College Readiness Skills for Teens: Preparing for Success

Emotional Readiness for Attending College

Academic preparation tends to get top billing in college conversations, but emotional and psychological factors are among the biggest predictors of first-year college dropout. Teen anxiety around the college transition plays a potentially major role.^[3] 

For many teens, the anticipation of college activates a unique anxiety around where they’ll find their tribe and if they’ll be able to cope without their usual support network. The college transition requires young people to draw on emotional resources that may not be fully developed enough to navigate things on their own. 

Separation and Identity

Leaving home is a big event. For those teenagers whose identities were shaped by the family environment, their friends, and their role at school, moving away can be disorienting and cause them to feel unsure of who they are in such a new context. 

Emotional readiness for college students includes having a sense of their own values and preferences that can travel with them. Preparing for independence in teens includes helping them develop a stable identity that isn’t entirely connected to their current home or school life. Teens who have done identity work, often through therapy, tend to meet these challenges much better. 

Managing Mental Health Away From Home

For those young people who’ve received mental health support during their teen years, a vital part of emotional readiness for college students is having a plan for continuing care. 

Many colleges have counseling services, but they can also have waiting lists that extend for months. If your child has an established relationship with a clinician they can see remotely, a clear understanding of the warning signs for trouble, and a plan for what to do if things get really hard, they’ll be better positioned for ongoing recovery and success in the new academic environment. 

Growing Distress Tolerance Skills

College readiness programs for adolescents take emotional preparation seriously, investing in stress tolerance, or the ability to experience difficulty and disappointment. 

College will likely produce all three at one point or another, and often on repeated occasions. Giving teenagers experience navigating specific hard situations successfully teaches them that they have the know-how and wherewithal to make their way through them. 

Study Skills and Social Skills for College-Bound Teens

High school and college make difficult demands on teenagers, both academically and socially. Study skills are all about time management and taking charge of their own studies, while social skills for college teens also involve deliberate preparation for success. 

Some of the skills that can help with a more successful college transition include: 

• Reviewing school and study materials on a recurring basis, as spaced repetitions strengthen long-term retention.
• Testing themselves on materials, rather than just re-reading them.
• Working in focused blocks of time with intentional breaks built in.
• Organizing notes during class in a way that makes reviewing them easier.
• Taking advantage of office hours with professors.
• Initiating conversations with others and practicing low-stakes introductions.
• Tolerating discomfort, especially during the first few weeks when things are uncertain, and some interactions might not go anywhere.
• Being aware of roommate dynamics early, setting boundaries and expectations, and addressing conflict in a positive way.
• Seeking out community via clubs, sports, study groups, and shared interests.
• Asking for help when needed from advisors, counselors, professors, and other supports. 
• Recognizing that asking for help doesn’t mean admitting failure or defeat.