As the “Director Emerita” of College Goals, I want to share a few thoughts with the parents of our current and future students . . . and with the young people themselves. The students who just graduated from high school this past spring, or are planning to graduate from high school next spring, were the 12-13-year-old middle-schoolers we snatched out of 6th or 7th grade in March 2020 – during those “formative” (greatly challenging, especially socially!) years. They were completely unable to explore the opportunities (and, yes, the horrors) of middle-school decisions, mistakes, and relationships . . . nothing was “safe,” except on a screen. Inevitably, they developed and, in some cases still sustain, a level of fear.
What should they do now?
Many realize the college path no longer necessarily leads to whatever has been viewed as “success.” Furthermore, many kids are understandably both eager and afraid of “leaving home” or going too far away. Meanwhile, parents are questioning the enormous cost of a 4-year undergraduate degree that may not provide that guarantee of future “success.”
What other learning/growing/maturing experiences are available for these young people? What/whom do they respect? How can they possibly prepare themselves to become “adults” amongst the distrust roiling our nation and the world?
I’m really writing to you parents who are dealing with the aftermath of these crises and their impacts on your family’s decisions ahead. I hear some parents suggesting their kids take some time off from school, get a job, and see how college admission changes in the next year or two. Students, teachers, parents and yes, college admission officers, are all talking about the influence and effect of AI on students’ learning, and on how students demonstrate their learning and present themselves to institutions. What’s the truth, about anything? What’s”real “?
If there was ever a time you needed and could benefit from some concerned, caring, experienced counseling, this is it. Now. Not that even the best of counselors (yes, that’s what College Goals counselors are!) can answer these questions. But they’ve invested their life’s work into listening to all the “players” (students/parents/teachers/admission officers) and working to help families find colleges and other learning options that “fit” their child’s goals, abilities, interests, and developmental needs. They help young people understand and accept who they are and what it is they need, and what can help them thrive and grow into comfortable and responsible “adulting.”
The College Goals team thinks, all the time, about the changes in college admission, but also about education abroad, about apprenticeships and trades, about gap years and meaningful work. If you could use a conversation, a listener, a guidepost to what to read/watch/listen to/consider about your teenager, now is the time to talk with someone on our team. We listen deeply. We learn constantly. We care.