Prep for College

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Prep for College

Grade range: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Postsecondary
Release date: 08-20-2019
Tags: Dual Enrollment, College, College Prep, College Preparation, English as a Second Language, Robotics, College and Career Preparation, Career Aspirations, Nurse, Nursing, Job, Budget, Mentor, Mentoring, Physical Therapy, College and Career Readiness, Scholarship, Scholarships, Scholarship Applications, Welding, Career, CTE Mentor Program, CTE, Applications, Application, College Applications, College Search, Disability, Accommodating Disabilities, Test, Parent Involvement, Parental Involvement, Counselor, Guidance Counselor

Description

Fact: It’s never too early to start prepping. Learn how to make yourself completely college-ready.

Resources

How I Got Here: Yarii

How I Got Here: Heriberto

Faces of Texas GEAR UP: Brenden

Shooting hoops, playing French horn, running track, careening around fields on an ATV—it’s all just a typical week for Brenden, a rather busy freshman from Lufkin. This future physical therapist also manages to squeeze in AP classes and quality bonding time with his mentor. Watch the video to get to know the guy who’s as inspiring as he is laid-back. (And we haven’t even mentioned his boxing grandpa yet…)

Faces of Texas GEAR UP: Brooke

We’re exhausted just thinking about Brooke’s schedule. This senior from Bryan goes to school all day, and then works as a manager at Taco Bell all night. She does her homework, carefully plans her budgets, and gets in a tennis game all basically whenever she can. As a future nurse, Brooke is ready to dedicate herself to helping people—and serving up a mean carpool karaoke on the side. Get a sneak peek at her seatbelt singing when you watch the video starring this go-getter, who’ll be the very first in her family to graduate high school and head off to college.

Faces of Texas GEAR UP: Gustavo

Family is everything for Del Rio High School sophomore, aspiring artist, and history buff Gustavo. His parents moved to Texas from Mexico so that he and his siblings could have a chance at a better life, and now he's totally honoring those wishes by preparing himself for college—AND inspiring his brothers and sister to do the same. Watch the video to see how Gustavo's participation in Texas GEAR UP has helped him hunt down and apply for scholarships, become a better test-taker, and find his favorite college. Oh, and it also made him king...

Faces of Texas GEAR UP: Andrew

If there’s anyone who’s on our fantasy lineup for the football team (close your eyes and picture it for a moment, it’s wonderful), it’s definitely Andrew. This guy can weld, lift, inspire, and most impressively, pole vault clean over a Triceratops. Or at least he could if there were any left. But don’t just take our word for it—watch to hear what he has to say. By the way, if you see any of yourself reflected in Andrew’s story, just know that means you’re also one of our first draft picks. We’re going to need more imaginary uniforms…

The Common Application

College Prep Checklists

Think College: College Prep for Intellectually Disabled Students

Know How 2 Go

College for All Texans

College Board

This is a mammoth web portal for furthering the College Board’s mission of getting students into and graduating from colleges and universities. Students and educators can become site members and have access to online organizational tools, AP and SAT test scheduling and reporting, and much more.

Apply Texas

Many schools, one application—that’s the tagline for this straightforward college admissions web resource. Students can begin from scratch by searching for Texas colleges and universities by type of school (two-year, four-year, graduate school, etc.) or degrees offered, as well as learning about the general application process. They can then create an account and fill out one comprehensive application that can be submitted to multiple schools online.

College Terms Cheat Sheet

While supporting your child during the whole journey to college, you’re probably hearing a lot of new terminology that might be a little bit confusing. Don’t worry—you’re not alone! That’s why we put together a cheat sheet of some of the most common words and phrases that pop up during the college-prep process. Download the glossary to boost your college-vocabulary expertise anytime.

All about the SAT/ACT

One of the big parts of prepping to get into college is taking the ACT and/or SAT test. These college entrance exams measure general academic knowledge and also provide a rough assessment of students’ readiness to do college-level work. They are tough, but with some preparation (and a big dose of support from you), your teen can certainly make it through with flying colors. And the best news? The tests can be taken more than once to aim for the highest scores possible.

College Application Process

If you’re like most parents (and students), you might find the whole college application process more than a little overwhelming. The good news is that you don’t actually need to be an expert in applying to college, because there are lots of people at your teen’s school who already are. Your job is just to understand the big picture of the process, and then know how to best support and encourage your student along the way.

Being an Advocate for Your Teen

Your GEAR UP student probably has some big dreams. And you surely want to help make those big dreams come true. But it can be a bit confusing to figure out how you can actually go about helping your child prepare right now for a lifetime of success. Happily, answers are just a click away. Our guide to being an advocate for your teen is full of information that you can use to support your child, ask the right questions, and set achievable goals on the path to that future college degree.

How I Got Here: Maria

During high school, Maria went through every day carrying a secret—she’s an undocumented citizen. While other students were starting to prep for college, Maria was thinking that she’d never be able to step foot on a college campus due to her status. And she was seriously devastated. It was only when she finally shared her fear with her GEAR UP coordinator that she found out there was absolutely a path for her to get that college degree.