lots of very helpful tips.
could be read the summer before college and then used as a handy reference during college. ( )

The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only; A Parent’s Guide to the New College Experience by Harlan Cohen. Library section 8 I: Life Skills, Launching After High School. Written by an advice columnist, published recently in 2012, this comprehensive guide offers parents a look at college life their child will soon experience. Each chapter is headed by a tip such as The Summer Before, Roommates, Homesickness, Greek Life, Changing Majors, Drugs and Alcohol, The Sex Talk, The Gay Talk, Keeping ‘Em Safe, Keeping “Em Healthy and Transferring. Following each tip chapter heading, there is a short anecdote by a college student about that tip.
Then come Harlan’s explanations and discussions about that topic; various connected topics; questions and answers; more discussions; sidebars of helpful resources and information from college administrators; more questions and answers; and final summaries. For those of us who haven’t been on a campus since we graduated, and for parents who never went to college, this book is a clear look at college life – residence halls, academics, organizations, finances and money, coming home, dating, roommate challenges, friendships, what to do when you child needs help but you are many hours away, and all the joys and trials of going to college. It’s a very thorough book to borrow periodically before and during your children’s college years. ( )

Reviewed by Steph for TeensReadToo.com

I read this book the summer before I started college and it really helped me get a great insight into college life. Harlan Cohen tackles every question and worry that an incoming freshman could think of, and he gives great advice and lots of resources for more information.

Cohen tackles the tough and combats the easy in his book THE NAKED ROOMMATE. He does this with such a flair that readers feel that they can trust him and his advice. The pages full of his hilarious wit also calm the nerves of the reader, who is probably nervous about college.

This book is highly recommended to anyone either going or already in college. This book is full of ANSWERS! It really helps one feel prepared for the next journey of their life - university! ( )

According to (an annoyingly un-cited) study in Skip Downing’s On Course, only about 15% of people who are fired are fired because they can’t do their “job.” They are incompetent. The other 85% are fired because they lack “soft skills”—interpersonal skills, time management, the ability to party and have a life and then come in to work and do their jobs. I doubt the Department of Education has ever done a similar study, but I’d be willing to believe the same is true for college students. The hardest part of college isn’t studying and academics. Well, OK, those are hard. But everyone expects them to be hard. What they don’t expect are roommates who run around naked, one night stands they can’t remember, or crushing homesickness. Those are the soft skills that you never get in high school, from parents (especially for first generation students), from the admissions office, or even from college classes. As a professor who teaches a Freshman seminar class at our university (and university librarian), I’ve tried to teach these kinds of skills to my students. But I know that I come off sounding like a teacher—take notes, don’t drink too much, wear a condom, study 3 hours for every hour you are in class—and I’m sure my students listened to me as much as I listened when I was in college. The book we use to teach them these skills was worse. It’s hokey, patronizing, and frequently overlooks the reality of college life.

The Naked Roommate covers everything I really do wish I knew in college, without ever coming across as condescending or even omniscient. Harlen wasn’t a stellar student, but he made things work. He has the tone I wish I could have with my freshmen. He’s the older brother who is willing to tell you exactly how much you really will drink. But he’s also the older brother who won’t listen to your crappy excuses—screw peer pressure, he says, if you do drugs it’s because you wanted to do them. He gives tips on how to cheat a little smarter, and then reminds you that if your dumb ass gets caught cheating, you deserve to be expelled. He gives you a whole toolkit of things to help first year college students (commuters, non-traditional students, and international students all get tips in here). I’m hoping that using this book in little bits and pieces in my seminar class will convince students to read it themselves and get all the good information.

That 15% statistic comes into play when you look at the topics he covers, too. Only ONE chapter covers typical academic topics such as note-taking and how to make an A, C, or F (and, to bruise my ego a little, I think he mentions a librarian once). He devotes an entire chapter to relationships and another chapter to sex, though. There’s at least 85% of this book that covers the softer skills in college life. He repeats the one bit of advice I hope all my students leave knowing, though: get to know your professors. Only he gives tips on how (and how not) to do it.

Those of us who made it all the way through college needed this information. Those who started college and didn’t make it through probably really needed this information.

Rather than get your high school graduate another copy of “Oh, The Places You’ll Go,” think about packing them off with a copy of this book. ( )

A superbly written and helpful book. Interesting, humorous, and not condescending. It's informative, and doesn't gloss over or sugarcoat the unseemly issues that sometimes arise in college, especially with roommates. (Sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll too loud, etc).

Highly recommended for students entering college who don't know what to expect, or how to deal with it. This book could single-handedly wipe out horrible passive-aggressive behavior forever.

Not recommended for parents to read, especially those that worry too much. ( )