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(gentle music)
- Many parents wonder how are we going to afford college?
How are we going to pay for college?
And that is a reasonable question.
Many parents are concerned
because college is expensive, we know,
but fortunately there is great financial aid resources
available to most students.
Students who come from low income backgrounds,
all the way up to middle income families,
there are financial aid opportunities
available for all students,
not just scholarships but also grant opportunities,
which is money that's gifted to students
that they don't have to pay back.
And of course, there are student loans.
The first great resource to go ask about financial aid
is your high school counselor.
Your high school counselor will be able to help you
with financial aid applications, completing the FAFSA,
completing the California DREAM Act
for students who may be DREAMers,
and also what paperwork you may need.
Many students are really unfamiliar with parents' taxes.
What's a W2? What is verification?
Many students will be selected
to provide additional documents
for their financial aid applications.
This is called verification.
Your counselor will be able to help you with this.
Many parents will ask,
does my student need to live on campus?
Should they live on campus?
Do they need to live in the dorms?
Do they live in an apartment off campus?
Student life is a really important factor for students.
This is the second component to going to college.
The first component obviously is academics.
We want our students to go to school,
to graduate, to receive their diploma,
and walk that stage in four to six years,
but the other component is living
and growing amongst other peers,
so living with other students,
learning how to get along with other people,
learning how to navigate
social interactions with individuals.
There'll be a lot of group projects.
Students will learn how to interact
with different personalities,
but living on campus is a really big deal for students.
This is an opportunity
where they experience independence for the first time,
where they're able to learn how to do laundry
on their own without mom and dad.
They're able to eat
and make their own choices on their food choices, right?
They'll be able to eat in the dining halls.
They'll have plenty of nutritious options available to them.
There are very healthy eating options at the dining halls,
but there also some of the junk food options
when the student's feeling stressed out.
But the key is that the students know
how to manage those options.
But living on campus
is definitely a great experience for students
and it's something that financial aid will also pay for.
Some parents are concerned
living on campus is really expensive.
It is more expensive than living at home
or living off campus in an apartment,
but your financial aid will cover it.
So, it will pay for it
so that you don't have to incur additional costs
out of pocket if your student is eligible for financial aid.
Going off to college is a big transition,
not only for the student to go to college,
but also for our families.
For families, sometimes it's really hard
to be able to say, you know what,
skip out on this birthday party this weekend,
or don't worry about coming home
because we understand you have midterms or finals.
And sometimes, as family, we have to be supportive.
We may not understand what exactly they're doing on campus.
We may not understand what they're studying,
that they have to stay in the labs to late hours at night
or at the library until midnight or two in the morning
but it's really important to support your student
so that they can be as successful as possible
when they're on campus.
The students many times will feel homesickness
and because it is a big transition,
they'll want to come home.
They want to come home to something familiar
and it's very easy for a parent to say,
oh, don't worry, come home.
But the best thing that parents can do
and family members can do is support the student
by saying, I know it's hard, let's talk about it.
But the most important thing is your goal.
What is your goal? Do you wanna finish your degree?
Do you wanna go into a career that you love?
And if that's the case, continue, stay the course,
stay in school, continue studying.
You'll be able to come home during winter break
or spring break or the summer.
There are options, other options.
We always tell students it's a short term sacrifice
for a long term gain.
Technology has been such a great tool for many students
who travel 30 minutes away from home,
or even across the country to study for college.
Many students before,
they would have to write letters home, right,
if they were homesick.
Other students, it was email or phone calls,
and now students can FaceTime or Zoom with family members
and be able to connect and have that home connection.
Many students are able to Zoom into birthday parties
or that quinceañera that they'll miss,
but they'll still be part of the celebration
without having to leave school and stay focused in school.
So, you'll still be able to access your family
without losing sight of what your goals are
and what your initial reason for being at school is.
Being on campus for the first time for many students
is an initial taste of independence
and with that independence comes decisions on when to eat,
eating healthy, maintain a healthy balance by working out,
going to the gym, going to see any support services
that are able to help support students
to maintain balance while they're in school.
Going to college is very stressful.
Papers, working demands.
Students experience a whole new life.
It's very, very stressful
and for them to be able to eat healthy,
eat the healthy meals on campus,
dining halls are open for long hours
so your student will not go without eating.
They have the ability to go into the dining hall
at all hours of the day,
but then also students keep food in their dorms, as well.
They're able to access some quick snacks in their dorms.
Also, the gym is a great resource for students,
even if they don't like being on a machine or a treadmill,
there are fun classes that they can use to exercise.
Zumba classes are popular. Salsa classes are popular.
Anything to help them keep them staying active,
or even walking with friends.
Also, many college campuses offer student health centers
that help with...
There's a doctor on campus
so you can visit the doctor if you're not feeling well.
