‘Today’ readers get college admission advice

Dear Elizabeth: My son is group commander for our JROTC program. He’s in the top 25 percent of the class and has an SAT score of 1030, but that doesn’t seem to be enough these days. His goal is to attend Texas A&M, become a member of ROTC and then have a career in the Air Force. What can he do to boost his chances for getting accepted? He will need a scholarship in order to attend college. — Patty in Texas

Dear Patty: Your son should maintain his goals and continue to work towards them by raising his SAT scores. You’re right that a combined SAT score under 1100 (math and verbal) isn’t “enough.” The key to obtaining higher SAT scores is practice — lots of practice. Your son should plan to devote at least two hours a day to practice tests, memorizing vocabulary words, and mastering the material. Just like the military, test preparation is a discipline. He should purchase review books for practice, SAT training software, and a book of SAT words. (I spent three hours — in one single sitting — studying the entire Barron’s “Picture These SAT Words” with a student and her score jumped 100 points.)

As a parent, you can help your son study. Keep him company when he practices. (You could do your own work beside him.) Or take practice tests along with him, and compare your answers. Reward him at the end of a full week of study (10 hours of weekday study). Think of this as a team effort — just like ROTC  —  to get him that scholarship. Let him know that you believe he can do it. And he will.

Dear Elizabeth: My child is seven years old. We have funded a 529 fund for him, but I’m wondering if I should wait to tell him he’s got college money until near the end of high school. We don’t want him to slack off, knowing that he doesn’t have to earn a scholarship. We want him to be competitive and earn excellent grades — we’ve already told him that if he earns a full scholarship we’ll buy him a car. We can’t afford a top college and we want him to set high goals for himself. Are we doing the right thing? — Kim in Florida

NBC VIDEO How to get into top schools Aug. 15: The "Today" show's Ann Curry talks with Rachel Korn, a former admissions officer and author of "How to Survive Getting  into College." Today Show Books

Dear Kim: It’s wonderful to plan ahead academically for even the youngest of children. But I’m not in favor of discussing one’s income with a seven-year-old. Nor am I in favor of using a material incentive like the promise of a car to get your child to study, as if learning is an unpleasant task that requires bribery. That teaches the wrong lesson. Besides, that’s not the way the top achievers are motivated to work hard. Instead, you should focus on teaching your son to love learning — and that learning is fun. You want to inspire your child. Expose him to interesting books; discuss interesting ideas with him; do difficult puzzles and problems with him; take him on fieldtrips (movies, architectural sites, artistic endeavors, and geological wonders), and show him what intelligent people are able to achieve in a world that awaits his exploration. Your lives as parents will be much easier if you have a self-motivated child whom you don’t need to spend the next 10 years bribing and badgering to work hard.

Dear Elizabeth: My daughter is a highly motivated student who wants to go to a good school. She has high aspirations, is well rounded, is outgoing, a cheerleader, a varsity tennis player, a member of student government, and treasurer of National Honor Society. She has good grades (3.9) adjusted GPA, but mediocre test scores — ACT 25 and SAT 900. We have about $60,000 saved so far for her education, so I’d like to keep total costs to less than 25,000 a year. We won’t qualify for any financial aid other than loans. What should we do? — Richard in Maryland

Dear Richard: First of all, she needs to bring those SAT scores up, if she wants to have a good selection of colleges. Her grades don’t match her standardized test scores, suggesting that she is capable of earning higher scores, if she studies seriously. (Also her ACT is stronger than her SAT, so a college that takes ACTs instead of SATs might also be a better option.) As a parent, you can help her set up a structured study schedule to improve the SATs. I recommend two hours a day of study and practice tests until those scores start coming up. Take practice tests alongside her. Help her memorize words for the verbal portion. Provide snacks and encouragement. She also could apply to some of the colleges that claim not to care about test scores. See the list at www.fairtest.org. On the list, check out the University of Maine system in particular — you’ll like the prices, the student body size and mostly the academic and athletic opportunities. The Kent State system in Ohio also offers lots of options within budget, and her ACT score would put her in the running.

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