Incoming freshmen arrive on their new campus with a certain amount of anxiety along with their excitement. It happens even if that campus is near home.

Arriving on campus is like setting foot in a foreign country. You can help your children reduce their jitters. (They’re there, even you child doesn’t talk about them.) How?

A few weeks ago, one of our podcasts talked about the changing role of parents: from hand-holder to advisor/mentor during the teen years. Here’s another landmark in your advisory role. Sit down with your student and discuss the “landscape” of this new country they’re about to enter.

Use your chosen college’s website — or bulletin if your college still prints a paper copy — to discuss these four topics with your child. You’ll give your student confidence and gets him/her off on the right foot. One of these points may even open up your child’s direction in life.

Don’t miss today’s discussion. Most parents’ wouldn’t think do this. But these discussions will make an enormous difference to your child’s “entry” into this phase of life.