transition to college

Times they are a changin'. Your child is getting ready to embark on a new adventure and start college. Whether your student will move thousands of miles away or live in your basement, your role as parent will look different than it has until now. Before the change is official, make time to sit down and DTR - define the relationship.

Going away to college is a monumental event in a young adult's life. Behind most incoming students are supportive, excited and attentive parents or family members. To ease the transition - and put parents at ease - college orientations must include sessions for parents that consider their needs and concerns.

At University Parent, we partner with more than 130 colleges and universities to provide parents with a support network and comprehensive information about their child's school. Our parents also look to us to provide general tips, encouragement and the advice of other parents.

We tell our parents that college orientation is a taste of what life will be like for their students, but it's also a time for parents to ask questions and voice concerns, while giving their child space to break away from them to meet new people and experience campus life.

Parenting can be an art of extremes. Maternal instincts link mothers of all species through all time in a pact that will stop at nothing to protect the young. Children can become our biggest challenge, our greatest reward, the object of our affection or the origin of our ulcer.

As second semester of senior year hits for your high school student, senioritis may start to look more like a terminal problem than a temporary one. While some students are applying and accepting admission to colleges, others see one semester of school as an insurmountable feat - let alone four or five more years. If that sounds like your student, maybe a "gap year" - or a year between high school and college - is the solution.