Why Is My Student In ”Developmental Classes”?

The step from high school to college may actually be better termed a large leap.  Students need to make important changes in their expectations, approaches, habits, attitudes and responsibilities.  For students who are moving away and living at school the challenges are even greater.  Although most students understand that there will be significant changes in their social world and in their independence and responsibilities, many students — and their parents — underestimate the significance of the academic differences between high school and college.

Although they may be ready for college in many ways, a portion of students may not be ready for college level academic work.  Most colleges recognize that some students need to improve academic skills or fill in gaps in order to enhance their chances for academic success.  These students needing extra readiness skills may be placed in ”developmental courses”.  Although these courses may have different titles or designations at different institutions, their purpose is the same: to help the student gain proficiency in basic skills in order to help him succeed.

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Helping Your College Student Make Sense of Midterm Grades

Once midterm exams are over, many students will receive their midterm grades.  At some institutions students will receive grades, if they receive them at all, individually from instructors.  At other institutions, there may be something more formal.  Students may receive actual letter grades, or they may receive something to indicate satisfactory or unsatisfactory grades.

There are some important things to remember about midterm grades — and to help your student remember in order to make sense — and productive use — of these mid-semester grades.

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Why Your College Student Should Talk To Their Professor If They’re Struggling

Many college students, even the best college students, struggle at one time or another.  It may be a difficult time for the student, it may be a difficult subject for the student, or there may be a teaching/learning style issue with the instructor.  Whatever the reason for the difficulty, it is often hard for a parent to watch a student struggle.  Parents may feel helpless and may want to step in to help.  Parents can be helpful, as always, by being supportive.  However, they can also be helpful by encouraging their student to address any difficulties.  By encouraging your student to take some action, you are sending them the message that you believe that they can take charge of what is happening in their life.

The first and best place for the student to begin dealing with the issue of academic difficulty is to talk to their instructor.  Students and their professors have the same goal: the student’s success.  This involves a shared responsibility.  A conversation with the instructor is a good way to explore the problem and begin to formulate a solution.  Most difficulties only get worse when they are ignored or when there is no communication.

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Ten Suggestions to Help Students Through the Stress of Midterm Exams

Midterm exam time is a stressful time for most students.  For many students, midterm exam time comes as a wake-up call.  The beginning of the semester has progressed smoothly, or so it seems, and then suddenly your student realizes how much there still is to do on that paper or project, or how many chapters are yet unread, or how much material must be memorized for an exam.  Although some students may have had large midterm or final exams in high school, for some students this may be a new experience.  This may be one of the first big college reality checks for your student.

College parents may feel helpless as their college student begins to worry or even panic over exams.  This is one of those college moments where your student needs to figure out how they will cope.  However, there are a few things that parents can do to help students through this stressful time.

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Location, Location, Location: Where’s Your College Student Studying?

You know your college student is having many different kinds of experiences while they are at college.  You want then to have experiences that will expand their world, increase their independence, and broaden their thinking.  But you also know that your student will be spending a significant amount of time at college (hopefully!) just doing the work of studying.  When you visualize your student diligently studying, where do you picture them? Do you visualize your student sitting in their peaceful residence hall room at their carefully organized desk?  You might be surprised to find that this may be the least desirable place for your student to accomplish their work.

Reminding your student to spend enough time studying maybe one of the things that you expect to do, and your student probably expects to hear that from you.  But remember, your student needs to take charge of making their own decisions about studying.   If you want to take a slightly different approach that might help your student do well, suggest that they get creative in their thinking about where they are studying as well as how much they are studying.  Many students find that having just the right spot to settle in and get work done makes a big difference.  Recognizing that every student’s needs are different, and that every campus provides different options, of course, is important.

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First Year Seminar: Your College Student’s First Step Into College

Not all colleges and universities offer a course called First-Year or Freshman Seminar.  But more and more colleges are offering some kind of course specifically designed to help students make the adjustment to college life and college academics.  Your college student may be registered for such a course and you may be wondering what it entails.

First Year Seminar courses are designed to enhance the success of first year students as they make the transition to college and college level work.  They are usually available only to new first year students, but occasionally they are also open to transfer students.   In recent years, as the result of many research studies, more and more colleges are focusing on the entire experience of first-year students.  There is a growing effort to help these students adjust and succeed.  The focus on the first-year experience provides a double benefit.  Students succeed, and therefore the attrition rate decreases.  Students stay at their college and colleges increase their retention rates.  It is a good outcome for everyone.

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Helping Your College Student Be a Better Student: Twelve Questions to Ask

Your college student may have been an outstanding scholar in high school, or he may have struggled throughout his academic career.  His patterns of being a student have been set for years.  However, college provides a new academic start for students.  Students who breezed through high school may find themselves challenged for the first time.  Students who found themselves labeled as poor students in high school may find that the fresh start gives them new energy and perspective on their studies.

Whether your student is encountering academic difficulty for the first time in college, or has fought this battle before, you may receive the phone call in which your student worries about her grades, complains about the amount and difficulty of the work, is aggravated at the professor, and is generally discouraged.  Academics in college are very different than in high school and they often require a new approach.

What is a parent to do?  First of all, listen.  Let your student vent.  Sometimes, that may be all that is necessary.  But second, ask some questions to help your student try to figure out what he can do to make things better.  Help him think about taking action.  Here are twelve questions that you might ask your struggling student to help him think through the issue.

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Are There Secrets to College Success?

If there were absolute, no fail secrets to college success that worked for every student, every student would know them and follow them and be successful.  The reality is that there are no sure-fire secrets that work for every student.  Each student is an individual with unique strengths and weaknesses, coming from a unique background and placed in a unique situation.

However, there are some tried and true tips that help most students.  We’d like to offer our three favorite tips.  We hope you’ll pass them on to your college student.  We welcome you to share your responses and suggestions.

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Dual Registration May Give High School Students a Head Start on College

In two earlier posts, we discussed possible timelines for a college education.  Many students currently find that they need more than the traditional four years to successfully complete their college degree.  Other students may attempt to complete their college education in less than four years in order to save on tuition fees or to get into the workplace sooner.  Each student’s needs, motivation, abilities and financial situation are different.

One path that some students consider, in order to speed their college experience, is dual registration.  Dual registration involves high school students enrolling in college courses for credit at the same time that they are completing their high school work. They receive credit for the courses at both the high school and college level. It is sometimes called dual credit, concurrent enrollment, dual enrollment or joint enrollment.  Dual registration is not for everyone – in fact, a relatively small number of high school students attempt it – but for highly motivated and talented students, or students with particularly focused interests, it may be just the right thing to engage them during their final year of high school and to allow them to begin working on their college degree while still in high school.  This may allow them to save time and money when they enter college.

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What Parents Can Do To Support Their College Student Studying Abroad

This is the third of a series of three posts about college students and studying abroad.  In the first post we looked at some of the reasons why a study abroad program might make sense for your college student.  In the second post, we considered how to help your student prepare to go abroad, and in this final post we look at what to do while he is away.

Your college student has headed off confidently (or perhaps with a bit of trepidation) on her study abroad experience.  You are proud of her, excited for her, and perhaps, a bit concerned for her.  You know that the experience is important and wonderful for her, but you are a parent and you worry.  Here are a few suggestions of things that you can do to help ease the transition – for her – and for you.

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