Reading Recommendations

When sending a student to college, families also go through their own transition. Helping a student get to campus and start off well can seem overwhelming to many parents and families. Though our office works with you along the way, some families want to get more information at home. We have compiled a list of books that can share some great tips and strategies for supporting your student (and managing your own transition) during this time. Check them out below:

College Ready: Expert Advice for Parents to Simplify the College Transition
Edited by Chelsea Petree, Ph.D.

College Ready 2021 provides practical guidance on what should be done during the summer, during drop-off, and during the first semester. Checklists accompany each chapter so you don’t forget anything and don’t do things you shouldn’t! And the book is full of ideas on how to start those tough, but very necessary, conversations.  

Don't Tell Me What To Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to the College Years
by Helen E. Johnson and Christine Schelhas-Miller

When students leave for college, many families feel uncertain about their shifting roles. By emphasizing the importance of being a mentor to your college student, "Don't Tell Me What To Do, Just Send Money" shows parents and families how to influence their college student while still supporting their independence.

Emptying the Nest: Launching Your Young Adult toward Success and Self-reliance
By Brad Sachs

In today’s rapidly changing world and challenging economy, young adults increasingly find themselves at a crossroads between financial and emotional dependence and autonomy. Drawing on Dr. Sachs' extensive clinical experience and his illuminating discussion of the latest psychological research, Emptying the Nest will support parents in their efforts to cultivate their young adult’s success and self-reliance while simultaneously maintaining healthy family relationships.

GenZ Goes to College
By Corey Seamiller and Megan Grace

Generation Z is rapidly replacing Millennials on college campuses. Those born from 1995 through 2010 have different motivations, learning styles, characteristics, skill sets, and social concerns than previous generations. Unlike Millennials, Generation Z students grew up in a recession and are under no illusions about their prospects for employment after college. While skeptical about the cost and value of higher education, they are also entrepreneurial, innovative, and independent learners concerned with effecting social change. Understanding Generation Z's mindset and goals is paramount to supporting, developing, and educating them through higher education.

Grown & Flown
By Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington

Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to―and through―high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic―such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life―it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars.

Letting Go: A Parent's Guide to Understanding the College Years
By Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger

"Letting Go" leads parents through the period of transition that their student experiences between the junior year of high school and college graduation. The authors explain how to distinguish normal development stages from problems that may require parental or professional intervention. The new edition explains the differences between college life today and the college life parents experienced 20 or 30 years ago. It features a completely new resource guide.

Navigating the First College Year A Guide for Parents
By Richard H. Mullendore and Cathie Hatch 

This informational pamphlet focuses on "letting go" as a long-term process that should never be completed. The authors encourage parents to renegotiate their relationship with their student as an adult. This concise guide features 10 sections about the major events and feelings parents and students likely will experience during the first year of college and offers suggestions for resolving these issues.

Out To Sea: A Parents' Survival Guide for the Freshman Voyage
By Kelly Radi

Out to Sea: A Parents' Survival Guide to the Freshman Voyage will help you navigate the emotional and practical aspects of your student's first year. This easy-to-read, informative guidebook is swimming with helpful tips, organized checklists, and real-world advice from family members and experts alike.

Out to Sea will keep your sanity afloat and ensure smoother sailing for you and your student as you embark on this grand voyage. 

You're On Your Own (but I'm here if you need me): Mentoring Your Child During the College Years
By Marjorie Savage

A reality check on the process of students leaving home; with practical tips for supporting your student in the process. Marjorie Savage is the leading national expert in family engagement programs in higher education.

The Stressed Years of Their Lives: Helping Your Kid Survive and Thrive During Their College Years 
By Dr. B. Janet Hibbs (Author), Dr. Anthony Rostain (Author)

From two leading child and adolescent mental health experts comes a guide for the parents of every college and college-bound student who want to know what’s normal mental health and behavior, what’s not, and how to intervene before it’s too late.