Marti L. Forchion - A+ College Prep Planner: The Ultimate College Admissions Planning Guide for High-School Students (and Their Parents)

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Copyright 2013 by Marti L. Forchion

ISBN 978-0-7414-8251-8 Paperback
ISBN 978-0-7414-8252-5 eBook

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My purpose for creating the A+ College Prep Planner is to help students and parents plan for and prepare for the college application process by removing a lot of the mystery and laying out the major steps in an easy to follow format. As a high school student, although I always knew that Id go to college, I was led through the application process without much knowledge about what was really happening. I did not do much research or planning, but thanks to high grades and test scores and my family, my teachers, and my guidance counselor, I was able to secure a 4-year scholarship to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science.

Today, college preparation resources are available everywhere, yet I still find that parents and students are having a hard time getting organized because they have to jump from resource to resource and they have trouble keeping up with everything. As the parent of 3 college students, I had similar problems when it was time for my children to apply to college. Whether you use college prep websites via the internet as your primary resource, or the high school guidance office and staff, I have found that nothing can replace an organized written plan (which can be referenced at any time of the day or night), check-off sheets, and a good set of folders to store documents in. As my third child prepared to enter high school, I decided that it was time to prepare a college prep planner that could relieve a lot of the anxiety surrounding the application process. I hope that you find the planner to be a helpful resource during your quest for higher education.

Marti L. Forchion

I would like to thank my husband, Mark Chapman, III, for encouraging me to write this book and for supporting me during the time that it took to complete it. I would also like to thank my mother, Denise M. Wilson-El, for planting the seed when I was a small child. Thanks to her consistent guidance and support, I had the confidence and perseverance to go to college and earn a degree! Thanks to my 3 wonderful children, Mark IV, Chandler, and Malcolm for being such hard working students - you are truly my inspiration. Thank you to Kim Holloway and Raquel Young for helping me with early editing and being supporters during those mundane days at work.

Dedicated to Marcus, Chandler, and Malcolm

The quest for higher education is one that many parents and students spend thousands of hours thinking about and planning for. For many families, the planning begins long before the baby is born! Once it has been decided whether both parents will work outside of the home or one will stay at home with the baby, the next step begins. Some begin searching for the perfect specialized day care center while others work to create an ideal home to grow a happy, healthy, and smart baby with mom (or dad) as the day care provider. Some play music to the baby in vitro, while others read the works of classic authors aloud. Once the newborn arrives, the anxious parents spend even more hours debating which school little Johnnie or little Jackie will attend for pre-school and grade school. Should they choose a public school or private school? What about class size? The debates go on and on!

By the time a college-bound teen has reached the first year of High School, the parents have spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in the pursuit of the perfect education for their child. If all goes well, that (now teenaged) child will struggle through a minimum of 4 years of high school, attending challenging classes so that he will be competitive when its time to apply to college. Whatever the outcome, as the old saying goes, If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Planning a childs path to higher education can be very tricky to say the least! The college planning process has its own schedule and set of rules which must be followed carefully. With the A+ College Prep PlannerThe Ultimate College Admissions Planning Guide for High School Students, you have everything clearly within your sights years before you need it. If you follow the course, your student will be well prepared to apply for a spot in the freshman college class.

If you are reading this book, you are probably interested in what it takes to prepare for entrance into college. Although hundreds of other resources may be available, the A+ College Prep Planner puts everything you need in one place and gives you advice on how to map out a strong path to the college of your choice. You dont have to be a college graduate to understand this process, and if you arent computer-literate, you dont have to use a website or computer at all. The only assumptions are:

You want to learn the process of how to prepare for college admission

You are willing to follow basic instructions in the planner

You are willing to make contact with the students school

The A+ College Prep Planner tells you what a student needs to do to prepare for a college education and when it needs to be done. The steps described in the Planner can be applied early if you are eager to get started - and it never hurts to be prepared. As the parent of a college-bound student, the Planner gives you a broad overview of the steps required for your student to plot his/her course to prepare for and apply to college. As a student, the Planner helps you to take an active role in your educational development and future plans to attend college. You will be able to set your goals for each year of high school, identify the strengths and weaknesses in your education plan, and alter your course if you find that its missing a few steps. The purpose of the Planner is to assist parents and students when planning for college when high school beginsnot at the last minute when its too late to make changes. The better your plan is organized, the more likely you will have a successful result.

The A+ College Prep Planner was designed to make college planning easier for parents and students. As a college graduate myself, I dont remember much about planning for my own time in college, but looking back, I realize that I might have changed a few things if I had more information ahead of time. If you need to know the steps required to plan for a college career, and you want to be given easy-to-follow steps, helpful hints, and instructions on some of the details that are often forgotten, you should find this book to be helpful. In addition to using the Planner, I would encourage you to use other resources to help you during the process. There is no one method when planning, but the A+ College Prep Planner is an all in one package thats easy to use, easy to find, and easy to carry around.