Parents and Families

Welcome to Loyola! We want to honor and acknowledge the effort and sacrifices you have made to helping your student reach Loyola. It is an accomplishment for which you and your student can be proud. We know that the first year of college can be a time of challenge and transition for you and your student. That is why we are here: to assist in your and your student’s acclimation to the Loyola community, and to support their successful journey through the first year at Loyola.

We invite you to browse our site, and familiarize yourself with the programs and services we offer to your student in their first year. We also invite you to contact us with your feedback, suggestions, or concerns regarding your student or their first-year experience at Loyola. We look forward to partnering with you to maximize your student’s learning and development throughout your and your student's first year at Loyola.

How can I best support my new student? 

The first-year of college is difficult for students as they struggle to adjust to academic and student life at Loyola, and as they navigate changing relationships with family and friends. While your relationship with your student will evolve over their first-year, you will still be a very important part of their success at Loyola. To best support your student, we encourage you to: 

1. Know the resources that Loyola offers, and encourage your student to take full advantage of them.  Academic Advisors, the Tutoring Center, and the Wellness Center are common resources students underutilize in their first year. Stay tuned to the Rambler Families Newsletter and NSP Instagram to share resources and opportunities with your student! 
2. Encourage you student to lean in to being a student at Loyola. Encourage them to attend class, stay on campus as much as possible, introduce themselves to strangers, join clubs and organizations, ask for help, attend instructor office hours, and go to an event that interests them - even when it scares them. The more they push themselves outside of their comfort zone, the more comfortable they will become.  
3. Be a coach - When your student struggles, your initial reaction may be to solve their problem for them. However, to help them grow, its important for you to listen and coach them on how to take steps to access resources and address their challenges themselves. As a reminder, you can always encourage them to speak with their academic advisor, UNIV 101/201 instructor, Peer Advisor, or Resident Assistant! 
4. Understand the flow of the first year - New students tend to experience a series of ups and downs in their first-year of college, often around events like breaks and midterms. The first-year is often defined by the following five phases. Its important to expect these phases, normalizes the feelings students experience when they go through these phases, listen, reassure them, and direct them to the university resources that will best support them. 
   • Honeymoon 
   • Culture Shock 
   • Initial Adjustment
   • Mental Isolation
   • Acceptance & Integration 
5. Get involved! Attend Orientation with your student, help them move to campus, register for Family Weekend, and attend Rambler art and athletic events. We hope you feel as much a part of the Loyola community as your student! 

If you're ever not sure what to do, or who to ask, please email us at firstyearexperience@luc.edu.