<p>I am another parent who didn’t find CC until my oldest child’s senior year.</p>
<p>There is a lot of good advice posted on this thread. Expanding on what one poster said about keeping track of volunteer hours, I started a spreadsheet (it was a simple one) freshman year and listed everything my child was involved in : school activities, non- school activities, volunteer/service activities and academics. Listed amount of time, awards won etc. This will not only be useful with school applications, but also for scholarships. </p>
<p>I talked with a parent who I am friends with who has a child a year older. Her child and mine are very similar academically and had similar college aspirations. She was a great source of information.</p>