SOLUTIONS FOR COLLEGE FUNDING

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January2011 Newsletter

“The Best Goal-Setting Techniques

For Your College-Bound Student”

Dear Parent,

Happy New Year! It is essentially unavoidable that the first month of the year is a time when most people seek ways to improve and make changes in all sorts of aspects of life. For some, it is simply to lose a few pounds or implement some healthy lifestyle changes. For others, there may be work or educational improvements that come to mind. Others want to change some personal traits or habits that could be better. Still others try to ignore change altogether, and buck the trend of New Year Resolutions entirely!

Whether you and your high school student are interested in making “resolutions” for 2011 is really entirely up to you. However, there is one related element that ties into this concept that will be seen universally with successful college-bound students and their families, and it extends from academic and extracurricular performance through to financial preparation for college and university studies. This is the idea of proper and intelligent goal-setting.

There is no question about it. We see time and time again, year after year, that the most successful high school students, in terms of preparing for their college admission and career, and the most successful parents, in terms of managing the costs of higher education, are those who have a firm grasp on what they are trying to accomplish during the high school years. Students who don’t know what they want to achieve, and parents who blindly hope to be able to afford college for their child, almost always end up bitterly disappointed with their options. On the other hand, students who have something concrete to work toward, and parents who make informed plans for their future college and university expenditures, almost invariably end up with the best outcomes for admissions and funding.

Of course, when you’re young (and especially in high school), thinking about the future is not something that comes to mind very often. Living for today without a thought for tomorrow is something that is, unfortunately, the most common practice for many young people. Setting goals and thinking about the future is also something that may not usually come naturally to high school students, or to many adults for that matter. Thoughts for many people in this world of immediate gratification are usually centered around the here and now, and not planning for a bright future. However, the importance of looking aheadshould not be minimized. There is still plenty of time to enjoy oneself during high school, while still having an eye on the things that will come afterward.

And, of course, it is precisely during the high school years that students should be thinking about the future. It is hard to put anything into action when you don’t have a precise purpose you are working towards. This is one of the reasons that a goal is often compared to a finish line. It offers a destination, from which a young student can chart a course for any number of other exciting destinations, without wandering aimlessly in circles and never really accomplishing anything at all. With this in mind, here are some of the most important elements of goal-setting for students, and also for parents, with regard to your collective college future!

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Asking The Hard Questions… Learning How To Establish Goals

If your child has not shown a lot of interest in what the future holds, you might begin the process by simply asking him or her some very basic questions. For example:

·What do you see yourself doing after high school?

·What kinds of activities do you find are the most interesting to you and why?

·What kind of college do you want to go to?

·What do you think you might want to study in college?

These may seem like very simplistic questions to some parents, but it is surprising how many high school students have never seriously considered these topics! With high school age individuals, sometimes it may not be that the students are not goal-oriented, but rather they have never been asked exactly what excites them or what they might be interested in. High school students also need guidance about how the setting of goals requires specific actions and planning. This may be done with the assistance of guidance counselors at the school, but there is a lot of variance in how effective they may be. There is no substitute for having parents involved in this process.

As an example, parents can also remind their childrenof times when they may have set goals (perhaps even informally) in the past. For instance, your child may have planned to get a driver’s license, and taken the classes and examinations to make this a reality. Naturally, driving tends to be a goal for many high school students because it has a desirable outcome (freedom!), and the necessary steps to attain that goal are usually managed without delay. This can make it an excellent example of shorter-term goal setting for many students to learn from.

Deciding To Decide

Many high school age students may not realize that setting goals and working towards them is something that you decide to do, and in order to be effective, you they must take steps now. Success is not something that will come upon them “someday,” because it takes active participation, a little bit each day, and some purposeful planning.

Learning how to effectively set a goal and accomplish it is life skill that will reap rewards throughout your child’s life. There are four steps to efficient goal-setting. A good outline to follow includes:

1.Identifying the desired goal.

