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[quote=Anonymous]New poster. OP, some good advice so far. I wanted to add: Do not hesitate to ask frankly and up front about mental health services. Most every college now will say, we're very aware, we look out for students, etc., but do extra digging if you can find online parent forums or Facebook groups etc. And at the same time, keep in mind constantly that people who post complaints or kudos are going off only their own experiences (just like here). Visiting is crucial and be sure to visit different sizes of colleges/universities. Im interested to see posts that huge JMU has done well for some PPs kids, so you can't always assume that larger is less supportive.

Wherever your DC looks, find out if the housing office truly communicates with the office that handles mental health. Friend's DC with diagnosed MH issues known to the college has had problems with lack of coordination between housing and the office that works with students on MH issues. I don't want to disclose details or college name here but let's say that the housing office put roommates in with friend's DC who should not have been rooming with the DC, and housing office claimed it had run this by the college's MH staff (as it was supposed to do in this DC's case) -- that was not true. If your own DC legitimately needs a single or shouldn't be in certain housing situations, you and DC will have to be very assertive about that or DC will need to be able to advocate with the housing office on her own when away at college.

Also consider colleges that guarantee on-campus housing all four years, if that would alleviate stressors like dealing with a landlord, shopping and cooking, dealing with roommate/housemate issues, etc. This may all be fine for your DC, but if those things would create stress and distract from academics, think now about whether it would be preferable to have on-campus housing and a meal plan beyond just freshman year.

I'd also look for locations near good medical and MH care that is covered by your insurance, so rural colleges might be ruled out on that score. You don't have to pick a college IN a city to be near good care, though.

Depending on the situation, a student with MH issues might benefit from a gap year doing something that really is of interest, builds confidence, builds skills, or whatever is needed. I know one family where a DC did a gap year after HS to get his feet under him and focus on his therapy and ensuring some changing medications were working well, plus he pursued a serious activity and continued some studies on his own (lived at home FYI). Totally depends on the kid, though. He did go to college the next year and was more confident and calmer about the idea of being away from home than if he'd gone directly to college out of HS, according to his folks.

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