If you feel like you're coming down with the flu,
they offer the flu shots.
Also, there's student psychological services.
And so students can go see someone
if they're feeling very stressed out or homesick.
They can go visit a therapist
who can help support them through that process.
So, there are a lot of resources available
for students on campus
to maintain a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle.
High school is very different from college life.
At high school, we're used to students going to school
from a set 8:00 to 3:00-3:30 schedule every day,
Monday through Friday.
College life is different.
Colleges require different types of schedules.
Students typically take a course
that's either three or four units
and what that typically means
is that a student for every hour that they're in class,
they will have three hours of work to do
outside of the classroom.
And so, many students will have a lot of studying,
a lot of reading, a lot of papers to write.
Many students will, in high school,
they write five page paper for their finals.
In college, many students will write 10, 15, 20 page papers.
And with those papers comes a lot of reading
that they have to do ahead of time.
And so students will go to the library.
During the middle of the semester or quarter,
students will have exams
or papers that they have to submit.
And this is called midterms.
And at the end of the semester,
where they received their final grade,
students will have final exams, finals,
or final papers that they have to submit.
And during these peak times, stress is very high.
The dining halls tend to stay open 24 hours
so that the students can come in
and eat whenever they'd like.
And the library also stays up in very late.
During finals and midterms, they stay open 24 hours.
And so, students will stay in the library
until 2:00 a.m., 'til 3:00 a.m. sometimes.
We don't advise that, but sometimes they will.
They will stay in the labs very late, as well,
working on any projects that they may have.
And it's okay. They're not out with friends.
They're really studying.
Many times parents say,
"Who would really stay in the library 'til 2:00 a.m.?"
Well, actually students do, and they wouldn't be alone.
They would be with other students, as well.
And also, any time throughout the entire school year,
students can call their public safety
to escort them back to their dorm.
If they're coming back from a lab
or the library or a dining hall late at night
and they don't wanna walk by themselves,
they can call public safety and they will escort them
or give them a ride back to their dorm
so that they're not having to walk across campus
late at night by themselves.
On-campus activities are another great aspect
of college life.
Just like in high school,
where students were involved in athletics
and band, in clubs, college life has the same thing.
The students are able to participate
in organizations that are meaningful to them,
organizations that students are very much interested in.
These organizations are key
to a student's success in the future
because social networks are really important for students.
Networking is one of the key aspects of going to college
and networking is when a student meets another individual
who they wanna stay in contact with
because in the future, their paths may cross again.
And networking is when all of these student interactions
happen on campus, when they're engaging in organizations,
engaging in service opportunities,
when they're volunteering,
when they're fundraising for something
that they're really excited about,
when they're engaging in the political landscape on campus,
similar to what was the student body government
in high school, they have similar programs in college life.
Organizations help students become well-rounded students.
They not only have the academic perspective in the classroom
studying with their professors and their peers,
but they also have the peer to peer engagement,
learning from other students, learning from each other,
when they're involved in social activities
such as clubs and organizations.
As a parent, we wanna do everything that we can
to fully support our students
as they begin the college journey
and some of the things that parents can do
to help support this journey
is to begin providing exposure for their students,
giving them information about college campuses.
The number one experience
is stepping foot on a college campus.
If your student has never been on a college campus,
drive to the nearest one
if you have one locally available to you
and visit the college campus, just walk around.
You don't need to have a tour or schedule anything formal.
You can just be on campus and walk around and observe
and see how the other students are walking around
and interacting with each other,
going from class, going to the dining halls.
But also one of the newest, greatest things
about being in a virtual environment
is that many colleges have recorded campus tours virtually.
So, you can tour a campus from New York out in California.
You can tour any campus by going to their website
and searching campus tour on their website.
And you'll be able to be immersed in a virtual tour
of a school of your choice.
And this is a really great exposure opportunity for students
who may not be able to leave their home setting.
If you're a student who lives in a small town,
you can then travel to the big city of New York
or the big city of St. Louis
and visit what that looks like
coming from a rural community.
Or if you're in a big urban setting,
what does it look like to go to a small, suburban school?
What does it look like to go to a medium-sized school
compared to a large public institution?
You're able to tour
and learn about all of these new campuses,
all from the seat of your home, at your computer.
And this is a really great opportunity.
I encourage parents and families
to do this with their students
so that you can both get excited together
and start making a pros and cons list.
What do I like? What don't I like?
And that will help you narrow down your options.
There are hundreds of college campuses in the United States.
It can be overwhelming,
but in order to help narrow down your list as you prepare,
start making that pros and cons.
What do you like? What don't you like?
What is a non-negotiable you have to have
when you go to campus?
You need to have these things.
Make that list
and that'll help you narrow down
what school will be the best fit for you.
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