The following are common concerns expressed by parents and students. If you need any help, please do not hesitate to contact us at contactavs@avs-academy.com. Our professional counseling and mentoring teams will certainly work with you and develop an action plan to address your specific concerns.

1.) Self-management: Just as in high school, there are a vast amount of activities and opportunities to put time into, but it can also be very easy to commit to too many of these activities. It is more important than ever before for college students to manage their time efficiently and in the best ways possible.

2.) Switching or deciding on majors: Just because a student has made it to college does not mean that they have a concrete picture of what they want to achieve. Different exposure and experiences can cause students to rethink what they want to pursue and learn about, which can lead to switching majors, or being unsure if their major is the right one for them.

3.) Academic pressure: Once they make it to college, the pressure does not stop. Instead, it becomes even more bearing, as now the concepts they learn will be directly applied when students look for internships and/or jobs, so understanding of concepts is even more important than it was in grade school. This academic pressure can lead to extra anxiety and stress that takes away from a student’s performance.

4.) Chasing internship and research opportunities: While finding ways to stay on top of their school work and balancing other activities with their work, students also have to stay vigilant and look for internship opportunities to give them experience in their desired fields. Failure to do so can set students back, as they need experience in their fields for their job interviews and future endeavors.

5.) Deciding courses: Deciding courses can be even more difficult than it was in high school. While there are very specific course progressions for students, it can be hard to determine which electives to take when, or when to take their required general education classes. Having an efficient plan for their courses over their time studying in college can make their semesters more manageable, as they can look at factors like course importance and difficulty.

6.) Post grad confusion: It is often hard for students to look past their years studying in college. This leads to disorientation once they graduate, as they might not have an idea of what they want to do. They may not know if they should attend graduate school, or if they should directly look for jobs and enter the workforce. Having an idea of what students want to do once they graduate helps to lower anxiety and confusion.

7.) Work - life balance: Students in college can often throw their own health to the wind and focus solely on studying and preparing for their classes and tests, even if it will negatively impact their mental or physical. While it may seem hard to balance school work with the rest of a student’s life, this is imperative to making sure a student has the best possible years at college that they can.

8.) Time management and procrastination: Again, the sheer amount of things weighing down a student’s mind can be crippling. Procrastinating and putting these things off will snowball one bad thing into the next, ultimately derailing a student’s efforts as they will be unable to cope with the amount of work they have.

9.) Financial Concerns: Higher education has steadily been increasing in cost, and not everyone is fortunate enough to have scholarships to attend their schools. For the vast majority, finances are a concern, and being able to make the most out of the large amount of money spent for their education is prevalent in students’ minds.

10.) Peer pressure: Like in previous years of schooling, it is very likely that students witness activities that should be avoided, especially in college with the wide diversity of students. However, surrounding yourself with positive influences makes sure that you reduce your chance of finding yourself in that kind of a situation.