One of the pitfalls for first year students in college is their perceptions that college is like high school, or just like “the 13th grade.” This is particularly the case in community colleges, since those institutions are open-access, meaning anyone with a high school diploma can attend. To be sure, this means the range of […]
Community College is Not the 13th Grade Read More »
I have a number of pet peeves. One of them is about how students approach academic advising. Just as students have to be active in the classroom in college—more so than in high school—the same applies to academic advising. Taking Control Ask any academic advisor. Their worst nightmare as an advisor is a student who
The Best Academic Advising Appointment Read More »
At the end of every academic term, students say they’re happy that term is over and they’re looking forward to a rest. This is healthy and makes perfect sense. Allow your student to disconnect from school and rest doing whatever they want to do (within reason) during breaks, both short and long. Other students face
New Start for the New Year Read More »
As students begin returning home for the holidays, be those holidays Thanksgiving, or one of the many celebrated in December, parents and students often ask how they will get along? I addressed this in a previous post, and thought it would be good to repeat some of those points now. What’s So Different I spoke
Many of us receive that teary phone call from a son or daughter asking to come home. That strong and sassy child who wouldn’t even look back when you pulled away from their campus on opening day is ready to throw in the towel because things just don’t feel right to them. They tell you
For many new students, college is the first time they’ve shared a room with someone they don’t know and it causes them great anxiety. But it doesn’t have to be that way. What a College Roommate Is and Isn’t College roommates are people you live with for a set period of time in college, nothing
Many college and universities offer a form of orientation that takes place in late June. This program goes by a variety of names, and often includes advising, placement testing and registration for students. Family members are often invited too, and if that’s what your student’s school does, please attend, because this program is really for
Spring Orientation Read More »
Managing their time is one of the hardest things for new students to do. As much as they worked hard in high school (or think they did,) so much of their time was structured by other people. For example, their parents insisted on study time in the evenings, their coaches pushed student athletes to study
Taking Control of Their Time as College Students Read More »
Thanksgiving is my favorite secular holiday. It’s the one time I remember making the time to travel to my parents’ home with my kids, since we always stayed home for Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. It was at Thanksgiving that my then-future wife met my extended family and vice versa, so it holds special meaning for
Preparing For That First Thanksgiving Read More »
Ah, fall. The time when colleges and universities invite the parents and family members of their students back to campus for the first time since orientation. What’s a family to do when they receive that invitation? Do you head back to campus, or decide that it just isn’t worth the time? The answer is, it depends.
Parent and Family Weekend: Do You Go? Read More »