It's About Time: Evaluating the Significance of Timing of College Preparatory Behaviors for Applying to Four-Year Colleges

• In Event: Maximizing College Readiness? The Outcomes and Unintended Consequences of Preparation Programs and Activities

Abstract

Despite robust empirical evidence about the steps students must take to move from aspiring for higher education to actually applying and enrolling, large gaps remain in our knowledge about the significance of the timing of college preparatory actions. We draw on multiple waves of data from the Educational Longitudinal Study to examine the college application decisions of students who expressed plans to attend four year colleges early on in their high school careers and analyze the role of their college preparatory behaviors and school context factors in predicting their applications. By including students’ college preparation and search behaviors in 10th and 12th grade, we attempt to explain the extent to which early versus late college preparation affects students’ application decisions.

Authors

• Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Seton Hall University

• Rong Chen, Seton Hall University