What should college-bound students be doing during this recession?

When students see news flashes about college grads working at McDonalds because they can’t get jobs, high school students may begin to rethink their own goals. Unemployment just hit an all-time high since the Great Depression. In this unpredictable economy, many high school students are wondering how their parents will finance their college education. Nobody knows when this recession will end, or if we’ve actually hit bottom yet.

Many California state colleges have reduced the number of students they can admit, and they’ve slashed the number of courses being offered. Community colleges are unsure whether they can afford to continue their winter and summer sessions.

Even though the future may seem bleak, college grads still earn over $200,000 more than those who didn’t finish college. This recession is not here forever. When we pull ourselves out of it and begin to prosper as a nation once again, it will be those students with college degrees that will be leading the way.

In this tight economy, private colleges are offering more full-ride scholarships to under-represented minorities and to families that make less than $60,000 per year. Which students benefit from this? Those who stand out from their peers.

What these admissions committees want are students who also excel outside of the high school setting, students who demonstrate true creativity, initiative, and leadership, students who show the potential to become the next Bill Gates or Hilary Clinton.

How can you convince colleges that you have this level of talent and potential? The best way to do it is with an independent project—unlike a class project that consists simply of posters and presentations or volunteering at a local soup kitchen, an independent project is an original undertaking outside the classroom that reflects the student’s vision, initiative, tenacity, and leadership.

What could this project be? Ideally the project should reflect a student’s current passions and future aspirations. Students can start businesses, organize non-profits, write publications, produce films, conduct experiments, advocate for change, publish their own books, or build innovative alternative energy models.

When students do projects, they become confident leaders. Their projects not only help them get into top-ranked colleges and receive scholarships, they also make a difference in their community. And, in this economic climate, it may be the students who help bring us out of this recession.

Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy is the college advisor at Merit Educational Consultants, LLC and author of Beat the College Admissions Game: Do a Project!. You can purchase this book at Meritworld and meet with her online or in person. Call (831) 462-5655 to get started now!

Press Release: Working Mother's Guide to Free Child Care

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release!

Working mother shares tips on how she set up free child care for her children in her home!

With an unpredictable economy and announcements about massive layoffs, those of us who are employed don’t want to rock the boat at work or at our children’s day care centers. According to the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (CCR&R) in 2005, child care costs between $3,000 and $9,000 for each child per year, which is approximately 9-40% of family incomes (depending on marital status and state).

Susan Tatsui-D’Arcy, author of The Working Mother’s Guide to FREE Child Care in Your Home!, successfully set up child care for her two daughter and it really didn’t cost one penny. Not only did her daughters receive amazing academic preparation, her caregiver also prepared dinner, folded laundry, and ran errands! She wrote this book to show other working parents how to eliminate their child care fees and turn their homes into ideal preschools.

By inviting just a few children to join yours, their tuition covers all of your expenses (teacher wages, materials). You can create your own curriculum based on your children’s interests or you can use Merit Academy’s curriculum (available at www.meritworld.com). Tatsui-D’Arcy’s daughters started kindergarten top of their classes and went on to Stanford University and Claremont McKenna College. She says the best part about the preschool program was having it focus on her daughters; she didn’t have to abide by a long list of rules and pick-up policies of the day care centers. When she arrived home each night, her daughters greeted her with happy smiles, dinner was sitting on the table, and laundry was folded and put away.

In this uncertain economy, every family could benefit from having their own child care program in their home. Parents can work away from home because the teacher organizes the classes and works with the children. By setting up day care hours to accommodate your schedule; parents reduce their stress as well as their child care bills.

To learn more, check out these links:
Tatsui-D’Arcy’s Story
The Working Mother's Guide to FREE Child Care in Your Home!
Testimonials
Preschool Curriculum

Contact Info:
Kyle Millerick
Ecommerce Director
webadvisor@meritworld.com
(831) 462-5655

Educators

We have enclosed information about our tutorial, college admissions, and college advisory programs to post for teachers and/or parents to see. We offer a unique tutorial program that helps students to become more organized and build academic skills so they become successful in the classroom. Each one of our students is placed with tutors (one-to-one) based on their academic needs and learning styles. The students are either tutored here at Merit (in Soquel) or at the student’s home.

Students who have completed projects in the past have positively impacted the community, while significantly increasing their chances of college admissions. Our students have captured the attention of local publications, and discovered innovative ways to market themselves to the colleges of their dreams. Merit’s College Advisory offers a personalized service to support students prepare for college admissions.

