Resources 
Student Transitions
Making the Transition
The transition from high school to college can be as challenging for parents and family members as for students. Here are a few quick tips to help:
- Expect change - It's inevitable that the student you sent to UB will change. We may not always understand it, but remember that change is also growth.
- Talk openly, but don't be surprised if you don't get much information. Ask open-ended but specific questions about life at UB. Don't read too much into the terseness of an answer – especially by text messages.
- Trust your student - Don't solve their problems You may hear nothing but the bad news – that's not unusual. Help them make their own decisions, so they acquire critical thinking and problem solving skills.
- Autonomy's Hard. . . You will help your student by just being there. Students often feel like no one understands their stress. Just listen. . . and create an atmosphere of support.
- Don't share that old chestnut: "These are the best years of your life." College isn't perfect. It has highs and lows, like any new experience.
- Understand, but try not to react, to pleas to come home. It will pass. Your student may be up one day and down the next. You may only hear the bad news, not the good. There might be moments of tears. It's catharsis. Just you being there will help.
- Encourage your student to get involved in student activities, clubs, athletics, student events. There are hundreds of options. Students tell us that getting involved is the best way to get acclimated to UB.
- Keep your student informed of everything going on at home. Letters, care packages and emails help them feel connected.
- Health care and counseling are available If your student is ill or is having trouble coping, there are professionals trained in dealing with these problems right on campus. Health Services and Counseling Services can help.
- There is always someone to help; Professors, advisors, RAs, friends, counselors. The entire UB administration is dedicated to helping students. Do not be afraid to ask for help. When in doubt, call the Parent Advisory Service.
Challenges by Month
During the first year, here's what your student may be dealing with. For more details, view the Parent & Family Guide.
August/September
- Fitting in and making friends
- Homesickness
- Living with Others
- Commuting to Campus
- Feeling unprepared for academic rigors
- Dealing with long-distance relationships
- Making good decisions (academically and socially)
- Learning to deal with alcohol
- Reevaluating identity
- Personal finances
- Feeling connected to the university
October
- Time and money management
- Study skills and preparing for mid-term exams
- Procrastination
- Using campus services
- Approaching professors
- Choosing a major
- Becoming part of a group
- Family Weekend
- Mid-term exams
November
- Getting back mid-term exam grades
- Colds or other viruses
- Reality of college sets in
- Nutrition
- First visit home
- Spring semester registration
December
- End of semester anxiety
- Stress of final papers, projects, and exams
- Going home
- Missing out on holiday plans
- Readjusting to family life
January
- Obtaining first-semester grades
- Boredom before break ends
- Returning to school: Adjusting to a new semester and new routine
- Homesickness emerges or re-emerges
- Choosing a major
February
- Winter blahs
- Relationship anxieties/Valentine's Day
- Where to live next year
- Spring break plans
March
- Mid-term exams
- Spring break
- Decisions about where to live next year (and with whom)
- Summer plans (job, internship, summer classes)
April
- Choosing a major/Questioning choice of major
- Final decisions about summer classes and summer jobs/internships
May
- "Spring Fever"
- Procrastination
- End of semester anxiety
- Final papers, projects, and exams
- Wide range of year-end emotions: happiness, sadness, satisfaction, disappointment, exhilaration, relief
- Moving out and going home
- Reality of the first year sets in
- Reconnecting with friends at home
Student Transitions