Guest Post by Julie Wolf, freelancer writer and parent

In late August, my daughter started her first year at a large urban university not far from home, and, since then, I’ve heard from her a handful of times. A couple of weeks ago, though—Thursday, September 12, 2019, not that I’m keeping track—she actually texted! But she didn’t text to say “I love you.” She wanted information. She had walked to CVS with some friends (new friends! Yay! She’s making friends!) so that they could get flu shots, and while she’d brought her insurance card, she wanted the first five digits of her Social Security Number. (She knew the last four.) “Just in case they need more information.”

This is part four of an ongoing series we’ve launched on the Insider blog on “Kids and Money.” As you prepare to send your child off to college, you should also be thinking about how to foster in them the skills necessary to build financial independence. In this series, we’re discussing how students can earn, spend, save, borrow, and protect their money in a way that aligns with personal and family values. Type “Kids and Money” into our Search Box to find all installments of the series.

Ever feel like you are becoming a mobile cash machine for your children? Until now in our Kids and Money series, I’ve been talking about helping your kids dream and set SMAAHT financial goals; well, now it’s your turn to dream of what life could look like by helping your kids manage their own money (and leave yours alone!).

A College Counselor’s (& Parent’s) Perspective on Exploration vs. Specialization

Back in May, I shared this article with my colleagues, along with my own quick response: “Fun article valuing exploration rather than early specialization. References data that pre-meds and similarly focused students earn more out of the gate, but the explorers outpace them long term.” The author is a new parent, like myself, and his parenting values aligned with my own: nurture your kid’s curiosity, encourage them to explore and play and try new things, and don’t get wrapped up in any particular talent or accomplishment. It’s a good read, a reassuring read, for parents who aren’t raising a Perfect Golden Child. (And for all regular people, really.)

This is part three of an ongoing series we’ve launched on the Insider blog on “Kids and Money.” As you prepare to send your child off to college, you should also be thinking about how to foster in them the skills necessary to build financial independence. In this series, we’re discussing how students can earn, spend, save, borrow, and protect their money in a way that aligns with personal and family values. Type “Kids and Money” into our Search Box to find all installments of the series.

As summer jobs come to an end and the new school year quickly approaches, now is the perfect time to be planning with your kids on how to divvy up any leftover summer job earnings.

This is part two of an ongoing series we’ve launched on the Insider blog on “Kids and Money.” As you prepare to send your child off to college, you should also be thinking about how to foster in them the skills necessary to build financial independence. In this series, we’re discussing how students can earn, spend, save, borrow, and protect their money in a way that aligns with personal and family values. Type “Kids and Money” into our Search Box to find all installments of the series.

This is part one of an ongoing series we’re launching on the Insider blog on “Kids and Money.” As you prepare to send your child off to college, you should also be thinking about how to foster in them the skills necessary to build financial independence. In this series, we’re going to discuss how students can earn, spend, save, borrow, and protect their money in a way that aligns with personal and family values. Type “Kids and Money” into our Search Box to find all installments of the series.

Whether your child is old enough for a “traditional” summer job or not, there are definitely ways that kids of all age—teens, tweens, and younger kids—can make money during the summer, put their time to good use, and start saving.

As we make our way through the admission decision season, there is so much happy news to celebrate. Dreams are fulfilled, goals are achieved, all the hard work has finally paid off! But with this happy news there may also come some tough conversations about costs, debt, and compromise.

Many College Coach admissions advisors are also parents who have made it through the college selection process with their own teens. How did they survive? Through open communication and transparency with their children, not just in senior year, but early on. We hope their advice and insight is helpful to you, whether you’re currently debating financial aid offers for the fall, or just beginning the college conversation with your younger children.

Guest Post By Matt Symonds, Fortuna Admissions

A college friend once confided that her dad – at his emphatic insistence – wrote all of her undergrad admission essays. Given that she was a physics major with near-perfect grades at a top 10 undergrad institution, this parental intervention struck me as irrational (not to mention unethical).  Given the news we’ve all heard this week about parental overstepping to a criminal extent, I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked by my friend’s confession.

From rescuing to over-praising, we’ve been warned of the perils of helicopter parenting and its implications for children. Yet when a child expresses their intent to apply to a top business school, there’s plenty you can do to help without overstepping your bounds.

Last week, I was sitting in a movie theater watching Personal Statement, a documentary film about a group of students attending resource-challenged schools in Brooklyn—schools where each counselor was responsible for guiding over 600 students through the college admissions process. Top students in each school were called forth, not only to navigate their own college applications, but to provide guidance for other students who needed the help. Think about it: first-generation college students, students who had absolutely no familiarity with the world of admissions, were called upon to explain the process to their peers. There are students in our society who are not only pulling themselves up from their bootstraps, they’re manufacturing their own boots, too—boots for themselves and boots for their peers.

• Are you engaged in daily struggles with your tween or teen about their use of screens?
• Do you feel out of control when it comes to the online content your middle schooler is consuming?
• Are you conflicted about other people’s screen rules when your child is on playdates?