College Parent Central Podcast
You don’t stop parenting the day you drop your student off to college on Move-in Day. Your role simply changes. (Actually, it’s not simple at all, but it changes.) You’re a parent for life. Join Lynn Abrahams and Vicki Nelson, higher education professionals and former college parents, as they explore the topics that can help you be a more effective and supportive parent to your college bound student. Whether you already have a child in college, college is still a year or more away, or your student is about to step out, start now to gather the information that empowers you to be an effective college success coach to your student.
- Update frequency
- every 14 days
- Average duration
- 44 minutes
- Episodes
- 142
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
#102 – Helping Students Develop Relationships with Professors Beyond the Classroom
As a follow-up to our earlier episode on communicating with professors (#83), Lynn and Vicki explore some of the benefits of relationships with professors, what those relationships might look like, a…
#101 – What’s Ahead for College Parent Central?
In this episode Vicki and Lynn take a look ahead to Season 5 of the podcast and describe some of the exciting changes we’re planning. We introduce two new co-hosts who will be joining the College Par…
#100 – Celebrating our 100th Episode: Reflecting on Four Seasons of the College Parent Central Podcast
We’re 100 episodes in! Lynn and Vicki take some time to look back at some of our most popular episodes, some of our favorites, some trends and themes we’ve noticed, and what we’ve loved about getting…
#099 – Navigating College Financial Decisions: An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Ron Lieber
Vicki and Lynn spent this episode in conversation with Ron Lieber author of The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make. Ron …
#098 – College Lingo – Can You Talk the Talk? – Part 3
So many mysterious terms and acronyms to understand when your student heads off to college! In this third College Lingo installment Vicki and Lynn define and discuss several of the insider terms that…
#097 – Why Do Students Have Trouble Asking for the Help They Need?
It’s natural for students to struggle with college work. The problem we see isn’t the struggle or challenge, it is that students don’t always ask for the help they need. Colleges work hard to make su…
#096 - Parenting Through the College Calendar
In this episode Lynn and Vicki took a tour through the college calendar. We focused on several of the touchpoints students experience throughout the year. We highlighted conversations to have with yo…
#095 – Learning More About Sexual Assault on Campus: An Interview with Saryfah Bolling of Callisto
Callisto is an organization whose mission is to provide resources and to empower survivors of sexual assault. Sarayfah Bolling, Callisto’s Director of Programs and Strategic Engagement joined us in t…
#094 – What to Do When (If) Your College Student Is Homesick
It isn’t inevitable that your college student will experience homesickness, but if they do, knowing why it happens and what to do will help you be prepared. In this episode, Lynn and Vicki discuss th…
#093 – Move-in Day Is Finally Here!
After a summer of ups and downs, tension and excitement, the time has arrived to deliver your student to school. In this episode Vicki and Lynn share some of their memories of Move-in Days with their…
#092 – Can College Pressure Convince Teens to Lie? A Conversation with Young Adult Novelist Tracy Badua
Tracy Badua, lawyer by day and novelist by night, joined Lynn and Vicki to talk about her new novel This Is Not a Personal Statement. The story follows a graduating high school senior who goes to som…
#091 – Parent Transitions: The Empty Nest
We’ve spent a lot of time helping parents understand the college experience and talking about how to support their student’s transition to college. It’s time to turn the tables and focus on how paren…
#090 – Making the Most of College Visits: A Conversation with Moira McCullough of College Scoops
Moira McCullough joined Lynn and Vicki in this episode to talk about how to reduce the time, money and stress that can go into planning college visits with your student. Moira’s advice about how to c…
#089 – Summer Reading Suggestions for College Parents
In our annual collection of book suggestions for parents, Vicki and Lynn share some of what we’ve been reading this year. This year’s books cover a wide variety of topics that will help parents broad…
#088 – How Parents’ Fear of Failure Can Influence Students
As parents, it’s in our DNA to worry about our kids. In addition, the messaging about success and failure is all around us and reinforces our worst fears. In this episode, Lynn and Vicki discuss some…
#087 – Exploring the Why and How of the Gap Year Experience: An Interview with Jay Gosselin of Discover Year and Marie Shea, Gap Year Parent
In this episode we had a wonderful interview with Jay Gosselin, Founder and Director of Discover Year, a year long program that helps young adults build essential skills for their career and life. We…
#086 – Highlights from Jeff Selingo’s Book There Is Life After College
Jeff Selingo’s book There is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow is a hidden gem. Whether you have a student in high …
#085 – A Pathway to Success for Students with Disabilities (and everyone else, too!): An Interview with Elizabeth Hamblet
Elizabeth Hamblet joined us for a second interview to share highlights of the new edition of her book: Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities. Elizabeth helped us un…
#084 – Join Us for Our First Read-Along Book Group!
We’re trying something new and we invite you to join us! If you’re a regular listener you know we love to talk about books that help us in our role as college parents and help us support our students…
#083 – Why Are Students Reluctant to Connect with Professors?
In our post-pandemic teaching we’ve noticed that many students seem nervous about reaching out to their professors and are unsure about how to connect. We know that this relationship is critical to s…