Make Your Summer Matter! Preparing for Day One at Cedarville

Summer break on Cedarville's campus has officially started! As you prepare for your student's arrival at Getting Started in August, you may be wondering how to make the most of the next few months to ensure important tasks are completed and the transition goes as smoothly as possible. Here are a few steps you and your student can take together this summer:

Access Your Student’s Portal

When your student was accepted to Cedarville, he or she received an email with instructions to set up a username and password for the accepted student portal. This portal has everything your student may need to prepare for Cedarville in one spot. It even contains a checklist for the fall and their admissions counselor’s contact information.

Here are a few tasks in the portal that your student should work on before coming:

• Take a photo for his or her student ID
• Choose a meal plan (all residential undergraduate students must have a meal plan)
• Fill out the University medical forms
• View their financial terms and conditions (viewable in July)
• Look at their class schedule (mid-July)

Reach Out to Your Student’s Admissions Counselor

Now that your student is coming to Cedarville, you probably have more specific questions than you did at the beginning of your student’s college search. Whether it is last-minute scholarship questions, how to find a place to stay for Getting Started Weekend, or something else entirely, our admissions counselors have your back! Ask your student to reach out to his or her admissions counselor. Your student’s admissions counselor will be happy to answer any questions you may have. 

Help Your Student Search for Last-Minute Scholarships

If your student is looking for more scholarship funding, there is still time to find and apply for scholarships for the upcoming academic year. One hundred percent of our students receive financial aid from Cedarville, but we also encourage students to apply for external scholarships. This list of outside scholarships is a great place to start looking.

Talk About Retaking a Standardized Test

Your student can take (or retake) the SAT or ACT for a chance to increase his or her Cedarville scholarship amount. Reach out to your academic advisor for information on how high your student would have to score to advance to the next level of Cedarville’s scholarship tier. For example, if your student wants to go from a Cedarville Achievement Scholarship to a President’s Scholar Award, then he or she can retake the tests and resubmit the higher scores. The last day for your student to submit his or her updated test scores is July 31. Note that we will never lower a scholarship based on a new test result, so this step can only help your student!

Review "Adulting" Skills

This summer is also the perfect time to make sure your student has some basic skills to thrive as an independent adult during college. Make sure your student knows how to do laundry, maintain a vehicle (oil changes, tire changes), budget, and set up doctor's appointments. It's also worth talking to your student about how he or she manages stress; healthy stress management practices are an invaluable skill during college years!

Take On the Tough Topic of Time Management

Another skill that will help your student excel despite a busy college workload is time management. Whether your student is a devoted to-do-lister or tends to procrastinate, help him or her explore time management options that will work for college coursework and activities.

Another (often overlooked) time management skill in college is practicing good sleep habits. Yes, even with a student heading off to college, it's not a bad idea to talk about bedtime. Sound crazy? Getting to bed and waking up at a consistent time each day are two of the best way to improve academic performance. Staying off electronic devices 30–60 minutes before bed or putting them on bedtime mode will also help your student get good sleep. All-nighters might be a ritual of college life, but your student will perform better in classes and other commitments if those nights are the exception — not the rule!

Prepare Important Documents

Your student may need to take some important documents, like his or her birth certificate, social security card, or passport, to campus. These documents may be needed if your student would like to work on campus or travel on a Global Outreach trip. This summer, find any documents your student may need to bring to campus and have an intentional talk about securely storing them with your student.

Browse Extracurricular Options — but Don’t Overcommit

Your students’ first few days at Cedarville will be exciting. There are plenty of ways to get involved on campus, and it is easy to overcommit during a new student’s freshman year. Talk openly with your student about organizations that he or she might be interested in joining. Have intentional conversations about how your student plans to balance extracurriculars with a college workload. That way, when your student attends the involvement fair, he or she will already have an idea of what to do — and if he or she can fit it in!

Do Something Fun With Your Student

In this last summer before your student goes off to college, it is common to feel nostalgic about this special time with your student. Make the most of this summer together and give your student some wonderful memories to take to college! Take that road trip. Go camping. Go on vacation together! Enjoy the family time before your student goes to college this fall.

The next four years will be a time of immense growth for your student; encourage them to prepare well this summer and embrace it!