"It's a Whole New World": A Qualitative Exploration of College Students' Definitions of and Strategies for College Success

Journal of College Student Development, Mar/Apr 2008 by Yazedjian, Ani, Toews, Michelle L, Sevin, Tessara, Purswell, Katherine E

I had to learn [how to study] when I was here 'cause I didn't study at all in high school. I knew how to, I knew you took your notes, and read over them, and all this stuff. But I didn't know to what degree until I got here.

Similarly, other students reported that the ways in which they studied in high school were no longer effective in college. Illustrating this point, Grant commented that

the classes are getting harder and harder, and I've never really studied before, so I don't really know what I'm doing. I just sort of open a book, and I skim through, and I get bored, and I go do something. So it's not cutting it like it used to. I need to get on that.

Further emphasizing this point, Stacie noted that "in high school, you didn't really have to study. Basically, if you paid attention in class, kind of looked it over, then you were fine for a test. Here, you have to know how to study." Based on our findings, it appears that the students who were able to adjust their expectations maintained acceptable GPAs. Although it is beyond the scope of this study to generalize these findings to students who do not meet the institution's standard of academic success, previous research has suggested that students who do not succeed in college might not be familiar with or prepared to meet the new expectations they face when entering the college environment (Tinto, 1993; Venezia et al., 2003).

Yet, even students who had pre-college academic preparation, such as dual credit or Advanced Placement classes, felt unprepared for the demands of college. Hicks (2005) found pre-college students' expectations about college changed after participating in a college preparatory program. He concluded that the program helped students be successful because they had more realistic expectations about college. Although the students with pre-college preparation experience in our study might have had more realistic expectations upon arrival, most of them still felt unprepared for college, a finding supported by recent research (ACT, 2007).

To illustrate this point, when asked what helped prepare him for college, Grant responded, "I was gonna say those dual credit high school courses, but those are kind of a joke. They're just so easy. I guess college is just like its own thing." Grant's statement indicates that although he took college-level classes in high school, he found that classes in college were more difficult than he expected given his previous experiences. Other students noted that the dual credit classes they took helped them develop a better idea of what to expect in college, but they did not feel they developed good study skills as a result of those classes. For example, Haley stated,

I think what probably prepared me as far as college was the classes I took, like college courses in high school. I kind of knew more or less what to expect. So that really helped. But even then, I never even opened a book in those classes.

Despite the fact that none of the students felt prepared for the academic environment in college, some of the students who had taken Advanced Placement courses thought the notetaking method they had learned in those classes was beneficial. In fact, this was one of the strategies they described as important to their success in college.