Category — Reviews and Reading Lists

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 offered some lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone. (Check out our lists of sources here and here.)

In this review, we’ll take a look at I’ll Miss You Too: An Off-to-College Guide for Parents and Students
by Margo E. Bane Woodacre and Steffany Bane.  This mother-daughter pair has teamed up to write a book that is useful for both parents and their students.  It is a good book to read together – and hopefully have it prompt some conversations.

The most unique feature about this book is its personal nature.  Neither author is a college expert, but both have lived the college experience – as parent and student.  Both mother and daughter describe how each saw, felt, and learned from the various experiences of the college transition period.  The two points of view represent both sides of the transition.  The book starts with the senior year of high school and continues through the senior year in college, focusing a chapter on each phase along the way.  Stories in the book draw on the personal journeys of both mother and daughter, as well as a few experiences shared by other families and college counselors. [Read more →]

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 offered some lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone. (Check out our lists of sources here and here.)

This is a review of a fun little book put together by Suzette Tyler titled Been There Should’ve Done That – 995 Tips for Making the Most of College. This is a book for you to give to your college student – but to read first, before you give it away.   It contains tip after tip – from college students for college students about topics from orientation to dorm suggestions to clubs and activities to choosing courses to taking notes in the classroom.  Most of the topics of interest to students are covered somewhere in this book.

The format of this book makes it fun and easy to read.  The personality of the student comments make it personal.  Some of the contradictions in advice by different students highlight the fact that there is seldom an exactly right answer for many issues, although some of the mixed messages might be confusing to new students.  Much of the advice makes sense.  Student favorite web tools listed give helpful follow-up.

[Read more →]

We’ve made some earlier recommendations of books that make good reading for parents of college students. (See our Recommended Reading and More Recommended Reading lists.) But there is also plenty of good reading available for college students – or about to be college students – to help them navigate the college years.  If you’re looking for a gift idea for your college student or high school senior, consider one or two of these books.  Some are light-hearted and written for college students to enjoy, and many are full of helpful hints and tips for successfully transitioning to and surviving college. They cover everything from general advice to cooking, money management and career advice.

[Read more →]

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 offered some lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone.

In this review, we’ll take a look at a book by one of the leaders in the field of college parenting programs.  You’re On Your Own (but I’m here if you need me) by Marjorie Savage is subtitled Mentoring Your Child During the College Years. This book is written by someone who has spent years working with both college students and their parents.  As both a college parent and a college services professional herself, Savage is able to understand both the world of parent concerns and the world of college.  She helps parents understand the new world their student is entering and also helps them take a new look at their child as he/she enters this stage of life.

Your On Your Own is a combination of common sense, reassuring and helpful advice, strategies and tips for parents and students, and straight talk about sometimes uncomfortable subjects.  It is clear throughout the book that Savage brings to her writing a tremendous amount of information and personal experience from working with both students and their parents.  She not only provides useful information and food for thought, but she intersperses her information with anecdotes and illustrations.  Many parents will read this book and see or hear their own experiences or their own child’s experiences echoed in the stories included.

[Read more →]

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 offered some lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone.

In this review, we take a look at the book Parents’ Guide to College Life: 181 Straight Answers on Everything You Can Expect Over the Next Four Years by author Robin Raskin.

In order to write her book, Raskin surveyed deans, resident assistants, and administrators at nearly one hundred colleges.  She interviewed financial, medical and insurance experts.  Organized in question and answer format, her book shares advice and tips from the experts and professionals she interviewed, as well as from parents and both current and past college students.  The book covers a wide range of topics and is chock full of statistics and quotes.  She intersperses these statistics and quotes with personal experiences and anecdotes.  The result is an easy to read, down to earth book covering everything from parental roles, student life, sex, drugs, drinking, safety, health, academics, money, and dorm life.

[Read more →]

This post includes a list of twelve books of interest to parents of college students.  We’ve previously suggested fourteen additional titles which you might want to check out.  There are certainly other resources available, but these two lists should give parents a good start on material to support them through the college years.  All of the books have different styles and approaches, so it is important to find the books which resonate for you.

We are not necessarily endorsing these books, but we’d like to help you find materials available.  You won’t want to read them all, but you might look for some titles that intrigue you.

Over the next few months, we hope to review some of these books to provide a bit more guidance about their content and approaches.  Check our “Reviews” category to see what we’ve reviewed so far.  Happy reading!

[Read more →]

There are many good books and resources available for college parents.  Each book takes a slightly different approach to the process of sending your child off to college – and surviving the transition.  We’ve provided a reading list of some of the titles available in an earlier post.  However, in addition to providing titles, we’d like to introduce you to some of the books.  We plan to review one book each month over the next several months.  We hope this will give you some insight into the books, and provide guidance as you choose some titles to read.

In this first review, we’ll look at one of the seminal titles in college parenting: Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years
by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger.  This book is a comprehensive, thoughtful, and practical guide for parents of college students or soon-to-be college students.  In fact, it would be most helpful to read this book during a student’s junior year in high school as it covers the college application process as well as the transition to college itself.

[Read more →]

This post includes a list of fourteen books of interest to parents of college students.  The list is not inclusive: there are more books out there.  The authors of these books have different styles and different approaches.  Some are probably better than others.  We are not endorsing any of the books, but hope that the list will serve as a resource for parents who want more information.  You won’t want to read them all, but look for some of the titles that intrigue you.

Over the next few months, we plan to review some of these books to provide a bit more guidance about their content and approaches, but in the meantime, enjoy gathering some additional information – and recognizing that you’re not alone in your joys and concerns about your student heading off to college.

[Read more →]