By Dr. Giani Clarkson

In 1842, Sir John Herschel introduced the concept of the blueprint to the field of architecture. It was a way for people across the globe to learn how to build some of the world’s greatest infrastructures. These infrastructures lead to some of the artifactual phenomenon that we know of today. From the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, The Eye in Las Vegas, The Louvre in Paris, and the India Tower in Mumba – they were all orchestrated by careful planning and the understanding that laying out a smart guideline can lead to success. 

That is basically the landscape of high school – the creation of a plan to help your scholar achieve the next realm of success in college. For many parents, this is a new frontier. Personally, I have been out of high school for …cough…well that is not any of your business…lol…however, my work in education has helped me see some of the downfalls of some scholars. It is all about planning your work and working on your plan. Over the next four years, the goal is to make sure that your blueprint is full of S.M.A.R.T Goals. When thinking about your scholar’s success in high school remember these five rules: make the goal specific, make the goal measurable, make the goal achievable, make the goal relevant, and make the goal time-based. 

If your scholar is inside of their freshmen year of high school, this year serves as the foundation of what happens next in their academic matriculation. It is important that your scholar is hitting these very important checkpoints before their sophomore year. First, your scholar needs to be working to complete their community service requirement. Most high schools across the country demand that their high school graduates complete at least one hundred hours of community service as a requirement. I challenge students to stop looking at doing community service as just a requirement but as a working internship. Working with a non-profit organization is a great way to give back to your community and expound on potential interest. For example, if your scholar is interested in majoring in theatre then having them volunteer at a regional or community theatre would be a great suggestion. These potential interests can help shape your scholar into thinking about their major in college. The goal is that by the end of your scholar’s freshmen year, they can achieve at least twenty-five community service hours. In addition to the community service hours that need to be achieved during their freshmen year, your scholars should focus on achieving a B or better in their core classes which should include Science, English, Math, Social Studies, and two electives. Each year your scholar needs to complete at least 25 community service hours. Non-profit organizations love to take on volunteers. Some of my best work opportunities came through volunteering. 

Your scholar’s sophomore year serves as an arch to the junior year where everything becomes extremely important as your scholar gets closer to college. In addition to collecting an additional twenty-five community service hours during this year, your scholar needs to start taking the PSAT. The Preliminary SAT is a great way to prepare for the SAT but according to Best Colleges it is also a great way to open doors to additional scholarships. With a great score on the PSAT, your sophomore can qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program. This program allows students to become eligible for scholarships across the country and students can be invited to join honors programs at their perspective colleges once admitted.  The target score for a sophomore should be around 1060 which would land your scholar in the 75th percentile. If your scholar does not achieve the score they are looking for, use the PSAT as a way to focus on trouble areas and get the assistance of a tutor if needed. There are two major scores that your scholar should focus on when taking the PSAT: evidence-based reading and writing and math. Scholars should look for a score of 450 in evidence-based reading and writing and 490 in math. Remember, your scholar should focus on taking the PSAT 10 which is solely designed for sophomores. Lastly, in the spring of your scholar’s sophomore year you need to start to schedule some college visits for them. Some of the visits do not need to be in person but can be done virtually through You Visit. Try to reach out to colleges that you are interested in and find out when is the best time to visit in person. Some colleges will allow your scholar to sit in some college classes to get a feel of what to expect if they chose to attend. 

During your scholar’s junior year, we begin to set the pillars of success. First, scholars should start making a list of colleges that they are interested in applying to. The list should comprise of dream schools and go-to schools. Dream schools are schools where your scholars knows that they will have to work a little harder to achieve admittance whereas your go-to school are schools where your scholar knows that they will more than likely be admitted. Begin interviewing your scholar to make sure they are selecting a college for the right reasons. For example when my son and I talked about college during his junior year I asked him a series of questions like: What do you want to major in? What do you want to do for a career? How far away do you want to live from home? Would you like to attend a large school or a smaller school? How important is it for you to have access to your professors? . These questions helped my son guide his decision in selecting a college and the assistance I was able to offer him. Also, if possible, it is important to have your scholar take the PSAT one more time in January and the SAT in April or May. By the end of your scholar’s junior year, they should start collecting recommendation letters from teachers. Recommendation letters can also be collected from the places where your scholars has volunteered at during the past three years.  Lastly, your junior should start applying for scholarships now. Some companies and small organizations offer scholarships for high school students during their junior year. A great place to look for scholarships is Bold.org. Your scholar can set up an account on the website and fill out information about their interest and potential major. Bold.org will then direct scholarship opportunities directly to your scholar’s email address and give them deadlines when they should apply. Your scholar should think about over the summer wrapping up their community service requirements so it is one less thing for them to worry about heading into their senior year. Over the summer heading into your scholar’s senior year, they should begin applying to college. 

The senior year is about setting the keystone. Everything should be coming together for your scholar as they head toward college. Between the months of October through January, your scholar should take the SAT one more time to improve their scores if needed. Remember you want your scholar to have a score of at least 1000 on the SAT. Also, you and your scholar should have completed their FAFSA application to apply for additional loans and grants for paying for college. Remind your scholars that loans must be paid back but grants do not. Also, during your senior year, it is important to keep applying for scholarships. Your scholar needs to apply for a least 7 to 10 scholarships a week. If your scholar has set up their Bold.org account they should be receiving their weekly about scholarship opportunities. Lastly, take the time to talk to your college counselor about other scholarship opportunities. By February of your senior year, you should start to receive correspondence from college – hopefully tons of great acceptance letters. 

These four years can fly by in the blink of an eye but a solid blueprint can help you plan your work and work your plan. Remember to hit the yearly checkpoints and use your scholars’ PSAT scores as a guide to help with trouble areas. The pathway to college can be achieved, it just takes a bit of patience and using SMART goals to make the dream of college a reality.