Stress About College Choices

New research by HCM Strategists (whom I have worked with in the past on other projects) examines concerns about going to college from high-school graduates who had either never attended college or who had attended but subsequently left without a degree. The findings are based on results from 4,848 people.

Reflecting back on their high-school experience, while they felt academically prepared for college, they felt less prepared for the social and emotional aspects of the college experience. As high-school students they were unsure about how to approach choosing a college and were anxious about making mistakes in the process. They were unsure how to choose a major and how their choices might impact employment after college.

A survey by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) in 2023 found that half of young adults who had applied to college felt that completing their college application was more stressful than anything else they had done academically. And three quarters of them felt that any small mistake on their application could limit their acceptances.

All too often students (and parents) stress about college choice because they get information from the wrong sources. Popular beliefs about what matters in college are often mistaken and based on personal beliefs that do not reflect reality. Researchers (including myself) need to do a better job of getting our research findings out into the public eye so we can combat this stress.