As the kids head to college

Although most colleges and universities go to great lengths to ensure that roommates are matched with like-minded individuals, it's almost inevitable that conflict will arise between you and your roommate. Even if you and your roommate are good friends, emotions can run high when you're forced to share such a small space with someone who only a few short months ago was a complete stranger.

If you are wondering what to put in your college student's care package, wonder no more! Here is a list of over 50 items... and counting. Send me your ideas here.

The weeks before a freshman goes off to college are nerve-wrecking, exciting, and disproportionally spent at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It is time for young adults everywhere to fly the nest and begin their own lives independent of their parents.

Ahh, dorm living. For many a college student, sharing a 15 x 15 space with one window is an unavoidable reality of the higher learning experience. But your room does not have to be a dull, lifeless crash pad! It can be a warm and inviting space where everyone wants to hang out.

Eating well as a co-ed is hard. And why wouldn't it be? "College is a place where you're often set up for food failure," says Atlanta-based health coach Chelsea Hunter. For the first time in your life, you're on your own, making decisions about what you should and shouldn't eat.

College kids can get sick--that's why it's important to have a health plan in place for emergencies. Here's how we've handled our daughter's chronic asthma...but it applies to other health conditions as well.

Student Life >> Browse Articles >> On-Campus Housing Soon you'll be packing your bags for college. But packing them with what? Countless freshmen arrive at the dorms lugging massive boxes and suitcases only to discover that they brought too much or forgot something.

How involved should parents be in their kids' college lives? Not very, we say. In fact, we recommend letting the kids work things out for themselves...even if that means sitting on your hands sometimes.

For many of you whippersnapper college students (I've always wanted to say that), having your parents visit you at school is an excuse to show off how cool and sophisticated you've become since graduating high school....

Lisa writes: For years college feels like an endpoint, the focus of so much of our kids' energies. But it turns out to be just a beginning. We have looked at the view of one experienced professor regarding successful students and we have asked graduates for their input as well.

From Michelle, a Grown and Flown friend: A year ago, when my nephew was beginning his first year of college, I put together a top-ten list of advice for college freshmen based on my years as a professor and the advice of colleagues and former students.