Book Review: Don’t Bite Your Tongue — How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with Your Adult Children

December 17, 2021May 9, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

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 and beyond. We’ve offered some lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone. Check out our Resources and Tools page for suggestions.

From time to time, we like to review some of the books available for parents of college students.

In this review, we’ll take a look at Don’t Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with your Adult Children by Dr. Ruth Nemzoff.

Ten Tasks Your College Student Needs to Complete Before Leaving Campus for the Summer

April 18, 2019April 18, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

It is possible that your college student will be staying on campus for the summer — either for summer classes, a summer job, research or an internship. But for most college students, the end of the spring term means returning home for the summer, or at least heading off campus. Your student is anxious and can’t wait to get off campus, but before he fills up that car and heads home, there are some things that he should do. A little time spent now can make the return next fall go much more smoothly.

Talk to your student about how he is wrapping up the semester. It may not be easy for him to think past those final exams and papers, but suggest that he plan ahead to summer and to next fall and anticipate some of the things that will help.

Ten (More) Gifts for College Graduates

December 17, 2021April 15, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

We’ve written an earlier post with twenty-five suggestions for gifts for your college grad. We think that list is quite comprehensive and even a bit creative. If you’re looking for ideas for graduation, don’t miss looking at that list. However, there are always more ideas that float to the surface. Here are a few more ideas to get you started.

As with our previous list of gift suggestions, as well as our annual holiday suggestions, we know how personal gifts should be. These gift suggestions are intended to be starting points for your own thinking. Some will be out of range for you financially and some will seem silly to you. Take them for what they are and add the spin of how well you know the personality, needs, and interests of your graduate.

Have fun imagining and growing your own ideas.

Ten Ways to Use Your College Student’s Campus Mailbox

March 4, 2021April 4, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

The number of ways in which we can communicate with our college students continues to increase almost daily. You may use one method almost exclusively, or you may use several methods to keep in touch. These days, most of our connections seem to be electronic. We may communicate via cell phone, text messages, e-mail, Facebook, Skype, Google hangouts, Google chats, Facetime or any number of other interesting methods. It’s important to stay in touch (although it’s easy to overdo it).

In the rush of the newest electronic forms of communication, one often overlooked and forgotten form of connection is good, old fashioned, snail mail. Even with the advent of technology as a means of connection, most college students are still assigned a physical mailbox on campus. The ritual of checking the mailbox is still a common one for most students. No matter what means of communication you use most often, consider using this mailbox to reach out to your student.

You don’t need to sit down and write a long, newsy letter to your student (although most students wouldn’t object to receiving one). There are some simple ways to brighten your student’s day through mailbox contents. Of course, there is the obvious practice of sending a full-blown care package to your student. Students love receiving care packages. You can contract a service to send a package, or you can put together a fun care package yourself.

Happy Anniversary! College Parent Central Turns Four!

March 25, 2017April 1, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

College Parent Central has just turned four! We began this website on April 1, 2009 — somehow April Fool’s Day seemed an appropriate launch for something that thrust us into the unknown. Four years (and 410 posts) later, we continue to believe even more firmly than ever that college parents are an important part of student success, and we’re proud to contribute to the dialogue.

After four years of writing about college parenting, talking to college parents, working with college students, and working and speaking with professional colleagues, we have learned even more than we have shared. We are grateful to those people who have shared their stories and wisdom and helped us as we continue to reach out to parents who may find our information helpful,

Your College Student’s Senioritis: Recognizing and Addressing It

January 2, 2018March 25, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

This is the second of two posts about the senioritis sometimes experienced by college seniors. In our first post we looked at some of the roots or causes of your student’s feelings. In this post, we’ll consider what this senioritis may look like and how you, as a parent, might help your student cope.

In many ways, although the causes may differ, college senioritis may look very similar to high school senioritis. Your usually motivated student suddenly loses interest in his coursework, missing classes and deadlines for assignments. He doesn’t seem to care about his work and only puts forth a partial effort. His grades are in jeopardy of slipping and he doesn’t seem to care.

Although it is possible that this may be due to ”school fatigue” after sixteen or more years of school, we discussed in our last post several other possible causes. These causes may lead to other symptoms that indicate that your student is a victim of senioritis.

Is Your College Senior Suffering from Senioritis? 13 Reasons Why It May Not Be What You Think

January 19, 2018March 21, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

This is the first of two posts about the senioritis sometimes experienced by college seniors. In this post we look at some of the roots or causes of your student’s feelings. In our next post, we’ll consider what this senioritis may look like and how you, as a parent, might help your student cope.

We hear a lot about senioritis and high school seniors. It’s that apathy and lack of motivation that hits in the latter part of their senior year when they’ve been accepted to college and they let their guard down and struggle to keep their grades up and stay focused on school. Severe senioritis in that last year of high school could even result in having a college rescind a student’s admission, so it can be a serious ailment.

We hear less about senioritis during the last year of college, but it exists. Often, it looks much like high school senioritis. Your student has been in school now for sixteen or more years, and he is tired of being a student, loses focus and motivation, skips classes, does poorly on assignments, and generally appears unengaged.

Saying “No Thank You” to a College Acceptance

January 19, 2018March 18, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

That long college application process is over. Your student finished the applications, the essays, the SAT months ago. You and your student have survived the weeks or months of waiting. The acceptances have come in and your student has finally, agonizingly, made a decision. She knows where she will be going to college. You’ve even submitted the deposit. You and your student are ready for a breather.

There’s one more task which your student needs to do. She needs to let the other colleges which accepted her know that she won’t be attending. This isn’t a big job, but it sometimes feels like an awkward job. It’s not easy to say, ”No thank you” to a college after you’ve fought to get in. It feels as though you are rejecting the college. But this is an important part of the college admission process.

Once your student has made the final decision and notified his college of choice, remind him to let the others know that he won’t be attending. Students should notify the college in writing. Some colleges even include a postcard in their admissions packet. If there isn’t an easy form, a simple note, letter, or e-mail is fine.

Accepted to College — Now What?

January 19, 2018March 14, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

Congratulations! Your student has been accepted — perhaps to one college, perhaps to several. Your student may be facing a difficult decision, or she may know exactly where she wants to go. Either way, you and your student may be wondering what you do next.

Once your student has been accepted, next steps will depend on whether she needs more information before making her decision or whether that decision is made.

Making the decision

If your student has received multiple acceptances and is in the process of deciding which college to choose, gather as much information as possible about the colleges, and review what your student is looking for in a college.

If Your College Student Has Food Allergies — What to Do, Who to Know

January 19, 2018March 11, 2013 by Vicki Nelson

If you are sending your student off to college with food allergies, you may be concerned. Of course, your degree of concern will depend on the degree of seriousness of your student’s allergies. One thing to keep in mind is that managing these allergies is probably not new for your student. He may have had practice for many years.

If your student has not taken the lead on managing his allergies before now, do all that you can to let him be in charge while he is still living at home. Make him responsible for reading food labels, taking medication, monitoring symptoms, etc. This will give him the confidence to know that he will be able to manage once he is at school and will help him take this responsibility seriously. Obviously, it will give you important peace of mind as well.