How College is Different from High School

You know how there are some experiences we go through that prepare us for what’s next, in ways we don’t even realize at the time.  

The college application process is just such an experience.   

While, in my opinion, colleges make things way more complicated and much less transparent than it needs to be, there’s no denying that it is a boot camp for what to expect and how to prepare for college.  

Let’s look at a few ways it does that:

Time Management:

Depending on the number of colleges your teen is applying to, completing applications can add an additional 10-15 hours of work per week. Figuring out what to do, how to do it and when to get it done is difficult enough.  But there are only so many hours in the day, so it’s more than time management, it’s priority management as well.  “Do I go to Disneyland with my friends or finish my essay?”  “How can I do both”? “What else can I give up to do this - an extra hour of sleep or studying for a test?”   Right now, they have you to help them with these decisions, but next year, these are all choices that they are going to have to make on their own.  With more freedom comes a greater level of responsibility (see #3). How they go learn to budget their time, the choices they make, is a great learning experience. 

Being self-sufficient/Asking for Help:

One of the first steps in being self-sufficient is being able to identify there’s a problem and then knowing how to find a solution.  There are lots of resources on campus, but it’s up to the student to be able to learn what they are and how to find them.  As I work with students, my goal as we move through the process is to transition from helping them get the answer to supporting them to learn to find the answer.  You can do that too. Your teens will be on their own navigating everything from making office hour appointments to navigating dorm life.   Starting to build that self-sufficiency muscle now goes a long way in preparing them for college.   Things like having your teen start to keep their own calendar, schedule their own haircut appointment or even plan dinner one night a week are great ways to get them started.

Less structure/more responsibility:

Unlike high school, getting out of bed and getting to class is up to the student in college. And there’s way more time in between classes, they aren’t all jam-packed every hour of every day of the week.  Professors aren’t reminding you about due dates and deadlines.  And if you want to just show up for the midterm and the final, that’s up to you.  It’s the responsibility of the student to do well.  And, as this article suggests, there are many resources available to help you further your goals from spending time in office hours to participating in research opportunities to doing additional assignments to boost your grade - but you have to be proactive about making that happen.  Think about how your teen went through the application process - did they attend college visits at their high school, go to college fairs, set up optional interviews, follow up with the connections they made with admissions reps.  If the answer to any of these questions is yes, they are well prepared for college.  

How we go through something is as much an opportunity to learn as what we accomplish from the process. Besides feeling good that your teen is close to finishing, you can also feel good knowing that what they’re learning about themselves will help them prepare for college.