What Can I Do To Help?

Q: I am very close to my grandson, and now that he's a junior in high school, I want to help him with his college search, but I don't really know where to start. What should I do?

A: It can be a challenge for a loving grandparent or uncle or other extended family member to be truly involved in a young person's college search process; the "team" is usually really the student, their immediate family, and whoever they're working with in their school.

If I were an extended family member looking to be involved, I think I would first try to talk with the family about my desire to be involved, so that I could carve out some kind of helping niche for myself... grandma gets to take junior to college visits, grandma gets to proofread essays, grandma gets to research D II lacrosse programs, grandma gets to look for scholarships, grandma gets to pay for the student's books, etc. etc. Establishing some agreed-upon guidelines and then keeping the lines of communication open amongst all the interested parties are important components of a successful search process.