Editorial Review
This bestselling guide, read by hundreds of thousands of parents over the past decade, is now better than ever, newly revised and completely updated. Based on real-life experience and recommended by colleges and universities around the country, Letting Go offers compassionate, practical, and up-to-the-minute information to help parents with the emotional and social changes of the college years.
- When should parents encourage independence?
- When should they intervene?
- What issues of identity and intimacy await students?
- What are normal feelings of disorientation and loneliness for students—and for parents?
- What is different about today’s college environment?
- What new concerns about safety, health and wellness, and stress will affect incoming classes?
These important issues and more are addressed with wise advice and time-tested counsel in Letting Go -- a realistic and reassuring source for meeting the challenges ahead, from the senior year in high school through college graduation.
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Customer Reviews
Letting go of your college child 
2007-05-12
This book provides excellent reminders of what it is like to be young and heading off into the adult world. The stories resonate and there are so many examples you are sure to find you and your child can relate tofits your child's personality and great tips for learning to deal with your new adult child. It also provides you, as the parent, with reassurance that when your child seems to be changing it is usually normal and ok, and if not provides suggestions for ways to help your child that he/she is likely to accept. It is also a great book for the young person going off to college to read real thoughts, concerns and successes from other young people who have recently been in their shoes. Great book
Letting Go 
2007-05-09
I found this book extremely helpful. It gave me valuable information but at the same time reinforced some of the feelings and experiences I was already going through so I didn't feel like I was all alone. I am sending my only child off to college this fall so letting go is going to be especially hard -- the only one in the "nest" is leaving! Although I have worked outside the home since my daughter was born, I foremost see myself as a Mom and I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do now that my primary responsibility will no longer be needed on a daily basis. This book helped me with some of those questions, although I know it will still be extremely tough. This book also gives perspective from the student's point of view and knowing what they are feeling and going through is a vital part of dealing with the changes and stages of letting go. I highly recommend this book.
only child 2007-05-07
Loved the book, helped me understand my only child who is 18 and leaving for college this year. Could really relate, brought me to tears several times.
A "Must Have" if your first born is leaving for college! 2006-11-04
This is the best book! I use it as a resource, looking up the particular things I have questions about as I need them. When my son was leaving for school 1000 miles away, I read the section on "the Good-Bye" and it was so incredibly helpful! As a mom, I pictured things would go a certain way, and through reading, I realized that what I was picturing and what was actually going to happen was probably going to be radically different! And, the book was right --and I was prepared! I was so grateful for that --it saved me from feeling let down and empty when we drove away! It's such a realistic book, and it addresses the parents' feelings, while also giving us an insight into our student's feelings and why we all act and react as we do --it's right on the money! I've shared my book with friends who have seniors in High School this year, and so far, everyone has felt relieved to see that their (and their children's) feelings and actions are the same as others in the same boat. It has made our transition SO much easier, and so far, it's been a great freshman year for our son. He even said we were being cool about stuff and he appreciated that. (Wow!) So, I'd wholeheartedly recommend the book --it's like having a best friend advise you from their past experience.
LETTING GO: A PARENTS GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE COLLEGE YEARS, FOURTH EDITION 2006-08-14
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK. IT HAS BEEN OVER THIRTY YEARS SINCE I WAS A COLLEGE FRESHMAN AND THIS BOOK WAS INSIGHTFUL AND HELPFUL AS MY SON LEAVES FOR COLLEGE. I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR PARENTS WHOSE FIRST CHILD IS LEAVING FOR COLLEGE OR THEIR LAST CHILD. EVERY PARENT OF A COLLEGE STUDENT SHOULD READ THIS BOOK.
Daughter 2008-05-15
I do not have an opinion for this book as I sent it to my daughter as a gift. She has a daughter who will be going to college in the fall. I thought this might help her with "empty nest" adjusting.
It was ok... not great 
2008-03-12
Honestly, I stopped reading it halfway through. This was one of those books that could have been great, however, it is just OK. As a parent, I am actively engaged in my kids' lives. We talk. When they come home from school we eat dinner together. Since I pay the tuition bill, I see their report card. My wife and I discuss things twice before discussing them with our kids. We strive to give the best advice possible. I just didn't feel I needed the hand holding that this book offered. (For that matter, neither did my wife.)
If you want to understand college, read a book written by a college student. Heck, read a funny, irreverent book written by a college student. This book will at least give you an idea of what it is like in the trenches, College 101: The Book Your College Does Not Want You to Read
Great read for any parent 2007-12-02
This book has wonderful suggestions and great insight. A must for anyone wanting to help their child cope with their new environment without getting in the way. Skim the first chapter or so.I found it very helpful.
Helping you through 2007-09-14
I have not read all of "Letting Go" and (as I have been overwhelmed preparing to send my child to college myself) I have not had time to. But the book has been a source of hope and perspective during the difficult time that surrounds this process of separation. I have dipped into the book as needed-- literally reading 5-page snippets that dealt with a particular issue I was facing. Knowing, for instance, that "the goodbye" might not go as planned -- with tears and Kodak moments -- was enormously helpful when...the goodbye did not go as planned.
The book was written with compassion and frankness for parents struggling with the difficulty of watching a beloved youngling launch off into a world of complexity and hard consequences. The book counsels parents on how to deal with kids when you catch them at their worst -- hung over at noon on a Sunday. It deals honestly with the fact that kids use college as a time to develop their sexual selves -- a process that involves a discomfiting amount of trial and error. The authors do not condone illicit behavior -- with sex, drugs or anything else -- but honestly observe that many young people test the rules by breaking them. I did it, you did it, they will do it -- whether right, wrong or otherwise.
"Letting Go" helps parents to keep their heads on at a time when reverting to being rule-maker is both tempting and usually wrong. Whether read cover to cover or on an "as needed" basis between crises, this book is a quite helpful and may even make the college experience bearable and even enjoyable for everyone.
Not my favorite 2007-09-10
I was so trepidacious about sending my child off to college. And I work at a college! This book is great for parents that have not lived on a college campus-it explains in detail how students find things like health care and academic support, how dorm rooms are set up, and a bunch of details about what living on campus is all about and how to find support services. I did not think it was helpful in regards to dealing with the crazy stuff in my own head about how to send my child off to college with a smile on my face. Drop off day was tough-and there was not enough in the book to help me with that. From my own experience I knew how to get my kid to find an ID and her dorm, the two things she needed the most. For parents that have not lived on a college campus, you may find this helpful. For me, I am still trying to deal with the empty nest and how to be supportive from far away. If anyone can recommend a book for a single parent of a single child, I would love to check it out. The good news is my baby has been away for only 3 weeks, and we're both doing just fine (her more than me, but that's a good thing!) Getting used to the idea of this first step towards independence is hard-harder than anything else I have ever done as a parent. And I wish I knew how to prepare others for this-but it's like childbirth. No amount of reading can ever prepare you for this.
