Year: 2011

Summer Before College a Summer of Decisions: Academic Decisions

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This is the first of three posts about decisions new college students may face during the summer before freshman year.  As a college parent, you can help your student consider some of these important issues.  This post looks at some academic decisions students may face.  The next two posts will discuss student life decisions and financial decisions.

 

Your student has been accepted to college and made the choice of which college to attend.  You’ve paid the deposit and your student is now happily, if somewhat nervously, connecting with new friends on Facebook as she prepares to head off to college at the end of the summer.  You may be feeling relief that the decisions are over and you can all settle in for the ride.

It may not be that easy.  The summer before freshman year of college is still a time of many decisions for both you and your soon-to-be college student.  Some of the decisions will be easy, some may have been discussed previously, and some may take you by surprise.  Being prepared for making some of these decisions will help both you and your student anticipate some of the issues that might arise.

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Encourage Your College Student to Join a Professional Association

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As you send your student off to college, or as your student is settling into the college routine in their first year or two, it is difficult to imagine that joining a professional organization or two could possibly matter.  You and your college student may still be adjusting to college life and that professional career may seem a long way off.

It feels as though joining a professional association or organization related to your student’s chosen career may seem something that should be considered during your student’s senior year or as they are about to begin their professional career.  However, there are many benefits of joining professional associations early.  Although both you and your student may initially feel that adding the cost of membership to the already expensive college years may not be worth it, consider some of the following reasons why membership may be a good idea.  Then, talk to your student about their goals, interests, and opportunities.

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College Parents: Use the Summer Before Freshman Year Wisely

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It’s been a long journey getting your almost college student ready for freshman year.  You’ve helped and supported through the testing, the college visits, the applications, the acceptance or rejection letters, and the final decision.  But you know that your work isn’t done.  The summer before that first year of college is a busy and stressful one — for everyone involved.  Your student may be focused and organized, or he may seem uninterested in the transition about to take place.

As a college parent, you know that you are going to need to step back and let your student take control of her college experience.  Yet, you want her to start of on the right foot — excited and prepared.  As always, the key is helping your student prepare.  Encourage your student to take the lead, and resist the temptation to handle things yourself.  This is your student’s opportunity to become increasingly self-sufficient.

We’ve gathered here some previous posts about things you can do this summer to help the transition go well.  Think about how you and your college student can work together to prepare for those first steps during the freshman year.

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Your Five Most Important Jobs as a College Parent

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Being a college parent is hard work.  Sometimes it is difficult work because of the amount of things that you need to do and because you need to be very involved.  But sometimes, being a college parent is hard work because of what you need not to do.  Sometimes the hard work is standing back and allowing your student to take control of the experience.

But just because you need to stand back and let your student be in the driver’s seat, doesn’t mean that you, as a college parent, are not involved.  Although you may be on the sidelines of this experience, you can still be present, needed, and very much part of the fabric of the experience.  The involvement may, however, be more subtle (and therefore, in some ways more difficult) than you anticipated.

We’d like to suggest five important jobs for college parents.  You may not do all jobs equally well.  You may not need to tackle some jobs as much as others.  You may need to experiment and practice some skills before you become proficient at them.  But we’d like to suggest that you have five important tasks as a college parent.

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What’s Ahead For Your College Student? The Four Year Journey

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As you send your high school student off for their freshman year of college and you worry about how they will manage, it is almost impossible to imagine the college senior that you will have in four years.  It may help to remind yourself of the child who began high school four years earlier.  Could you have imagined then, what they would be like four years later as they graduated from high school?

Students mature during their college years, not only because times passes, but because they experience many different influences and demands.  We’ve discussed in many posts the importance of helping your college student learn to advocate and take responsibility for their actions and decisions.  It is not always an easy thing for us, as parents, to remember the important long-term goals over the immediate impulse to ”fix” any problems.

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How Does Your Student Feel? Four Keys to Emotional Intelligence.

