On Monday, January 23rd, the Korean Parents and Teachers Association (KTPA) of Cerritos High School, led by President Do Won Khym, held a seminar to inform parents about college admissions and communication skills between themselves and their children. Around 40 parents attended this event and many found the event to be meaningful.
The first part of the seminar was on college admissions to the Ivy League schools. A Harvard alumnus from Genius Consulting came to teach parents the essentials for getting their children into an Ivy League school.
The most basic and obvious requirement to get accepted into an Ivy League school, or any university for the matter, is a student’s SAT score; however, this is not necessarily the most important point. A student’s extracurricular activities and school involvement are key factors in getting accepted. It also gets students brownie points if they take part in summer programs offered at universities.
One of the most important elements is the letter of recommendation the student turns in and who the letter was written by. The most effective letter is one that is written by the student’s school counselor. Therefore, it is important for the student to have an active and close relationship with their counselors. Letters written by alumni from the school the student is applying to are also very effective.
Another important factor is the essay, which students are required to write when applying for a college. While grammar and writing skills are the basic requirements, the essay is meaningless if it is not moving, so the best essay is one that is about a student’s struggle to overcome their hardships. A perfect essay does not write itself, so students are advised to practice the essay several times.
Lastly, the most essential part of getting accepted is the interview. To perfect the interview process, students may want to practice with Ivy League alumni because they know what kind of interview the college administrations want. If a student does not know an alumnus, it is best to search them up and go find them because these alumni are always happy to help students with these issues.
Part two of the seminar was to teach parents how to have an effective conversation with their teenagers. Because of the generation gap between parents and their teens, there is also a difference in their cultures. To be able to talk to their teens, parents need to first learn to understand them and put their feelings first. Parents need to try to understand the situation and issue their kids are talking about through their kids’ points-of-view, not their own. Kids tend to prefer hanging out with their peers more because their friends accept them. Therefore, parents must also learn to accept their children. This is called empathy.
Another factor in successful communication is to properly convey one’s own feelings. They must first understand and accept what the other person is feeling. Then, they must tell the other person their own feelings in a way that it would not anger or be misunderstood by the other. These skills can be used for conversations not only with teens but with other people in everyday life.
Overall, this event was a success because so many parents attended and they all left with more knowledge they could put to use, whether it be about college or about communication. One parent who attended the seminar, Sharon Lim, praises the event, “Because of the different in out generations and cultures, there had always been a barrier between myself and my children. However, after listening to this seminar, I think I can finally break that barrier. I hope that President Khym and the KPTA can host more events like this one in the future.”
