HELPING STUDENTS MAKE THE TRANSTITIONS BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE

Abstract

The transition from high school to college canbe very difficult for many students. At the University ofPittsburgh, we have a system of courses and academiccounseling that is designed to address these issues and helpwith this transition. One major component of our program isa process to help the freshman cope with academic failure.This paper discusses an approach to address the emotionalissues that the freshmen students endure due to theiracademic failure. It was determined through this researchthat the freshmen engineering students must adjust theirunrealistic, preconceived academic expectations transferredfrom high school, as well as accept academic failure andlearn to react in a positive manner to their classroomperformance.Index Terms ⎯ Freshman Retention, Academic failure.