High School Grads Off To College, But How Ready Are They?

We are now in the exciting season where large numbers of our young people are heading off to college for the first time.  Graduating from high school was an accomplishment (really big for some), and now they are embarking on the next chapter of their academic careers and their young lives.  Question is: how ready are they for this next phase of their lives?  Certainly a fair number of them will get over their new environment jitters, adjust to the academic rigors of college and ultimately graduate - yes they will be okay in this vein.  However, we know from past experience that some of them will unfortunately struggle badly, never quite make the adjustment to college and eventually drop out.  Even some of those who do graduate will make it out by the skin of their teeth, barely capitalizing on the college experiences and resources designed to prepare them for life after college.  

How can we help make their adjustment to college easier, and increase the odds that a lot more of them will not only graduate from college, but maximize their experience while there, and ultimately be ready for life afterwards?  One viable solution is to introduce them early to the abundance of college resources so readily available to them.  Below are a few essential ones:

• Academic Advisors/Academic Support Centers - a critical resource to help students more quickly adjust to the academic rigors of college, and avoid digging themselves into a hole.
• Career Centers/Career Services Offices - can help students in a variety of ways: assessing strengths and interests; identifying suitable career paths; writing resumes; connecting with employers; preparing for interviews; and developing internship and job search strategies.
• Counseling Centers - intended to help students deal not only with major life issues (e.g. eating disorders, bullying, depression, death), but also more routine issues such as stress, home sickness and social anxiety.
• Professors - can be an amazing resource if students take advantage of opportunities to meet them and get to know them outside of class (e.g. office hours, coffee).  A professor can be the source of important academic and industry contacts, scholarship and internship opportunities, and of course recommendation letters.
• Student Organizations - one of the quickest and most effective ways that students can meet like minded individuals, get involved in the life of a campus and develop skills to succeed in college and prepare for the workforce.  Colleges have a variety of organizations based around academic, social, civic, religious and cultural interests.

For a list of additional common college resources and tips on how students can more easily adjust to and succeed in college, view the documents below that I have created in partnership with staff from various college campuses.

• Achieving Success In College
• Making The Most Of Your College Career Center
• Using College For Your Career Preparation

Ron Roberts, Jr., Career & College Planning Partner - Ron is a former college career advisor, and has also recruited college students for internships and full-time jobs in the corporate sector.  He is passionate about guiding high school and college students to satisfying college experiences and careers.  Ron has also designed a  career and college resource hub for high school and college students (https://careern4yl.wordpress.com/), and can be reached at ronald.robertsjr@yahoo.com.