29.1.08

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Ask a question or post a comment. You can do this anonymously or leave a name. I will try to help and your question may be featured in my OC Register Column, on page 2 of the Local Section on Wednesdays.

How To Prepare To Get Into IVY LEAGUE Colleges

How do we set our kids up to get into Ivy League schools? My child is in the seventh grade, but he is on the path to greatness. I just want to make sure we have him take the right classes and go to the right school. What do kids take to get into these schools? Do we need to do private high school? Our high school will be Mission Viejo High School.

Mission Viejo High School just sent students off to several Ivy League schools, including Harvard and Yale, not to mention Georgetown, UCLA, USC and many other quality schools across the nation. I do not think you are better off going to a private school when you have MVHS as your option.

Your question about what kids should take to get into an Ivy League school was an interesting one. I spoke with a high school counselor from Mission Viejo High School, Gerri Evans, to find out what students need to do these days to get into such schools. Here is what I learned about the children who got into Ivy League schools last year:

“Students who were accepted to the Ivy League schools last year had grade point averages that ranged from 4.92-5.12. They were involved in many extra curricular programs such as, athletics, Drama Model United Nations, Academic Decathlon and were full diploma International Baccalaureate students.

Many students took advantage of the summer programs at the Ivy League and other competitive colleges.

One student had completed 55 semesters of honors courses at MVHS.

Students had typically completed 5 years of a foreign language. One student had taken 2 foreign languages and had completed 4 years of German and 5 years of French by the end of this senor year.

One student had completed 29 “A+’s” during the 4 years at MVHS.”

Encourage your son to do his best and support his education. It sounds like Mission High School has more than enough to offer him. Set goals together. Capable children need to have desire and commitment to achieve something like this.

HIV/AIDS Prevention Education in Schools

I have to write a letter to the school to get them not to teach my son about HIV and AIDS. How did we get to this immoral place?

The California Ed Code requires all schools to teach HIV/AIDS prevention at least once in junior high and at least once in high school. Ed Code also recognizes that parents have the right to excuse their children from this instruction. This is not a question of immorality, it is a question of making sure our children have all of the information and education we can give them to avoid this epidemic.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) finds that half of the new HIV/AIDS cases each year are found in young people under the age of 25. California Ed Code demands HIV/AIDS education just as the CDC recommends.

If you choose to teach your children at home about the dangers and significance of HIV/AIDS, you are making a perfectly acceptable choice. Simply notify the school of your wishes, and they will abide by them.

Schools imparting this information to our youth are not acting immorally. They are acting responsibly.

Time to Prepare your FAFSA, Jan 2008 for high school seniors

It is almost time for High School seniors to fill out and turn in their FAFSA forms. Could you remind your readers how important it is that they turn this form in if they are hoping for any financial aid in college?

Over the holiday, many students and parents should sit down and figure out their tax information in order to prepare their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms. In order to receive any federal financial aid, as well as many types of state student aid, families need to have this form filled out and turned in starting January 1st. The sooner the better is my philosophy. Students also need to check with the financial aid offices of the colleges they are considering to check on additional deadlines and forms these schools may require.

When you fill out the form, you can list up to six colleges, including junior colleges and four-year universities if you are trying to decide between the two. Some families decide to have their child attend community college in the hopes of saving money for the first two years. Regardless of the path your child is taking next year, fill out the form. There is money for kids attending junior college as well as universities.

You will never find what you do not seek.

For more information on the FAFSA and to apply on-line in January, go to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov . Visit the California Student Aid Commission for information on Cal Grants and other student aid information and timelines at http://www.csac.ca.gov .