A Fellow Traveler's Advice on Parenting Through the College Admission Process

Lists are objects of affection here at College Admission.  There's nothing like a checklist to help students and families break down the big challenge of college applications into its manageable parts. According to author Maria Konnikova writing in the New Yorker, "…lists tap into our preferred way of receiving and organizing information at a subconscious level; from an information-processing standpoint, they often hit our attentional sweet spot."

So we were so happy to see this list of sixteen pieces of excellent advice from Mary Dell Harrington of Grown and Flown -- College Admissions: Don’t Go It Alone-- which hits the sweet spot of parenting through the college application process.

From advice about dealing with college visits, siblings, and obsessing to tips for weathering the ups and downs and shielding your kids from the questioners, Mary Dell also has great guidance about how to share the experience of sending your child off to the halls of higher academe. Just reading her piece lowers the emotional ante that gets amped in the anxiety of this time in a family's life. So read the whole thing here. There's nothing like having a fellow traveler on this journey.

 

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