission Summary

In case of Agency:

Product/Service
Suggested Retail Price
Suggested Age
Description
Notes
Image
Credit Card
American Express
Discover
MasterCard
Visa
Supported Credit Cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Expiration Date
 
Hidden
Hidden

[login_widget]

PLEASE SELECT YOUR REGISTRATION TYPE

OR

User