The process of getting into college dominates many families’ conversations. Progress in classes, test score check-ups, activities and honors, and the elusive edge to gain admission to the dream college—it’s no wonder that even many of the highest achieving teens seem to disengage from these conversations the longer they go on.
If your family is suffering from admissions discussion overload, here’s something to try—pick one day. Agree on one day of the week where you suspend all discussion of college admissions talk.
Do the one day experiment and you’ll see that nothing bad happens. Grades don’t go down. Test scores don’t drop. Georgetown doesn’t check in and express concern that they haven’t received an email with a question from anyone in your family. Just take one day and you’ll see that you get all the benefits of a college-talk free day with no negative side effects.
Even better, once you see for yourself how well one day works, try the opposite—limit your discussion of college-related topics to one day only. Spend the rest of the week talking about anything but college.
I think that healthy, productive discussion for families is part of a successful and enjoyable ride to college. But it should never be the dominant topic. Focusing that much on each and every element of the process–treating it like a high stakes game where momentarily losing your focus means losing your advantage–just adds pressure, tension, and anxiety without any added benefit or improved results.
Of course, some families could stand to talk a lot more about college, especially in cases where kids aren’t getting the encouragement that can make all the difference. But you’re not one of them if your family is officially tired of college talk.