Am I ready for college?

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My parents say that I wont be ready for college in a few months, but I think that everyone has to eventually learn how to live on their own.
I get good grades in school, so I (they) know that I could do that part.
However, I (they) don't know if I could handle living with a room-mate.
I try to keep my room clean, but it all ends up a mess.
I have VERY picky eating habits.
The sensory stuff (especially noises and sounds) bug the crap out of me.
I could go on for a long time...

What skills do I need to learn before I go to college, or I will I learn it on my own when I am up there?
(p.s., I will be living in a dorm and tuition will be payed for by them).

How are your dorms arranged? Like 3 bedrooms with a common suite area (like a living room)?

If it's still possible, you could request a single room, so then you'll have privacy and at the same time, you'll be able to get to know your roommates/hang out with others in the suite area. But of course, the room's going to cost a lot more.

With the noise, you can't do much about it. You could talk to your roommates and ask them to keep it down past a certain time, and hopefully they'll be respectful about it. Since they are dorms, a lot of the students are going to be rowdy especially on the weekends. Living in the dorms might be overwhelming at times, but you may find it worthwhile especially if you make lasting friendships with your roommates. Sure, there might be conflicts here and there, but you're going to learn how to resolve them and learn about compromising.

Try not to stress out too much. Generally the school will let you know who your roommates are going to be and give you their contact info. If you can, email/call your roommates to get to know them better before you all move in.

You never really KNOW you are ready until you have been at it three years.

Points to remember:

For anybody, learning to BE at the U is at least a three credit course. Do NOT overload even with fun courses your first year.

If you have to drop out and come back later after a growth / rest period - that is no disgrace. Thousands do just that every year, a lot come back after a break and do great.
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Have your support system in place - polaces to go and activities to shift to that will get you out of the stress stream and let you recharge each day.

Finally - it is only tife, which is a temporary condition. Do not give it too much importance. Very little is indispensible [that was where my big mistake was when I was learning thgese lessons]

I requested and received a single dorm, and I don't regret it. It's so nice having a place where I can just relax and be by myself. I don't think I could handle college, at least right now, if I had to deal with a roommate.

Take it easy while you're still settling in. Before I started college, my psychologist gave me some good advice. She said not to force myself to be social when I didn't want to. That worked really well for me, because the transition is difficult enough (for everyone, not just us Aspies) without pretending to be someone you're not. Same goes for classes, clubs, and other activities - don't overwhelm yourself.

Bring some food from home, or buy stuff at the grocery store, and keep it in your dorm. At least you won't go hungry if you don't like what the cafeteria is serving.

I would look at schools with good menu options and request a single room.

My school has pretty good food options, even if you're a vegetarian/vegan or have to eat gluten-free. I didn't really consider cafeteria food when I was choosing a college, but I'm really satisfied with ours. And I would request a single room for sure. Some dorms might have a rep for being louder than the others, so just choose wisely. If it's an option, you could also live in student apartments...you could have your own space and cook your own food. You may also want to do an overnight visit so you can see how you like the dorms, classes, and caf food.

Transitioning to college is hard for everyone. Most people drop out before their first year is up, and college is clearly not for everyone. With the right support system I'm sure you'll do fine though. Make sure you get and keep in touch with disability services. They're awesome, no joke.

Really, the only skill you need for going to college is to know how to advocate for yourself. You'll learn how to do it a lot better once you're there, and you'll learn a lot of other things, but if you practice advocating for yourself now you'll be a lot better off once you get to college.

I'm going to actually advise against a single room. I know having a roommate freaks a lot of people out, but I'm pretty sure I would not have been able to make it through my first semester of college if it hadn't been for my roommate. Ignore what people say about getting bad roommates, it's usually the bad ones people hear stories about and I'm pretty sure the majority of people learn to live with their roommate. It's like living with siblings. If you can do that, no problem.

What I liked about having a roommate was that I was instantly accepted into a group of people because I was her roommate and making friends was a whole lot easier than it would have been had I been on my own. Granted, I made a good number of friends through classes, but the largest number of people I met was through my roommate. If you wind up with a good roommate then they will be able to help you with social situations. They will also be able to contact the RA if something goes wrong and you shut down or something.

However, if you really can't handle a roommate at all ever in a million bajillion years even if they forced you to, I suggest you contact disability services because they can probably get you a single room at the cost of a normal double because of your disability. Least, they can do that where I go. I still suggest a roommate though.

As for everything else I agree with the others. Don't overload, and try not to overwhelm yourself with your workload because dorm life will do that for you. I barely managed 14 credits my first semester. There's no shame at all in taking a year off. Also, use the resources available to you. Disability services has saved me more times than I'd like to count.