Exams and projects aren’t the only stresses in a student’s life. There are some fairly typically actions and reactions to being on their own as they adjust to college life and a new environment ranging from relaxation of restrictions and study habits to relationship and financial concerns. Take a look at a month-by-month look at those stressors in drop boxes below.
| September |
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September is back to school, but unlike the days of elementary school and high school, this time your child is farther away and also an adult. They are excited and anxious. You are excited and anxious. This is a list of some of the common stresses experienced by a college student during their  first month. So be prepared.
Leaving home
- old friends
- boy/girlfriend
- old values
- homesick
- lonely
Adjusting to a new environment
- Residence—new lifestyle, new food, wanting to personalize space, new or first roommate, intolerance of noise
- Peer groups—new people, stressing from trying to fit in, competing with peers, forming new relationships, hiding when new relationships don’t work out
- Older/foreign students— feeling vulnerable and out of place, confused, seeking older or similar peer group and outside escape
- Larger more impersonal institution than high school—finding way around, instructors, new relationships
Relaxation of restrictions
- Experimentation—with alcohol, drugs, sex, politics, religion, testing limits, much socializing, some immaturity.
- No paternal guidance
Family pressure
- not wanting to let go pressure
- from family such as expectations and values
Financial anxieties
- student loan
- residence payment
- tuition payment
- money for fun
- money to go home
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| October |
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Leaving home—old values, old high school friends, intimidation/inferiority due to lack of high school friends
Residence—making new friends, beginning to expose personality, milder or larger roommate problems
College—different class size, different class structure, new interests and hobbies
Integration into group—or becoming the dorm ghost. Cliques form. Participants versus non-participants evident. Pressure to prove self, often a s a drinker.
Study habits—trying to figure out how to:
- study effectively, especially when they might not have had to seriously study before
- balance studying and partying
- develop regular study habits
- divide time between subjects
- to deal with problems with noise
Midterms
Papers due
Experimentation--with alcohol, drugs, sex, politics, religion, testing limits, socializing
Decision—if the course route chosen is the right one.
Thanksgiving—to stay at home or go back to school
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| November |
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Academic concerns 
- Midterms—often a first time; getting back Bs and Cs for a former A student
- Papers due
- Beginning to study for Christmas exams
- Behind in work—didn’t plan well in September and October
- Trying to juggle studies and socializing—pressure depending on the character of the dorm and even the roommate
Relationship Concerns—neighbors, dorm, friends and romantic relationships
- becoming more tolerant of differences between people
- becoming less tolerant of some things such as noise and roommates because of time demands; people getting on each others nerves breaking off from friends at home
- friends desired but friendship making reaches plateau
- new friends not found because became isolated
- dorm ghosts obvious
- sexuality questions—establishing new girl/boy friends
- friends trying to help friends get counseling
Adjusting
- traditional values being questions
- depression for those who haven’t adjusted
- still adjusting to classes
- difficulty coping with pressures—thoughts of suicide
- homesickness
- new hobbies/clubs
Experimentation--with alcohol, drugs, sex, politics, religion, testing limits, socializing—results of experiment start to show in alcohol abuse and pregnancies.
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| December |
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Christmas Exams
- often new experience
- family and or personal pressure to do well balancing studying with end of term/Christmas parties
Other academic concerns
- papers due behind in studies and having exams
- loss of ambition—watching TV when should be studying or sleeping
- competitive studying
- finishing assignments versus studying for exams
Christmas-time related problems
- personal or personality problems improved or aggravated by thoughts of going home
- may look forward to going home
- lonely, if not looking forward to going home
- readjusting to family, old friends
- confronting family with changed values
- students who aren’t able to go home too broke to go home and or buy presents
Relationship concerns
- more tolerant of differences between people
- older students less tolerant of younger students
- small problems cause friction—less tolerance in general
- dorm cliques firmly in place
- pressure on sexual relationships due to time demands and imminent separation
Drugs--used as props; to stay awake for exams or just to get through day-to-day
Depression
- due to weather and darkness
- being behind in studies
- thoughts of suicide
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| January |
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Leaving--home for second time;loneliness; leaving family support; stress depending on how the vacation time went
Readjusting to the college environment
- residence and readjusting to peers
- comparing new friends with old
- classes—new instructors and subjects
- loneliness for friends/family
- how leisure time is spent
Relationship Concerns
- changes/breakups—more emphasis on male-female relationships
- changes in other relationships including the ones at home
- more likely to be able to stand up to peer pressure than in first term
- if someone is irritating, people want the situation dealt with quickly
Financial worries
- residence fees and tuition due
- post-Christmas cash crunch
Academic concerns
- anxiety about first semester grades and need to improve second term
- need to improve study skills
- temptation to party and not study (loss of ambition)
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| February |
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Academic concerns
- second term assignments midterms, again!
- regular study habits
- excessive socializing, even during midterms
- academic commitments versus relationships
Relationship concerns
- uncertainty/anxiety over changes in relationships
- pressures from boy/girl friend
- anti-social from cabin fever
- lonely for close friends
Concerns about plans for the future
- to live in residence or not next year
- living arrangements—townhouses or single; off campus or on
- concerns about career and summer job
- loss of ambition and sense of direction
Financial concerns
New leisure activities
Continued experimentation—with alcohol, other drugs, sexuality
Parties and noise
Midwinter blues—adjusting to weather, feeling no one cares
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| March |
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Academic concerns 
- mid terms
- assignments, papers and projects due
- preparing for exams
- feeling overwhelmed
- priorities—assignments or studying
- academic commitments vs relationships, social life and or jobs
- people who given up studying and are just handing around creating a disturbance
- depression because grades haven’t improved
Concerns about/plans for future
- continued anxiety about new year’s living arrangements and its affect on relationship
- anxiety about summer accommodation and work
- moving out of residence—where to go, what to store, why to store it, how to get home
- comparing projected summers with friends
- anxiety about how relationships will survive the summer
Changes in new relationships
Parties and noise
Financial concerns—running low on money, borrowing from friends, homesick because can’t afford to go home
Other problems—inability to cope with pressure
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| April |
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Academic concerns
- final exams
- completing assignments versus studying for finals
- partying and studying at the same time
- noisy year-end parties
- concern/disappointment about marks
- inability to cope with academic pressure, family pressure to do well
- no ambition to complete course work
Preparing to move home/Summer
- readjusting to family, family values personal/personality problems depending on family situation
- not being able to go home because of distance/work
- collapse of some relationships—going back to the old boy/girl friend
- keeping track of college friends and re-establishing contact with friends at home
- saying goodbye to friends
- sexual pressure related to summer separation
- leaving residence—moving, packing, storing, transportation
- anxiety about getting/adjusting to a summer or permanent job; family pressure to get a job
- older or foreign students leaving environment that they had just adjusted to
Planning for long-term future
- further education
- get married
- where to live
- where you want to live isn’t where job or loved one
Experimentation—crashing from use of alcohol or drugs; consequences of experimentation (disease/pregnancy/ failing school year)
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