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How to build a strong mentor-mentee relationship with your teachers

By Dana Fulton

As a high school student, you’ve probably been told that you have your whole life ahead of you. And while you may not know what you’re going to major in, much less what type of job you want after graduation, it’s important to think about how your current academic and extracurricular goals relate to lifelong career and personal goals.

The good news? You don’t have figure it out alone. There’s a resource who happens to be standing right in front of you: your teacher!

The benefit of having a teacher who is a mentor

By building strong connections with teachers during high school, you can form a lifelong mentorship that can help you far beyond your school walls. Specifically, building a strong student-teacher relationship can help you with:

  • The college application process. Teachers know and understand your strengths. They can help you figure out what colleges may be a good fit for you and can even connect you with students who currently attend those schools. They can review your college application and essays, as well as provide letters of recommendation.
  • Scholarship help. When you’re applying for scholarships, you may also need a letter of recommendation. If you have a good relationship with your teacher, he can help complete this step. Teachers can also help you find scholarships — they may know about specific scholarships for your town or school, or that previous students have applied for (and maybe received!).
  • Networking for jobs or internships. Your teachers might know employers that hire high school students or may be able to connect you with former students who work in various industries and need student employees.
  • Building confidence. For college and life, it’s important to be confident when speaking one-on-one with adults. “Learning how to communicate confidently with adults is an important skill. It translates to being able to talk with a boss or another mentor later,” says high school history teacher Nick Mangum, of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tips to foster a strong teacher mentorship

Start fostering your student-teacher mentorship early this school year, so you can build the relationship all year. Here are some ideas:

    1. Be friendly. A strong mentor-mentee relationship can start with a simple conversation, says Mangum. That can be a quick “have a nice day,” or an invitation to one of your extracurricular activities, whether it’s a state championship football game or a debate team tournament. “Once you have a conversation with someone, the next conversations get easier and easier to have,” says Mangum.
    2. Be mindful of your teacher’s time. If you ask a teacher to meet during her free period or after school, think about what you want to discuss in advance and be prepared. Teachers have lives, too, and may not be able to accommodate a longer discussion without advance notice.
    3. Talk about the class. An easy starting conversation can be about your teacher’s class and your participation in it. Talk to your teacher about your goals for the class, as well as the future. A teacher will appreciate a proactive approach, so he can help you formulate a plan to reach these goals.
    4. Be honest. Your teachers want to help you. Don’t be afraid to share what you like and dislike about your classes. Loving English but struggling through biology? This could be helpful to determine what you study in college. They’ll be able to point you toward clubs and extracurricular activities focused on certain subjects that you enjoy, ultimately leading you toward a dream college major and job.
    5. Most important, remember that teachers want to help. They’re teaching so they can help you as you find your passions. You shouldn’t hesitate to go to teachers for advice, says Mangum. “Teachers get into the occupation to help students grow in order to succeed in every aspect of life.”
    6. But also be on the lookout for negative power dynamics. Be smart about which teachers you approach. Although it’s rare, you never want to get yourself in a situation where teachers are asking you for favors or something in exchange for a recommendation letter or help with essays.

 

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Making the most of your winter break

By Dana Fulton

With all that you have going on, the time away from school for winter break is more than just time to hang out with family and friends. It is also a great time to think ahead about college: including how you can wrap up college-related tasks you haven’t finished yet. Just as importantly, take this time to have some meaningful conversations with your parents about college.

Play catch up.

Got some college or scholarship applications that aren’t complete? Take some time over winter break to get them done. When your busy second semester starts, you’ll be glad you did.

Talk about money.

Once you’re in college, you’ll probably be taking more responsibility for money management. Talk with your parents about what they expect. Which expenses will you be responsible for? Will they be helping out with any costs? Will you need to get a job during the school year? What if you run low on cash mid-semester? It’s definitely better to have this talk now, rather than when you’re on the way to college next fall.

How do you see your college life?

How do you picture yourself at college? Will you be living on or off-campus?  Are you thinking about joining a fraternity or sorority?  Will you be joining any clubs or activities?  Talk over your ideas with your parents.  Some of these decisions have financial implications, others may just impact your time and energy for school. Your parents may have some insights to help you decide how to shape your college experience, and things to consider which may not have crossed your mind yet.

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Five simple tips to jump start your college search

By Dana Fulton

As a high school junior, now is the perfect time to start your college search, if you haven’t already begun. Choosing a college is an important decision, but getting an early start is key to making it less stressful.  If you start thinking and exploring your options now, you’ll have plenty of time to gather the information you need to make the choice when senior year arrives. Here a few quick tips to jump start your search:

  • Make a list about you

    Get started by making a list about you. If you know what you want to major in, that’s a great place to start. If not, maybe you have a general idea of what you want to study (business, art, etc.). No idea? That’s okay too. Think about what type of school you might like. Big or small? Nearby or far away? In the city or in a smaller community? Just start with whatever ideas you do have about college, and don’t worry about what you don’t know right now. Whatever your thoughts are, add them to the list.

  • Explore online

    Next, start peeking around at schools online. Check out their course catalogs to get a sense of what classes and majors might interest you.  If something strikes a chord, add it to your list.  Take a virtual tour of any school that interests you.  Take note of what you do and don’t find appealing about each one.

  • Make an appointment with your school counselor

    Now that you’ve got a few thoughts pulled together, make an appointment with your school counselor to talk about how to move your search forward. Bring your list of thoughts and ideas. Your counselor may have suggestions for schools you should explore or additional ideas about what your next steps should be.

  • Go to a college fair

    If your school hosts a college night, be sure to attend. You can talk with representatives from different schools and gather information about them to review later.

  • Talk to people

    In addition to talking with college reps, talk with the people in your life—friends, neighbors, relatives, teachers. People love to ask high school students about their college plans, right? Turn the tables—you ask the questions!  You can learn a lot by asking current and former college students where they went to school, if they liked it, what they majored in, and what they might have done differently. Take it all in as food for thought.

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Getting real about college costs

By Dana Fulton

When exploring the cost of college with your student, you may hear different terms around price, including sticker price and net price. Let’s unravel some of the mystery around the real price of college and how to pay for it.

Sticker price vs. net price

All colleges do have a listed or sticker price—that is, the cost of college without any financial aid applied. When you take the sticker price and subtract grants and scholarships (aid that doesn’t have to be repaid) you get the school’s net price.

Today, when you visit a college’s website, you’ll likely find a Net Price Calculator to help estimate the school’s net price, based on some information that you and your student provide. It’s designed to give a general picture of the school’s cost than the sticker price alone.

Financial aid

Some net price calculators also provide information about the kinds of financial aid your student may be offered, such as student loans and work-study jobs. While this this information is just an estimate, it can give you a better idea of how much your student may need to borrow at one school versus another. Some schools may be able to offer more grant and scholarship aid; at others, student loans may make up the bigger portion of the financial aid package.

Trimming costs

As you get a better sense of the real cost of specific schools, you can start consider ways to potentially trim costs. An in-state school with fewer travel costs may start to make more sense as you crunch the numbers. You may also want to explore reciprocity agreements available at schools in neighboring states.

After looking at the numbers together, your student may want to consider dual enrollment courses, explore more housing options, or consider working while in college to offset some costs.

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