Students have finished their first semester on campus, and they are heading home for a few weeks. This episode of PFN focuses on how to make the transition home easier for your student. Our guest expert is Jeremy Kinser, a staff psychologist from University Counseling Service. He discusses how to approach a conversation with your student about new expectations and how to balance coming home after being away at college.   

Jeremy Kinser, Staff Psychologist from University Counseling Service

Episode Resources

Data Dive with Mirra

  • Students tell us that there are no doubt challenges are navigating social relationships with old friends, boyfriend/girlfriends, siblings, parents, and other family members.
  • However, a particularly difficult topic to discuss with parents and families, is how the first semester went, academically.
  • What we see, and this is typical for all college students, not just UI students, GPA will drop from high school to college. The average high school GPA for first year students is between 3.5-3.7. On average, GPA lowers 30-40 percent from high school to college.
  • This is hard because over 85% of our student expect to earn a 3.0 or higher; 53% of first year students earn over that 3.0
  • That said, we tell students to keep their expectations high and if they don’t meet their goals, try different strategies and use campus resources to help them keep going until their meet their goals (or in some cases readjust goals, such as considering a different major, etc.)