College Preparation: Pass Or Fail

College Preparation: Pass or Fail There has been a nationwide epidemic in education and this epidemic stems from high school and eventually into college. With as many high schools there are in the nation how many of them could attest that their majority of students are ready for college. Most high schools would say yes when in all actuality the answer should be no. This is especially true for high schools located in poor socioeconomic areas, and although they may have great graduation rates, but only half of that graduating class would be considered college ready. Socioeconomics have a tremendous impact on how well high schools prepare students for college because they lack the financial means to stay fully staffed with quality teachers. Students …show more content…
In an article written by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, titled Make Students College-Ready in High School, he suggests that students need to learn how to take notes in lecture based class, how to form study groups, and how engage in group discussions. Bambrick suggests that students who learn these basic, but effective skills are likely to help students succeed in college just as much as learning the required material. Presumably, if students in poor high schools are not learning the material then one could assume that they are also not learning how to take effective notes, engage in discussions, or learn important study habits (Bambrick). Yes, it is just as important that the students learn the material too, because a student will need more than the techniques Bambrick suggested, but if these unprepared students acquired these positive habits it could improve their performance in college even if they do not know the material. Unfortunately, most high schools in general do not teach students these important habits to acquire, however, students from low income schools cannot even rely on what they learned because their education was below the requirements for college …show more content…
I have my own personal example of how this almost affected me. When I was a junior in high school a college coach from a private university reached out and wanted me to play soccer for his school. He did not question my athletic ability at all, but he did question how ready I was for college. It was not until I informed him about my good class ranking that he realized I was ready for college. I was judged based off the ranking and socioeconomic standings of my school, and not for grades in school and I am positive that this problem affects others too. I was lucky enough to have teachers that did help me prepare for college, but for those who did not the transition into college is going to be even harder. Students who were in the same situation I was in could lose great college opportunities because they are stereotyped before they are able to prove that they are ready for college. This kind of stereotyping is wrong, and discourages students from applying to the colleges that they want even though they could be completely college