For incoming, undecided freshmen, the academic advisor serves as a vital connection to the higher education institution. According to Ellis’ (2014) research, the quality of an advisor can be determined by the rate at which these students complete their degree plans. The research is based on four categories of undecided students: tentatively undecided, developmentally undecided, seriously undecided, and chronically indecisive. Tentatively undecided students have plenty of confidence in their abilities, but are unsure how to fully achieve their goals. Developmentally undecided students need to gather more information in order to make an educated decision. Seriously undecided students lack confidence, and often do not think they can amount to anything more than what they have already achieved. This mid set hinders their abilities to venture out and chase their wildest dreams. Chronically indecisive students experience anxiety when attempting to make decisions, and often go with whatever others suggest or society approves of. This study followed 30 incoming, undecided freshmen through their first year of college. …show more content…
In order to entice students to partake, the Advising Center staff encouraged students after advising appointments and they posted flyers. From the interest students, 30 participants were selected, ensuring a good sample was taken. The students varied in race and gender, but were all in the age range of 17 to 19 years of age, making them the typical college freshman student. The first interview was conducted after the fall advising appointment, was an open-ended set of questions focusing on advising expectations and their first advising appointment. It was recorded with an electronic recorder and
The American Counseling Association is the largest professional counselor association in the world and serves over 56,000 helpers by providing resources and tools to utilize for best practices in the counseling field (ACA, n.d.). As an ACA member, professional counselors have access to professional journals, webinars, forums and other mediums that can strengthen and enhance helping skills and best practices. It would be of great advantage for both graduate students training in a counseling field, as well as professional counselors working in their field to take advantage of the being a member of the ACA.
Even after the competitive race to get into desirable colleges has subsided, students are still finding themselves relying on the pressures of success to motivate them and push them forward. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s article “Bright-Sided”, Ehrenreich explains a mindset shared by those in the market economy that is also internalized by students in college and even workers in the workforce, “If optimism is key to material success, and if you can achieve an optimistic outlook through the discipline of positive thinking, then there is no excuse for failure” (Ehrenreich 538). Through Ehrenreich’s proposed positive thinking concept, the stress and pressures that young adults place on themselves are self-imposed and intertwined with their logic and reasoning, but those pressures are initially driven into their mindset by society. People in current society are brought up to believe that they as individuals must take responsibility for their own success; students think that if they use positive thinking, they will get exactly where they want to be, and if they fail, it is because they did not work hard enough. It is exactly this ideology that leads to students presenting “signs of depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation” (Alicia Kruisselbrink Flatt, The College
Returning to College as an Adult Coming to college as an adult, we have many expectations and preconceptions of what college will or will not be. The expectations we have can influence our college life for the better or the worse. My experience since starting college has been an interesting one. People have misconceptions about college because they do not know what to expect. After doing some research, I have concluded that there are three major factors that are often misunderstood about college life.
In Paul Toughmay’s “Who Gets to Graduate,” he follows a young first year college student, Vanessa Brewer, explaining her doubts, fears, and emotions while starting her college journey. As a student, at the University of Texas Brewer feels small and as if she doesn’t belong. Seeking advice from her family she calls her mom but after their conversation Brewer feels even more discouraged. Similar to Brewer I have had extreme emotions, doubts, and fears my freshman year in college.
Students entering college for the first time become concerned with their college life. The students are on their own once they enter college. There are no parents or guardians telling them when to do homework, when to go to bed, or how to eat healthy. These students are now responsible for how they are going to succeed in school and meet their own needs. From the beginning, these students wonder what their experience is going to be like and are they going to handle the demands of college?
First generation college students are students who comprise a distinct minority within most institutions of higher learning. These groups of students are the first generation of students in their family lineage to attend a college or university (Allwood, 1966). Due to the lack of family guidance in navigating through the college experience, first generation students face an array of obstacles upon entering the realm of higher education. These students are less likely to obtain their bachelor degree due to finance, family support and retention, all which ultimately limit their college experience. Not only do these students experience issues migrating through high school into college, they also lack the necessary resources some students need to achieve higher standards. For instance financial assistance, mentorship, and other motivating factors that can help a student grow into a professional.