2.Creating a plan that will work towards attaining the goal.

3.Putting the steps into action.

4.Looking at the plan toassess whether it is successful or not.

Remember the old adage that “a goal not written down is just a wish.” Work with your student to identify the things that he or she wants to accomplish during high school, write them down, place them in the forefront of attention, and support them in every way possible!

Starting Small And Moving Forward

If a child is not used to setting goals, (and, by the same token, if parents are not used to setting goals!) it is advisable to begin with some smaller goals, and to seek knowledgeable support. Smaller goals can be something that can be accomplished within a week’s time, for example. This is short enough for your child to envision a starting and ending point, and results can be measured quickly. Seeking knowledgeable support is important for anyone who needs more information about their desired result. Students may contact someone who is attending a university that interests them, or someone who works in a field that is of interest to him or her to find out more about how they accomplished their goals. Parents may seek information from professionals who are trained in college funding to learn more about how to make the most of the high school years and prepare for the expenses of higher education.

If there is still some uncertainty, you can make suggestions regarding somethingimmediate. For high school students, there are usually upcoming examinations to prepare for, and this can offer an example for goal setting and accomplishment. You could ask if your child is interested in improving the score on a test that might be within the 7-day range of goal-setting. Then, ask your child how s/he intends to achieve that goal. Also ask what steps will need to be taken each day in order to make continual progress towards that goal. You can even break it down further and ask what might be done in the next few hours that would move your child closer to reaching this desired goal. Parents can look for something immediate, as well, finding resources for information to get started on their college funding efforts.

Remembering That Consistency Is The Key

It has been said that in order for something to become a habit, it must be repeated over and over again – some people say for a specific period of time, others insist it is a number of repetitions. Frankly, we don’t care which it is! The bottom line is that when your child is setting educational goals, the most important thing is staying focused on the tasks – this means that they are broken down into smaller parts, and worked on consistently. Not 24 hours per day, but consistently, each day, a bit at a time.

If your child’s goal is to get into a top-tier college or university, then there are many short term goals that must be worked on with regularity in order to make this a reality. Your child will need to:

·Make sure s/he is taking the required classes in order to be an eligible applicant

·Talk to the high school counselor for advice on admittance into a top school

·Take (and perform well in) challenging classes

·Plan financially (scholarships, targeted savings, etc.) for college

Whatever your child writes down as his or her goals, it is vital to review the individual tasks, day-to-day, that will make them a reality. Once a student learns and implements this, the sky is the limit!

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It is sometimes refreshing that a new year comes at the mid-point of an academic year, because it offers students and parents an opportunity to consider how well they are actually preparing for college, and make necessary adjustments as the year begins – both academically for the student, and financially for the parents. The same principles apply for the accomplishment of financial goals as they are related to paying for college, and we are here to help you along the way. As you enter 2011, please consider taking a peek at our no-obligation, informativefree report that covers details about effectively managing the rising costs of today’s universities and colleges. This is a terrific and easy-to-read resource, and we have created it especially for the parents of college-bound students and their families. The information found in these pages can be an excellent starting point for almost any family trying to find the right ways to pay for a college education – or two, or even more. For your free report, please e-mail us at:

When the time comes for more detailed and specific information, there is really no substitute for our popular College Funding Workshop. This free workshop offers parents an opportunity to learn far more, far quicker than they can through most written resources, and it is available at no cost. If you are interested in making the College Funding Workshop part of your New Year plans to create the most successful 2011 possible, please check the dates and locations of our upcoming workshops at Due to the in-depth nature of the workshop, seating it is limited.

Heading into the New Year is really a perfect time to attend the College Funding Workshop, because it offers parents some of the most pertinent information for making this year one that can be optimized as far as college funding is concerned, and the long-term effects of this knowledge cannot be overstated.

Happy New Year!

Ray Murphy, College Funding Coach

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