Sandy Reader
Executive Function Coach
College Readiness Guide
This guide is designed for students who want to explore their college readiness and executive function challenges. Students can use this guide independently to gain insights and start thinking about areas for growth as you head towards college. This guide is broken into 3 key areas to consider when thinking about college readiness skills.
Academic Success
Academic success relies on a personalized schedule built through time management, planning, and effective study skills. Students stay on track by using calendars, attending classes, studying with proven techniques like active recall, and seeking help through campus resources. When challenges arise, they adapt with resilience to keep moving toward their goals. These skills and strategies are crucial for academic success because they help students stay organized, manage their time efficiently, and tackle academic work with clear focus.
Planning
What it looks like in college
Using planners or digital calendars to schedule classes, assignments, exams, and activities, tracking important deadlines to avoid missing anything, estimating how long tasks like studying or projects will take, breaking long-term goals into smaller, manageable steps and spreading out work over time.
Why it Matters
Effective planning is key to staying organized and on top of your commitments in college helps reduce overwhelm and makes it easier to follow through successfully.
Study Skills
What it looks like in college
Using effective study strategies like active recall, spaced repetition, and self-testing to deepen understanding and boost memory, creating study plans that break material into manageable and consistent sessions and using test-taking strategies that help manage your time carefully during tests to improve performance under pressure.
Why it Matters
Strong study skills are crucial because they help you truly understand and retain information, leading to deeper learning and better academic results and effective test-taking strategies improve your confidence and performance under pressure.
Time Management
What it looks like in college
Using a calendar or planner to block focused study sessions and plan ahead for exams, projects, and long-term assignments, review schedules daily to balance classes, social activities, and personal commitments
Why it Matters
Time management strategies help college students stay organized, reduce stress, and meet deadlines.
Using Campus Resources
What it look like in college
Using college campus resources like tutoring centers, disability services, study groups, and office hours.
Why it Matters
These resources provide personalized help, clarification, and accommodations that address individual learning needs. Taking initiative to seek out and regularly use these supports builds confidence, improves understanding, and fosters a sense of connection on campus.
Organization
What it looks like in college
Keeping your class materials, study space, and digital files tidy, taking clear notes during college lectures, and using planners or apps to track assignments, exams, and deadlines
Why it matters
Being organized in college boosts productivity by saving time and minimizing distractions. It helps you manage your workload efficiently, stay on top of assignments and deadlines, and retain important information through good note-taking.
Navigating Obstacles
What it looks like in college
Navigating obstacles means noticing procrastination or setbacks and responding with flexibility and self-awareness. Pausing to reset and adjust plans helps regain momentum.
Why it Matters
Navigating obstacles matters because it helps you stay on track despite challenges like procrastination or unexpected events. Responding with flexibility and self-awareness allows you to adjust without stress and regain momentum.
Life Management
College represents a critical transition period where students must navigate unprecedented independence while juggling academic demands, social pressures, and personal responsibilities. Strong life management skills serve as the foundation for academic success and overall well-being during these important years. Effective life management in college manifests through consistent daily habits and proactive planning strategies. Students with strong life management skills maintain organized calendars that balance study time, classes, work commitments, and social activities. They create structured study environments, break large projects into manageable tasks, and establish routines that support both academic goals and personal health.
Habits and Routines
What it looks like
Establishing consistent daily schedules, creating study routines, maintaining regular sleep patterns, and building productive habits that support academic and personal goals.
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Why it matters
College offers unprecedented freedom, which can be overwhelming without structure. Strong habits create stability in routine, reduce decision fatigue, and help maintain productivity during stressful periods like finals week.
Self Awareness & Self Regulation
What it looks like in college Recognizing personal strengths and weaknesses, understanding learning styles, identifying emotional triggers, managing impulses, and developing strategies to stay motivated and focused.
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Why it matters
College demands high levels of self-direction. Students who understand themselves can make better decisions about majors, relationships, and opportunities while avoiding situations that lead to poor outcomes.
Health & Self Care
What it looks like in college Prioritizing physical health through regular exercise and nutrition, managing mental health through stress reduction techniques, getting adequate sleep, and knowing when to seek medical or counseling support.
