Are You Ready for College?

You Know You Are Ready for College When You:

Have you done all that you can do to be ready for college? In addition to being prepared for the academic requirements, the expense and the new social situation, you should be ready to take on new responsibility for your learning. Here are 10 questions that should give you a good idea:

Can you talk about the ways that you learn best? Your skills, your preferred learning enviornment, what motivates you?

Do you know the name of your disability and how it functionally limits your learning in school? Are you familiar with the requirement to disclose your disability as a way of receiving acacademic supports in college? Have you decided whether or not you will disclose your disability? Do you know if your disability documentation meets the requirements of the your college?

Have you prepared for and taken the placement tests required by your college? Have you applied for reasonable accommodations for the tests to ensure an accurate test taking experience?

Do you know about what a college Office of Disability Services does and does not do?

Have you developed the time management, storage and general organizational habits that will be required for success in college?

Do you know how your legal rights and responsibilities change as you move from high school to college? Do you understand how that change should change your expectations for support services?

Can you give examples of academic adjustments that might be helpful to you in college and that are supported by the documentation of your your disability?

Have you considered how assistive techonolgies might be used to help you learn in college? Have you tried these out in high school? Are you good at using them?

Are you comfortable with the idea of discussing academic adjustments with a Disability Services Coordinator at your future college? Do you know how you will approach the office, what you might ask? what you should bring, and what you might expect?

Do you understand your responsibilities for managing your learning supports in college?

A lot of questions, right?

If you know the answers to all of them, you should have a good idea whether or not you are ready for college. If you need to work on it more, please do. In all likelihood, no one will stand over your shoulder to be sure you do. In that sense, this Checklist is a good deal like college. Best wishes for a successful college experience.