keys to college success

The number ONE reason students STAY in college is that they build meaningful relationships with friends, faculty members, and staff members.  They stay in college because they feel connected to people at the institution. 

There are a variety of reasons why students drop out of college in their first year including homesickness (of the students and of the parents), because "college was expected" and they weren't ready, they were unprepared for the increased academic expectations; the college/university didn't have the major they wanted; money issues began to feel insurmountable; poor time management skills; poor study habits; they didn't figure out how to find the support they needed; and they were not prepared to leave home and live independently.  The number one reason students drop out of college is because we, their parents, let them-it is because when they express their desire to come home, we let them because we miss them immensely.  We miss them because we didn't just send them off to college; we sent them off to life! (Coleman, 2010).  AND students succeed because we let them!  As parents we have done our best to instill decent, human values in our children and now they are off to test them as they begin to find their own, independent ways just like we did.    How will they do? Take the David Coleman QUIZ:  How well do you know the first year college student?

Time management: 

The common wisdom is that for every hour a student spends in class, two to three hours should be spent with the course material outside of class.  For a student carrying 15 semester hours, that means 30 to 45 hours outside of class for a total of 45 to 60 hours per week.  Being a full-time college student is almost a full-time job!  Planning study time FIRST is important and then job schedules, sleeping, showering, eating, commuting time, social time, and campus activities can be planned. Here is a time management tool offered to students.

What to do between Summer Orientation and the Fall start-of-school:

Many students are self-sufficient young adults ready for the balancing of academics and life skills that college requires.  Some students, however need a crash-course in order to get a handle on some basic life skills, such as:

• How to do laundry and iron.
• How to get up in the morning with an alarm clock.
• How to balance a check book.
• What "compound interest" on a credit card means.
• Basic cooking skills.
• Basic sewing skills (sewing on buttons).
• Basic cleaning techniques.

Students are not necessarily in a place to hear about what they should be or should not be doing when in college.  What they will hear is how much you love them and believe in them.