Not every teen is going to be ready for college upon high school graduation, so if your child struggled during his school years, you may be right to take a good look before leaping. After all, it’s perfectly normal that some 17- or 18-year-olds may just not be ready to strike out on their own into the rigors of college life.
Consider:
Maturity Level
Just as children don’t grow at the same rate physically, They do not mature at the same rate. We certainly do not want to send our children off to college before they are mature enough to handle life in the real world. Some teens need a little more time before they are ready to handle independent living as well as the academic challenges they will be facing in college.
Life Skills
Parents have spent 18 years doing for, caring for, and providing for thier children, but to be successful in college they are going to have to function independently. Amongst other things, they have to take care of basic needs, manage time, do laundry, shop for food and prepare meals, and build enough study time into their day. All activites that have been managed for them.
Ask yourself these questions: Does my child get out of bed in time for school each day without my nagging? Does my teen build study time into each day without being told to do so? Does my teen respect the curfews and other rules of the house and have the discipline to get done what needs to be done?
College applications and deadline
If it hasn't already happened, you’re going to be immersed into a world of challenging requirements when it comes to college applications, and your children need to be responsible for the bulk of the work. It’s important that your high-schooler leads the way in researching schools, deciding which schools to apply to, getting together everything needed for the applications, and meeting the deadlines. There are very real skills needed when planning, managing time, and making decisions, and all hint at how successful the transition to college will be.
If after reading the above, you have concerns about your children's readiness, do not be dismayed. Have a discussion with them; engage in a healthy back-and-forth talk about college readiness. Speak frankly about their desires and concerns. You also need to raise the issue of areas of concern that you have, particularly those that may have been mentioned in the preceding paragraphs.
Above all, understand that taking a year before jumping into a four-year college might be the best decision. An extra year to develop better independent skills and to be ready for higher learning can be important to their academic success once they get there.
Other Options
Consider a 2 year/live at home community college. Many 4-year colleges and universities accept classwork and degrees from these 2-year schools when rolling into their 4-year programs. That easily amounts to both time and money well spent.
Your children might also consider enrolling in a technical program, where learning applied skills can prepare them for fields requiring knowledge of specific machinery, technology, craftsmanship, or programming. There are many high-demand, high-paying professions and, like the community college route, they are stay-at-home 2-year options.
“Gap Year” Option!
Taking a year off between high school and college can be the perfect answer for some teens. During this time, they work, volunteer, and travel, while building life skills, saving some money, and gaining maturity before heading out on their own.
We offer up more information about the “gap year” in our bonus article for this month, "Benefits of a Gap Year" - see below.
There is a lot to think about, but if you feel like your children could use an extra year before jumping into college, consider the above options. After all, in the end, success and happiness is what we want for our teens, and we want to arm them with the necessary skills.
