Lesson 8: Last Minute Vocabulary & It's Off To College!
The Bottom Line
1)Schedule campus tours
2)Complete financial aid forms
3)Complete college application packets
4)Make any medical appointments necessary
5)Upgrade/replace computer
6)Upgrade cell phone plan
7)Check health insurance coverage
8)Check personal property insurance coverage
9)Arrange banking privileges for your child
10)Check car insurance procedures for when your child is away
11)Make copies of all pertinent information – phone numbers, insurance numbers, passwords, bank account numbers et al
12)Reinforce your child’s living skills: basic cooking, cleaning and laundry
13)Arrange transportation/storage for your child (and his/her belongings) as needed
14)If your family will be using one airline, train or bus company, see if they have a “frequent flyer” or membership program. Discounts can add up over the year.
15)Renew any medications your child needs
16)Have your child give ample notification to his/her current job
17)When the acceptance letters arrive, go over the details carefully with your child. Adhere to all deadlines. If the financial aid package offered is not enough, be honest and call the college financial aid office and see if there are any other avenues for funding
18)If a rejection letter arrives, be supportive of your child
19)Start purchasing all the necessities of dorm life
20)Check your child’s wardrobe and discard what is not needed and purchase replacements over the year to avoid hitting your budget all at once
The Bottom Line
You've done it! The family has researched, reviewed, revelled, cried and celebrated together. Enjoy your last summer together as a family, because once your child leaves home for college, a new, young, more mature adult will return to your home. It will be easy for you, as the parent, to fall back into the same patterns: "What time will you be home? Did you take out the garbage? Check your oil? Pay your phone bill?" It is not as easy for your young adult to do the same. For several months, no one watched their every move; they did their own laundry (although most enjoy this perk and mom's cooking while home!) It's a learning and growing experience for all of it. Enjoy it! You've all earned the right to be proud.
I am sure that you will find things that work for you that weren't on any checklist presented to you. You'll also find shortcuts, different ways to get information/forms needed. I wish you success and hope that your failures are minimal. Please keep a log of how you and your child survive the college application and selection process, the actual campus tours and the trip to and from the dorm and finally, how you all managed to survive the first year of college. Take notes - you might have another child to go through the process with, or you definitely have friends and family who can use your expertise. Relax. Enjoy. Gloat. You've earned it - you have survived the maze of college selection!