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Your college student will probably run the gamut of emotions during their time in college.  They may even run through many emotions in a single day.  As a college parent, you may hear about your student’s highs and lows, or you may be unaware of some of the dips and turns.  It is possible that you may feel that your student needs help coping, and you may find yourself offering advice or recommending that they get some help from someone such as a counselor. For most students, however, handling emotional swings becomes part of the college experience.

How well your student handles their emotions may be one indicator, however, of their potential success in college.  Some research in Emotional Intelligence suggests that students who recognize and manage their moods, feelings and attitudes well may do better academically.  The more closely your student is in touch with their emotions, the better they may do.

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Your College Student’s Roommate Match

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If your student is heading off to college and will be living in a residence hall on campus, she is probably wondering, and even nervous, about who her roommate will be.  This is only natural, as most students who will be living in a relatively small space with another student may be sharing a room for the first time.  You and your student may both be wondering how and when the college will be assigning roommates.

Different colleges use different methods for assigning roommates.  Some schools make matches randomly.  Other schools send students a questionnaire to determine some lifestyle preferences and then spend many hours making matches based on that information. In some cases students may be matched by computer. Many schools will allow students to request to live with a particular student as long as the request is mutual.

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What is a College Summer Bridge Program?

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Perhaps your soon-to-be college student has been invited to participate in a Summer Bridge Program at their college, or perhaps they are even being required to attend before beginning the regular semester in the fall.  Bridge programs may have varying names, but the purpose is similar at all colleges: to provide incoming students with the academic skills necessary to be successful in their college experience.

Bridge programs are designed to improve the preparation and ease the transition into college in the fall.  Students who attend, often students who are at risk or in need of remedial classes, may have a reduced need for developmental classes during their first semester of college.  According to a 2006 Journal of Higher Education, approximately 40% of students at traditional colleges and nearly 60% of students at community colleges take at least one developmental course during college.  According to the Economics of Education Review in 2010, fewer than 50% of students referred to developmental classes complete the recommended sequence. Students who are less prepared for college are less likely to return for a second year of college. Clearly, giving students a head start will help.

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Helping Your College Study Abroad Student Stay Safe

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Egypt, Haiti, New Zealand, Japan, Libya.  Within the past two years, political and natural disasters around the world have caused us concern and pain.  For those families who may have students studying or traveling abroad in an area struck by an unforeseen event, the pain and worry become enormous. Does that mean that you should hold your student close and not let her travel or study abroad?  For some families, the answer may be yes.  But many families realize the importance and benefits of studying abroad and want their student to be able to stay safe, but still have an international experience.

If your student wants to study abroad, you will naturally worry.  But accidents, disasters, and unforeseen events can occur anywhere at any time, even at home.  Understanding the situation and the program, taking some time to prepare, and discussing a plan with your student may help ease your mind somewhat.  We’d like to suggest a few things to think about, and to discuss with your student, as you consider the study abroad experience.  We’ve written several earlier articles about helping your student consider study abroad, preparing to study abroad, and supporting your student studying abroad.  Here, we’d like to consider specifically thinking about safety while studying abroad.

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Study Away — Alternative to Study Abroad

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Perhaps your college student would like the opportunity to get away from their campus and broaden their experiences.  But perhaps your student doesn’t feel ready or can’t afford to study abroad.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that there is no opportunity to have the experience of expanding their academic, cultural, and personal experiences.  Many colleges formally offer a ”study away” experience which can include opportunities to spend a few weeks, a semester, or even a full academic year in another setting.

There are many advantages to exchange, abroad, or away programs.  Your student may learn more about diversity and multicultural issues, will learn to live more effectively with differences, will have experiences that may broaden their mind and help them learn more about new behaviors and ways of living.  Your student will experience a welcome break from their own campus and routine; will have new opportunities for networking, friendships, and experiences.  Costs for domestic study away opportunities may be less than a study abroad program.

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