The transition path to university is an enormously complex adaptation process that challenges institutions to develop mechanisms to promote the long-term attendance of students until they graduate. This research aims to contribute to the understanding of the use of reading strategies and their connection with students' academic achievement during the transition to higher education. The methodology is quantitative, with an intentional non-probabilistic sample of 145 volunteers: high school students from schools with a high vulnerability index and incoming students from a public university in the Valparaiso Region in Chile, through the implementation of an instrument. Among the main results, we find that the groups of high school and university students differ significantly in the type and use of reading strategies, which are directly and significantly correlated with academic performance and are relevant because using different strategies has an impact on the reading level of students with low academic performance, especially in middle school.