Pass It On

Preparing Your Teens for College

Teens need to be ready for college emotionally and academically.

Are you dragging your teen to college or is your teen raring to go? It may be surprising to some parents when their teen is not ready for college. “They spent their senior year of high school and usually several years before that hinting, if not skywriting, that they weren’t ready to go to college.” Lisa Damour, Phd

If your child has struggled emotionally or academically in high school, it is likely they will not feel ready for college. Teens need to be ready for college emotionally and academically. Going off to college is not a magic time that turns a shy, emotional teen into a pillar of maturity.

puzzle with school, learn, read, and math — Teens need to be ready for college both academically and emotionally.

Preparing your Teen for College should start years before they are teens.

It is a shame that higher education isn’t usually addressed in school until it is almost too late to achieve success. It is frequently the case that parents fail to prepare their teen for college early enough to prepare effectively.

Some teens will be ready and willing to go. The have looked forward to learning at a higher level and preparing for their chosen field of practice. Knowing what it takes to succeed in that field helps them feel confident and ready.

Click the image above or this text for a free printable workbook designed to help your family prepare for the college years.

Teens are sometimes offered the opportunity to get a head start on that education in some areas of the country with a program called “Running Start”. This program allows the student to finish the last 2 years of high school by taking college classes at a local community college. Through this program, a student can graduate from high school along side of receiving their associates degree or fulfilling prerequires for a chosen employment path.

Preparing teen for college, more than you think — Pinterest Pin

In my profession as a nurse, I was very lucky. I new what I wanted to do “When I grew up” from the age of 6. My mother is a nurse and medicine has run in my family for many generations, all the way back to the Revolution. She saved her college texts and kept them on a bookshelf in our home. I was frequently found sitting fingering through them from a young age. Medicine sure has changed since the late 50’s.

Day dreaming with your teen and talking about different professions as a younger teen can jump start their educational journey.

The first two years of college is often preparatory classes for the last two years.

high school girl at chalk board doing math — Getting ready for college academically.

During these first two years, a major can be chosen based on what the teen is interested in doing for a profession. Quite a lot of time and money can be saved if the child prepares for that profession early. In Junior high is a good place to start aiming in that direction. I know that sounds extreme but it really isn’t.

Questions about how they feel about college are more important than what college they want to go to.

Teens need to be ready for college both academically and emotionally.

Students learning and chatting — Learning both socially and academically.

After high school graduation is not the time to find out that your teen is not ready for college. This conversation should start early, and be discussed often. If the conversation is started early, a post-high-school education or even other plans can be sketched out. There is no right or wrong way to have a continuing education. Be aware that there are some children who will not go to college.

There are 3 common education tracks:

Four year college will be just perfect for a large population of teens.
But community college and then 2 years at university will be perfect for others. Two years at CC could be enough as well.
For HSP children (highly sensitive people) or children who want to remain at home, trade school or community college might be the schooling of choice.

two boys at school, one studying, one thinking of other things — Not all students are ready for college academically.

A teen may be ready academically for college but not mature enough to leave home.

Factors that they are emotionally mature enough for college:

Home – Can they do their own laundry? Can they cook?
Family – Are they “besties” with their mother or father? Do they have friends outside of the family?
Finance – Are they ready to manage a credit card or check book? Do they know how to save?
Self-care- Do they have good personal hygiene? Do they know how to schedule their time? Do they have the discipline to manage a college schedule?

If you can answer no to more than a couple of these questions, it may be that your teen is not prepared to go to college.

student looking confused and not paying attention — Teens need to be ready for college academically and emotionally.

Especially in their first year, social and emotional maturity are key factors to success. Time-management and being able to handle extracurricular activities can even affect them or you financially.

Can they handle college sports and academics at the same time? If not, are you ready as a family to pay for 5 years of college instead of 4?

If financial their readiness and awareness is an issue, are they aware of the ramifications of bad credit? It may be that they will need to handle cash or a check book. We know that check book balances can be deceiving. And most come with a $35 overdraft fee.