College Parent Central

Why Your Student Should Visit Colleges They’re Not Interested In

June 20, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

Campus visits can do a lot to help your student decide whether a school is right for them. As part of the admission process, most students try to visit the schools on their wish list to get a sense of the campus and students. It’s a good way to determine the best fit, but it can be time consuming and, depending on your student’s list, expensive.

Why, then, would anyone suggest that your student visit schools not on their wish list? Why bother visiting if you’re not interested?

Gathering information

One of the main reasons to visit any college campus is to gather information. If the school is on your student’s short list, they are hoping to learn whether that school feels right – academically, socially, financially. By visiting a school not on your student’s list, they can gather information that will help them learn about themselves and about the world of college in general. This information may help them put together, or hone, their actual list of schools.

#067 – College Health Information You Never Knew You Needed: An Interview with Jill and Dave Henry

June 15, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

In this episode we were joined by Jill and Dave Henry, authors of The Greatest College Health Guide: You Never Knew You Needed, to talk about how students can stay healthy in college. As coaches, Jill and Dave have counseled many of their high school athletes about how to navigate the health challenges they will face in the college environment. Jill and Dave shared some of their personal stories as well advice about how students can manage everything from “food, booze, stress, sex, sleep and exercise.” You will enjoy listening to their energy and good humor and you’ll definitely want to share their book with your student.

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Review – The Talking College Card Deck

June 8, 2022June 6, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

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.

This time, we’re taking a slightly different approach and reviewing a product, rather than a book, that is a great resource for helping your student make the transition from high school to college. Although we generally stick to books, we think this set of conversation prompts fills many of the same needs.

Be sure to visit our Resources page for suggestions of important books for college parents and their students.

Having the right conversations is an important way to help prepare your student for college. The Talking College Card Deck, created by Dr. Andrea Brenner, is a collection of discussion prompts for parents and students that will help you begin those essential conversations. These pre-college conversations can help parents and students learn from each other and anticipate the college experience.

#066 – New Book Suggestions for Summer Reading

June 8, 2022June 1, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

We like to read! And summer seems like the perfect time to dig into some new reading – especially if you have a student heading to college, thinking about college, or already there. It’s always good to have some new book suggestions and we have some excellent college parenting books to share. In this episode Lynn and Vicki share some favorite reads that offer parents support, guidance and suggestions – and we include some books to share with your student as well.

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College Parent News and Views – May 2022

May 31, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

The more that college parents know and understand about the college experience, the less we worry and the better we will be able to help our students to succeed and thrive throughout their college career. However, there is an overwhelming amount of information out there on the web. We’d like to help you find some of the information that might be most interesting and useful to you as a college parent.

In News and Views we share recent college related news and sources we’ve found as we do our research. We hope that this feature will help to introduce you to new ideas and to help you keep up with some of the current issues that may affect your college student – and you.

We invite you to read some of the articles suggested below – and to let us know what you think of some of the ideas included here.

#065 – Talking College with Transition Expert Dr. Andrea Brenner

May 18, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

Having the right conversations is an important way to help prepare your student for college. In this episode we talked with Dr. Andrea Brenner, co-author of How to College and creator of the Talking College Card Deck, a collection of discussion prompts for parents and students. Andrea is a seasoned college professor and former director of an award-winning first year experience program who recognizes the complexity of the transition to college. She shared ideas about how parents and students can use their pre-college conversations to learn from each other and anticipate the college experience.

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Graduation! Wisdom to Share

May 9, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

Your student is graduating! Congratulations!

Whether this graduation is from high school or college, it can be a bittersweet time for you as a parent. You’re proud and excited! But you also see your child growing up and taking an important next step in their life.

It can be an uncertain and nervous time for everyone.

Perhaps there will be a party. Probably there are gifts. Maybe a card or a letter. It feels as though this is one last opportunity to impart some wisdom – some life advice – to your student.

Really, you will continue to have opportunities to share your advice – some of it welcome and some perhaps less welcome – throughout your student’s life. But this is a moment. You want to get this one right.

We’ve suggested that one option might be to write your own commencement speech. What words would you like your student to hear? What would you tell them if you had the opportunity (challenge?) of writing the speech they would hear as they proudly sit in that cap and gown.

The wisdom you share with your student needs to be yours, of course, from your heart directly to the child you know so well. But it’s sometimes nice to have a little help getting started.

#064 – Supporting Students Who Struggle – Continuing the Conversation with Dr. Lynn Zlotkowski

May 4, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

Dr. Lynn Zlotkowski, Director of Advising at Southern New Hampshire University first joined us in episode #061 to talk about Advising and Student Success. We know that no matter how much support students receive from their parents and their college, no matter how much they take advantage of the college resources, some students flounder and fail. In this episode, we asked Dr. Zlotkowski to help us understand some of the reasons students struggle and how parents can respond and help them. Lynn shared her down-to-earth wisdom and advice that will help parents better support their student.

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College Parent News & Views – April 2022

May 1, 2022April 30, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

We invite you to read some of the articles suggested below – and to let us know what you think of some of the ideas included here.

It’s Graduation Gift Season!

April 25, 2022 by Vicki Nelson

If you have a high school or college graduate this year, it’s time to think about a gift. Sometimes, the occasion seems so momentous (It is!) that we are paralyzed trying to come up with just the right gift.

The truth is that your student will probably be pleased with anything you choose to give them to mark this special occasion. And you know your student better than anyone else, so you’re the best person to make the decision.

But in case your creativity needs a jump-start, we’ve put together several lists of suggestions to get you started. Check out the lists below and then let your own imagination take off.

And maybe you’ll want to gift something to yourself as well. After all, this is a big event in your life as well.

Congratulations!

Check our these collections!

Gift Ideas for Your College Graduate

Gift Ideas for Your High School Graduate

Beyond Bedding and Mini-Fridges: 12 Dorm Furnishings You May Not Have Thought Of

10 Non-Essentials (But Fun!) for Your Student’s Dorm Room

7 Gift Books for Your College (or soon to be college) Student

And don’t forget to check out our holiday gift suggestions as well. Many of them would also make great graduation gifts.

Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Student – 2021

Over 100 Holiday Gift Ideas for Your College Student