Guiding Your Teen During the College Admission Process

Guiding Your Teen During the College Admission Process Whether your teen is knee-deep in college viewbooks and applications or he or she is just beginning to explore his or her college options, the college admission process can easily instill fear and anxiety in the calmest of parents and teens. Its not uncommon for parents to become obsessed micromanagers when their teens start evaluating collegesfeeling compelled to push them in the right direction or even take over the process, says Eileen Huntington, co-founder of Huntington Learning Center. The parent plays a vital role in the college search and selection process, but should be more of a partner than an organizer. Huntington offers these tips to successfully guide your teen through the college admission process: Give up some control. In your teens junior and senior years, many decisions will need to be madeabout the college traits that are important to you and your teen (location and school size, for example), the best date to take the SAT and/or ACT and even which colleges to visit. Establish with your teen the types of decisions you are comfortable letting him or her make alone as well as those you must make together. Give your teen opportunities to explain the reasoning behind his or her viewpoints and decisions, and trust the decisions he or she makes, even if it you disagree with them. Doing so allows your teen to mature and learn to be more responsible for his or her choices. Guidance is good. Overinvolvement isnt. Theres a lot to the college admission process, and its important for parents to be supportive, stay aware of important deadlines and get familiar with the financial aid process. However, your teen must take ownership of his or her college admission. While you should be on hand for questions and be a part of decisions that impact the family, you shouldnt write your teens college application essays or fill out his or her applications. Ultimately, your teen is the one who will be attending collegenot you. Help your teen find a great fit, not just a random choice. Remember that the college admission process is an opportunity to assess your teens academic strengths, personality and potential field-of-study interests, and find colleges that are best suited to him or her. Set realistic expectations at the outsetan expensive, highly competitive film school may simply not be possible given your budget and/or your teens GPA and test scoresthen take a proactive approach to evaluate the choices. Foster good communication. The college admission process can be stressful for every member of the family, but regular, healthy communication can minimize conflicts and bring you and your teen closer together. Establish the best way for the two of you to stay in touch throughout the process. Understand that you will not agree about everything, but be sure your teen understands when your input is required and when you expect him or her to make decisions independently. And always encourage your teen to talk with you about his or her fears, questions and aspirations.

How to cope with exam stress

How to cope with exam stress There is no getting away from it - exams are stressful. They involve hours of revision and studying and can leave you feeling exhausted and stressed to the hilt. Just one reason why you need to learn how to manage what you are feeling and find ways to cope. While a certain amount of exam stress is healthy (and even good for studying) it's very easy for small worries to spiral and become overwhelming. If you are experiencing any of the following you need to take action. 1. Crying because you are worried about failing 2. Finding it hard to sleep or focus due to anxiety 3. Feeling unwell with headaches 4. Not eating or overeating to cope with stress 5. Not able to think about anything but exams 6. Feeling high levels of anxiety Strategy one: talk to someone Friends are great, but sometimes they can make you feel worse, which is why a tutor or teacher needs to be your first port of call. Unlike your peers, they will be able to put your fears into perspective and help you to tackle the areas that are stressing you out the most. Common areas a tutor can advise on: 1. A revision plan or lack of it 2. Fear of failure 3. Exam nerves 4. Anxiety about taking the exam Strategy two: relaxation techniques Knowing how to handle your stress with proven techniques can also help you to feel more in control. Award-winning apps like Headspace and Calm can help you to switch off and manage your anxiety via breathing and mindfulness techniques. A good routine around revision, with breaks, will also help. Make sure you have a break every hour and that you stop revising at least an hour before bed. This way, you have time for your brain to unwind and relax before bed. Finally, get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. Rest is a powerful mechanism for both remembering information and lowering your stress levels. Too much or too little sleep will have the opposite effect. Strategy three: tackle your stress/study trigger points There will always be certain aspects of exams that will cause you more stress than others. Talk through what's bothering you the most so you can tackle this head-on and lower your stress levels. If it's lack of revision, talk to a tutor/teacher about where your knowledge gaps are and the most effective way you can catch up. If you are worried about forgetting everything on the day, work with past papers, so you feel comfortable with how exam questions are asked and graded. If you are worried that nerves will get the better of you trust yourself. When we get nervous, we all doubt ourselves and begin to question even the most obvious answers. If this happens, give your mind a few minutes to absorb the information before you answer. Finally remember you are not alone. Many students feel a considerable amount of stress when it comes to exams. The key to remember is that exams, as vital as they are, are just one of the stepping stones you need to get to your goals. For more on revision and exams see our blog posts on revision, GCSEs, mocks and more.