Best Vicki Nelson Podcasts (2025)

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#132 – What’s Your Student’s College Timeline? 44:48

14d ago44:48

44:48

You send your student off to college and you’re already anticipating that Commencement Ceremony four years later. But traditional four-year college timelines are becoming less common as students forge their own unique educational paths. In this episode, Vicki and Lynn explore the various ways students navigate higher education today – from gap year…

1
#131 The Bigger Picture: Neurodiversity and College 58:15

28d ago58:15

58:15

Elizabeth and Vicki were joined in this episode by Jane Thierfeld-Brown and Lorraine Wolf, important experts in disability services in higher education. Jane and Lorre shared their insights into the complexities that autistic students face as they transition from high school to college. They shared their personal journeys as well as the work they’v…

1
#130 – A New Approach to Career Readiness – and What Does a College President Do, Anyway? 46:54

1M ago46:54

46:54

Vicki and Lynn were thrilled to be joined in this episode by Jay Gonzalez, president of Curry College, to learn more about what college presidents do and why it matters. With his background in business, politics and law, Jay brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective on what it means to lead a higher education institution today. Jay als…

1
#129 – Raising the Self-Driven Child: A Conversation with Authors Ned Johnson and Bill Stixrud 1:08:03

2M ago1:08:03

1:08:03

In this episode, Elizabeth and Vicki are joined by education experts Ned Johnson and Bill Stixrud, authors of the book The Self-Driven Child and of the new workbook for parents, 7 Principles for Raising the Self Driven Child for a thought-provoking discussion on how to empower your child to become self-driven, allowing them to navigate their own ed…

1
#128 Help Your Student Complete Challenging Required Courses 43:44

2M ago43:44

43:44

Almost all colleges have a set of required courses for all students – sometimes called General Education or Distribution courses. They’re designed to expose students to a variety of different subjects and disciplines. But what happens when that particular area or course is especially challenging for a student? How do they face this mandatory course…

1
#127 – Encore Episode – Navigating College Financial Decisions: An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Ron Lieber 42:05

3M ago42:05

42:05

If you are in the midst of the college search and admission process, financing this college education is likely top of mind. Merit aid is an important part of many financial packages and there’s no one better to talk to about the topic than Ron Lieber, financial columnist for the New York Times. It’s so important that we decided to share this episo…

1
#126 They're Back! Parenting Our Boomerang Kids 42:45

3M ago42:45

42:45

Nearly half of recent college graduates are finding themselves back in their childhood bedrooms, and it’s not just nostalgia pulling them home. Financial pressures are nudging this generation towards a new developmental stage of life. These shifting family dynamics come with their own set of challenges and opportunities. In this episode, Vicki and …

1
#125 – Encore Episode – Second Semester of College: The Transition No One Talks About 40:11

4M ago40:11

40:11

The transition to second semester of college is so important – and often hidden – that we’ve decided to share this episode again. You and your student may be taken by surprise when the start of the second semester of college seems so difficult. In this episode, Vicki and Lynn explore why some students may experience the “second semester blues” and …

1
#124 – Looking Back at 2024 and Season 5 of the College Parent Central Podcast 1:13:06

5M ago1:13:06

1:13:06

This is the time of year when we reflect on the year and another season of the College Parent Central podcast. It’s been a busy year for all of our cohosts, Vicki, Lynn, Elizabeth and Sarah. It’s always fun to get all of us together to share thoughts and stories, but our schedules just wouldn’t allow that to happen this year. So Vicki had a convers…

1
#123 – Is Your Student Ready to Be a Citizen? It’s Never Too Late to Learn. 41:23

5M ago41:23

41:23

We were excited to have a chance to talk to Lindsey Cormack for this podcast episode. Lindsey is the author of the book How to Raise a Citizen (and why it’s up to you to do it.) Most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how our students learn about how the government works, how government affects our lives, how to register to vote, and why it…

1
#122 – Encore Episode - Signs of Trouble: How Do You Know If Your Student Is Struggling 40:40

6M ago40:40

40:40

Once your child steps into the world of college – even if it is in the next room – both parents and students begin experiencing a new stage in development. Students are exploring the academic and social world of college; parents are exploring the experience of stepping back and watching them do it. But, it is also part of the parenting package to w…

1
#121 - College Lingo - Can You Talk the Talk? - Part 4 53:09

7M ago53:09

53:09

So many mysterious terms and acronyms to understand when your student heads off to college! You’ll understand how college works better when you understand the strange terms they use. In our fourth installment of our College Lingo series, Vicki and Lynn define and discuss more of the insider terms that colleges use that may not always be clear to pa…

1
#120 – Partnering with Your Student’s High School Counselor 59:27

7M ago59:27

59:27

Just about anyone who has a student in school knows there are school counselors, but many of us don’t have any idea what they do. We know they provide guidance and assistance with college and career planning, but that’s just one part of the career that also includes social and emotional counseling and addressing academic needs – and for a national …

