<p>Me:
</p>
<p>mini:
</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Please note that I did acknowledge the fact that different universities and colleges have very different characters, very different missions, and very different student bodies–and, hence, the default procedure might be best tailored to the particular school.</p></li>
<li><p>Data, please, for 4-year institutions.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>mini:
</p>
<p>Well, if “sad” is the best you can muster for a problem that disproportionately affects lower socioeconomic kids and minorities with little family tradition of higher education, I am left a bit frustrated. I agree there is not, nor should there be, a statutory “role” for universities to “assist” parents in establishing a trusting relationship with their offspring, but it would be helpful if more universities responded to the needs of the least privileged members of the student body and their families by not pretending to be taking a by-the-book legalistic position when all they are really doing is saving a few bucks on postage.</p>
<p>Of course, as calmom has laid out very clearly, the problem of freshmen getting lost is not just one of class/experience/money. It seems like a big waste to me not to take the simple proactive step of letting parents know if their dependent offspring need help/advice/reminders.</p>
<p>I doubt that any poster on this thread has a kid any more independent than my oldest. If he can withstand the torture of knowing there will be a written note saying the same thing he already told us on the phone, then I imagine the horror can be survived by other students also.</p>