Preparing For High School Education In Usa

Along with 'home schooling' there is an 'unschooling' movement running in parallel, based on the notion that traditional educational models have become ossified, especially at the undergraduate level. You can google for endless variations, including Peter Thiel's fellowship program to drop out of college for a couple of years.

 

Moderators, just a suggestion. Can this thread be moved to the category 'General Discussions - USA & Canada'? There is a thread on Middle School and having this one there, will create a good transition.

 

In mind of HS sports, I know students who participated in sports like golf, track and wrestling, that helped them get into prestigious colleges. Not that these are easier sports, but it's not the typical teams sports that size would be a disadvantage for some Indian kids.

My brother was involved in soccer since he was 5 and he's still playing (as an adult). While he wasn't selected for the school team (which was extremely exclusive at my school), he played Select Soccer (the lower level one, where they didn't have to travel to different cities each weekend). Since he was athletic enough to continue sports, he did track for his school. While his sports career never shot up, he was able to maintain his early habits, and is very good at time management and keeps his body is great shape.

Balancing sports in the schedule is tough, but if your child enjoys it, it's worth it. It is better than having only one focus and ending up in college, with waaay too much free time and too many temptations.

 

I realized that this thread has taken a life of it's own since the OP has started it. The original question was about how to prepare their 7th grader for HS and what to expect. My experience is a bit regional, since I grew up in Dallas, but I want to share some factors that students can complete during HS that will prepare them for the next chapter in their life.

1. Part-time Job - I posted about this in the MS thread, but it is even more important in HS. I think ALL children need experience in the workforce. They need to understand how to deal with an employer, how money works, and more importantly, they need to understand how to deal with people (not just people in AP classes). I worked in 2 places, Kumon and a retail store in the mall. Kumon was a great starter job, I got a salary, and had to man the front desk (I was excessively shy and this was so difficult then), and teach preschoolers (fun, but not for me career-wise). After that, I worked in retail, and it was a bit more challenging, because I had to be responsible and request my own vacations and deal with my customers (some weird and difficult). As an adult, all of these tasks seem easy, but as a HS, I never learned this in class, and it was so daunting. PT jobs, help students on their resume, for college. It really shows that a student knows more than just studying. My friend learned Bharatnatyam, and after her Arangetram started teaching - so she basically started her own business before she even got into College.

2. Leadership positions - College resumes require some type of leadership roles listed. This means, President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary, etc, in your favorite clubs (STUCO, HOSA, etc). While my grades were pretty superb, I was pulling straws to fill up this portion of my college application.

3. Volunteering - This is also very important for the HS resume. US students are expected to volunteer. If they put together a volunteer campaign- it's a two in one, they got leadership skills too. When I mean volunteering I mean: Temple, old age homes, homeless shelter, disability centers, red cross, hospitals, neighborhood initiatives.

4. Extracurricular - Colleges are less concerned about having so many DIFFERENT extracurricular, but rather they want to see that a student is passionate about something and stuck to it. Participating in Band, choir, drama, or debate (even art) is looked as a really big achievement, if they show commitment and they have competed in competitions. I played clarinet and then started performing Indian carnatic music with a group. Despite not continuing in Band, I utilized my skills in a cultural setting.

5. Career searching - The US is flexible about changing careers, but there are some careers that have to be started quite early in life. HS student shouldn't focus on studying for certain major, but rather what types of jobs seem interesting to them. For example, if someone wants to work for the airport in the control tower, you have to major in Math or something similar. Someone who was in engineering might be learning too many concepts that might not apply. I've seen many Pre-Meds, choose NOT to take biology or life sciences as their major, and instead majored in business. This prepares them to have their own clinic, if they want to. Or they just chose to follow a more lucrative position... My dancer friend is studying life sciences, but is planning to build her bharatnatyam business. Her brother learned Tabla and performed for weddings and kacharis (and taught), so he could have chosen to continue that way. Instead, he is an ER doctor.

That's all I remember right now, but I'll add more as I think about it

 

Very good @BhumiBabe
Coming first hand, your posts are very valuable.

 

Thank you so much @Rihana. You really are a true champion here.
It is nice that all school-related threads are together and will be helpful to many parents.