Has Your Student Found the College with the Best Fit?

According to a survey conducted by Noodle Education, one of the issues parents are most concerned about is that their college student find a college that is the right ”fit.”  72.5% of parents ranked this as highly important to them.

Students, too, want to find a college that is the right fit.  Guidance counselors encourage students to look for the college that is the right fit.  Colleges claim to be the right fit for your student.

So what exactly does it mean to say that a college is the right ”fit” for a student, and how can a student find that fit?

”Fit”

The quality of fit in a college is a complex concept.  It is often difficult to define or describe, but students often know it when they find it.

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What Do We Know About College Freshmen?

The answer to the question of what we know about college freshmen is both ”not much” and ”a lot.”

If you have a college freshman, you may often feel as though you don’t know much about him.  If he is living away from home, you may feel particularly out of touch with his day-to-day life.  And even if he shares some information with you, you may sometimes feel as though you just don’t understand him.  As frustrating as this can be at times, this is typical, normal, and probably appropriate.

On the other hand, however, many institutions, organizations, and individuals continue to do research about first year college students and we continue to learn more each year.  While this information is general, of course, and compiles averages rather than talking about your individual student, it is helpful for parents to understand some of the norms for first year college students.

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How Hard Is College?

Does your soon-to-be college student worry about how hard college is going to be?  Probably.  Do you worry about how hard college will be for your student — and whether they’ll be able to do well?  Probably.  Can you find the answer?  Probably not.

Many, if not most, college students — or almost-college-students – and their parents worry about how hard college will be.  Students may not voice their concerns out loud, but they are there.  Will school be hard?  Will I be able to do the work?  Will I understand the material and what is being asked of me?  They may ask their advisors, faculty members, other students — ”Is this class hard?”

The answers may not be very satisfying.  It depends.  Hard is relative.  It may be as hard as you make it.

What do students mean by ”hard?”

Hard, of course, can mean many things — and different things to different people.  It may mean difficult, challenging, complex, time consuming, a lot of work.  It may mean arduous, demanding, exacting, strenuous, exhausting, grueling, painful, distressing, brutal, complicated, intense.

A lot of scary words.

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Is Your Student Rising to the Challenge of Preparing for College? Finding Solutions.

In December 2014 Achieve, Inc. released the report Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?  We think the information in this report is important not just for schools, but for parents as well.  In our last post we shared some of the results of this survey.  In this post, we share some of the implications for parents and students.

Preparing to succeed in college seems to begin earlier and earlier.  Laying the solid foundation of academic skills, softer life skills, and getting ready for the admissions process takes years.  Some of the work is conscious for your student, and some may happen unconsciously.  Some is under your student’s direct control, and some of the preparation depends on your student’s school, family, and mentors.  Can you help?  The answer is a resounding yes, but not necessarily in ways that you might think of at first.

Both parents and students can, and must, take control of the college preparation process.

How does this affect me — or my student?

Achieve works primarily on a state level, and as a result of this survey the organization has made several important recommendations to states and to individual school districts.  We think the information is important to parents, too, and we think that parents can, and should, talk to their high school students about some of these findings.  Students who become aware of shortcomings while they are in high school rather than after high school are in a position to do something to improve their own preparation.

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Is Your Student Rising to the Challenge of Preparing for College? What’s the Problem?

In December 2014 Achieve, Inc. released the report Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?  We think the information in this report is important not just for schools, but for parents as well.  In this post we share some of the results of this survey.  In our next post, we’ll share some of the implications for parents and students.

Preparing to succeed in college seems to begin earlier and earlier.  Laying the solid foundation of academic skills, softer life skills, and getting ready for the admissions process takes years.  Some of the work is conscious for your student, and some may happen unconsciously.  Some is under your student’s direct control, and some of the preparation depends on your student’s school, family, and mentors.  Can you help?  The answer is a resounding yes, but not necessarily in ways that you might think of at first.

A new study has just been released about students’ high school experiences and how they relate to college experiences.  It contains important information that parents can use to understand specifically how both students and parents can take more control of the college success preparation process.

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