To Do List for Rising College Freshmen
If your student has recently graduated from high school, congratulations! What a milestone! Summer can be a whirlwind, so if you are looking for a quick checklist of things to stay on top of, we’ve got you covered.
Ask your student to review their university portal regularly, and make sure your student is on top of to do items such as:
Sending their final high school transcript to the university they are attending (your student will submit a request to their high school and the official transcript will be electronically transmitted from the high school to the university, so they will need to check instructions in both the university portal and their high school’s website).
If your student took any Dual Enrollment classes, they will need to provide those transcripts to the university as well to receive credit. The process is the same as for high school transcripts.
Make orientation / registration appointments with the university. These will be listed as to do items on the university portal.
If your student’s university portal allows for guest access, talk to them about granting it. This kind of access is designed for parents. Confidential student information such as grades is not included, but payment deadlines and other important information is accessible. At most schools, your student will request through the portal that you be granted guest access, and you will have your own log in to the portal. This is especially helpful to have to make sure that your student (and you) don’t incur expensive late fees.
Calendar payment deadlines.
Avoid expensive surprises - if your student has health insurance and is opting out of university-offered health insurance they will need to indicate that in the portal.
Map out a health care plan for the summer. Remember that doctors and dentists are busy during the summer months, so plan ahead. We are sharing some reminders here, but we recommend following the advice of your own health care providers and the always helpful Dr. Jill Grimes (“The College Doc” - find her on instagram at @jillgrimesmd).
Schedule a dentist appointment AND a follow up for winter break.
Schedule a physical, and ask the doctor about recommended vaccinations.
Ask the doctor about existing prescriptions and refills.
Schedule summer appointments with any specialists your student sees.
Order a copy of your student’s health insurance card for them to take with them. Have them take a photo of it (front and back!) to have it handy in their phone.
Help your student write up a medical information document, including their name, date of birth, known allergies, name and contact info for hometown doctor, medical history (including conditions, illnesses, and surgeries) medications and doses (prescription and non-prescription), vaccination record, and family history). Your student can keep this stored on google drive or another cloud-based storage site for easy access when needed.
Most college wellness and health care centers require students to have an account set up with them in order to receive care. At most schools, your student can set this up in advance, which makes it easier to schedule an appointment when needed.
Other easily-forgotten tasks:
Does your student know their social security number? Make sure they know it or have quick access to it.
Prepare for tech disasters - make sure your student has a printout of things like their AppleID, google password, etc. in case their devices are damaged or stolen. Maintain a printed copy as well - and keep a copy at home.
Prepare a printed list of contact information. If your students phone is misplaced, stolen, or damaged, they won’t be able to pull up vital contacts.
Most people report that the summer before college flies by. Our goal is to provide guidance and support that will help your family reduce the stress and enjoy these short months together.