Program for College Students Who Need to ‘Take a Pause’ Opens on UWS

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Only half of the two million students who started college this fall will leave college with a diploma.

Across college campuses, students universally refer to this phenomenon as “the crash and burn”– or the unsuccessful adjustment to college life. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, “The U.S. has the highest college dropout rate in the industrial world.”

“There is no question that young adults graduating from high school in New York City today are exceptionally well prepared academically. These kids are not lazy and are among the brightest young adults I’ve ever met,” says Dr. Michael Silverman, President and Founder of Ascent Decisions, known on the Upper West Side as Ascent NYC. “Unfortunately, many of those same young adults are not prepared to take control of their independent lives when they enter college.”

In fact, Ascent NYC’s nationally based research shows that, of those who drop out, most report that it was a failure to independently balance competing demands of academic, social, athletic, and/or extracurricular activities that led to their withdrawal from college.

“I’ve met with University Presidents, Provosts, Deans, Faculty and Administrators across the Northeast. Whatever the underlying cause, they all describe this as a generational problem that needs to be formally addressed.” Indeed, not simply because of the financial considerations, but because, as Dr. Silverman notes, “Taking a leave of absence from school creates significant emotional disruption for the young adult and considerable concern for their parents.”

But now there is a solution to this vexing issue available on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Ascent NYC is a 3-day per week enrichment program designed to directly address the college dropout problem by helping students who needed to pause their studies get “back on track.”

The curriculum facilitates a greater sense of self-agency by enhancing a sense of physical, cognitive, and expressive mastery. You can get more information about the program and its offerings at www.AscentNYC.com

The work of Ascent NYC is best described as a multidisciplinary coaching, consulting, and education model. Assent NYC employs a group of like-minded behavioral health, rehabilitation, and education professionals. It is not a treatment program in the classic sense and therefore is not designed to treat mental illness or disease. Dr. Silverman states, “Because taking a pause from college often feels traumatic, many of our clients are simultaneously engaged in individual therapy.”

Ascent NYC is specifically designed for individuals who traditionally made decisions towards growth and, for one reason or another, now seem more inclined to make decisions out of fear.

“These truly impressive individuals feel stuck, directionless, on the defensive, and have significant difficulty making goal-directed decisions,” Dr. Silverman says. Ascent NYC programming is based on empirically tested, research-proven methods to help clients regain a sense of agility – the ability to rapidly comprehend and swiftly respond physically, cognitively, and expressively to unpredictable environments.

Parents of the past often believed that their child’s acceptance to college represented a finish line. However, growing up today is a longer, slower process than in years past. Indeed, as Dr. Silverman states, “Many first-year students are unprepared for the transition to college life. Learning how to manage independence takes time and no one is fully prepared when that journey begins. At Ascent NYC we provide an environment to help facilitate the transition.”