College Admissions: Freshmen Blues - What’s a Parent to Do?
Cristiana Quinn, GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert
College Admissions: Freshmen Blues - What’s a Parent to Do?
1. Relationship Issues
If a student has an untenable roommate situation, this is completely fixable. And often, once the roommate situation is resolved, the student can embrace the other positive aspects of the college. Counsel your child to speak with their Resident Assistant (RA) and ask about a room transfer and what the process entails. If your child feels on the other hand that they do not fit in with the student population as a whole, encourage him/her to join some clubs on campus where they may meet a wider variety of students. The school newspaper, Drama Troupe, Outing Club and fraternities/sororities all terrific opportunities to meet people who aren’t in their dorm and may be more their “type” of person. Give your child time to adjust, remind them of why they picked the college and all the wonderful attributes that exist on campus. Social adjustments are rarely made in a few weeks and can often take a full year.
2. Academic Struggles
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Many students arrive on campus each year unprepared to handle the academic rigors of college. Add to that new found social freedom, and you often have a recipe for disaster. Nationally, about 38% of freshmen do not return to the same college for sophomore year- many because they are failing. Make sure that you ask your child how their grades are, and if there are any courses that they find particularly difficult. Just about every college campus has an Academic Support Center with subject tutors, writing assistance and study skills courses. Additionally, professors often sit idly behind their desks during office hours while students ignore the most obvious source of help. Many undergrads simply fail to leverage the resources available to them. Other students will find freshman year not challenging enough. This is usually because they are taking pre-requisite courses, and as they move up the ladder to 200 and 300 level courses, classes will become more challenging. If not, they may need to transfer.
3. Location Woes
For the student who THOUGHT they might be happy in the big city or the wilds of Maine, only to realize that the environment doesn’t suit them, the challenge is tougher. Time will tell if they can adjust to the sometimes impersonal city school or the mall-starved woodsy campus. Homesickness can also be an issue as students miss friends and family. Suggest that they attend more on-campus concerts, lectures and social gatherings. Encourage them to take advantage of weekend excursions offered by the school. Most colleges outside a city offer transportation to the city, and remote campuses offer ski buses or other outing opportunities. If the situation doesn’t resolve itself by January, it may not be a long term fit.
For many students, freshman year is a time of tremendous change and growth. With this can come a roller coaster of emotions. Parents need to be prepared for stormy seas and to sometimes steady the ship to keep it on course. If things don’t calm down by early in the second semester, then it’s time to consider alternatives. Most transfer deadlines fall in March or April, with a few being earlier or later. This gives students a few more months to consider if they really want to switch schools. But remember that transferring is not a magic bullet. It’s not always easy to assimilate socially as a sophomore or junior, and many colleges don’t provide housing for transfers. So, make sure that your child has given their college a TRULY fair chance before you jump ship.
Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic, college counseling and athletic recruiting services for students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.
Top New England Colleges According to Business Insider
#13 Wesleyan University
Overall Rank: 49
Location: Middletown, CT
Score: 2.73 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $47,244
Business Insider: "With roughly 2,900 undergraduates on a 316-acre campus overlooking the Conn. River, Wesleyan uses its small size to provide highly personal faculty support and customizable programs of study to students.
#12 Boston University
Overall Rank: 45
Location: Boston, MA
Score: 2.79 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $44,910
Business Insider: "A concrete campus located in the bustling city of Boston, BU has nearly 100 study abroad programs in 23 countries, an active social media presence with more than 200 Facebook pages and groups, and 20-plus NCAA Division I varsity sports, including a multiple NCAA national championship-winning hockey team."
#11 Wellesley College
Overall Rank: 44
Location: Wellesley, MA
Score: 2.86 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $43,544
Business Insider: "Madeleine Albright, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Diane Sawyer are among the nearly 37,000 living alumni of Wellesley College, an institute with an unwavering commitment to empowering women to make a difference in the world."
#10 Middlebury College
Overall Rank: 40
Location: Middlebury, VT
Score: 2.94 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $57,075
Business Insider: "Renowned for leadership in language instruction and environmental studies, Middlebury emphasizes close interaction between students and faculty as the core of its education. All courses are taught by faculty members, rather than graduate assistants, and 65% of classes contain fewer than 20 students."
#9 Tufts University
Overall Rank: 37
Location: Medford, MA
Score: 3.07 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,598
Business Insider: "Tufts University encourages students to pursue interdisciplinary studies at its two colleges, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. An overwhelming 90% of students are enrolled in the first, which boasts a liberal arts college feel in a research-rich environment."
#8 Boston College
Overall Rank: 36
Location: Boston, MA
Score: 3.09 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,088
Business Insider: "Boston College jumps four spots on our list, thanks in part to its tremendous growth in recent years. Undergraduate applications have soared 75% over the past decade, and voluntary giving by alumni has increased the university's endowment to $1.9 billion."
#7 Amherst College
Overall Rank: 27
Location: Amherst, MA
Score: 3.31 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $58,744
Business Insider: "Ranked the second-best liberal arts school in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report, Amherst College climbed four spots on our list this year."
#6 Williams College
Overall Rank: 23
Location: Williamstown, MA
Score: 3.40 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,600
Business Insider: "Williams was number 27 on last year's list, but our readers voted it up to No. 23 this time around. A top liberal arts college, Williams is set to host its own TEDx conference for students and faculty in January 2014."
#5 Brown University
Overall Rank: 20
Location: Providence, RI
Score: 3.60 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $45,612
Business Insider: "Brown is known for being the most individualistic of the Ivies, and with some of the happiest students."
#4 Dartmouth College
Overall Rank: 9
Location: Hanover, NH
Score: 3.96 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,752
Business Insider: "At 4,200 enrolled undergraduate students, Dartmouth is the smallest of the Ivies. But its size has no bearing on the prestige of its programs; the school was ranked No. 1 in undergraduate teaching courses by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth year in a row."
#3 Yale University
Overall Rank: 5
Location: New Haven, CT
Score: 4.25 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $44,125
Business Insider: "Our readers were not shy in praising Yale's hardworking professors: 'Yale is still the best ranking... school thanks to it[s] high profile faculty," one respondent pointed out. 'It's them who keep Yale in the top.'"
#2 Harvard University
Overall Rank: 3
Location: Cambridge, MA
Score: 4.42 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $42,292
Business Insider: "For the third year in a row, Harvard has held fast at No. 3. Harvard's most popular majors (or "concentrations," as they're called there) are economics and political science, and the Crimson school has been hailed for its think-outside-the-box approach to learning."
Business Insider's rating is scored out of 5 and is based on the results of a 1,000-person reader survey that asked how much each college will help students succeed in life. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot.
#1 MIT
Overall Rank: 1
Location: Cambridge, MA
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $42,050
Business Insider: "The tech school admits fewer than 9 percent of applicants, some of whom have gone on to achieve prestigious awards like Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, MacArthur Grants, and National Medals of Technology and Innovation."
Business Insider's rating is scored out of 5 and is based on the results of a 1,000-person reader survey that asked how much each college will help students succeed in life. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot.
