By Eliza Bernardo, Michelle Chiaramonte, Matthew Cubero, Joshua Dockery, Joseph Domagala, Owen Lanzarone, and Michael Riedl
Students at SUNY Cortland were interviewed about their sense of readiness for college. The consensus is that incoming students feel that high school did not prepare them enough for college life and work.
Reporter Joseph Domolga interviewed several SUNY Cortland students, and found a common thread between them. The interviewees all agreed that the biggest problem for students on campus is a lack of preparedness , and they shared similar opinions on this topic. They felt that high school tended to give students “the easy way out” and did not prepare them for how intense the work given in college is.
One student stated that, “High school did not prepare me much because it didn’t teach me a lot of ways certain things need to be written. For example, APA format which is what education majors use.”
Not only do students not know how they should format their work, but the amount of school work and the amount of classes that students have to take has increased significantly since their arrival to college. Many students find this extreme increase in workload debilitatingly challenging, with one student stating, “it is an entirely different dynamic than college.”
Reporter Michelle Chiaramonte interviewed 4 students and asked them how they felt about their course load as well as whether or not they think high school prepared them for college. Two out of the four students stated they felt that their workload was overwhelming for them, but also felt it differentiated depending on the student’s major and might not apply to all students. This came from a biology major and an exercise science major, majors within the STEM field that are known for their fair share of overwhelming classes and the work that comes with taking hard-level courses.
But this problem does affect all students, and not just STEM majors. The other two students interviewed by Reporter Chiaramonte were physical education majors who felt the classes were fair when it came to the workload per class, but felt overwhelmed with the number of classes they had per day, as well as having many classes that involved high-intensity physical activity, leaving them tired and unprepared for the workload of other classes.
All four students agreed on the fact that high school did not prepare them for college and that due to the increase in the number of assignments, they felt unprepared when it came to time management.
Since arriving at school, students have realized that there are strict dates, and there are higher expectations set for students. Many do not know how to meet those expectations, and as such students struggle and suffer.
A recent survey conducted on campus by Reporters Matthew Cubero and Michael Hunter via random selection aimed to see just what percentage of students harbor these feelings.
When asked how schools could help students be more prepared for college, students had a wide variety of suggestions, such as:
- “Prepare us to be able to live on our own and make it easier to know how to apply for loans and FAFSA”
- “Develop a system that gradually increases workload so it isn’t as big of a jump from HS to college.”
- “Classes in HS that help with studying techniques, managing nutrition and social skills”
- “Teach them how to live on their own”
- “More freedom and independent study resources. College is very dependent on your self control and learning that in high school is the best prep.”
- “More focus on strategies for college.”
- “Teach me how to do my taxes instead of calculus”
The message SUNY Cortland students want to send is clear. New students coming from high school are unprepared for college, from not knowing critical information such as different formatting types, to exponentially increased autonomy.