Most first generation college students are significantly older than the average, approximately 24 year of age (Pascarella et. al 2004). The surrounding low-income environments that many of these students are raised around can explain this late age. This financial pressure can also explain another category of first generation students, preparation (Chen & Carroll, 2005). These students are often less prepared to enter the college life. They have not been exposed to the necessary preparation needed to succeed on college admissions tests and furthermore don’t meet the performance requirements that universities and institutions require. Analyzing the prefaces that surround the environment of first generation college students aids in understanding current problems faced in college as well as assist in proposing solutions for this subset of
As a byproduct of the change in college culture, it will create a “friendlier” environment for first generation. Students need to feel safe rather than out of place. Additionally, prestigious institutions need to take initiative to create new programs that will make college a painless transition for first generation students by implementing new policies such as mentors or clubs. As many colleges and universities have not taken the initiative to help first-generation students, North Carolina State University is one of the few exceptions. As a fellow first generation college student at North Carolina State University, I have reaped many benefits from the different organizations they have around campus. In the Poole College of Management, I was assigned a professional mentor in my future line of work that made the transition into college a better experience for me. After listening to his forums, I was able to use the skills I had learnt from my parents and apply it to college and my study habits benefiting me in countless possibilities. Additionally, the sociology department at North Carolina State University has created a program that guides first-generations students throughout all four years of college making the transition as
to about 83 percent of high school graduates enroll in some form of postsecondary education, but only about 52 percent of students complete their degrees. Further, a very small proportion of students complete a degree in four years—“among students starting at ‘four-year’ institutions, only 34 percent finish a B.A. in four years, 64 percent within six years, and 69 percent within eight and a half years.” Colleges always want students to graduate and support their alma mater. However this begins with deciding what student are mentally readiness and determination for the task that lies ahead, college. In today’s society we struggle trying to find a proper definition for college readiness. This is the main reason statistics and graduation rates suffer in the way that they do. Just because a high school student reaches the age of 18, obtains a high school diploma, and has functional literacy, does that really make students college ready?
Starting college is an intense and confusing event that plagues all recent high school graduates. It is like trying to run when all you can do is crawl, and for many freshmen, myself included, one can get easily overwhelmed by the daunting task of picking a major when less than two months ago some of our parents still packed our lunches for us every morning. The concept of entering college tends to be frequently skewed and expecting an eighteen year old to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives, without having them actually experiment in different areas, has the potential to create a generation of adults who are aggravated and depressed in their careers.
It seems as though the majority of college students these days aren’t looking to further their education because it’s what they really want, they do it to please their parents, to be accepted by society, or because there’s nothing else for them to do (Bird, 372). These expectations have led to students being unhappy and stressed, and have pushed them into a school or a job that they don’t particularly care for.
As well as not being able to seek the resources available in colleges, psychological thoughts also play a big role. “…with the right support,” Tough says, “…both academic and psychological, these students can actually graduate at high rates from an elite University…” (Pg.Tough 13). There is a psychological factor why so many
Academic advising plays a huge role in students’ lives and it is a share responsibility between the student and their advisors. There are many ways in which advising benefit students. Advising enhance students’ abilities to utilize the resources that colleges provide for their students. Guiding students to stay in the right track of their academic courses and following up with all the updates and requirements to graduate is also objectives of the advisors. Advisors encourage students to get involved in the college activities, such as clubs, sports, extra courses and so on of the resources that are available for students. They help students to find scholarships and prepare them to transfer to the next step of what they want to do after their college careers. There are many positive effects of having an advisor in your college career. However, many students these days do not take an advantage of this resource due to lack of Advising communication and others. Although the advising office and the advisors lack several skills, such as good communication, not enough time spent with students, and limited knowledge. However, there are many positive effects of having advisors
Students are encouraged at a young age by parents and educators to plan well in advance for college and pressured to do great on a daily basis in school. Some high school students do not put forth enough effort to plan for college until their senior year. Some high school seniors think by making great grades they do not have to worry about getting into college, while others plan and prep as if it is the only thing that is important...
Undecided students can experience lots of anxiety and stress about what their future holds and