Prior to Year 12
Prior to Year 12
University Counsellors internationally are aware of the fact that student and parental anxiety around the college process is increasing. With this anxiety comes mounting pressure on the part of some parents to "get this process going" when their children are at younger and younger ages.
We often speak with parents who see the looming college process as a cross between a beauty pageant and an arms race. With their children's best interests at heart, they
Push for earlier and earlier SAT prep and test completion, at ages far younger than what College Board recommends, when students are in a poorer position to get the best results.
Schedule a burdensome number of summer courses, enrichment programs, tutoring and a wide assortment of extra-curricular activities in the hopes of burnishing their child's resume and improving his or her admissibility to prestigious schools.
When asked, "Why are you doing all of this?" parents often respond with no small amount of frustration: "Because everyone else is."
Stoking these cultural and societal pressures is a burgeoning private university counselling industry whose worst practitioners are more than happy to promote their services to increasingly younger students and their anxious parents. Toss in the pernicious effects of college rankings along with an increasingly uncertain economic climate, and the potential for creating a witch's brew of anxiety and worse is all too often being realized by growing numbers of students and their parents.
Understandably, school-based university counsellors are deeply concerned that this "college-as-race" mentality is having a detrimental effect on student wellbeing. With a growing sense of alarm, we read news stories of increasing numbers of students arriving to college burned out from the grind of trying to get in, exhibiting signs of depression and even more serious mental health issues.
While we hope this doesn't become common among our CIS students, we sometimes do see evidence that they will compromise their physical and emotional wellbeing in a headlong pursuit of the perfect academic resume. Students routinely come to us viewing the coming college admission process as a test rather than an opportunity, all too easily falling into the trap of equating their self worth or potential for future happiness with the relative prestige of the universities offering or denying them admission.
In this atmosphere, learning becomes a hurdle rather than a passion - a means to an end rather than a worthy intellectual pursuit with the need for outstanding numbers winning out over inborn, innate curiosity and love of learning.
As parents and university counsellors, we often find ourselves asking: is this the best we can do for our kids? In this climate, it's important that parents are honest about their hopes and dreams for their children's university experience. We urge our parents to ask themselves some fundamental questions:
What role will university have in my child's life?
What role does university prestige play in my perceptions?
What effect do cultural, societal and the parental beliefs of others have on my views?
What are the essential ingredients of a quality and healthy CIS and university experience?
Where can I get a real and thorough understanding of a healthy college process?
To help parents develop healthy answers to these challenging questions, your CIS University Counsellors are responding to our community's needs by:
Offering parent forums on a wide variety of topics relating to the college process
Creating a comprehensive University/Career Counselling website
Publishing University Counselling Newsletters
Sharing timely and trustworthy articles and news items
Addressing parental and student fears and anxieties and underscoring the need for a healthy approach
Prior to Year 12, our Career Advancement and University Counselling program primarily aims at providing forums and resources for parents and students to learn about the career and college processes in age appropriate and healthy ways. Prior to Year 12, we urge you to make full use of these presentations as well as the resources below.
Resources
We strongly feel that the college process can be positive and healthy for both students and parents. You will find that being well-informed is a terrific antidote to the pressures and anxieties that this process can entail. Click on the buttons below to access reliable and up-to-date information.
And finally, please feel free to contact the University and Career Counselling offices whenever questions arise. We welcome your questions and look forward to addressing your concerns.