Reach Out To Your College Student Through Good Old-fashioned Snail Mail

April 23, 2021May 5, 2009 by Vicki Nelson

There are so many ways to communicate with your college student these days that it can be overwhelming. Do you call, text, instant message, write on her facebook wall, skype, video conference, or twitter? Technology today has allowed us to stay in touch with our students on a daily, or sometimes hourly basis. A topic of a future post will be some of the thinking about the wisdom of staying too closely in touch, but this post isn’t about any of the technical wonders of communication. It is about the old fashioned technology of the college mailbox.

Even with the array of technological advances for communication, most students are still assigned a college mailbox when they arrive at college. Your student’s mailbox may be located in his residence hall, or may be located in a student center or college union. One of the rituals of college life is still going to check that mailbox, if not daily, at least occasionally. It is a great way to send a message to your college student in addition to whatever other means you usually use.

Parenting Your College Transfer Student: Navigating the Transfer Process

March 18, 2017April 23, 2009 by Vicki Nelson

In our last post, we considered some ways in which you might help your college student think about a transfer to another college. Here, we consider how to help your student through the actual transfer process itself. Our next post will examine ways in which you can support your new transfer student.

Once your college student has made a decision to transfer to another college, there are some important tasks to be done.

Gather lots of information about potential colleges and/or programs.

Your student may know exactly where he wants to transfer, or he may be looking for the appropriate school. The more information he can gather, the more smoothly the process will go. One advantage that your student now has is the knowledge he has gained through the time he has spent at his current school. As he thinks about the reasons for transferring, he will think of questions he wants to be sure that he asks at the new school. What are his priorities? What wasn’t working (if anything) at the current school? Encourage him to take time to look carefully at the new institution. Study the website. Visit the school. Stay overnight on campus if possible. Talk to current students. Meet with admissions or advising personnel at the new school. Ask lots of questions.