College Success: Advice for Parents of High School and College Students

All parents want their children to be successful in college. For most, success means that their children graduate from college with a good job or are accepted to Graduate School. This book is for parents who want to help their children achieve the success they desire in college and beyond.

Clearly, there are paths that lead to those two goals, paths that are often unknown or unclear to parents and students alike. For that reason, the author describes and emphasizes the key factors that lead to college, employment and career success. Parents also receive much useful advice on how to help their children capitalize on their natural talents, find their stride and pursue their dreams.

The early chapters quickly take readers through the years prior to college, so parents with children who are not yet in college can determine if they are ready and what they need. In fact, some students may benefit from taking a year off after high school.

For parents with children about to enter college or already in college, the author has included the information, tools, techniques and suggestions that both parents and students need. Parents will learn how students can avoid the ugly side of college life, how students can select their major and career direction, the three areas in which students must excel, the universal success skills students should develop, the 18 myths that students believe, the importance of accomplishments, the value of preparation and much more. Most importantly, parents will learn to play an effective supporting role in student success.

Each chapter of this book covers a topic that all college parents should understand and address. With the information provided, parents will have the ability to help their children chart a course that can significantly improve their chances for success, during and after college.

This book helps serious students and their parents, by giving them a plan of action that accumulates the information and tools needed to achieve success. Since most students graduate from college with more than $20,000 in outstanding college loans, smart students do their best to put themselves in the running for the job opportunities that will make it easier to repay their debt and put them on the path to career success.

Since the best employers prefer well-rounded applicants, students who concentrate on a single area may not find success. However, the students who excel in these three areas of college life will greatly expand the number of opportunities that come their way.

  - Academic Success
  - Participation in Campus, Work and Community Activities
  - Preparation for the Job Search

It is important for students and parents to understand that the senior year job search actually starts in the freshman year. Those students who fail to follow a four year plan often try to cram everything into their senior year. The problem is that they run out of time and end up with a college experience that holds little interest for the best employers.

When students wait until their senior year to begin thinking about employment after college, they will lose out to the students who have followed the small, manageable and necessary steps and assignments (fully presented in this book) that are required throughout the entire, four year, college experience.

Between the ages of 18 and 24, there are four stages of young adult life. This book shows college students and young adults how to:
  - Be More Successful in College
  - Find Their First Professional Job
  - Be Successful in That Job
  - Leave Home and Live on Their Own

Every student and every parent will learn the hundreds of truths that make these stages of life more manageable and successful. This easy to read, easy to understand book covers every imaginable topic that young adults will need as they move through college and into the first stages of their careers.

Part of being successful is getting off to a good start. Many highly intelligent young adults fall short of their potential simply because they don't have the information that can propel them through young adult life. The information contained in this book will solve that problem.

After the initial reading, students and parents alike will find that they frequently return to this comprehensive book to check out some information, lay out a plan or address a problem. Because every reader will find a practical wisdom contained in this highly useful volume, it is certain that they will recommended it to a friend.