Expert: Bruce - 2/6/2008

Question
I have a seventeen year old doing average in HS and I tried to begin the process of helping me to help him find a college that suitable. Perhaps there are agencies that can help parents with this search its stressing me out

Answer
Patricia,

Sorry to hear that you are finding the process stressful. I am going through it right now with a senior of my own, so I have an idea what you are experiencing.

Is your son's school counselor a possibility for help? If so, one of the things I suggest is to have your son take an interest inventory/career assessment survey from the guidance office. This can be a good starting point toward college.

Also talk with your son about some basic search issues; how large a school does he want, how far from home, is there an activity that's important to him, etc. With this sort of info in mind you can start to narrow down the pool of colleges, and visit them now, if your child is a senior, or next summer, if he is a junior.

Another idea - talk with some local schools to see if they have any recently retired guidance counselors who you might hire to help you with the search.

Hope this helps.

Bruce