1
#119 – Why Sleep Matters: A Conversation with Lisa Lewis, Author of The Sleep Deprived Teen 51:22

7M ago51:22

51:22

Most of us probably know that getting enough sleep makes us feel better, but there’s so much more to it than that – especially for our teens. In this episode, Vicki and Elizabeth talk with Lisa Lewis, author of the book The Sleep Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive about why our students a…

1
#118 – Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Focusing on the Strengths of First Generation Students 1:13:41

8M ago1:13:41

1:13:41

Zachary DesJardins and John Martinez are Academic Advisors at the State University of New York at Albany, and they work with students every day. In this conversation we learned how important it is for all of us to recognize that we are in a constant state of change and how crucial it is to be present in the moment. Zachary and John, both First Gene…

1
#117 – Supporting Your Student’s Mental Health: A Conversation with Dr. Bianca Busch, The College Psychiatrist 1:00:41

8M ago1:00:41

1:00:41

If you want to know how to best support your college student through potential mental health or anxiety issues, who better to ask than a psychiatrist? That’s exactly what Vicki and Elizabeth did in this episode. We were joined by Dr. Bianca Busch, founder of The College Psychiatrist, a medical practice that works with college students and their fam…

1
#116 – Encore Episode - Transitioning from Summer to College: The Importance of the First Six Weeks 44:04

9M ago44:04

44:04

This subject is so important we decided to share it again. In this final part of our summer college preparation series, Lynn and Vicki discuss how to support your student on Move-In Day and throughout their first six weeks on campus. Parents and students who are prepared for the emotional peaks and valleys of transitioning into the world of college…

1
#115 – Zooming Out on the College Experience: Taking the Long (and Wide) View 35:57

10M ago35:57

35:57

Preparing for and transitioning into the first year of college involves so many, many details, and it’s easy to get caught up in just getting through what needs to be done. Then the college experience can be taken over by the day-to-day details of classes, assignments, GPA, activities, friends, schedules, career planning and just surviving. While w…

1
#114 Getting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable: A Conversation with Author Harlan Cohen 58:20

10M ago58:20

58:20

Vicki and Elizabeth had a wide-ranging conversation with Harlan Cohen, college transition expert and author of The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into In College. Harlan shared why the transition to college can be so difficult and why finding your People, your Places, and having Patience can make a difference. Harlan encourages …

1
#113 – Talking About Tutoring: Who, When, and Why It Matters 44:11

10M ago44:11

44:11

Talking about tutoring is a new topic for our podcast, but we are finding that college parenting begins earlier and earlier, and parents are making many early decisions with future college potential in mind. In this episode, Vicki was pleased to be able to have a conversation with Celine Bewsher, Owner/Manager of Club Z! Tutoring in Cambridge, MA. …

1
#112 – Our Favorite Summer Reads 37:40

11M ago37:40

37:40

This episode is sort-of an encore episode. Each year we do an episode where we share some of our favorite – and helpful – books for college parents. This year, we realized that many of the books that we’ve talked about over the past four years are still ones we recommend. So we’ve pulled together seven of our suggestions from past years and put the…

1
#111 – What’s Next? No Longer “Almost” a College Student: the Job Starts Now! 52:55

12M ago52:55

52:55

Once your student makes their final college decision and puts down that important deposit, they enter a new leg of the college journey. Sure, you know there will be lots of preparation work ahead – summer decisions, shopping, good-byes, packing – but your student may be thinking they’ll really become a college student at Move-in Day in the fall. Yo…

1
#110 – A Guide to Your College Student’s Health: A Conversation with Dr. Jill Grimes the “College Doc” 55:02

12M ago55:02

55:02

When our student heads off to college, we worry about a lot of things, and one of the primary concerns is our student’s health and well-being. We first interviewed Dr. Jill Grimes, often dubbed the “College Doc” because of her focus on the health of college aged students, back in Episode #024 in 2020, at the height of the Covid Pandemic. It was tim…

1
#109 – Encore Episode -The College Decision Dilemma: What Happens Once Those Admission Letters Arrive? 38:48

1y ago38:48

38:48

Here’s an encore of an earlier podcast episode that we think is so important it deserves to be released again. If your student is making their decision right now, you may need to hear this. The college admission process begins earlier and earlier and sometimes seems to go on forever. When those highly anticipated acceptance letters begin to arrive,…

1
#108 – A Conversation About Education, Parenting, and Race 1:01:02

1y ago1:01:02

1:01:02

In this second crossover episode with a Facebook Live even hosted with cohost Elizabeth Hamblet, we were joined by Timothy L. Fields and Shereem Herndon-Brown, authors of The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions now out in its second edition. Tim and Shereem shared how the book came to be, what’s new in the second edition, and touched on many…

