How Should High School Students Prepare for College?

The journey from high school to college is often one fraught with peril. While most see the purpose of high school as being that of preparing a student for college, most high school students simply don’t have the necessary skills to make it through the college course work. That’s why some simple preparation – and a good deal of hard work – can help more than any single high school class.

Learn Study Techniques

Most high school students don’t know how to study. Sure, they might understand a bit about rote memorization, but true study skills aren’t usually taught to students. Unfortunately, most college professors expect freshmen to have the necessary study skills to deal with harder academic work as soon as they start their college careers. Smart high school students will begin learning more about how they learn while they are still in the relatively low-pressure high school environment. This means taking some time to discover tips and tricks that help them more easily remember major themes in their courses as well as study tips that will reduce their own workloads in the future.

Create a Guide Map

Many high school students have a vague idea of how they’ll spend their futures, but they don’t know how to get there. If a student wants to get a history master’s degree online, for example, it’s a good idea for them to figure out what that will entail. The student will need to look into the course requirements to get a BA in history, figure out which schools have good graduate programs, and begin the process of figuring out how they will use their master degree in the future. This kind of planning seems relatively simple, but it can change the way a high school student views the future.

Practicing Independence

It’s also important for high school students to realize that college is a time when they will be treated as adults. Working on basic concepts like financial literacy will be important if they want to make it through the next four years with minimal problems. The basic life skills that adults take for granted will be hard for many students to pick up, but starting early will make life easier for all involved.

College should be a great time for any student, and preparing for it early on can make life easier. High school students should start learning to study, plan for the future and become independent long before they set foot on a college campus. With a little preparation, the college transition will be far smoother.

This article and photo was submitted by Rachelle Wilber