College Capable vs. College Ready
This isn’t something we talk about enough. We need to talk about it more. We are often so focused on whether a young person makes the cut for getting admitted to an institution. When they celebrate their livestream videos opening acceptance letters, it hits the heart. It’s such a touching moment! But does anyone stop to assess whether the student is really ready? Yes, academically, they clearly got accepted. Congrats! But it’s their grades they get them in, but their grit and resilience that will get them through. Do you think they’ll make it through?
When we talk about “college capable” we are little referencing the markers that indicate whether a student is at the academic caliber for a certain college. This is the objective information that a student is listing on their application. Do they have a certain GPA? Have they racked up all the extra curriculars? Were there leadership experiences? Is there no legal history that would make they a risk on our campus? Those are the categories we’re looking at to identify whether or not a student made the initial cut. Yes, there is often an essay that gathers more subjective information, but that’s only a small percentage. Once these students receive their acceptance letters, then it’s a matter of assessing the bulk of the subjective data.
Here are some of the questions to identify if a student is truly college “ready” to be on campus. These are questions that hit on grit, resilience, critical thinking, perseverance, dependency, and motivation.
Do they understand that attending a college or university means they are voluntarily subjecting themselves to another four plus years of self-driven academic studies? College means treating your academic like a full-time job.
Do they have the self-awareness to identify if/when they are experiencing a problem?
Can they brainstorm or critically think about who they need to connect with in order to help solve their program? And can they reach out to that person?
Lastly, do they have the ability to apply whatever information they received from this person to help alleviate their original problem?
Beyond these questions, I’m wondering about their level of independence:
Can they wake themselves up?
How do they handle rejection? Making new friends in college isn’t easy.
Can they get themselves to class?
Do they know how to stay organized around their schedule and course assignments?
Did they already struggle with time management and over tech use before they went to school?
Do they call or text you for everything? Meaning, are you their only lifeline when they have questions about anything and everything?
Are they failing their classes at the end of their high school year, yet they aren’t concerned because they’re “going to college” so it doesn’t matter?
There are a lot of other questions you can consider, but this is just the short list to immediately run through. These questions are targeting their social, emotional, and mental status. Based on what you learn about the above, then it’s easier to identify whether your young adult is not only college capable, but they are also ready.
For questions or comments contact Joanna.