Some of the unique benefits that the students receive at Merit are learning time management and organizational skills, and how to study for exams. All tutorial sessions begin with the tutor reviewing the student’s planner. To remain organized we ask students to enter all classes, all assignment due dates, AND when they plan to complete school work in their planners. By helping the student to learn how to plan the various stages of their research for papers or projects, we hope to instill good study skills. Often times, the student’s primary problem is disorganization.

Our tutors specialize in specific areas in order to be able to help the student with difficult concepts, homework and test preparation. After our Diagnostic Initial Session with our Educational Consultant, an Individual Tutorial Program is designed to build a strong academic foundation and to help the student with homework and to prepare for tests. We work with the classroom teachers to make sure assignments are turned in on time and that long-term projects are carefully scheduled in the students’ planners. Our goal is to help get the students back on track as soon as possible.

High School Guidance Counselors

Are you planning to offer a college advisory seminar for college-bound students and their parents? It's an ideal way to answer all of their questions and organize the students' college application process in one setting. As the author of Beat the College Admissions Game: Do a Project!, I am available to speak about college admissions requirements and tips on how to get into selective colleges by doing a project. As you know, students who do projects stand out and their essays are more interesting than those who don't.

If you would like to learn more about our seminars and how we can help to educate your students and parents about the college admissions process, please call me at (831) 462-5655 or email me at info@meritworld.com. We can also email you a free ebook version of our book Beat the College Admissions Game: Do a Project!.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Get your child organized!

Get your children off to a new, organized start this year by using Merit’s Planner to help your children decide when they’ll complete their homework and chores, and learn how to monitor their progress.

When your children know that you are actively aware of their day-to-day responsibilities, they’ll be more prone to completing their tasks and being honest. Ask your children to enter in their planners, all classes, after-school activities, appointments, and other scheduled meetings. With all seven days displayed in equal columns and each day divided into 15-minute increments, the Merit Planner gives students the opportunity to plan when they’ll do homework, study for tests, and hang out with friends. Most kids are unrealistic about how long it will take to complete homework assignments or to study for tests. Typically, they underestimate by 50%. By asking your child to block off time in his planner to complete each assignment, he’ll begin to see how much overall time is needed to get everything done by the end of the night.

The biggest problem for most students is planning how to do a large project. Most kids wait until the eleventh hour and cram to finish it way past their bedtimes. Besides causing unnecessary stress for the entire family, your child isn’t learning how to produce quality work – he’s just throwing it together to get it done. By using the Merit Planner, students can plan ahead. Simply enter the project due date in the planner and work your way backwards. Assign short tasks to do each day and then show your child when he actually needs to get started in order to finish it on time. This gives the students the opportunity to schedule tasks for big projects around regular homework, practices, and social events.

After your children have entered in their Merit Planners scheduled activities and blocked off time to get work done, all they need to do is that day’s tasks. Because it’s all blocked off at the actual time they’re supposed to be doing it, you can help monitor their progress. As they complete each task, they will highlight it to indicate that the job is done. They’ll enjoy this wonderful feeling of highlighting tasks as they get things done throughout the day. Unlike a homework or chores list, the Merit Planner allows the students to designate time to do each task. That way if there is too much going on in one day, your child can cross off the task and move it to another day.

Have Family Meetings once a week to motivate your children to use and follow their planners. By reviewing their progress and making sure that they’ve completed homework, studied for exams, and finished chores, you can reward them with privileges. When they ask if they can play or go out with friends, simply ask to see their planners. If everything for that day is highlighted, then they’re free to go. If not, just tell them to ask again after they are done. To make sure that they don’t erase tasks to hide them from you, check their planners often so you are aware of what’s going on in their lives.

You’ll find that your children will become better students and more responsible when they use the Merit Planner. If you would like guidance in teaching your child how to use the planner, set up an appointment with Merit’s Advisors. You can purchase the Merit Planner at www.meritworld.com

Meritworld Educational Services

MERIT exists as education institution that focuses on the provision of educational advisory to the general public. We provide consultation to both parents and students in engaging and advancing the student's future, an individualized approach for personal interests.

MERIT ACADEMY

Within the MERIT family, we provide a comprehensive educational approach through the Merit Academy, an independent school. The Academy provides a carefully designed courseload that incorporates the core learning desires of the students and embraces the full spectrum of learning from Merit Academy's kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum. Our approach and educational philosophy extend from Merit's Story.

The Academy is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) (for grades 9th-12th).

EDUCATIONAL ADVISORY

In addition to the Academy, MERIT also offers comprehensive educational services that enhance skills and provide guidance for students who want a greater education. These services extend from study skills to private tutoring, college admissions through graduate school, and even home schooling curriculum and alternatives.