The first six weeks of the school year are a crucial time for student success. Your student is settled into their residence hall or off-campus home, they are fairly used to their class schedule and soon they will be preparing for their first round of exams.
Academics in college differ greatly from academics in high school. Not only are they studying at a more challenging level, but they lack the structure given to them by parents and teachers in high school. In high school, your student could have anticipated you, or a teacher, confronting them if they hadn’t completed their homework or if they weren’t doing as well as they should. Now, your student is responsible for their own success. While our professors will support your student, they will not be as involved in the day-to-day tasks as your student might be used to. Stress to your student the importance of reading syllabi. Each professor will place their deadlines and class expectations in a syllabus at the beginning of the year. Professors may give assignment reminders throughout the semester, or they may assume your student has read the syllabus expect them to have homework completed without constant reminders.
There are many resources available on campus for your student if they are struggling, but they have to seek them out. Ask your student if they are keeping track of graded assignments. This will help them decide if they need to reach out for additional assistance. If they sound like they need help, encourage them to reach out to their professor or to the Center for Academic Support early. The earlier in the semester they seek out help, the more likely they are to succeed.
Attendance is also an entirely different challenge in college. In high school, it was a requirement to attend classes every day. Yes, there are still many classes with attendance policies, but no one is going to seek your student out if they choose to sleep through their morning classes. They may think there are no consequences to skipping, but grades can fall dramatically if they abuse the attendance policies or miss something crucial that was said during class. Ask your student if they understand the attendance policies for their classes and the consequences of missing class. Encourage your student to get to know at least one other student in each of their classes and exchange phone numbers. If they do have to miss a class for some reason, they will have a friend to text and ask if they missed any important class information.
Studying for exams is likely to be a high-stress situation for your student. Exams in college are often less frequent than they were in high school, which means they will need to understand more material. On top of understanding the material, they will need to know how to apply it. Exams will require them to apply their knowledge of a topic to a new situation and will not always be a mere regurgitation of facts and figures. Encourage your student to study with their classmates – having three or four different points of view while studying for a test can be extremely beneficial. As always, encourage them to seek help from the Center for Academic Support if they need some extra assistance. There is absolutely no shame in asking for help!