Whose Responsibility Is It to Find Your College Graduate a Job?

July 4, 2019June 22, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

You send your child to college. He chooses a major. He takes the appropriate classes. He graduates. And then . . . ?

Many students, and their parents, may assume that after college, after all of that tuition, after preparing the resume and sending the cover letters, the perfect job will materialize. Sometimes it does. But more often, there’s a lot of work that goes into finding — and landing — that job.

The question of how much responsibility the college or university has for helping your student secure a job is currently a controversial topic. Should the college focus on academically educating the student and leave it up to the student to find a job, or should the college be preparing the student for and helping the student secure a job?

Who’s Minding Your College Student’s Health?

January 30, 2020June 15, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Note: This article was updated in January 2020.

We all want our children to be as healthy as possible. When they were young, we took them for their regular check-ups, and we often continue to monitor and care for them when they are sick. When our child becomes a college student, one of the many things that they will need to learn is to manage is their own healthcare

Fortunately, we do not send our college students off to a healthcare vacuum. Virtually every college or university offers some form of healthcare for its students.

College healthcare services have expanded from the earlier days of basic infirmary care for sick or injured students to a broader definition of health and wellness. Most current college health services cover the treatment, management and prevention of health conditions and emergencies by providing onsite medical and counseling services and general wellness programming. The college healthcare field has shown significant growth in mission, services and facilities, with the greatest growth in recent years being in the area of mental health services.

What Is Enrollment Management?

June 8, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

If you are about to send your child off to college, you wonder a lot about how your student will succeed, and you may also wonder what the college will do to help your student succeed. There are a lot of individual offices, departments, programs and personnel who will intersect with and support your student. Sometimes, it may seem impossible to keep it all straight.

The college’s Strategic Enrollment Management process will help the college ensure that there is a comprehensive plan in place to help shape the school’s enrollment and support its students. Colleges want to build the best entering class, but also help those students succeed and graduate.

Enrollment Management, often referred to as Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) is comprehensive process which institutions use to help them shape their enrollment and meet their goals. Essentially, rather than many different areas of the institution work independently, Strategic Enrollment Management allows the institution to look at the entire process of how they recruit, admit, enroll, retain and graduate students. It often also includes how the institution intersects with its alumni as well.

College Is a Next Step — That’s All

June 20, 2020June 1, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Heading off to college is a big step. Your student has anticipated this step for a long time and probably worked hard throughout high school to get ready, apply, and make that final decision. As parents, you’ve been involved — sometimes in the thick of it all and sometimes on the sideline — and you are also anticipating a big change.

But as big as that step to college seems, it is just that — one more step. And the step is that much easier for your student when they are prepared. Perhaps one of the reasons we all have so much anxiety about the college admissions process and the college transition process is that we see it as a giant leap rather than a step.

Your student has taken steps throughout their life — some bigger than others. There were those literal first steps, then daycare or preschool, kindergarten, middle school and high school. Remember how scary each of those steps felt at the time? Your student may have learned to ride a bike, have a first sleepover, play in a first athletic game, give a first music or dance recital, talk to a girl or boy (!), go on a date, and learn to drive a car. Scary, right?

Parents: Write a Commencement Speech

May 5, 2020May 18, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Tis the season of graduations and commencements. And if there are graduations and commencements, then there are certainly speeches.

Most graduation speakers, students and dignitaries alike, work hard to craft a message that is a little bit autobiographical, a little bit clever and humorous, a little bit thought-provoking, and delivers an important message about life.

In spite of the hard work that these speech writers put in to their speeches, most also know that not many in the room, or auditorium, or gym or on the quad, will be listening. And of those who listen, only a small percentage will remember what was said. When she delivered the Commencement address at Harvard University in 2008, author J. K. Rowling actually found comfort in the fact that probably no one would remember what she had to say. It calmed her nerves. Obviously, graduation speeches are lost on the graduates.

But graduations and commencements continue to feature speakers who deliver advice and proclaim values that could, indeed, become life changing — or at least life guiding. And perhaps some of the people who benefit most from those speeches are the writers themselves. It is no easy task to decide what single message you think will most benefit a group of young adults about to head to college or out into the world.

