College Graduation Gift Ideas

It’s graduation season – and your student is graduating! Congratulations!

Your student may move on to graduate school or begin a new career. They may be moving home or into their own apartment.

No matter where your student is headed, this is a milestone and you want to mark the occasion with an appropriate graduation gift. Whether it’s large or small, practical or sentimental, it’s sometimes difficult to come up with just the right ideas.

Special gifts should be personal, and you know your student best. We’re offering some suggestions to help you start your imagination flowing. Think about your student’s interests, needs, and personality and see where it takes you.

We’re listing a dozen ideas here, but then be sure to check out our list of ideas from previous years. All together, you’ve got nearly 50 ideas to get you started.

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#085 – A Pathway to Success for Students with Disabilities (and everyone else, too!): An Interview with Elizabeth Hamblet

Elizabeth Hamblet joined us for a second interview to share highlights of the new edition of her book: Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities. Elizabeth helped us unpack some of the complexities of college accommodations and student responsibilities that help students make a smooth transition from high school to college. The more parents and students know and understand about the differences in laws and the nature of college support  the more successful students will be. We learned so much about how different colleges approach support and the questions students and parents need to ask to find a good match.

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It’s No April Fool’s Joke! College Parent Central Is Celebrating an Anniversary!

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 fourteenth year. Happy Anniversary to us!

When we first launched on April 1st in 2009 we weren’t sure what to expect. It seemed somehow appropriate to choose April Fool’s Day. Launch something that seems like a good idea and see what happens. Who knows?

We recognized that college parents (and high school parents, too) needed information and support, and we hoped we could help provide some of that guidance. Now, as we celebrate our fourteenth year, we continue that belief, and parents continue to let us know they appreciate the information we provide.

Thank you to all of those who have given us feedback and support and who have shared our information with others! Word of mouth is still the best way to reach those who can use this information.

Our Mission

It is always a good idea, from time to time, to reflect on your roots. Each time we look back to the purpose that drove us to launch College Parent Central, we reaffirm that our basic principles haven’t changed.

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College Parent News and Views – March 2023

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 in the comments below.

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College Parents and Students: We Hope and We Worry

We all know we have hopes for our students, and we certainly worry about them in many ways. Our students have their own worries, and their hopes. But we may wonder how what we worry about and what we hope for match what other parents and students are thinking. Are our dreams and concerns totally unique?  Of course, there’s no way of knowing all of the things others dream or worry about, but when it comes to colleges, and especially getting into colleges, we do have some insight.

Each year the Princeton Review conducts a survey of students and parents to explore what we are all thinking about college. They call it the “College Hopes and Worries Survey.”

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#084 – Join Us for Our First Read-Along Book Group!

We’re trying something new and we invite you to join us! If you’re a regular listener you know we love to talk about books that help us in our role as college parents and help us support our students. We’ve picked the book There is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow by Jeffrey Selingo to read over the next several weeks and we invite you to read along with us. We hope you’ll share some of your thoughts, questions and reactions with us. In this episode Lynn and Vicki share why we chose this book and how you can participate in our virtual book group. Once you hear more about the book, we know you’ll be excited about participating in this adventure. We’ll be sharing everyone’s responses soon in episode #86.

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Helping Your College Student Control the Overwhelm

We’re all stressed these days and students are no different. They’re stressed and anxious and struggling with their mental health now more than ever. It’s not very comfortable when we feel stressed and anxious, but it’s worse watching someone you love struggle.

A certain amount of stress is a normal part of college life. After all, there are assignments and papers and projects and exams and grades and social life and future careers to worry about. But when stress slides into feeling overwhelmed by everything, it can feel too challenging to manage.

What is overwhelm? It’s when your student feels submerged, smothered and paralyzed by it all. A certain amount of stress may be normal, but overwhelm feels like too much.

Why the overwhelm?

Students are juggling a lot.  They have schoolwork, possibly a job, a social life, perceived pressure to do well, expectations to live up to, increased responsibilities and independence, overscheduling and probably a lack of sleep.

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#083 – Why Are Students Reluctant to Connect with Professors?

In our post-pandemic teaching we’ve noticed that many students seem nervous about reaching out to their professors and are unsure about how to connect. We know that this relationship is critical to student success. In this episode Lynn and Vicki explore some of the strategies parents can share with their students to coach them in their interactions with professors. These conversations can help students feel more comfortable talking with professors and making their meetings productive.

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Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | iHeart Radio

Please leave us a review at “Love the Podcast” to help others find us.


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College Parent News and Views – February 2023

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 in the comments below.

Read more


#082 – Mindfulness for College Students: An Interview with Dr. Eric Loucks

Lynn and Vicki were joined in this episode by Dr. Eric Loucks author of The Mindful College Student: How to Succeed, Boost Well-Being and Build the Life You Want at University and Beyond to talk about the impact that mindfulness can have on student success. Dr. Loucks helped us understand what mindfulness is and how it can help students deal with stress, attention and focus, self-awareness, emotional-regulation and even career choice. This information is not only helpful for college students but for parents as well.

SUBSCRIBE VIA
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | TuneIn Radio | iHeart Radio

Please leave us a review at “Love the Podcast” to help others find us.


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