<p>Afruff23, It's very difficult for people to understand what living here is like as an outsider until they have done it. And yes, my son wants to go out of state, because he knows he is way beyond the opportunities here. I do not wish to control my son's life. I want to help him have as many doors open for him in the future as possible.
I never said that my daughter didn't talk about college until she took SATs, and that isn't true. She was way ahead of where he is at the same age, and was the valedictorian of her class.</p>
<p>BengalMom--</p>
<p>Make sure your S takes the PSAT. If he does really well (you mentioned he is "bright"), he will get a ton of college mail. That may spur him on and you can use it to discuss the appeal to him of different climates at different schools across the country.</p>
<p>Also, you might look into how different schools try to achieve geographic diversity. Being from Utah might even give him a leg up in some measure.</p>
<p>I am not too surprised to hear that a male in his soph year in HS is not chomping at the bit to start the college selection process.</p>
<p>B'mom, i am not saying that this is the case with you, but a lot of parents, particularly the posters here, seem much more interested in this whole college thing than their students are. Your son is a soph and quite frankly, my son was not giving college any thought then and we preferred to let him just enjoy being a teenager and hs student. It all worked out fine and your son has a leg up because of his college age sister.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to let him take this at his own pace for now. Toward the later half of jr year you can begin talking about these things because he will have gotten his psat scores and perhaps taken the SAT/ACT for the first time. Dragging him around college campuses in the summer or pushing him into some "enrichment" summer program may only create resentment and being a boy, create a even more surmountable communication barrier. If he wants to do these things that is fine but let him have the final say.</p>
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<p>I kind of understand what you are talking about, but also can't agree with the above sentence - it sounds so negative, while Utah is a great place to live. And like someone has said, being from here might give your son a leg in the admission process.
Althought born and raised somewhere else, I have been living in Utah for a while now. Not being LDS, I did find my niche. I agree, that staying in state for college is a big thing here, but not at every school. I do not know where exactly in Utah you are, but SLC is not an LDS hub any more - I am sure you are aware of that.
We can chat via PM if you wish.</p>
<p>bengalmom, my son has chosen to attend university away from home. He is following his passion and is lucky to be accepted to his first choice program. My suggestion is the same as some other people: that you communicate with your son about what he would like to do. From my own experience, make sure that you keep that communication open and that he doesn't feel pressured. Kids have so much stress these days.</p>
<p>Good luck and hope things work out.</p>
<p>don't assume that your child and their friends will talk about college stuff or have similar issues- my oldest Ds guy friends seldom talked about it, and then usually when the process was done and she and her GFs talked about it some, but not as much as you might think</p>
<p>my D is only interested in east coast schools (we are in SF) and her friends only want Cal schools-so they don't have much to share in that regard...my D keeps a low profile about her college choices as she knows that some of her friends can't afford out of state schools or are staying instate for other reasons</p>
<p>My soph daughter isn't interested in talking college yet either. Her older brother and I started the "journey" midway thru his jr year, which seemed to be plenty early enough. But you will have further to travel to look at schools, so you might need to start a bit sooner. But mid-year in 10th grade is still a little early. Don't rush high school, let him enjoy it! And you have CC for when you're feeling like you're all alone among the parents of kids in your area. Good luck!</p>