1
#107 - Waiting to Fail: Holding on to Hope 39:05

1y ago39:05

39:05

We recently received an email from a parent with a question. This mom was concerned that in spite of a number of supports, her son was struggling and not doing well. She could see far enough down the road to be fairly certain he was going to fail and she wondered whether failing was the only way he would realize that he needs to use his supports mo…

1
#106 – Academic Advising Matters: What You Need to Know 43:22

1y ago43:22

43:22

Vicki and Sarah spent some time recently at the Region 1 conference of NACADA - the National Advising Association. There's a lot to learn about how staff and faculty advisors work to guide your student throughout their college career. In this episode, Vicki and Sarah compare notes and share some of the themes that bubbled up at the conference. It m…

1
#105 – Q & A on College Supports for Students with Learning Disabilities 1:05:21

1y ago1:05:21

1:05:21

In this, our first crossover episode, we joined with Elizabeth Hamblet (one of our new cohosts) as she hosted a Facebook Live discussion with four guests who work in programs for students with disabilities - Brittany Cortinas of the University of Arizona's SALT Center, Ann-Marie Stripling of Focus Collegiate, Mary Sokolowski of College Internship P…

1
#104 Meet the Team: Student Support Roles 55:26

1y ago55:26

55:26

In this episode we’re “meeting the team” in two different ways. We introduce you to our new College Parent Central podcasting team as we are joined by new cohosts Elizabeth Hamblet and Sarah Shane, and we also reintroduce Vicki Nelson and Lynn Abrahams for new listeners. But we’re also talking about the team of people at most colleges who are there…

1
#103 – Encore Episode – Second Semester of College: The Transition No One Talks About 40:11

1+ y ago40:11

40:11

The transition to second semester of college is so important – and often hidden – that we’ve decided to share this episode again. You and your student may be taken by surprise when the start of the second semester of college seems so difficult. In this episode, Vicki and Lynn explore why some students may experience the “second semester blues” and …

1
#102 – Helping Students Develop Relationships with Professors Beyond the Classroom 37:30

1+ y ago37:30

37:30

As a follow-up to our earlier episode on communicating with professors (#83), Lynn and Vicki explore some of the benefits of relationships with professors, what those relationships might look like, and how students might approach and work with faculty members outside of the classroom. We often assume many of these social skills are second nature an…

1
#101 – What’s Ahead for College Parent Central? 26:48

1+ y ago26:48

26:48

In this episode Vicki and Lynn take a look ahead to Season 5 of the podcast and describe some of the exciting changes we’re planning. We introduce two new co-hosts who will be joining the College Parent Central Podcast Team. Elizabeth Hamblet and Sarah Share will be adding their voices to the season ahead. We’re excited about exploring new topics a…

1
#100 – Celebrating our 100th Episode: Reflecting on Four Seasons of the College Parent Central Podcast 44:21

1+ y ago44:21

44:21

We’re 100 episodes in! Lynn and Vicki take some time to look back at some of our most popular episodes, some of our favorites, some trends and themes we’ve noticed, and what we’ve loved about getting together to create this podcast. We also take a look at some of the themes we think might surface for college students and parents in the future – and…

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#099 – Navigating College Financial Decisions: An Interview with New York Times Bestselling Author Ron Lieber 42:05

1+ y ago42:05

42:05

Vicki and Lynn spent this episode in conversation with Ron Lieber author of The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make. Ron helped us unpack how complicated the financial aid system is and how crucial it is to understand how it works. The Price You Pay for College examines h…

1
#098 – College Lingo – Can You Talk the Talk? – Part 3 44:48

1+ y ago44:48

44:48

So many mysterious terms and acronyms to understand when your student heads off to college! In this third College Lingo installment Vicki and Lynn define and discuss several of the insider terms that colleges use that may not be clear to parents. We cover topics from Disability Services and Priority Registration to Satisfactory Academic Progress, M…

1
#097 – Why Do Students Have Trouble Asking for the Help They Need? 41:49

1+ y ago41:49

41:49

It’s natural for students to struggle with college work. The problem we see isn’t the struggle or challenge, it is that students don’t always ask for the help they need. Colleges work hard to make sure students know about the resources available, so why don’t more students make use of them? In this episode, Lynn and Vicki explore some of the reason…

1
#096 - Parenting Through the College Calendar 52:43

1+ y ago52:43

52:43

In this episode Lynn and Vicki took a tour through the college calendar. We focused on several of the touchpoints students experience throughout the year. We highlighted conversations to have with your student at the important milestones in each semester. Understanding what is happening for your student will help parents provide the support needed …

1
#095 – Learning More About Sexual Assault on Campus: An Interview with Saryfah Bolling of Callisto 47:36

