Category — Admission and Orientation

Congratulations!  Your high school student has been accepted to college and is soon to be a new college student.  You’re relieved, excited, and anxious all at the same time.  Chances are you were involved in helping your student through the admissions process, and you’re happy to know that your student made all of the required admission deadlines.

Now that your student has been accepted, you and your student will need to continue to pay attention to several important dates and deadlines. Don’t let your guard down yet!  Each school will have its own requirements and deadlines, of course, but here are a few things to watch for.

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Has your student procrastinated past the college application deadline?  Did your student decide he didn’t want to go to college but has now changed his mind?  Is your student unhappy with the college acceptances she’s received and wants to consider additional schools?  Have your student’s grades improved so much over the past year that she’d like to expand her college search?

If any of the above situations sound even remotely familiar, you may be lamenting the fact that it is now too late to apply to college.  The truth is that it may not be too late.  Many colleges continue to accept student applications well past posted deadlines and throughout the summer. Some schools have Rolling Admissions, which means that they continue to accept students until the class is filled.  Other schools have deadlines, but are willing to make exceptions and look at applications after the deadline. Some schools may even continue to accept students right up until the beginning of classes in late August or early September.

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The long admission process is over.  The SAT or ACT test is done, the college visits are over, the admission essay is written, the applications are sent.  Even the long wait is over.  Your student has his acceptance letter in hand and can finally breathe a sigh of relief and let senioritis set in.  But wait!  That might not be a very good idea.  Although colleges never like to do it, and thankfully don’t have to do it very often, it is possible for a college to revoke or rescind its offer of admission after the letter of acceptance has been sent.

If your student reads her acceptance letter carefully, it probably says that admission is “contingent on the successful completion of the final year of high school” or language to that effect.  Your student has been accepted with the assumption that she will maintain something close to the level of accomplishment that got her into the college in the first place.  The college will want to receive her diploma and her final senior grades to confirm acceptance.  Unfortunately, some students stop reading their acceptance letter after the “Congratulations” part, and fail to notice or remember the “successful completion” part.

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Many, if not most, students headed to college will be required to take one or more placement exams at their school.  For many students, this may come as a surprise.  As a college parent, you can help your student anticipate, understand, and cope with these important tests.

What are placement exams?

Placement exams or tests are given to students, usually after they have been accepted to the college, to determine how ready students are for college level work in basic core courses.  They are most often given in subjects such as English and math.  Students cannot “pass” or “fail” placement tests since they simply measure a level or readiness in a subject.  They are used for placing the student in the appropriate level class.

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College and university orientations for new students take many forms.  Sometimes orientation may take place early in the summer and may be a day long or may involve an overnight.  Orientation may take place just before the fall semester begins, with new students arriving on campus a few days before returning students.  Orientation usually takes place on campus, but may involve an off-campus trip or outing.  Orientation provides an important opportunity for new students to meet each other, make connections, and get to know the school and its expectations.

Whatever form Orientation may take, most schools use student Orientation Leaders to help conduct the program.  If your student is a new student and will be attending Orientation, he may be wondering who this Orientation Leader is.  If your student is a returning student, he may be considering becoming an Orientation Leader and you may wonder what that involves.

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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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The wait is over.  The envelope may be fat, or thin, or the news may have come via e-mail.  However it has arrived, your high school student has received word from his chosen colleges about whether he has been accepted, waitlisted, or rejected.  It is a defining moment for most students.

This may also be a defining moment for you as a parent as well.  You will need to think about how you react to any news, and how you support your student no matter what that news may be.  Your responses will help set the tone for your student.  Your reactions will send important messages to your student.  If the news is good, you’ll want to celebrate with him.  If the news is not what he had hoped for, you’ll need to help your student deal with his disappointment.  (Read our previous post on helping your student deal with disappointment.)

Giving thought in advance to how you will respond may help you to be prepared for any eventuality.  Here are ten suggestions of things to consider as you, as a parent, confront the college acceptance – or rejection letters.

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The Olympic Games are a marvel.  Once every few years we are able to watch the best in the world doing what they do.  They put everything on the line, give everything that they have – and they do it publicly.  When they succeed, there is nothing like the thrill of that moment.  When they do not, to say that they are disappointed is completely inadequate.

As parents, most of us love nothing better than to see our children succeed at whatever they attempt.  Sometimes, however, they will not.  It is easy to celebrate with your child when he is successful.  It is heart wrenching to support your child through her disappointment.  As parents, we can make the difference in how our students face and deal with their disappointment.  Our children have dealt with disappointments all of their lives, but as they face college acceptances or rejections, and some of the potential disappointments facing them in college, the stakes seem somehow higher.  They will get in to their choice of college – or not.  They may receive adequate financial aid (perhaps merit aid) – or not.  They may get into the classes they want, or the major they want – or not.  They may make the team, or the play, or the assistantship – or not. [Read more →]

If the college acceptance letters have just begun to come in, congratulations!  You are now officially a college parent.  You are excited for your student, and possibly a bit overwhelmed for yourself.  You’re not sure what you should be thinking about, or doing, or how to help your student prepare for the next phase.

Here at College Parent Central we believe that the more information you have, the better you will be able to support your college student as he navigates his new experiences.  But the problem with lots of information is that it can feel overwhelming.  Here are a few posts that we think might be a good starting point.  You’ll want to read more specific information later, but if you’re a new college parent, these posts should help you think about your new role and help you get started on your journey.   Congratulations!

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This is the second of two posts about parent participation in admissions visits to colleges.  The college visit is an important part of the college admissions process, but parents may not be sure how best to participate in and maximize that visit.  Our first post suggested some things parents should think about as they prepare for and make the college visit.  This post offers some specific suggestions for getting both parents and students started thinking about productive questions to ask during a visit.

Some possible questions regarding student concerns:

Here are some suggestions of questions your student might want to ask – or you might want to ask if your student won’t. (Remember, there are no right or wrong answers – just information to be gathered.)

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