The importance o f use o f strategies by the learners in the learning process has been recognized due to the developments in cognitive psychology and the relationship between cognition and language learning. Learning strategies are actions taken by the learners to facilitate learning and make it more effective. Among the strategies used by language learners, reading strategies are o f great significance. Especially in second/foreign language learning contexts for academic purposes, reading is very often required as university students have to read exhaustively in their studies. Their comprehension o f the texts they read depends on their effective approach to them. Therefore, researchers in the field o f second/foreign language reading have identified reading strategies used by good readers The acquisition o f certain learning strategies start in pre-university years. In particular, in secondary and high school education learners are required to read in many content areas and acquire quite a large amount o f knowledge. It can be argued that learners’ educational background plays an important role on their university education where they are confronted with complex reading and learning. This study investigated the relationship betweeen education in reading in secondary and high school and the reading strategy use of freshman students at METU while reading ir English. Data were collected from the students through a three-part questionnaire and thinkaloud protocols (TAPs). The first part of the questionnaire consisted o f questions related to reading practices in secondary and high school. The second part included questions directed towards reading strategies encouraged in pre-university education and reading strategies use by the students at university while reading in English. The last part o f the questionnaire was related to reading practices in English at university. TAPs were used in order to support the data obtained from the questionnaires. The findings o f the study revealed that the students in this study were ‘usually or always’ encouraged to use reading strategies in secondary and high school. With this particular group o f students this encouragement proved to have positive impact on their strategy use at university; they said that they use the same strategies ‘usually or always’ at university while reading in English, although they reported that practices related to reading were not satisfactory in their pre-university education.