For too long, college readiness has been narrowly defined—students with a strong GPA, impressive extracurriculars, and community service hours are often assumed to be prepared for college. But at TeenSHARP, we take a much more nuanced, equity-driven, and college success-focused approach to defining what it truly means for a student to be college-ready.
Being “college-ready” isn’t just about a transcript and a résumé—it’s about whether a student can:
- Thrive in rigorous academic settings taking intellectual risks without fear of failure.
- Navigate complex institutional systems to access academic and professional opportunities.
- Advocate for themselves in high-stakes environments.
- Make strategic choices about college affordability to minimize debt and maximize opportunity.
- Be rooted in the knowledge of their ancestry, the history of resistance and self-determination of their communities, and understanding of systemic oppression and the way it shows up in higher education and job settings.
In this piece, we’ll break down the TeenSHARP College Readiness Framework, offering educators concrete ways to assess, develop, and support students in high school and earlier in becoming not just admissible, but truly prepared for success.
ANNOUNCEMENT: In our next edition, we will share TeenSHARP’s College Readiness Self-Assessment that your students can take to better understand how ready they are for admission and success in college. We hope you will share it broadly with all students in your care.
The TeenSHARP College Ready Framework
At TeenSHARP, we define college readiness using six key pillars that go beyond the surface metrics. Educators can use this framework to evaluate gaps, provide targeted support, and reframe how they prepare students for college.
1. Habits of Academic Success: The Foundation for Excellence
📌 Key Question: Is this student equipped with the skills to sustain high performance in college-level work?
It’s not enough for students to get good grades. They must develop the study habits, critical thinking, and resilience needed to handle the pace and expectations of college coursework.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Train students to effectively seek help (office hours, tutoring, forming study groups).
✅ Develop active learning skills (note-taking strategies, discussion participation).
✅ Push students to embrace academic challenges rather than avoid them playing it safe.
✅ Help students manage time, stress, and workload: many students hit college unprepared for independent learning and managing their time for best academic and professional outcomes.
2. Strategic Course & Test-Taking Decisions
📌 Key Question: Has this student taken advantage of the most rigorous courses available to them?
The rigor of a student’s coursework matters more than GPA alone. A student with a 3.8 GPA in mostly standard-level courses is less prepared than a student with a 3.5 GPA who has taken AP, IB, or dual-enrollment courses.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Ensure students understand how course selection impacts admissions.
✅ Encourage AP, IB, or dual-enrollment participation, even in fields outside their primary interest.
✅ Move past the “I’m bad at math” or “I don’t need math for my major” mentality as students need a strong foundation in precalculus and calculus to secure the best college placement and be most successful in their college studies.
3. Intellectual Curiosity & Global Awareness
📌 Key Question: Does this student have an awareness of the world beyond their immediate community?
A college-ready student doesn’t just complete assignments; they seek knowledge, engage deeply, and think critically about the world.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Expose students to high-level reading materials beyond the classroom.
✅ Build habits of following national & global affairs (NY Times, The Atlantic, BBC).
✅ Encourage participation in academic summer programs or community dialogues on major issues.
✅ Teach students to practice open-mindedness consistently exploring issues, careers, and fields of study. Encourage the “YES” mentality when it comes to participating in opportunities falling outside of students’ current interests.
4. College Knowledge & Strategic Decision-Making
📌 Key Question: Does this student understand the full range of college options and how to make strategic choices?
Too many students limit themselves to:
❌ The nearest state school or community college (even if they qualify for more competitive institutions).
❌ Brand-name elite schools (without considering academic or financial fit).
❌ Schools they hear about during March Madness, rather than those that meet full financial need.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Teach students about colleges that meet full need (not just Harvard & Yale, but also Grinnell, Davidson, Macalester, etc.).
✅ Ensure they build a balanced college list—not just safety schools or “dream schools” but financially and academically sound choices.
✅ Push students to look beyond local options – geographic flexibility expands opportunity!
✅ Encourage students to cast a broader net applying to 12+ colleges that are a good academic and financial fit.
✅ Since 70% of college students change their major at least once, encourage students to be open-minded when selecting colleges, not just searching for Universities with “their” major.
5. Leadership & Purpose-Driven Engagement
📌 Key Question: Does this student have a track record of making an impact, not just joining clubs?
Colleges aren’t impressed by students who simply “check boxes” with activities. Instead, they look for:
💡 Depth & commitment—sticking with activities long enough to make an impact.
📢 Initiative—starting projects, leading organizations, or solving community problems.
🌎 Alignment with personal interests—engaging in ways that reflect real passions.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Encourage students to start initiatives rather than just join clubs.
✅ Help them quantify their impact (e.g., “raised $5,000 for literacy program” vs. “volunteered at library”).
✅ Ensure they can speak about their role & contributions confidently in interviews.
✅ Promote opportunities for them to reflect on their community service experiences researching the issues they volunteered to help solve and brainstorming ways the can be a part of the solution to these issues above and beyond available volunteer opportunities.
5. Self-Advocacy & Mentorship: Learning to Navigate Institutions
📌 Key Question: Does this student have trusted mentors and know how to seek guidance and advocate for themselves?
College-ready students do not navigate the journey alone. They build relationships with mentors, teachers, and advisors who can help them make informed decisions, advocate for them when necessary, and connect them to opportunities. They also know how to self-advocate in complex systems like college admissions and financial aid.
🚀 How Educators Can Support This:
✅ Help students develop strong relationships with at least one or two teachers or mentors who will support them through high school and beyond.
✅ Teach students how to write professional emails, schedule meetings, and ask for help effectively.
✅ Provide coaching on navigating college bureaucracy, such as advocating for better financial aid packages or reaching out to professors.
✅ Connect students to mentorship programs or professionals in their fields of interest.
The Takeaway: College Readiness is a Mindset, Not Just a Checklist
Educators, counselors, and mentors must expand how they think about college readiness: it’s not just grades, extracurriculars, and service hours. We are to prepare students to THRIVE in college, not just get in.
