How Can Coaching Help College Students Get Ahead?

If you are a parent of a college student, there is a good chance that you’ve already realized the college semester will be here before you know it. Perhaps you consider yourself an expert at sending a child back to college, or maybe this is your first experience with this transition. Either way, there are some common questions that parents of college students often ask, so let’s jump in and talk about executive function skills and how developing them will lead to college success. 

How can I tell if my college student would benefit from executive function coaching?

Often, students who would benefit from strengthening their executive function skills will consider themselves disorganized, unfocused, struggling with managing their time or dysregulated. You may see a student that works hard to manage their time and consistently shows up late for obligations, doesn’t focus on the task at hand, is distracted easily, or has difficulty keeping the space around them organized – this doesn’t mean they WANT to act this way, but instead they haven’t found the system that works best for their brain. The skills that we help our clients master are those that they can always learn as long as they are open to changing their habits. Often, there is more happening beneath the surface than what is visible above it.

How does coaching help college students? 

College can be a difficult transition for students due to needing stronger executive functioning skills. Within the college experience, expectations from professors are higher, there is less informal support (such as parents) available, and students are navigating numerous situations that they have never faced before…all at once. By improving the skills such as focus, organization, planning, prioritizing, self-regulation, and time management, students can feel more confident, recognize their strengths, know how to implement tools/strategies that work best for their brain and become more efficient. 

At The Goalden System, we offer many options to support college students – including 1:1 coaching and various College Succes workshops. Learn more. 

How can I help my college student from afar? 

As parents ourselves, we understand the desire to guide and nurture our kids. When your child leaves for college, the situation changes, and everyone must adapt to the new journey. Your relationship with your child may change, communication between you may be different, you might feel at a loss as to how to help them. We offer parent workshops that specifically address how to support college students in areas such as self-advocacy,  focus, planning, and time management. Learn more. 

Executive function skills(such as time management, planning, prioritizing, focus, emotional regulation, organization, and persistence) are all skills that continue to play a role in everyone’s daily life. By beginning to forge a pathway forward during college, one can start their post-college experience leaps and bounds ahead of others. Don’t just survive the journey – thrive.