How to Help Your Child Stand Out on an Early College High School Application

Parents often struggle with the financial burden of sending a child to college. In my school system, and many others across the United States, early college high schools provide students resources to earn a college degree or transferable college credits at no charge. The application process often includes a general application and essay. In this county, more than 1,000 students applied for less than 100 spots. Here's how out child stood out as a shining star.

Participate in extra-curricular sports and activities. The early college high school my daughter is attending does not have a sports team so she wanted to forgo joining her middle school team in lieu of more time to study. I discussed with her the importance of team building skills learned best when participating in team sports, but she was not persuaded. I decided to approach the idea from a different angle - volunteering with a local traveling basketball team. My middle daughter plays on the travel basketball team so volunteering was a simple solution to the sports / team-building skill set. She manages the team by tending to uniforms and preparing snacks for the team members during tournaments. She practices with the team from time to time and talks with the coordinators and coaches about improving the team experience.

Volunteer time in the community. As part of her middle school Kiwanis Club, my daughter volunteers in the community for fundraisers and beautification projects. When school is out, she will no longer have planned community service, but that does not mean her obligation to the community is complete. As a student in an early college high school, she is required to volunteer in the community three Fridays a month. The school is closed on these days to give students free time to volunteer. Instead of waiting for the school year to begin, my daughter started researching local community service options well in advance with the local hospital, women's shelter and pet shelter on the top of the list.

Set high standards for grades and attendance and accept nothing less. Grades are not the sole deciding factor when students are chosen for an early college high school, but earning straight As helps, a lot. My expectations are simple - work hard and earn the highest possible grade you can. As and Bs are acceptable, but Cs and below are not. In order to achieve high grades, my daughter misses very little school, less than five days per school year. She eats healthy, exercises and drinks lots of green tea to improve her natural immunity. Missing school due to sickness is simply not in her life plan.

Stress the importance of a unique creative voice. Any student can research a topic on the Internet and write a paper on the topic in a few hours. A creative voice demands more than that. The ideal creative voice employs fact and feeling, combined into one coherent piece that captures the attention of the reader in the first few sentences and keeps that attention throughout. My daughter completed the creative writing portion of the early college high school application with this creative voice in mind.

When the acceptance letter arrived for the early college high school, my daughter claimed it was the best day of her life. No one part of the application or selection process is more important than another. The early college high school acceptance committee looks for a well-rounded, exemplary student that stands out, like my daughter.