The College Catalog or Course Catalog is an inclusive source of much of the important information that college students need for a successful college career. Each school’s catalog is different, but most contain the essential information for students. Some schools still publish a “hard copy” of the catalog and some schools publish their catalog in digital format only. Most schools have their catalog available on their websites.
Why should college parents be interested in the college catalog?
Editor’s note: This post was updated in March 2017
The college application process is a stressful time for both students and their parents: making the list, college visits, narrowing down the choices, SAT or ACT exams, applications, essays, recommendations, and then — finally — your child may find that they have been put on the wait list for their first choice college. They have officially entered the limbo in which more and more students (perhaps as high as 10% of applicants) find themselves. Your student is not in — but they haven’t exactly been rejected either. It is rather like trying to fly standby — you don’t have a seat on the plane yet, but there is a chance that you might get one.
It is discouraging, but all may not be lost. There are some things that your ”almost” college student should — and should not — do.
What is a wait list and how does it work?
First of all, understand the nature of a wait list. Being placed on a wait list is not a rejection. The college has said that your student is qualified for admission, but that the college does not currently have a space for them.
The wait list is a pool of qualified students from which the college will draw if accepted applicants choose to go somewhere else. Some students may actually be overqualified, and the school is waiting to see whether they are accepted and choose to attend a more selective school. The college doesn’t want to waste a spot in their accepted student pool on someone they assume will probably attend another college. Other students may be slightly underqualified and are given a ”courtesy” place on the waitlist as a softer form of rejection. This may be especially true of students who are related to alumni or wealthy donors.
But most students on the waitlist are fully qualified to attend the school. The waitlist becomes a safety net for the college if their ”yield” (number of accepted students who make a deposit) is low. As students today apply to more and more colleges, the yield may become more unpredictable.
If your student is considering taking a gap year, you should also read our post on deferring enrollment.
The majority of students move smoothly from high school to college. College is the normal “next step” in the educational process. For some students, however, that “next step” just doesn’t seem quite right, at least not just now. It’s not that they don’t want to go to college, it is just that they may feel the need to do something before entering college. For these students, a gap year may be the answer.
A gap year, sometimes called a year out, or year off, or bridging year, is a transition year, usually between high school and college, when the student takes time to do something else. Although it is still the exception in the United States for students to take a gap year, it is a growing trend. Some programs which target gap year students are seeing as much as 15-20% growth. The National Association for College Admission Counseling has suggested that the practice of taking a gap year is on the rise.
Your “almost” college student has been accepted to college. Congratulations! That is cause for celebration – and probably some relief. But your student isn’t sure that beginning college just now is the right thing. Some students may decide to defer their enrollment for a year (or even two) after they have been accepted. You may wonder what this means and how to go about it.
A student may decide to defer enrollment for any number of reasons. They may wish to travel or study abroad, to work to earn money to pay for tuition, to take a year to pursue a sport or hobby. The student may have health or family issues that need to be addressed, they may decide to take an extra, post-graduate year of study to increase skills or gain maturity, or the student may simply need a break from school in order to recharge and find focus.
When your student heads off to college, you may worry that they will get lost in the crowd. It is true that, even in a small college, your student will most likely be on their own more than they were in high school. Your student will be making their own decisions (some good and possibly some not as good) and they will be responsible for their own academic path. But, no matter how large the institution, your student won’t be without help. One major difference may be that your student will need to seek that help, it won’t necessarily come knocking on their door. But the help will be there, and the wise student will take advantage of it.
One of the sources of help with academic decisions may be your student’s Academic Advisor. The structure of the Academic Advising program may vary dramatically from institution to institution (there are many different models), but the basic principle is the same. Each student is usually assigned a faculty or staff member who is there to give the student guidance in making academic decisions. The advisor may also help your student as they consider their personal, professional and educational goals.
We’ve written three earlier posts about some of the college vocabulary it might be helpful for you to know. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3. Here is a fourth installment.
Every profession, activity, or area of interest has its own jargon or set of specialized vocabulary. College is no different. College administrators, faculty members and students develop a set of short-hand terms that can be confusing to those not familiar with them. As a college parent, you may be surprised at how quickly your college student will pick up the appropriate lingo.
If your college student slips into “college-speak” and you don’t understand what she is talking about – ask! She may express impatience, but she’ll probably explain. However, if you want to be able to at least begin to talk-the-talk, here are five more terms to get you started. Please remember that there may be some variation in the use of these terms at various institutions.
From time to time, an interesting idea or story may come along that gives us, as parents, insight into our students. An interesting item in the Boston Globe recently reported on some college students’ approach to saving our environment.
The University of Rhode Island recently hired an energy services company to conduct an experiment regarding students’ behavior around some wasteful energy habits. The school chose three habits common on campus: leaving computers on when they weren’t being used, keeping heat or air conditioners on when no one was in the room, and taking excessively long showers.
The university then set out to conduct a semester long program to see if they could change student behavior in these areas. They asked students to pledge to reduce energy consumption and then they posted reminders in dorms. They concluded that, in the area of environmental conservation, college students may be teachable!
We’ve written two earlier posts about some of the college vocabulary it might be helpful for you to know. Be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2. Here is a third installment.
Every profession, activity, or area of interest has its own jargon or set of specialized vocabulary. College is no different. College administrators, faculty members and students develop a set of short-hand terms that can be confusing to those not familiar with them. As a college parent, you may be surprised at how quickly your college student will pick up the appropriate lingo.
If your college student slips into “college-speak” and you don’t understand what she is talking about – ask! She may express impatience, but she’ll probably explain. However, if you want to be able to at least begin to talk-the-talk, here are five more terms to get you started. Please remember that there may be some variation in the use of these terms at various institutions.
Most colleges hold orientation sessions for incoming students – whether a day long event or an overnight during the summer, or an event held a few days before the semester starts in the fall. However, many colleges now also offer orientations for the parents of those college students. This may be a day long event or even an overnight event. If your child’s college conducts an orientation for parents, you should definitely take advantage of it if possible.
Holding a special orientation for parents is recognition on the part of many colleges of the importance of your continued role in your student’s education. Colleges hold these orientation sessions to help you learn more about how you can most productively help your student, and to help you learn more about the place where your son or daughter will be spending so much time.
Reasons why you should attend Parent Orientation
There are several important reasons to attend the Parent Orientation session offered by your child’s school.
In our previous two posts, we considered the high cost but importance of textbooks and possible ways to save money when buying them. In this final post on the topic, we’ll consider what students can do with their books at the end of the semester.
Your college student has just completed their course. They bought the textbook and used it diligently throughout the semester. Now that the course is over, they’re wondering what to do with this pile of books. There are several options.
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