Well-being and Educational Outcomes across Student with Different University Admission Strategies

The results of a study of psychological well-being and educational outcomes of first-year students depending on their university admission strategy – based on the results of the Unified State Examinations, winners and prize-winners of school Olympic competitions, within the framework of targeted recruitment, after graduating from secondary vocational education institutions, or combined data from the Unified State Examinations and additional entrance examinations organized by universities were presented. The focus of the research is on the indicators of well-being, subjective happiness, and anxiety of first-year students and the results of their first examination session. The study involved 4,920 first-year students from 19 universities of the Russian Federation (57.5% girls; the average age was 18.6 years, standard deviation 1.6). It is shown that first-year students with different university admission strategies differ in their level of well-being, subjective happiness and anxiety, demonstrating unique combinations of the severity of these traits. At the same time, personal anxiety varies to the greatest extent among first-year students depending on the strategy of admission to the university. The choice of admission strategy turns out to be interconnected with the educational outcomes of the student in the first academic year, and the unique combination of the expression of signs of psychological well-being in groups of students with different admission strategies can strengthen or weaken this relationship. The obtained data on the group uniqueness of the manifestation of signs of psychological state depending on the admission strategy can become a scientific basis for organizing psychological support of higher education.

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