Should Being Undecided About a Major Matter When Choosing a College?

December 7, 2021May 11, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

We ask our high school students to make some big decisions about their lives. Often, it feels as though, as adults, we switch back and forth between ”You’re too young to understand,” to ”Now it’s time to decide what you want to do with your life.” Is it any wonder that many high school students, in the midst of trying to select a college, may feel overwhelmed?

What are you going to do with your life?

As your high school student approaches their junior and senior year of high school, the two questions they are probably asked more often than any others are ”Where are you going to apply to college?” and ”What are you going to major in?” For a student who may not yet know what they are interested in majoring in — and that may be as high as half of all entering college students — answering the first question may be harder. Students who don’t yet have a major in mind may find it harder to select a college.

There are many different reasons why students may not have a major in mind as they search for a college. It’s important that parents help their students understand that it’s fine not to have a major in mind yet. (One study suggests that as many as 75% of students who enter college with a major change their mind anyway.) But not having a major in mind means that there is one less factor to consider when looking at various schools.

Why Can’t My Student Find Out His Place on the Admissions Waitlist?

April 21, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Your student has been waitlisted for admission to his first choice college. He has officially entered the limbo in which more and more students (perhaps as high as 10% of applicants) find themselves. He’s not in — but he hasn’t exactly been rejected either. It is rather like trying to fly standby — you don’t have a seat on the plane, but there is a chance that you might get one.

What exactly is a waitlist?

The waitlist is a list of students who are qualified for acceptance to the college, but for whom the college does not have a current place. Some students may actually be overqualified, and the school is waiting to see whether they are accepted and choose to attend a more selective school. The college doesn’t want to waste a spot in their accepted student pool on someone they assume will probably attend another college. Other students may be slightly underqualified and are given a ”courtesy” place on the waitlist as a softer form of rejection. This may be especially true of students who are related to alumni or wealthy donors.

But most students on the waitlist are fully qualified to attend the school. The waitlist becomes a safety net for the college if their ”yield” (number of accepted students who make a deposit) is low. As students apply to more and more colleges, the yield may become more unpredictable.

Reflecting on Six Years: College Parent Central’s Anniversary

March 25, 2017April 9, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

Each year, as April rolls around, College Parent Central celebrates an anniversary. We are always pleased, and sometimes a little amazed, that we’re still here a year later. This year we celebrate our sixth anniversary. When we first launched on April Fool’s Day in 2009, we weren’t sure what to expect. We recognized that college parents needed information and support, and we hoped that we could help provide some of that guidance. Six years later, parents continue to let us know that they appreciate the information that we provide.

Thank you to those who have supported us and shared our information with others!

Our journey and evolution

Over the years, we have seen some important things remain constant and other things evolve. It’s been an interesting journey.

College Student Hopes and Worries

September 28, 2022March 26, 2015 by Vicki Nelson

As high school students work through the college admissions process and then anxiously await those all-important admission letters, they — and their parents — are filled with hope, and also worry. It is the nature of the process.

Since 2003 The Princeton Review has conducted an annual survey investigating those hopes and dreams. This year, the survey was available from August 2014 to March 2015 and was completed by slightly more than 12,000 students and parents. 80% of the respondents were students and 20% were parents. The results of this survey provide a window into some of the dreams and application viewpoints of these students and parents. Many parents may find it reassuring that they are not alone in their feelings.

The admissions process and finances

73% of those responding reported ”application stress;” This represents 17% more than those indicating stress in the first year of the survey in 2003. The greatest source of stress for most students was the testing — taking admissions exams. The second greatest source was the application process itself — completing admissions and financial aid applications.

Book Review: The Portable Guidance Counselor

December 17, 2021March 23, 2015 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. We’ve created lists of recommended reading, and there is something for everyone. See our Resources and Tools page for suggestions.

The Portable Guidance Counselor: Answers to the 284 Most Important Questions About Getting Into College is edited by the staff of the Princeton Review. It is a comprehensive review of some of the most important questions that high school students ask, and the answers that guidance counselors give. It can be a helpful resource for students — especially those students who may have guidance counselors who are overwhelmed and may have less time and attention to share with students.