I spent the evening with my little sister, who is just finishing her junior year of high school. And, as many other siblings have done, I started helping her figure out what she has to do to prepare for college. And I realized that I had absolutely no clue how I was supposed to help her. This is a new world for me. As the oldest sibling, I didn’t get help, I had to figure out on my own, how to get ready for college. So, for those of you who may be like me, are struggling with just how to help your siblings get ready for college, here’s a list.
Step 1:
Help them make a list of colleges they like. Remember how difficult it was to narrow down the colleges you wanted to go to? They’re experiencing the same thing. Once you’ve helped them create the list, go through and list the pros and cons of each college.
Step 2:
Remind them that there are other colleges. My sister, like many other teenagers, has her heart set on a specific college. Don’t let your sibling just apply to their dream college, make sure they’re applying everywhere. Support their dreams, but make sure they keep things realistic, that way if they don’t get into their dream school, they have a backup. Remind them that they can work on their GPA at a different school and then reapply to their dream school.
Step 3:
Make sure they volunteer for things. It’ll look great on their application, and there are endless volunteer opportunities if they look for them. And, not only will it look great on their college applications, it’ll help shape them into selfless people who wants to help in whatever way they can.
Step 4:
Remind them that they don’t have to pick a major immediately. Let them know it’s okay to not know what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Encourage them to take classes that interest them. This will help them narrow down what they want to major in.
Step 5:
Let them visit you. When they visit a college, the school can show them what life is like on a college campus, but not as well as you can. This doesn’t mean you have to take them out to parties or let them do crazy things. Let them see how fun a simple night in, hanging out with roommates can be. Set up a string course in your common room, play card games. Let them explore the area where the campus is located. Let them see how close the nearest Walmart is, and introduce them to the best late night restaurants for those late nights when you don’t have time to eat or when you've been studying for so long that you need to give yourself a reward. Show them what it’s actually like to live on a college campus.
Step 6:
Help them with scholarships. The number of scholarships available is immeasurable. Some are very generalized and some are very specific as to who can apply. Help them narrow down the scholarships they can apply for and let them know that some are scams. Help them figure out how to discern if they’re scams or not.
Step 7:
Help them with their FAFSA. The first time I filled out the FAFSA, I was intimidated. I was trying to do it on my own, my family helped when they could. Looking at it now, it’s not horribly difficult to fill out. Help your sibling through their first time filling out a FAFSA to show them that while it is difficult, it is not as difficult as it’s made out to be.
Step 8:
Keep on them. It’s easy for them to get off task with things like sports, prom, hanging out with their significant others. But keep pushing them to stay on task, to make sure that they get things done to be sure their applications are in on time.
Step 9:
Be there for them. They’re going to have a lot of questions, just like we did. Answer as many as you can, and let them know that college will be one of the greatest times in their lives.
This list doesn't even come close to all of the minor things your siblings will need help with as they prepare to apply for college but it does give some advice.
