In July of last year, I was searching for the best deals on bedding, towels, shower caddies, and other accessories for my son's dorm room. I was spending more time on physical things than anything else, though in hindsight I would have done the following things with as much, if not more gusto. As a college professor and college success coach my perspective changed dramatically when I dropped my freshman son on campus and became a “college mom.”
In recent years, a variety of issues have impacted students. As a parent of a college student as well as a college professor, I can attest that, in both contexts, the demands of students have changed. My observations go beyond anecdotal evidence. HERI’s First Year College survey from 2021 revealed that 50% of respondents felt it was somewhat difficult for them to adjust on an academic level, including time management, and study skills needs. It’s also fair to say that college experiences have dramatically changed over the past few decades as compared to when parents may have attended college themselves.
So while your student is figuring out what will fit in the shelves and what will fit in the dresser drawers, you can also be there to help them adjust to organizing for the conceptual world of college.
Organizing for Success: Not Just Dorm Room Organization
Download and access the academic calendar for your child’s college. This can be easily found by Google search of “academic calendar” and the college name; it can also be found on the college’s website. Take note of the vacation dates and other important dates. When possible, book any travel ahead of time because rates will go up well in advance in a lot of cases. This is also a chance for you to help your child build their calendar for when midterms and finals are scheduled.
Make sure your child familiarizes themselves with their college’s LMS (learning management system). Each college will most likely have their own platform and there are ways to customize and make sure that notifications and calendar items and assignment due dates are sent to your child’s phone/personal calendar. There are usually online resources and workshops available to familiarize students with the systems.
Think about organizational strategies: Consider how your student writes down assignments- do they need a physical planner? A digital planner? Both? There are also productivity apps that can help students as well. The summer is a good time to try out different tools.
Navigating Academic Expectations
College carries different expectations from high school, including a bit more of an expectation of independent practice and learning. This means students need to take the initiative about attending office hours, seminar tutoring, and other resources. Familiarize yourself with all of the program offerings and resources at your college including library services, workshops, and tutoring. It might also be helpful to go through possible scenarios and help your child consider options for “what to do if….” This is a fantastic opportunity for your child to compile all of these resources into a document that is simple to access, complete with the contact details of their academic adviser and any other readily available resources.
Review Attendance Policies
Of course emergencies and illnesses happen, but students need to understand that attendance is a huge part of success in college. Your child needs to review the college and department-specific policies for attendance.
Maintaining a Healthy Balance
A recent New York Times Article by Ellen Barry highlighted a recent study by Zhai and Du (2024) about increasing rates of PTSD in college students. It’s important to identify social-emotional opportunities, clubs, available on-site mental health resources, and social activities that can help your student balance academic and social experiences and hopefully help students mitigate stress and burnout.
Another consideration to be aware of is that your child is—well—not a child anymore. At over 18 years old you will need your child to grant you permission for financial and academic access under federal privacy laws known as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). You can usually access digital forms for free on the college’s website and this allows parents a bit more information regarding financial information and/or academic achievement, which can help you be informed and empowered to support your child.
Finally–and this might be a tough conversation–if your child had an IEP or 504 in their secondary schooling, they might be entitled to some accommodations in college. In my personal and professional experience, college students may be reluctant to request accommodations, thinking that they can “manage.” If your child is opposed to self-reporting and requesting accommodations, this may be a good conversation to have with your child to help them understand how it can help them. Please be advised that while colleges are required to provide certain services under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to students with learning disabilities, they may not offer all of the accommodations your child had in high school.
The first semester can be a massive transition and the sudden independence can feel exciting for college students. Finding the balance between autonomy and helping students to adjust to the rigors of college can feel overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be. Take it one step at a time, and use your child’s syllabi to guide academic conversations. They will learn so much in their first year, and so will you!
For more information and resources, you can find me at leveragingliteracy.com
References:
Zhai Y, Du X. Trends in Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder in US College Students, 2017-2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(5):e2413874. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.13874
Great points! Definitely keeping this in my back pocket. For now, we are preparing ourselves for the “this is what we can pay for” conversation and choosing schools.
This is fantastic, thorough, and ultimately useful!!! Everything you say here is spot on! Thank you for your tremendous insight!