Many modern articles talk about how awful it is that parents are involved with the college admissions process. Personally, I don’t think it is awful at all.
In my opinion, parents should be involved when their students are applying to colleges. The parents are typically paying for the college, or at least part of it, and they want the best for their student.
But the real question is, how much should parents be involved and in what ways.
Parents should support their students in finding the best college for the student. This might mean visiting various colleges that the student wants to see and supporting the student in deciding what the student really wants from a college. It does not mean that the parent makes the decision of where to apply. The parent is not going to college, the student is.
Just because mom or dad had a great time at State U means that it is the best choice for the student. The parent should have the right to give input on what factors the student might want to consider but the ultimate decision is the students.
Parents can help brainstorm ideas for the application essay. But parents should not decide what the student will write about. More importantly, under no circumstance should a parent write any part of an essay.
I occasionally see an essay that I suspect has been written by a parent and in almost every case, it is worse than the essays written by the student. Why? Because we all have our own voice when writing and a students voice is typically very different from their parents.
Parents should act as cheerleaders for their students, encouraging them to learn about themselves. When parents try to do much more than that they risk undermining their student in their path into adulthood. Students are often called “young adults” but the college admissions process for most of them is the first real step into the adult world. By the way, when parents are stressed, that’s where the poor skin and wrinkles are developed. To avoid that, consult with Dr. Andres Bustillo to know the best facial treatment for you.
We all want to protect our kids. I understand that as I have two kids of my own. But by getting too involved in the college admissions process we are not helping our kids. Rather we are denying them the right to become adults capable of making the best decision for their particular needs.
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