How to Really Prepare Your Student for College

I’ve spent lots of time working with high school and college students for the past few years and one thing has become very clear. When going off to college, many students are not emotionally prepared for their new lives. Check out these articles from the Washington Post and GAcollege411.

Yesterday I found these survey results and felt I needed to share them with you. First-year students felt:

• Lonely –49%
• Worried about meeting new people—42%
• Overwhelmed—39%
• Isolated from campus life—35%
• Had difficulty getting along with room/housemates—30%
• Intimidated by professors—28%
• Worried about their health—28%

When our older child went to college, he definitely experienced problems with roommates. There were six of them in a suite-style setting, and none of the others lived according to our son’s rules and expectations. It was not fun.

EQ vs. IQ

Adjusting to college is a challenge for almost any student. It’s a time for students to grow up and parents to back off. To help make the transition easier for students, some high schools are teaching Emotional Intelligence, referred to as EI or EQ (vs. IQ).

Think about the most successful people you know. . .  Did they get ahead based on their IQ, brain smarts, or on their EQ, people smarts? Studies show that 70% of workplace challenges are people-based and require EQ. Even Jack Welch, legendary CEO of GE, believes in EQ.

“No doubt emotional intelligence is more rare than book smarts. My experience says it is actually 

more important in the making of a leader.”

Welch should know. Under Welch’s reign at GE, the company produced more Fortune 500 CEOs than any other company in history.

Give your student an EQ advantage

I’m looking for a handful of students for a pilot program on EQ. My goal is to help them be better prepared for college. I am certified to administer the EQi assessment and have used it with my executive coaching clients. Call me at 404-248-9475 or email me if you want your student to benefit from this new, highly discounted program or if you want more information. DEADLINE: April 12, 2015.

If the pilot goes well, I will open the program up to other students.