Last spring, when my son was weighing university offers, we attended a recruiting session hosted by the University of British Columbia. At the event, UBC representatives split attendees into two groups—parents in one room, students in another.
The parent session turned into group therapy on how not to be a helicopter parent. Clearly, the school deals with a lot of overinvolved parents; this was a preventative measure. A group leader coached us on how to avoid the usual pitfalls. If your kid gets a bad grade, don’t email the professor to complain. Don’t call your kid to wake them up for class. Don’t use their password-protected portal to check their grades. You get the picture.
My generation is very attached to our young-adult children. We lived through COVID lockdowns together. We raised our teens at the dawn of the smartphone era and stayed in constant contact with them. In fact, a number of my Gen X peers admit that they still track their campus-dwelling 18-year-olds using the Find My app on their phones.
In the new edition of The Ultimate Guide to Canadian Universities, writer Lisa Kadane wonders if all this attachment is healthy. The guidebook, which is all about navigating post-secondary decisions in 2025, also features tips for getting into the school of your dreams, winning big scholarships, picking a meal plan, finding student housing and acing the latest application formats. Plus, it includes the famous Maclean’s university rankings and a guide to the country’s top programs. It’s essential reading for every high-schooler (and their parents, helicopter or not). The all-new 2025 Ultimate Guide to Canadian Universities can be ordered here or picked up at a newsstand near you.
You can find all of our highly researched and engaging articles on applying and getting into universities and colleges at our new and improved website, designed to make a student’s Canadian education journey easier and more fun to explore.
–Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief, Maclean’s
