Parenting advice

De-stress the College Application Process!

You know how you don’t really remember the pain of childbirth? You won’t remember the stress of the college application process once it’s over, either. Honestly. Though just as we continue to share the blow-by-blow of our delivery room action as we bond with other mothers, we find ourselves trading stories of the trials and triumphs of the college application process, too.

Christine VanDeVelde is guest blogging at UniversityParent with advice about how you can find yourself a year from now with fewer trials and more triumph in the telling. It’s easier than you think. Check out De-Stress The College Application Process and learn more about the "college diet," broccoli talk, and how to win by expecting the best.

Solving the Problem of the Student-Athlete Parent

“I love to watch you play.” Wow! Great advice on parenting a student-athlete in "What Parents Should Say as Their Kids Perform", a post from Dr. Tim Elmore, author of Nurturing the Leader Within Your Child and founder and president of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta- based non-profit organization created to develop emerging leaders. As parents, we often found it to be enormously helpful to have "sound bites" that helped us to mix up that perfect parental cocktail of high expectations and support. Read the entire post here to learn more about how parents can be about less stress and more success.

Listen, Listen, Listen: Practical Advice from Psychologist Michael Thompson on Motivating Juniors to Focus on College

Yesterday, psychologist and author Michael Thompson joined us to provide a window into the adolescent psyche and how that can affect the interactions between parent and teen as the college application process begins. Today, in Part 2 of Thompson's post, he has some excellent recommendations – and support – for parents so that they can put these insights into action and meaningfully advise their sons and daughters.

 

With all the developmental observations and warnings from my previous post in mind, here are eight suggestions for motivating your high school junior to focus on the college process. 

1) Start with yourself.  Before you approach your child, go to a friend whose child has gone through the process.  Choose someone who is reasonable and honest, who will explain what worked and who will also confess to mistakes.  If you have a parent/friend you respect to walk you through the process, it will arm you and calm you.

Grown and Flown on College Visits

Thank you to Mary Dell Harrington and Lisa Endlich Heffernan of Grown and Flown for the shout-out for College Admission. Mary Dell is about to set out with her daughter on that rite of passage – the college road trip – and she’s sharing with readers the lessons she learned when she walked campuses in eight states five years ago with her son.  Our favorite message: It is an adventure. We believe that approached in the right way the college road trip can be a peak parenting experience -- it was for us.  Check out the rest of Mary Dell’s lessons learned here. And read more about college visits including how to prepare for hitting the road and questions for admission officers, tour guides and financial aid offices in Chapter 9, “College Visits,” in College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step.