Attention, parents: If you have a high school junior (or a late-blooming senior), it's time to take action! If your student plans on attending college, you have a lot of work to do and very little time to do it.

Theoretically, planning for college admissions should begin in the 8th grade? Why? Because students need to solidify the courses and prerequisites needed to begin a college prep curriculum in the 9th grade.

Planning on leaving everything to your student's high school counselor? Not a good idea. Your student's counselor has many students to work with and is very likely going to concentrate most of his/her efforts on assisting senior students. As the parent of a freshman, sophomore or junior, the bulk of the college planning work is therefore going to fall to you.

I am convinced that families and students are fully capable of planning for post-secondary education independently. But because of time constraints and family commitments, they often find the additional work involved with the planning process to be taxing, stressful and worrisome. It doesn't have to be that way.

Paying for constant, long-term, one-to-one college planning assistance isn't a workable solution for many people. Generally, families and students do very well on their own if they have adequate resources/references available to them. That's why I wrote The Future Prep Workbook--to help students and families navigate the path to higher education independently.

What is the The Future Prep Workbook? The Future Prep Workbook is a step-by-step guide targeted to families and students interested in negotiating the complexities of college planning and admissions. In my 91 page workbook, I've included detailed information on higher education topics related to college planning, applications, admissions, financial aid, housing, and many others. I've also included planning worksheets and indexes to useful higher education resources.

Until next time!

Lynn Byrne

Preparing for college admissions? Trying to find direction? Need a little help with the planning? Check out my college planning series:

• College Planning Made Easy--the planning and preparation workbook for the take charge, college-bound student,
  
• Paying for College Made Easy--a college financing guide designed to assist students and families in preparing and planning for higher education expenses; and
  
• The Great Scholarship Search--my guide for students and parents researching and applying for scholarship funding.