Year: 2010

Is Your Student’s College Dorm Room Too Comfortable?

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College dorms are not what they used to be.  In fact, at many colleges and universities, they are no longer referred to as dormitories, but are residence halls.  Dormitory sounds too old fashioned and austere.  Most college residence halls today are anything but austere.

When students and parents take college tours, one of the first things that they ask to see is a typical college room.  Colleges boast about the living arrangements and amenities in their residence halls.  Clearly, living arrangements are important — and they should be.  The college residence hall may serve as your student’s home for four years.  You want your student to be comfortable and happy.  You are paying a lot of money, not only for the education your student will receive, but also for his comfortable living arrangement.

So how, then, could a dorm room be too comfortable?  It’s not the comfort itself that is a problem, it’s the fact that the dorm room may be so comfortable and convenient that your student may not want to, or need to, leave.  College packing lists remind you to be sure to purchase and bring all of the things your student will need — not only the sheets and towels and desk lamp, but the stereo or i-pod speakers, the TV, the microwave, refrigerator and computer.

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Are College Extracurricular Activities Really ”Extra”? Why Your Student Should Participate.

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Many high school students participate in numerous extracurricular activities.  For some high school students, these extracurricular activities are what keep them active and interested in school.  Many high school students participate in extracurricular activities because they reflect their true interests.  Some high school students, however, participate in extracurricular activities because they know that college will consider these activities when they review their admission applications.

Once these high school students reach college, they may feel that they no longer ”need” to participate in extracurricular activities.  However, participation in activities outside of the classroom may prove to be equally as important as what happens in the classroom.   Most colleges express the mission to develop the whole student, to take a holistic approach to helping the student become a well-rounded, mature individual.  Colleges recognize that much of this process happens outside of the classroom.

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Why Has My First-Year College Student Been Assigned Summer Reading?

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Your soon-to-be college student may have received her first homework assignment well before she showed up on campus.  For many incoming freshman, their first assignment is a bit of summer reading. Your student may be asked to read an assigned book prior to Orientation, or she may be given the assignment at a Summer Orientation and asked to read the book before school begins in September.  At some schools students are given a copy of the book, while at other schools students are asked to purchase their own copy.

If your student was not expecting a summer assignment, he may be surprised — and even annoyed at having to do work over the summer.  As a parent, you may also be wondering why your student needs to get this ”head start” before the first semester even begins.  Colleges have many different reasons for assigning summer reading and different approaches for dealing with the book once the students arrive on campus.

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How to Help Your College Student Use the Summer Months Wisely

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As a college parent, you may be looking forward to the summer months, and your student’s return home from college, with mixed emotions.  You’ve missed your student while they were away, and you are anxious to spend time with them again.  However, you recognize that they’ve been on their own for months now, and you’re not sure what to expect.  Parents and students who worked hard to make the off-to-college transition, must now work at a new transition to living together once again.  There will be adjustments for everyone.

In addition to the adjustments that everyone will need to make regarding living together once again, college students may be faced with the question of what to do during these summer months.  Some students may have a job lined up — perhaps the same job that they had before they went away.  Others may still be unsure of what the next few months will bring.

Certainly, most students are looking forward to a well-deserved break from school work and routine.    However, this doesn’t mean that the summer months are not important, and hopefully productive, months for your college student.  After your student has had an opportunity to catch up on some sleep, eat a few home-cooked meals, and do some laundry, it may be time to have a conversation about a plan for the summer.

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Parents Can Help College Students With the End-Of-Semester Stress Meltdown

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College parenting is difficult.  Anyone who has a student headed to college, in college, or recently out of college has realized just how difficult the college parenting job can be.  One of the most difficult things about this phase of parenting is feeling helpless at times as you watch your student struggle with something.  One of the times when we often see this happening is during that stressful end-of semester period. Parents may see and hear their student experiencing what appears to be a meltdown in response to the pressure and stress that occurs at the end of the semester.

We’ve written an earlier post about helping your student through that end-of-semester push.  Although we may often feel helpless, parents can be helpful and supportive in several ways.  In this post, we’d like to examine the end-of-semester stress a bit more closely.  It may be helpful for us, as parents, to be reminded of exactly what students are feeling and experiencing at this point in the college year.

What causes student stress?

The stress that students feel as the end of the semester nears is very real and is often overwhelming.  And this stress is felt by both the best students and struggling students alike.  Students often realize that there is more left to do than they realized.  They recognize that they may have procrastinated on some projects more than they thought.  They worry about deadlines, final papers, projects, presentations, and final exams.