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Why it matters
Academic success is impossible without physical and mental well-being. Poor health habits can derail entire semesters, while good self-care practices build resilience and improve cognitive function for better learning outcomes.
Self Advoacy & Problem Solving
What it looks like in college Speaking up for academic needs, seeking help from professors and support services, navigating bureaucracy, resolving conflicts constructively, and taking initiative to address challenges before they become crises.
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Why it matters
Unlike high school, college requires students to actively pursue their own success. Those who can advocate for themselves access more resources, resolve issues quickly, and develop confidence for future workplace challenges.
Money Management
What it looks like in college Creating and sticking to budgets, understanding student loans and financial aid, learning to distinguish between needs and wants, developing smart spending habits, and beginning to build credit responsibly.
Why it matters
Financial stress is a leading cause of college dropout. Learning money management prevents debt accumulation, reduces anxiety, and establishes foundations for post-graduation financial independence.
Responsibility
What it looks like in college Meeting deadlines consistently, honoring commitments to others, taking ownership of mistakes, maintaining personal spaces, and following through on both academic and social obligations.
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Why it matters
Responsibility builds trust with professors, peers, and employers. It's the foundation for leadership opportunities, strong recommendations, and successful transitions into adult roles and careers.
Social & Community Involvement
Social and community engagement during college plays a vital role in personal development, academic success, and future career prospects. Meaningful connections with peers, faculty, and community members provide emotional support systems that help students navigate the challenges and uncertainties of college life. These relationships foster belonging and reduce feelings of isolation that can negatively impact mental health and academic performance. Engaged students join clubs or organizations aligned with their interests, values, or career goals, taking on leadership roles or contributing meaningfully to group projects and initiatives. They attend campus events, participate in study groups, and seek out mentorship opportunities with faculty, staff, and upperclassmen.
Building & Maintaining Relationships
What it looks like in college Developing genuine friendships, cultivating professional relationships with professors and mentors, maintaining connections with family, and learning to navigate different types of relationships with roommates, classmates, and romantic partners.
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Why it matters
Strong relationships provide emotional support during challenging times, create opportunities for collaboration and learning, and build networks that last well beyond college. Social connections directly impact mental health and academic persistence.
Communication
What it looks like in college Expressing ideas clearly in various contexts, listening actively to others, navigating difficult conversations, communicating professionally with faculty and staff, and adapting communication style for different audiences and situations.
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Why it matters
Effective communication is essential for academic success, relationship building, and career advancement. It prevents misunderstandings, helps resolve conflicts, and enables students to access resources and opportunities.
Managing & Balancing Social Life
What it looks like in college
Setting boundaries between social activities and academic responsibilities, learning to say no to invitations when necessary, choosing quality social interactions over quantity, and finding the right balance between alone time and social engagement.
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Why it matters
Poor social balance can lead to academic failure or social isolation. Students who master this balance enjoy college more, perform better academically, and develop skills for managing work-life balance in their careers.
Safety & Social Media Management
What it looks like in college
Making smart decisions about personal safety in social situations, managing digital footprints responsibly, understanding privacy settings and online reputation, being mindful of what gets posted or shared, and recognizing potential online and offline risks.
Why it matters
Digital literacy and safety awareness are now essential life skills. Making thoughtful decisions about how social media is used can help enhance opportunities for positive connections and build a professional online presence that can attract potential employers, internship opportunities, and networking connections in their field. Additionally, maintaining a positive digital footprint protects students from potential reputational damage that could hurt future opportunities. Employers increasingly check social media profiles during hiring processes, so thoughtful content curation and privacy settings are essential.
Campus & Community Involvement
What it looks like in college Participating in clubs, organizations, or sports teams, volunteering in the local community, attending campus events, joining study groups, and taking on leadership roles in activities aligned with personal interests.
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Why it matters
Involvement creates a sense of belonging, develops leadership and teamwork skills, and provides opportunities to explore interests outside academics. It also builds a resume and creates networking opportunities for future career advancement.
Career Focus
What it looks like in college Networking with professionals in fields of interest, seeking internships and job shadowing opportunities, building professional relationships with faculty, attending career fairs and industry events, and developing a professional online presence.
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Why it matters
Career preparation begins from day one of college. Students who maintain career focus throughout their college experience have better job prospects, clearer direction, and more opportunities for meaningful work after graduation.