Preparing for a Positive Social and Emotional Transition from High School to College
Helping your student prepare for college often includes financial aid forms, housing and roommate selection, choosing a major, and numerous shopping trips to Bed, Bath and Beyond. As a longtime Assistant Director of a Counseling Center on a college campus, I have seen a drastic shift in the guidance and support that incoming students and their families need in terms of preparing for college.
The data is clear that rates of anxiety and depression are rising for incoming college students. One in five youth and young adults experience a mental health condition. Nearly 50% of college students have felt so depressed that they found it difficult to function. More than 40% have stated that anxiety is their top presenting concern. Suicide is the second leading cause of death amongst college students.
So, how are we preparing our students to take care of their mental and emotional health as it relates to academic success?
Having conversations with your student before they go to college is crucial, especially in deciding if living on a college campus is in your student’s best interest. Even if your student has never struggled with their mental and emotional health, here are some questions to consider:
How will you deal with stress and feeling overwhelmed?
If you were a student athlete in high school, and are no longer going to be playing a sport, how will you build connections and spend your time?
How do you feel about making new friends? Where and how are you planning to do that?
You have never had to share your bedroom, how are you going to cope with a roommate with different sleep, study, cleaning, etc. habits?
If your student has already had to navigate issues with their mental health, you will need to be more specific and focused in your questions to your student, as well as the school they are going to:
What kind of counseling support on campus is available and how often will you go? (Note: Many colleges cannot provide weekly sessions and are not able to manage medications. It will be crucial to know what is and is not available.
Mixing alcohol with any preexisting mental health condition, and certainly medication, can have severe implications on someone’s mental health. How are you going to navigate drug and alcohol use at school? (Note: This is a question that all families can be asking their student.)
Times have changed since parents/guardians were in college. Due to technology, students are more isolated and living in filtered realities. The pressure of balancing school, work, sports, internships, extracurricular activities, etc. can be overwhelming. Therefore, having conversations early, and often, is extremely important for personal, social, academic and professional success.
Lastly, and these questions can be more difficult to consider, but are you and your student certain that attending a traditional four-year college, and living on a college campus are the right choice? Would community college, commuting, or going to a trade school make more sense? It is hard to not compare to others, but often, success comes from creating an authentic path that truly fits the person.
A wonderful resource for parents and students to assist in having these conversations and navigating the process beginning at picking the right school to transitioning in the best way is www.settogo.org. I highly recommend visiting the website and using some of the many tools provided there, such as their “Right Fit Quiz” and “Transition of Care Guide.”