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How the Americans with Disabilities Act Might Affect Your College Student

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Colleges and college parents have at least one thing in common — they want college students to succeed.  For some students, that success may depend on accommodations to help them accomplish their goals. If you think that your college student may need some alterations to his living or learning environment to be successful, then it is important that you understand the framework in which colleges operate concerning accommodations.  You may feel that you are already familiar with regulations if you have dealt with accommodations throughout your child’s academic career, but it is possible that there are variations on the college level.

Some students, and their parents, are familiar with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which may have governed how their elementary or high school handled their needs.  However, this act does not apply beyond secondary education.  At the college level, two laws affect legal rights and requirements.  The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 applies to every public and private institution except those affiliated with religious organizations.  The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applies to any entity that accepts federal financial assistance for any program or service.  Both laws were enacted to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities.

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How the College Career Office Can Help Your College Student: Yes, Even Your College Freshman!

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Almost every college or university has an office dedicated to helping students find a career in which they are interested and to getting a job after college.  Whether the office is called the Career Center, Career Services Office, Career Placement Office, or some other variation of the title, the function is similar everywhere.  The variety of services offered by these offices is usually wide-ranging.  Unfortunately, many students think of the Career Office as a place they should visit during that last semester of senior year as graduation looms and they realize that they won’t be returning to school in the fall.  Students who learn early that the Career Office can help them, and who visit often at various stages of their college experience, are able to take full advantage of what this department has to offer.

What do Career Offices do?

Most Career Offices offer a variety of services for students.  Some of these services are specifically designed to help students early in their college experiences as they work to decide on their interests, strengths, and abilities and to choose a major.

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Are You Ready for the Pomp and Circumstance?

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For many college students and their parents, the finish line is in sight.  Commencement is just around the corner.  Students have worked hard to reach this final moment.  Parents have been patient (most of the time), have supported, have worried, have encouraged (or downright scolded), have paid tuition again and again, and have possibly had moments when they wondered if this time would ever come.

But the season of Commencement is finally here, with all of the ceremony and pomp and circumstance that accompany it.  Most college students have experienced a high school graduation, which may or may not have been as formal as college Commencement.  Some students, and their parents, may be wondering what to expect, and what the experience will be like.

The format of commencement may vary according to the nature of the school, the size of the class, the weather, the location, or the particular traditions of the institution.  However, many factors may be similar no matter where the ceremony occurs.  Commencement is seen as the capstone experience of the student’s academic career.  It is a dignified, formal occasion and marks the formal action of conferring and receiving academic degrees.  Degrees are conferred on the candidates by the presiding officer (usually the college president) after they have been recommended or presented by another official (often a dean or provost).

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Is Your College Student a Member of the ”Apathy Generation”?

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As a society, we want to label each generation.  We’ve labeled generations as Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial.  Some have labeled the current generation as Generation Apathetic.  Whether or not you think these labels apply globally, many of today’s current college students are apathetic about their college experiences.  They see college as a phase through which they must move or an archaic pre-requisite for getting a job. They see college as a ”spectator sport” which should require little of them. They approach college with a consumer mentality or market thinking — they see education as a product which their (or your) tuition dollars are purchasing.  They are interested in a fast, cheap, degree.

These are some tough accusations.

Of course, there are many students who do not fit into any of the above categories.  They are engaged, active, and truly vested in their education.  They want to get the most that they can from their education, and they want to contribute to the world.  Unfortunately, however, there are more students who suffer from apathy than we may realize.  As a parent, you might consider whether your student fits into this category at all — and whether you can help him adjust his thinking.

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Book Review: Making the Most of College — Students Speak Their Minds

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From time to time, we like to review some of the books available for parents of college students.  There is a wealth of literature available to help parents cope with the transition to college and the changes that occur throughout the college years.  We’ve created lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone.  Check our Resources and Tools page for suggestions.

Richard Light’s book, Making the Most of College: Students Speak Their Minds is slightly different from many of the other books we recommend for college parent reading.  This book was not written specifically for college parents, but is of value and interest to parents, students, and college faculty and administrators alike.  It is this universal appeal that is perhaps one of the most unique and valuable aspects of this book.

Making the Most of College does not specifically help parents with the college transition process or with dealing specifically with their college student.  What this book does do is give parents valuable insight into the world of college and into the minds of college students.

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