Featured Advisor - College Planning Advice from Robin

This week, our featured Advisor, Robin talks about her son's interest in engineering and his path to Olin, a unique engineering college focused on hands on learning and entrepreneurship.

 

Versed: When did you start thinking about college for your son?

Robin: When my son was in 8th grade, he started to think about wanting to be placed in honors classes in High School. This gave him an immediate incentive to be cooperative and hard-working in 8th grade. We started having talks about college at that time to create an understanding of the bigger picture of his current actions on his future.

When my son wanted to go to boarding school for high school, I really had to start thinking hard about my priorities for his education, and my financial picture to know what I could handle. I had to decide if spending the ‘college savings’ for high school was aligned with my values and my current situation.

Versed: What did the educational/extracurricular journey look like for your son in grade school?

Robin: My son did public school K-5th, then local independent (private) school for 5th-7th with a grade-skip. Eighth and 9th were back to public school. He then wanted to decelerate and join his age mates, so boarding school gave him a good opportunity to do that. He spent grades 9-12 at boarding school, followed by a gap year, and then college. It was a very challenging time for me as a parent. I had to dig deep inside knowing that I was making decisions for my son that were really unusual for my friends and family. My Dad, for example, had an hour long phone conversation with me, telling me all his fears about boarding school,  I just kept saying, “I love that you care enough to give your advice, and you may be right about that, but we’re going to give it a try” over and over again.  In the end my Dad was so impressed by the remarkable growth in maturity he saw in my son that he thought it was a terrific choice.

Versed: How did you determine what was interesting to your son?

Robin: I saw myself as an opportunity maker for my son. We tried sports, Chess Club and French Club. His Dad and I shared our love of music, art, literature, and drama with him as much as possible. His extended family did the same. Of the things we found worthwhile that we exposed him to, he would let us know what he was interested in or if we were barking up the wrong tree.The most important part of that process was our foundational belief that we are all interested in something, and developing those interests is part of what it means to be one’s best self.

When my son was around age 8, he started participating in programs set up for kids to explore their interests, such as Splash and CTY summer camp, and I was always sure to use that as a chance to let my son choose topics that interested him. We had a lot of great discussions that springboarded off those brochure descriptions.  

My son grew up asking a lot of questions. He and I would regularly discuss the books that we each were reading. He wanted me to give him the TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) version of the audiobooks such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers or whatever else I was listening to on my way to work. I figured out what interested him by asking him what the kids in his books were doing. I also  took note if he had follow-up questions about the books I was listening to.

Versed: Your son attends Olin right now. How did he know that this was the right school for him?  What process led him to apply to this school, and ultimately to enroll?

Robin: My son discovered his interest in engineering in the 9th grade when his science teacher persuaded him to consider engineering, which he defined as “solving human problems with math and science.” Once I had an idea of my son’s grades and test scores, I preselected about 40 ‘good value’ schools for which I would be willing to pay tuition. The idea was that he could go ‘anywhere he wanted to, but if he wanted his parents to pay for it he had to stick to the list.  I  categorized them into 3 levels of  competitiveness. I cut up description pages from a college guide book and put them in a loose-leaf notebook inside page protectors. During a vacation when my son was home from boarding school, I presented the book to him and asked him to pick 3-5 from each category to build his list. 

I put Olin on the list of schools to pick from because it offers a great engineering program which would give him a solid foundation for many different careers and for life. As an adult in the working world, I had observed that engineers have a deep belief that ‘reality exists.’ I found that to be delightful, and terrific preparation for life no matter what career path he chose.  In addition, Olin is small and the staff takes an active interest in the intellectual and character development of its students. I love that its philosophy is to learn by doing. This is particularly important for certain ‘strong-minded’ kids like my son, who have to find out things the hard way.

I respected the way that my son didn’t get emotionally involved with having a favorite school until he got his acceptance letters. Among the schools that accepted him, Olin was the most selective, with the best reputation. My son only applied to schools where he had the feeling that he would be able to fit in and be happy socially. Throughout the whole process, we tried not to get caught in the trap of  ‘most selective = best’, or the school identity defines your worth. To do this, we often referred to the wise words of his aunt, “You can get a great education anywhere, but it’s up to you to meet your professors and develop your network.”

Versed: What things did your son do in high school to support his interests in engineering?

Robin: My son participated in his high school science fair, and did a summer program in research at CTY (JHU Center for Talented Youth). He also took as many AP math and science classes as he could convince his teachers to offer. 

Versed: What extracurricular activities did your son spend the most time on, and what has helped him most in discovering and pursuing those interests?

He was interested in: acting; reading; playing basketball for his high school team; editing for the school newspaper; music - learning trombone and bass guitar, drums (self-taught), acoustic and electric guitar. Boarding school served as the perfect place for him to participate in sports and clubs because they were all conveniently located within walking distance, and because video games were forbidden. He didn’t really use his extracurricular activities to pursue intellectual excellence, but more to discover himself and to learn how to be an excellent team member.  His experience with the basketball team showed him that, if he worked hard enough, he could accomplish a lot more than he had expected.

Versed: What resources were most helpful to your children when they were going through the college application process? 

Robin: He did individualized test prep and took the SATs multiple times, which was very helpful. But the crown jewel was his writing tutor who helped him develop as a writer, and as a person. He learned how to examine himself openly and share vulnerability. 

Versed: Can you share with us one of your takeaways from this whole experience?

Robin: The college application process required a lot of energy, and there were plenty of times when each of us were  pushed out of our comfort zone, but it was also meaningful and fun for my son and I. It was a great lesson in how to make a wise decision based on personal values in a context where one really can’t know what the outcome will be. What a great opportunity to do the best one can, and leave the rest to fate!  About 6 months after all the acceptances came back, my son told me at dinner: “I have to appreciate the support you and dad gave me during this process. Some of my friend’s parent just wanted them to go to their alma maters and pushed way too much. Some of my friend’s parents weren’t involved at all, and the kids ended up at much less competitive schools than I think they belonged at. But you gave me vital support while allowing me to search for the school that was right for me.”

See Robin's Profile here.

 

If you are interested in speaking with Robin, or one of our other Advisors, you can start with a free introductory consultation here.

 

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