College Bound: Our Pre-Launch Bucket List

With the recent graduation of my oldest niece, I feel like I have been brought full steam ahead into college prep mode. My son will be a junior next year, and while we still have plenty of time for planning and decision making, I want to give him the opportunity to make the best decision possible.

Even though I'll be providing him with resources, I want him to take ownership of the path before him. Since we won't be paying his way, I also don't want to strap him with debt in trying to make his career dreams possible. In order to accomplish this, he will need time and strategic planning to make the dream a reality.

As we journey towards launching our first, I'll be sharing what we learn along the way. This will serve as  a landing page for all of our College Bound resources.

Colleges to Visit:

We've started with looking at different local universities. Since we live in the DFW metroplex, there are plenty of options to choose from! My son is interested in studying linguistics, but could also be open to getting his undergraduate degree in Latin. He's thinking that he'll probably need to continue his education and get a masters to follow through with what he's interested in doing.

With that being said, most of our selections are liberal arts colleges with a classics department. We are trying to make the most of our college visits. As we visit each school, I'll update you with our reaction to the school.

• University of Dallas
• Austin College in Sherman, TX
• Oklahoma University in Norman, OK
• Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, OK
• Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, AR
• Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, FL
• Houston Baptist University
• University of Texas in Arlington

Getting Funding:

One reason I want to start visiting early is that I want to give my son a vision for what he needs to be saving for to pay for college. When I say "pay for college," I'm talking about finding creative financing that accesses all of the free money possible before he starts thinking about taking out loans. There is no guarantee that the field he wants to go into will support paying off years of student loans. Therefore, I want to help him find success in financing his dreams.

Unfortunately, my blog isn't bringing in the big bucks to afford some of these incredibly high sticker prices on colleges. Since we've started our college search, we've learned that many private schools offer great scholarship packages. He's also working on getting his SAT score up so that he can get the most money they're offering. As we research more, I'll share our findings with you! I'd love to hear your creative ways to get college for free!

• SAT Prep
• Scholarship Search
• Federal Aid
• Working to Save For College

Getting Ready to Apply

College applications require preparation, organization, and time. We're working on getting some of the basics ready so that we can take it slow and steady. I'm not the kind of girl that likes to find myself in the eleventh hour scrambling around to find all of this information (or remember it!). Here's what's on my bucket list:

• High School Transcript
• Compile a Book List from our studies
• Volunteering opportunities
• Social Media and College Admissions
• Building a résumé

Leaving Home With Life Skills

I want my son to live on campus. It sounds a bit crazy knowing he could save a lot of money living locally, but I think it's important to get out of your comfort zone and learn to live with people outside of your family. Here's what we're working on at home:

• Laundry skills
• Cooking skills
• Cleaning skills
• Money Management
• Entrepreneurial Pursuits

Firm Foundation of Faith

Above all, before my son leaves, I want him to have the best foundation for his faith that my husband and I can give him. It won't be perfect, but we want to be intentional with him and finish strongly this leg of the race.

• Fostering His Faith Not Fear
• 10 books my son needs to read before he leaves home
• Shaken Bible Study by Tim Tebow
• Having a Quiet Time

As our kids get older and ready to leave the nest, it's easy to let them go too early. Of course, different children require different kinds of help in launching. I might accomplish much of this with my son, and my daughter that follows won't need my help in any of it because she's just a different personality. Either way, launching that arrow out of the quiver successfully requires my care and attention. I want to give him the best I have to offer and let God work through all of my flaws and inadequacies.