What to Expect as a College Freshman

If you are like me, you have been inundated with college recommendation letters, parent workshops, student meetings, and classroom visits...whew!!  Yes, we are in the thick of college application session!! In the middle of my letter writing, transcript sending, and student meetings, my administrator asked to me present at our school's annual senior retreat. Now, I have only been at this school for over a year, so I had no idea what information was typically presented by the school counselor at such a retreat.  Honestly, I really did not have much time to think about it and I found myself taking the path of least resistance.  The weekend before the retreat I decided to really think about what would a senior need to know in October???  At this point, I have already conducted a college workshop; I had met with all the seniors and their parents in parent meetings; I had been in the classroom talking about college applications; and the students, for the most part, have signed up for their SAT/ACT exams...so what CAN I DO NOW!!  Okay, by this time I am very frustrated. In my frustration, I decided to go back to last spring when I asked one of my seniors what could I have done to better prepare their senior class for college.  The student said, "It would be good to know what to do after we are accepted into college." Remembering that statement gave me the idea to share with the students about what happens after college acceptance.

Immediately after deciding on my topic, I dove into my research about life after high school. In my research, I found an article from CollegeData, TRANSITION TO COLLEGE: HERE’S WHAT STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT. The article featured a June, 2021 survey where college freshmen and sophomores were asked a series of questions regarding their preparation for transitioning into college. From the survey, researchers found the following areas that students felt most unprepared.

Source: CollegeData

From the survey, four areas were identified:

1.  Academics

2.  Finances

3.  Life Balance

4.  Other

1.  In the area of academics, the students, even those taking AP and dual enrollment classes, felt unprepared for the level of studying in college.  In fact, with COVID-19, many students were overwhelmed by the amount of time and preparation they needed to study for exams.

2.  Students are aware that college is expensive; however, many students are totally clueless when it comes to budgeting money when living on your own.  If a student has a certain amount of money a month, it is very easy for them to spend that money on additional expenses and end up calling home for extra cash or taking out a credit card to cover those expenses. 

3. With new found independence as a college student, it is often difficult for students to make the transition from the often highly structured high school life to the ultra unstructured college life.  Students are often inundated with invitations to socials, parties, outings, and activities that can pull them away from their commitment as a student. 

4.  In addition, to academics, finances, and social activities, college students are unprepared for the overall college life experience.  They go from sleeping in their own room to living with a stranger; washing their own clothes; dealing with enormous class sizes; navigating relationships with professors and classmates; and learning how to live independently from their parents. This is not often easy and many college students experience homesickness around November.  

Source: CollegeData

So, how can we best prepare our students?

There are some tips that CollegeData suggests students take before they make the transition to college.

Source: CollegeData

Tip #1

Thirty-six percent of students found that working part-time made a difference in their college transition. From their work experience, many felt more prepared to interact with others, were able to collaborate to get a job done, and could communicate effectively with others.

Tip # 2

Twenty-five percent of the students said attending a freshmen orientation was very beneficial in helping them to prepare mentally that college is different from high school.

Tip #3

Eleven percent found that traveling during the summers helped them to make a smoother transition. 

Tip #4

Fourteen percent said that there were other factors that were helpful in making a smooth transition to college. These additional factors include educating yourself about what to expect, talking to a college student about college life, attending a pre-college program, learning some adulting skills, finding your support team, finding a mentor at college, getting involved early and making connections, and employing self-care.

So, after thinking about the comment from my student and reading this article, I decided to embark on a 48-hour marathon of creating a presentation for my seniors on what they could expect after graduation.  When I reached the retreat, I was a little apprehensive about my presentation.  Thoughts of food items hurling toward the stage were definitely present in my mind.  At first the presentation started a little rocky (the video sound would not work!), but after I got into my groove, the students were engaged and actually paying attention.  In fact, some of the senior homeroom teachers, who were present, shared their experiences about college (some of them had graduated in the last five years, so that helped) and the students asked great questions.  In fact, the students commented they had learned a lot more than what they had expected...GOAL!!!! At the end of the presentation, I gave them an assignment called the Senior Bucket List.  They seemed a little excited to create a list of activities they wanted to accomplish before graduation.  In the future, I decided to have a few other activities as well to go along with this presentation. One activity is to create an Adulting Day event.

If you would like to see or even use my presentation (it is a 100 slides by the way), you can go to my TPT store to download it and the ancillary activities.  

Here are the topics covered:

Yay!! Independence...finally!

Yes, we will talk about study habits, again.

How to pick classes like a boss!

Uncovering your professors and college advisors...hmmm.

Living with a stranger.

Money, money, money...

Staying safe! 

Taking care of yourself without an adult watching over you.

Real & weird jobs in college.

What can you do to prepare now?

In the presentation, I have incorporated discussion questions, a list of useful resources (along with a handout), and two exercises.

I hope that you will consider conducting your own presentation with your seniors!!

Additional Resources:

Create Your Own Adulting Day Event

Pre-College Summer Programs

A Smoother Transition From High School to College