Transition to College

 Parents worry about their students in many ways.  We are worried about having the money to support their student, we worry about the risks that may interefere with the investment they make in college, we worry about the academic progress their student makes towards graduation and probably most frequnetly we worry about the health and well being of their college student.   What may surprize some families is how interconnected the health of their student is to their progress towards graduation.  

First day. Freshman year. Alone. Nervous. It was like being a baby bird, and then your mother comes home to nest one day and tells you, “Go ahead. Fly.” I stood on the campus of Howard University in a daze. Upperclassmen brushed past me, hurriedly running to class. Everyone seemed so…busy. It was hard to focus even. But slowly and surely I got that hang of it, and things became fluid. I loved my classes.

College students are moving in for the new school year, but some parents may not be emotionally ready for it. On August 31, 2011 Vicky Nelson, Editor of College Parents of America, talks to Joy Cardin, Ideas Network on Wisconsin Public Radio about the role of the parent, whether "helicopter parenting" is a good idea and how to deal with the empty nest when kids move out.  Listen to the interview:

Everybody is talking about the rising cost of college tuition and the resulting student loan debt that America’s college students are accumulating.  Parents and students are wringing their hands and complaining loudly, while many politicians are placing blame and passing the buck.

On its surface, merit aid for college is an appealing concept to most parents, especially those who are Moms and Dads of high-achieving students.But questions and objections start to arise with attempts at implementation of merit aid, as colleges try to ensure that available money fairly gets into the hands of students who most deserve it.

Back-and-forth between professors and students just isn't the norm in much of Europe. But John Ferrel didn't know that when he spent a semester at the University of Burgos in Spain before graduating in May from Boston University. "A couple of times I raised my hand in class, and everyone looked shocked," he says. But he adapted quickly: "By my second or third month, I had my first dream in Spanish."

Fire safety should be a priority in evaluating accommodations both before and after entering college. Your students should be aware of housing authority safety policies or create their own check list if living off campus:

College Parents of America operates with a premise that every student wants to succeed.  We also believe that part of your role as a parent is to help your student to succeed frequently as the school year begins, and to aid him or her in attaining a higher level of performance throughout the academic year.

For at least 18 years, you have probably considered yourself to be your student’s principal advisor.  You have been there every step of the way, literally from the first steps taken, and then on to the first words spoken, the first tests taken, and the first degrees granted.  You probably didn’t have any “training” to be a parent, but somehow you figured it out.

The University of Richmond, like many small liberal arts colleges, has its roots in single-sex education. The campus, which sits on a picturesque 350 acres of woodland a few miles outside the Virginia state capital, was once two schools: Westhampton and Richmond colleges, on opposite sides of a small lake. The campuses merged around the turn of the 20th century, creating the coed institution that exists today. The delicate balance between men and women at Richmond has always been a tricky thing to manage.