Gauri Chhabra
A few years ago, I used to be a member of the Admission Cell for one of the reputed colleges I was a part of. My stint as a college lecturer lasted for 6 years .Every year, while screening students for admissions; I used to come across a paradoxical yet peculiar problem. The percentage that the students were scoring in the XII Public exam was inflating year after year; on the other hand the general readiness for college was deflating year after year. I am still stupefied at this trend – at seeing how even today, while out of the college outfit and dealing with school kids at a different platform-how unprepared for college so many incoming students are…
You would argue-“They have the grades and the test scores to be here… They are all good scorers. What do you mean by college readiness?” Well, there is not one particular skill that I can put my tab on. For instance, inspite of being good scorers at Mathematics, what they don’t have is a deep understanding of why the techniques they’ve been taught work, the actual underlying mathematical relationships. They would walk into the college classroom in September and don’t have the study habits or proper foundation to do the work.
These concerns don’t come as a complete surprise. As a former college lecturer, I’ve been hearing faculty and administrators at top undergraduate institutions quietly complain for more than three decades about the declining quality of student preparation.
As a student, what can you do? Blame the system, your school, your environment, or say- what are faculty doing about the problem? Unfortunately, at most colleges, even teachers devoted to undergraduate success aren’t convinced that it’s their problem, nor do they know how to solve it.
Or- do something to be more college ready…
But I scored above 90 per cent…
If you are thinking, I scored above 90 per cent and this article is not meant for me, hold on, you might need the article more than low performers of your school. The truth is that not all of the smartest kids who have jumped through the hoops required for selective college admissions are ready for the demands of college-level work.
Above all, it’s time to acknowledge that even as a top scorer, you may have college-readiness problems.
Bridge the excellence gap:
Schools, right from the primary to the High school provide an academic experience that diminishes academic talent. By its undue focus on marks, it kills the natural inquisitiveness of the child and pushes him towards focusing on long sitting hours and rote learning. The result is good Scorers are the ones who are able to sit for long hours and parrot information and reproduce it exactly as it is written in the text book. From kindergarten through college, we focus on test scores and do not focus on raising the ceiling for the students already above the floor.
The focus on low-achieving students in public schools has disproportionately left more smart minority kids creating a well-documented “excellence gap.”
College is a different ball game altogether. Since it is normally the students who move from classroom to classroom, the students coming from a rigid stone walled school environment find themselves at a loss. This can be palpably visible when you find a set of students always coming late for their class.
So, while you prepare yourself for college, bridge the excellence gap by igniting the natural inquisitiveness of your mind. Do not blindly follow what your peers tell you. Use your own discretion and judgment.
Nurture Engagement and enthusiasm:
While at school, obedience and being quiet is applauded and graded A+ and A.. Teachers while putting the remarks on the report card say,” He is very talkative and disturbs the rest of the class”. Isn’t it encouraging dull and drab behavior? College will scoff at a person who is not talkative because the talking skills at school become communication skills at college.
When companies visit the campuses for summer training programs they are looking for engagement, enthusiasm, and active group learning in the students.
Take Rahul, a college student I heard from recently, who loved the summer training program at a company a few years ago. But it wasn’t enough to save him from being bored. “By the time I found academic work that challenged me, … I realized my work ethic and study skills were atrocious, in large part, I believe, because I had never been forced to use them,” he said. “I would like to know the person I would have become had I been engaged as a young learner.”
As a student, always be enthusiastic and engaged. The college that builds a corridor to the corporate does not have any room for lackadaisical people whatever their score might be…
Choose Friends wisely:
For all of you who would be entering college this year, a piece of advice. Do not be in a hurry to make friends. Agreed, you are away from your close knit circle of friends, may be away from your family too and feeling home sick and the craving to connect is great. On top of it all it is in our genes. We Indians are so good at striking conversations. It had all started in trains and buses when we have seen our elders pour out every bit of information to a virtual stranger whom they just met in a train and may be do not even know the name.
Be very careful while making friends. Every friend request on face book is not to be responded too. Moreover, face book friends may not be your real friends. Beware by such a wide networking platform you are actually doing what your elders did in trains and buses.
So, for the first few days,just observe, use your eyes and ears more than your tongue. Once you make an incorrect choice of friends there is no ‘CTRL Z’ option. If you are wise while making a choice, you will have friends for life time.
Embrace Diversity:
In the present scenario of increased numbers and diversity of students in the “college for all” era, the singular factor that you need to ready yourself for is diversity. College is a melting pot of cultures and cuisines and your sniff by whiff attitude can be a turn off.
Before you enter college be ready with oodles of patience to interact with people from all parts of the country who may have completely different eating, sleeping habits from yours. Just remember inspite of the differences, you can win all of the by a singular weapon- a smile in your lips and warmth in your heart. Believe me, the acceptance of diversity in colleges will help you prepare for your later jobs in MNC’s here employers are looking for candidates with team building skills.
In this new reality, college readiness, and the lack of it is everyone’s problem-educators, students with high scores, students with low scores…
Readiness for college is actually readiness for life.
So, step up to step into this new world where life meets LIFE…
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