1+ y ago47:36

47:36

Callisto is an organization whose mission is to provide resources and to empower survivors of sexual assault. Sarayfah Bolling, Callisto’s Director of Programs and Strategic Engagement joined us in this episode to help us learn more about sexual assault on campus and why parents need to know more about this topic. She also shared essential informat…

1
#094 – What to Do When (If) Your College Student Is Homesick 39:03

1+ y ago39:03

39:03

It isn’t inevitable that your college student will experience homesickness, but if they do, knowing why it happens and what to do will help you be prepared. In this episode, Lynn and Vicki discuss the factors that can cause college student homesickness, how to prevent it, and some strategies for how parents can help their student cope. Thank you fo…

1
#093 – Move-in Day Is Finally Here! 30:14

1+ y ago30:14

30:14

After a summer of ups and downs, tension and excitement, the time has arrived to deliver your student to school. In this episode Vicki and Lynn share some of their memories of Move-in Days with their sons and daughters. Along the way they share some of the lessons they learned and some suggestions for how to make this emotional day go more smoothly…

1
#092 – Can College Pressure Convince Teens to Lie? A Conversation with Young Adult Novelist Tracy Badua 34:47

2y ago34:47

34:47

Tracy Badua, lawyer by day and novelist by night, joined Lynn and Vicki to talk about her new novel This Is Not a Personal Statement. The story follows a graduating high school senior who goes to some great lengths to attend the college of her dreams. Both students and parents will find in the book messages about the pressure of trying to be perfec…

1
#091 – Parent Transitions: The Empty Nest 37:52

2y ago37:52

37:52

We’ve spent a lot of time helping parents understand the college experience and talking about how to support their student’s transition to college. It’s time to turn the tables and focus on how parents can take care of themselves as they make their own transition as well. In this episode Lynn and Vicki discuss the Empty (or emptier) Nest Syndrome. …

1
#090 – Making the Most of College Visits: A Conversation with Moira McCullough of College Scoops 53:33

2y ago53:33

53:33

Moira McCullough joined Lynn and Vicki in this episode to talk about how to reduce the time, money and stress that can go into planning college visits with your student. Moira’s advice about how to communicate with your student will help them discover what matters to them as they begin the college choice process. She shared ideas about how to help …

1
#089 – Summer Reading Suggestions for College Parents 46:22

2y ago46:22

46:22

In our annual collection of book suggestions for parents, Vicki and Lynn share some of what we’ve been reading this year. This year’s books cover a wide variety of topics that will help parents broaden their understanding of students’ academic and emotional worlds, why they might struggle and how to help empower students to face their challenges. T…

1
#088 – How Parents’ Fear of Failure Can Influence Students 36:46

2y ago36:46

36:46

As parents, it’s in our DNA to worry about our kids. In addition, the messaging about success and failure is all around us and reinforces our worst fears. In this episode, Lynn and Vicki discuss some of the reasons we worry, the effect parental fears can have on our students and how we can address these fears so that our students will own their exp…

1
#087 – Exploring the Why and How of the Gap Year Experience: An Interview with Jay Gosselin of Discover Year and Marie Shea, Gap Year Parent 48:27

2y ago48:27

48:27

In this episode we had a wonderful interview with Jay Gosselin, Founder and Director of Discover Year, a year long program that helps young adults build essential skills for their career and life. We explored why students might need or want a gap year experience and the benefits of taking that year between high school and college off from tradition…

1
#086 – Highlights from Jeff Selingo’s Book There Is Life After College 42:42

2y ago42:42

42:42

Jeff Selingo’s book There is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow is a hidden gem. Whether you have a student in high school, in college, or a recent graduate, this is a wonderful resource to share with your student. We think higher education professionals will also fi…

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#085 – A Pathway to Success for Students with Disabilities (and everyone else, too!): An Interview with Elizabeth Hamblet 50:59

2y ago50:59

50:59

Elizabeth Hamblet joined us for a second interview to share highlights of the new edition of her book: Seven Steps to College Success: A Pathway for Students with Disabilities. Elizabeth helped us unpack some of the complexities of college accommodations and student responsibilities that help students make a smooth transition from high school to co…

1
#084 – Join Us for Our First Read-Along Book Group! 23:58

2y ago23:58

23:58

We’re trying something new and we invite you to join us! If you’re a regular listener you know we love to talk about books that help us in our role as college parents and help us support our students. We’ve picked the book There is Life After College: What Parents and Student Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow b…

1
#083 – Why Are Students Reluctant to Connect with Professors? 35:34

2y ago35:34

35:34

In our post-pandemic teaching we’ve noticed that many students seem nervous about reaching out to their professors and are unsure about how to connect. We know that this relationship is critical to student success. In this episode Lynn and Vicki explore some of the strategies parents can share with their students to coach them in their interactions…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Vicki Nelson Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen