The leap to higher education

By: Jill Prince

Email:princej@findlay.edu

For many students, freshman year of college is filled with experiences that they were expecting. The new place, new people, and new set of academic challenges but did their high school careers really prepare them for a whole new level of education?

According to Studybreaks.com “The Education Trust conducted a study of outcomes for recent high school graduates, and found that while 82 percent were graduating, only around 8 percent were actually ready to take on college-level courses.”

While schools put a lot of pressure on graduation, they leave students with little to no preparation for what comes after. Though there are some high school students that take college courses, it is a small percentage.

According to Rebecca Hillman, the coordinator of College Credit Plus at the University of Findlay Admissions, there are 74 high school or junior high students taking classes through the University for college credit either on campus or online.

Sophomore student Nicole Burke wishes she had been better prepared for college in high school.

“I wish I would’ve taken college credit classes to help me prepare for my freshman year,” said Burke. “I wasn’t entirely prepared for how hard the classes would be. They were so different from my high school classes.”

Glenn Miehls, Director of Advising at The University of Findlay believes that both high schools and universities could do better to help prepare students for college.

“It would be unique for both the high schools and the universities to be more proactive and work together,” said Miehls. “Bringing in different speakers or people to talk about the costs of college.”

Mackenzie Smith, a freshman pre-physical therapy student, feels her taking college classes in high school prepared her for the work load she got when she arrived in the fall of 2018.

“I was already used to the amount of work needed to pass a college class before I came into my freshman year, which was really helpful when I started my classes this fall,” said Smith.

Eric Stoller, Assistant Professor of Sport and Event Management, teaches many freshman-geared courses.He would like to see students try new things in their time at college.

“Being able to learn from mistakes are what will help a student grow.  Some students act like an A- is failing the class,” said Stoller. “I would like to see students try the challenging classes and step out of their comfort zone to try something new without being worried about a grade.”