It seems like I turned
around one day and suddenly my son Cole, 15, was taller than my husband—and
casually asking for the car keys. But height and driver's permit
notwithstanding, he was still boyishly content to spend every spare second of
his life playing video games and rarely (if ever) thought about his future.
Luckily, a handful of letters from colleges hailing him as a "potential
student" brought about a major breakthrough – meaning he realized on his
own that sooner rather than later, adults other than Mom and Dad would care
about his grades.
Choosing a school - especially
for a kid who has trouble with even a simple decision like what to have for
lunch - seems utterly overwhelming. There are a bazillion colleges and as many
majors. And even if by some miracle he manages to sort all that out, there's
still the matter of covering the sky-high costs.
On the plus side, even
though my son doesn't especially stand out as a scholar or athlete, he is an
ace social networker. And these days, admissions reps rely on sites like
Facebook to get a sense of an applicant beyond essays, transcripts and test
scores, to seek out kids they envision as being good potential additions to the
overall student body. Meaning Cole now has a way to depict himself as the
person he aspires to be on an actual campus somewhere, rather than a teenager
who spends entire Saturdays playing Xbox until his mother literally shuts the
power off.
So as he was basking in the
glow of his latest letter from a tiny, absurdly expensive university I'd never
heard of, I saw my opportunity. "Podunk College?" I said, pointing to
the letter "Only obscure schools still use snail mail. I hear the big ones
use social networks to recruit."
In typical teen style, he
tried to act all bored and disinterested, but I also caught a glimmer of
curiosity. So I opened my laptop and helped him set up a few profiles (see
above). After answering questions about subjects that interested him, states
he'd like to live in and his CPA, he discovered he could also connect with college
students at schools he liked to find out about the social life.
"Cool," he said (talkative as ever). He could even take a virtual
tour from a laptop or mobile phone. As for me, chief payer of the bills, I was
pleased to discover tons of information on scholarships.
Within days he was
receiving recruitment info from schools that sounded promising and e-mailing
back and forth with admissions officers. And just like that, he started to take
himself more seriously. I even spotted a touch of - get this - determination.
And to my amazement, when I recently suggested he hit Grockit.com to study for
his upcoming SATs, he actually did. Which was an eye-opening experience for us
both.
“Straight
talk about technology from a plugged-in mom.”
By Christina Tynan-Wood
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SOCIAL
U.
A few smart sites to help your teen
make college connections:
UVisit.com Virtual campus tours
24/7 from the comfort of your own home. Use the mobile app for guidance
during in-person drop-bys.
Cappex.com Create a personal
profile that showcases any noteworthy accomplishments, then alert schools.
The "What Are My Chances?" tool calculates how likely an acceptance
letter is based on the info provided.
Parchment.com School transcripts stored
online can easily be accessed and shared with colleges. Play with the "What
If" calculator to see how much a higher SAT score or an A in English
would improve admissions chances.
Facebook Tracking a school's page over time
can convey a sense of the place—its culture, vibe and student priorities— and
provide useful links to recruiters. (Remind kids to clean up their own
Facebook page before proceeding.)
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For
the latest tech tips, trends and products (including great giveaways!) check
out Christina's new blog at familycircle.com/tech.
