Dr. P.'s Back-to-School Tips for High Schoolers
The next 30 days mark the start of the 2023-24 school year. Some big changes are heading your high schoolers’ ways. As an academic tutor, test prep coach, and college essay coach, I’d like to offer some of my top tips for teens in all four grades.
9th GRADE: MASTER THE BASICS
All acne and adrenaline, freshmen can be a high school teacher’s worst nightmare. Give your ninth grader a leg up by helping them cement the fundamentals of a strong academic career. Establish a sleep routine that allows them to get at least eight hours of sleep every night. (Nine is preferable at this age, but I’m a realist.) Many times, parents think their kid needs an academic tutor or a test prep coach or executive function coach. After a few questions, however, we discover the kid really needs more sleep to learn and function optimally!
You can help your freshman start high school on the right foot. For example, guide your them through creating a homework schedule that permits them to finish short- and long-term work thoroughly and on time. Show them how to take notes on pen and paper. Model how to study effectively – not just the night before the test, but every night of the week. If you aren’t sure how to do these things, attend one of my free workshops with your child. Or email me to set up a complimentary consultation if your child needs more consistent attention.
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10th GRADE: BEGIN TO REFINE and reach
Tenth grade should be a time where students begin to narrow their extracurricular and academic foci. Rather than joining 17 clubs, assume a leadership role in one or two. Take an Honors or AP course in a subject you love. Colleges want to see a passion that you’ve cultivated over time, not just at the end of junior year.
Parents of underclassmen, take note. Course selection usually takes place in the winter or spring the year before the student takes the course. Sometimes, a student’s grade in the subject will be the ticket in (or out) of the higher-level course. If your child needs academic assistance to reach or maintain a minimum grade threshold in a course, feel free to email me about Crimson Coaching’s private tutoring options.
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11th grade: TEST PREP ADVICE COMIN’ YOUR WAY!
The digital PSAT and digital SAT are such important changes for the Class of 2025 that I’ve included tips for rising juniors in a separate post here.
12th GRADE: This college essay coach is calling, “The COMMON APP IS NEW, TOO!”
As a college essay coach, I’ve been working all summer with rising seniors in this new, post-affirmative action era. (If you’re unfamiliar with the changes that occurred to college admissions, read about them here.) Late last month, I sat down with Test and the Rest podcasters Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin to discuss the implications of the Fair Admissions case on students writing their college essays now. You can listen to that conversation here.
If you’re short on time, however, my biggest tip I shared with that audience is to NOT shoehorn your background into an essay to “telegraph” your race or ethnicity to an admissions office. Instead, first identify your most salient characteristic (e.g., “I’m resilient” or “I’m creative”). This is the very first homework assignment I give to all the students who work with me as a college essay coach.
Then figure out a way that that characteristic has manifested itself vis-à-vis your lived racial or ethnic experience. It’s not easy – and explaining how to do this could occupy another entire blog post. So if you’d like to hear examples of my students who’ve done just that, please listen to “Diversity and the College Essay.” Or email me to set up a complimentary consultation if you’re interested in working with me as a college essay coach this fall.
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The 2023-24 school year promises to be a mix of the tried-and-true and the old-and-new. Whatever challenge your child’s facing, I’m here to help. Here’s wishing you and them a great school year!