Academics

"Which colleges should I apply to, Mom?" That is a question which is going to be very much on your child's mind as she begins her junior year. Of course, you have been worrying about which college she should go to almost since she was a toddler. But now this important question is very much on her radar. Fortunately for both of you this is another instance where sending your child to private school will give her an advantage over most public high schools. Why? Because college counseling is not a function and job responsibility which private schools take lightly. Nor are private schools likely to cut staff in this area. Remember when you were choosing a private school for your child? You reviewed the colleges where various schools' graduates had been accepted and/or were attending. You remember thinking that the colleges listed for the graduates of the school where you decided to send your child were pretty much the kind of tertiary level institutions you had in mind for her anyway.

This short video illustrates the private school counseling experience from a student's perspective.

There are several advantages a private school can offer over most public schools. For example, small class sizes and individual attention are givens. Sports programs and extracurricular activities also make the list. But what about college advising? In the first place getting a solid college preparation is probably one

Most parents expect to see a progress report with grades on it. The standard letter grades tell where your child stands at a glance, or at least, that's what we have been led to believe. More important than the grades are your child's teacher's comments and the discussions you have concerning your child's progress. This is particularly important in the primary grades when learning difficulties surface. For example, our youngest daughter began struggling with math in 4th grade. We monitored her progress closely and did our best to help. Finally, it was obvious to us that some tutoring would be helpful. We arranged several months of math tutoring, which developed our daughter's confidence in understanding math concepts. Put another way, a grade is simply an indicator. Always look beneath the surface to determine what the real issue is.

Standardized grades. Common grading schemes.

Most schools use letter grades these days. But not every school uses the same letter grade scheme. This can cause problems when sending your child's transcripts to college admissions offices. For example, the A at one school may not be equivalent to the A at another school.

The most common grade scheme is the following:

A+ 97-100
A 93-96
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F

Students sitting in rows of desks listening to a teacher lecture? You are not likely to find this scenario in a school which uses Harkness Tables. The brainchild of wealthy industrialist Edward Harkness, an Exeter alumnus, Harkness Tables are oval tables which seat 12-18 students together with their teacher. You cannot hide in the back of the classroom which uses Harkness Tables. That's the point. Engaged students learn.

In ancient times teaching was collaborative - think Socrates and Quintilian - but somewhere in our Victorian-Edwardian past we got off the rails and began lining children up in regimented rows of chairs and desks. Maria Montessori and Rudolph Steiner rebelled against this sort of regimentation. Their classrooms became what we would now call activity centers.

High school lab courses such as chemistry and physics have always been interactive and hands on. Discussion of findings and research are encouraged in that collaborative environment. Every member of the class has an opinion and a finding. That is the idea behind the Harkness Table. Every member of the class is encouraged to be an active participant. Because eye contact is a critical element of this style of learning, the Harkness Table's oval shape is ideal. It allows everybody around the table to see and be seen. Students and teacher interact. The teacher facilitates without dominating the lesson. He guides and steers the

1. See how people in other countries live.

While it's certainly true that our world has shrunk in so many ways and that we have many things in common, you will find Europeans, Asians and even Canadians do things differently. Seeing how people go about their everyday lives is one of the lasting impressions you will receive from your travels outside the U.S.A.

2. Enjoy yourself.

You have worked hard throughout your high school years. You got accepted by your first-choice college. Spending a month exploring England or Germany or another country will be an exciting break from all that heavy-duty academic work.

3. Reinvent Yourself.

Being away from home can be a bitter-sweet experience. In this case, spending a summer abroad will be mostly sweet. Thanks to WhatsApp and Viber, you are never out of touch with your family back home. That's reassuring for both you and them. Having time to think about things on your own helps clarify your thinking. That will help you plan the year ahead. That first year in college will offer plenty of new challenges.

Several private schools offer a whole academic year abroad. Still others offer a summer abroad. These are enrichment programs designed to expose students who participate in them to the culture and customs of the host country. Promoting global understanding is an underlying

Many students find that a PG or Post Graduate year is a wonderful solution to several situations. Perhaps they feel that they are a little young to go off to college. As Kim Chorosiewski points out, a PG year offers time to grow and develop without taking a year off. Maybe they want to perfect a sport or artistic activity. A PG year offers a well-focussed span of time in which to accomplish that perfecting. A PG year also offers a chance to remediate any small gaps you might have in your high school transcript. Or maybe you just want a year before you head off for five years of pre-med or bio-kinetic science. The PG year can suit a variety of purposes.

The PG Year is sometimes referred to as a Gap Year or a year off. Implicit in either description from my point of view is the fact that a PG Year is a structured program of study, not simply a year off where you sit around and do absolutely nothing. Over one hundred private day and boarding schools offer PG Years. It will be worthwhile to explore a couple of programs to see if they fit your requirements.

When you are in high school, there is obviously a big push to complete your academic studies with the best results possible in order to get into the college you want to attend after high school. A gap year gives you an extra year to