Introduction. The pandemic has severely tested people, sharpening attention to their resources, above all, such as readiness to act. Considering that one of the social groups most vulnerable to the pandemic situation was the youth, the purpose of the study was to study the psychological characteristics of students' readiness for activity in conditions of forced isolation. Materials and methods: university students of creative specialties of (N=106) took part in the study. The following measuring scales and questionnaires were used: The Scale of self-assessment of innovative personality qualities (CYCLE), the Scale of “Openness” of the questionnaire “Big Five”, “Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised” (Portrait Values Questionnaire-Revised – PVQ-R; Sh. Schwartz et al.; modification of K.V. Sugonyaev), Scales: “Purposefulness” and the “Regularity” of the questionnaire of self-organization of activity (OSD) by E.Y. Mandrikova, the scale of “System reflection” of the questionnaire “Differential test of reflexivity” (D.A. Leontiev, E.N. Osin), The scale of “Life satisfaction” (E. Diener; in the adaptation of D.A. Leontiev, E.N. Osin), “Index of personal readiness for activity”. The results were processed using the Statistica 10.0 program. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, coefficients of asymmetry and kurtosis, normality), regression and cluster analysis were used during the study. Research results and conclusion: an experimental study was conducted, during which the results of studies conducted at different times were compared: before the pandemic and during the pandemic, as well as among students of creative specialties and students studying in ordinary specialties. It was revealed that the psychological characteristics of readiness for the activities of students of creative specialties in the conditions of the pandemic have practically not changed, except for one thing: openness to knowledge. The hypothesis of the study is confirmed that the psychological readiness for the activity of students of creative specialties in a situation of forced isolation is primarily due to creativity and openness to experience. When choosing values, students prefer “Openness to Change” rather than “Preservation”. Cluster analysis has established that students differ from each other in such characteristics as “Planning”, “Goal-setting”, “Life satisfaction”, “Reflection”, “Openness to experience”, “Creativity”, which differentiate students into categories with varying degrees of psychological readiness for activity: ready to perceive changes, to be effective in situations of cardinal transformations and the category of students who tend to simplify reality and adaptive behavior strategies. Psychological characteristics of readiness for the activity of students of creative specialties can be considered as resources that help young people to find positive opportunities in difficult situations, to build strategies for activities in uncertain circumstances. The results of the study emphasize that an essential component of the process of training specialists at the university should be their personal development.