By Karen Levin Coburn, Madge Lawrence Treeger, Letting Go is about what it feels like to parents when they send their children off to college. It gets five stars at Amazon.com, and you can get it at a discount, while assisting this web site, by clicking on the cover above or by clicking here.

top of page

Sex, Drugs, and Flunking Out, Answers to the Questions Your College Student Doesn't Want You to Ask, by Joel Epstein, former director of special projects and senior attorney for the U.S.Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, offers parents strategies for interacting with their college-age offspring, as well as with the colleges they attend. Do colleges still act in loco parentis? Should they? Can you affect your college-age student's use of drugs, sexual behavior, grade performance? Should you? These are some of the questions Eptstein addresses. Get it at a discount at amazon.com!

top of page

Carol Carter, Majoring in the Rest of Your Life, Farrar, Straus & Giroux: New York. 1999. Paper.

This book is addressed directly to entering college students, or to older adolescents planning to attend college. It is readable, practical, chock full of insightful advice and neat tips. Every parent would want their college freshperson to have a copy. The author uses self-quizzes, simple drawings, lists and schedules. If Carol Carter can't get your kid organized, nobody can! Click to order!

Her focus is on helping the new college student target goals and focus on achieving them--including (we're glad to say) social goals. She points out that dating is one of the most significant aspects of college life and lists the danger signs of an abusive relationship.

Carol herself got the job she wanted right after college graduation --something just getting through college does not guarantee --and is out to help others succeed as she has. My favorite part of the book is the extensive schedule at the end of the book listing job requirements, work environment, and occupational characteristics for dozens of occupations and professions.

This book makes a good companion to The Ambitious Generation -- which points out that most students expect to go to college and enter a profession, but many have almost no idea of what it takes to do that. If The Ambitious Generation is for the parents, counselors, and teachers, Carol Carter's Majoring in the Rest of Your Life is for the kids. Highly recommended. Click to order! 

Paul A. Grayson, PhD, and Philip W. Meilman, PhD, Beating the College Blues. Checkmark Books, 1992, 1999. paper.

The directors of counseling services for students at NYU and at Cornell have gotten together to write a Question- and-Answer book about adjusting to college, but their topic can be considered more broadly as adjustment to young adulthood as well. Their first topic is "Getting Started and Fitting In," the next, "Your Studies," and their third chapter is called "Feeling Down and Getting Back Up," in which they do present an excellent excellent Q&A series on adolescent depression.

The language is plain, the information should be easily understood. At the end of each chapter is a list of suggested Further Reading. Highly recommended. Click to order. 

The Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges, 2004 Edition, by Trent Anderson & Seppy Basil. 8-1/2x11, pulp paper, doesn't weigh much, you can easily carry it around as you visit colleges! Here's what the authors say about their book:

Dear Reader:

The college admissions process can be overwhelming -- so many choices, so little guidance. We're here to help. Our Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges cuts through the hype and the blizzard of admissions stats with exclusive insider's information organized in a user-friendly format. This guidance offers practical advice you won't find anywhere else:

--Current students and recent grads tell you what life on campus is REALLY like.
--Guidance counselors share their choices for "Most Overrated," "Most Underrated," "Best Value," and other valuable lists.
--We've added our own observations and recommendations based on years of experience helping students navigate the college admissions process.

How many times have you heard, "It's one of the most important decisions you'll ever make"? Nothing like a little pressure! Having the facts at hand will help you choose the schools that best match your needs, so that you can feel confident about making your final decision.

Open the book. Let's get started!

Check out the Schools in Each of These Categories:

Best Value
Hidden Treasure
Hot & Trendy
Revenge of the Nerds
Valedictorians

Plus

Underrated/Overrated
Beautiful Campus
Animal House
Class President
Peter Pan
Outside the Box
Drug/Alcohol Free
Changed for the Better