Tips for Helping Your Freshman Student Succeed
- Know about our campus resources at UWM and encourage your student to use them.
- Ask your student specific questions related to academics such as:
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- What have you been doing in your English class?
- When is your first exam in biology?
- Where do you usually study?
Questions like these will encourage your student to be more reflective about how things are going. If concerns do arise, encourage your student to see his/her advisor.
- Talk to your student about nonacademic issues. Some students have a difficult time adjusting to the university outside of the classroom. If your student holds a job, ask how he/she is balancing work and school. Find out if your student is meeting people on campus and making new friends. If not, encourage him/her to get involved in some of the student organizations and activities on campus. Issues outside of the classroom can interfere with a student's academic success.
- Try to hold back from asking the question most freshmen hate: "What major have you chosen?" Freshmen struggle with this question because most of them don't know what they want to do yet, but feel they should know what their specialization will be. Those students who think they know what they want to do often end up changing their major. The message that students need to hear is that it is O.K. to be undecided, and it is pretty normal to change your goals as you experience new fields in college.
- Encourage your student to communicate with his/her instructors and advisor. Often when students are in difficulty, they do not seek help. This is especially true of freshmen. Some students deny they are having problems; others are afraid they will appear "stupid" to the instructor or adviser. We try very hard to communicate to students that we are here to help them. But we can only help those students who are willing to seek and accept our assistance.
