Category — Yearly Cycle of Information

March truly marks a turning point in the college year.  Not only is it the time for midterm exams and for the legendary spring break, it is also the point at which the end of the school year seems almost within reach.  Students know they are coming into the “home stretch” of their academic year.  This provides both relief and its own stress.  There’s still so much to be done.  Some students may realize that they are not going to turn around a difficult academic start and need to make plans.  Students may be worrying about summer jobs or summer school.  Students need to be thinking and making plans for the next year – housing choices, roommates, fall schedules, majors, internships.  Seniors face the ultimate stress of finding a job or getting into graduate school.

March brings its own unique experiences.  Here are a few posts that may be particularly helpful to parents to this particular time of the school year.

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Your college student is settling in to the second semester of the year.  Whether your student is in her first year of school or further along in her college career, the second semester has its own rhythms.  Most students are already settled in their rooms or apartments, clubs and activities may be in full swing. However, courses are probably new and there is a feeling of a fresh start.  As the semester progresses, students begin to look toward next year – more settling in, possible study abroad or internship, perhaps graduation.

Here are a few posts that may be particularly helpful at this point in the college year.  We hope you find them helpful.

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The beginning of the new year brings a fresh start for many of us.  For many college students it brings winter break and then the start of a new semester or term.  If your student is in her first-year, the second semester is often a time of settling in now that the tumultuous first semester is over.  Your student may be anxious to head back to school to see her friends again – and also a little anxious about new classes beginning.  This is a fresh start.  If the first semester was a bit rocky at times, either personally, socially, or academically, this is a chance to start over again – with a lot of wisdom gathered during that first semester.

Here are a few posts that might be especially helpful at this time of the year.  Think about how you can help your students get off to a great start this semester.

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New Year is often the time for new beginnings.  Fortunately, for college students, the new year also often brings a new semester with its fresh start as well.  We offer here 10 New Year’s resolutions for college parents and 10 resolutions for you to pass on to your college student.  Enjoy your fresh start – and make this a great year for you and your college student!

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We are in the homestretch of the fall semester.  As the end of the semester approaches and the holiday season is in full force, students are busy – and probably feeling overwhelmed.  There’s lots to do to get through these last few days or weeks before they can relax.

Here are a few posts that may be especially helpful to you, and to your student, as you wrap up this semester – and begin to look ahead to the next semester.

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As November arrives and we enter the season of holidays, your college student is well past the mid-point of the semester.  If your student was a new, first-year student this fall, she is probably feeling that she is past the transition period.  If your student is not a new college student, the mid-point of another semester is one more step closer to graduation.

Now that the end of the semester may be in sight, the hard work of the semester also settles heavily on students’ shoulders.

We’ve done a roundup of posts for November that you and your student may find helpful as everyone digs in to the work, anticipates the holidays and a break from school, and heads toward the semester finish line.   If you haven’t already done so, you might want to review our roundup of posts of interest for the month of October – and even look back to posts suggested for September and August.  Take some time to read and review these posts, and you will be well armed for the weeks ahead.

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As we settle into the fall season, hopefully you and your college student are both settling into your new routines.  The upheaval is over, the transition process is happening – perhaps slowly.  The reality and the work of college and college parenting is here.  However, each new season or phase of the college year may bring new issues and new challenges.

We’ve done a roundup of posts that you may find helpful for the month of October as you and your college student begin to approach the midpoint in the fall semester.  If you haven’t already done so, you might want to review our roundup of posts of interest for the month of September – and even look back to posts suggested for August.  Take some time to read and review these posts, and you will be well armed as you approach mid-semester.

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Now that your college student has most likely headed off to school, you may be wondering what, as an official college parent, you should be doing.  In the midst of all of the preparations that took place last spring and summer, you knew that you had the opportunity of being active and helpful.  Now that your student is gone, you may be finding it difficult to stay productively involved without “hovering”.

It is true that once your student heads to college your role changes, but you still have an important place in the college transition process – and the transition continues for a while.  We’ve done a roundup of posts that may be especially helpful to you during the month of September as both you, and your college student, settle into your new roles.  If you haven’t already done so, you might also want to review our roundup of posts of interest for August.  Take some time to read and review these posts and you will be well-armed for the month ahead.

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As a college parent, you are trying to learn many things about the world of college, trying to help your student make a successful transition – either to the first year of college or to a subsequent year of college or even a new college, trying to determine how you can be most helpful as part of the college equation, and trying to remember that this is a time of transition for you as well.  There seems to be so much to try to take in and to juggle.

As we begin this busy month just before your college student heads off to school, we’ve done a roundup of posts that may be particularly helpful for the month to come.  These posts cover topics that may be most applicable to the preparation for leave-taking and the transition to school.  Take some time to read and review these posts and you will be well-armed for the month ahead.

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