Should You Go To College Right After High School?
If you are reading this post you are probably like me. Wondering what was next after high school? It has been years since I graduated high school and I’m now just going back to college, but on that later. It’s intimidating, and I’ll admit it isn’t what you’d expect. High school does not prepare you for the real world let alone college. If you think about it, you go to college now a-days to work towards a career choice. But the real question you should be asking yourself is, Do you know what you want to be? And if you do, Do you have any experience working towards that field?
Come on guys! Employers don’t just want a degree, and this is the dilemma a lot of college graduated are facing trying to enter the job force after spending a lot of time and good money on that degree. I don’t want you to feel like thats your only option.
There are a couple options out there for you:
Taking time off
Maybe you don’t know exactly what you want to be. I’m here to tell you this is normal, and it is becoming accepted in this new generation. You don’t have to go straight to college anymore after high school.
In some cases you can job hop and figure out what your calling is first. For me, that is what I had to do and I am still doing. I think I’m getting closer to what I want to be. I am so much closer than I would have ever been If I had stayed in college after high school. I chose to stop going to college after two terms in my first year of college. I continued working and I’m thankful I took the time to learn about myself first and eliminate a couple careers I would have gone to school for If I hadn’t have worked as admin in them.
If you know what you want to be maybe you still take the gap year and give yourself that breathing room to have some independence into this new chapter of your life.
Get Work Experience
Okay, so you already know what you want to be. Then let me tell you the most important thing to start doing if you haven’t started already. PLEASE GET WORK EXPERIENCE!
This is going to benefit you so much in the long run when you are looking for your dream job you just got a degree for. People get clouded by thinking they can get the job they want right out of the gate, but it’s just not that easy. In fact most employers don’t like hiring college graduates because of this and them having no job skills at all.
All that matters is that you are trying. Get a job that you can grow in and work towards eventually after 6 months to a year getting another job that is closer to your field of interest.
Go to a Community College
School debt is a huge hurdle with going to college. It is the biggest reason I didn’t want to go for the longest time. But since being back I have a few take aways that will save you money.
Go to a community college. It is much cheaper and a lot of the time has most classes that are transferrable to a 4 year college. You are splitting the cost of getting that degree. I would defiantly recommend talking to a counselor with your community college. I have had many conversations and you would be surprised at the back end knowledge they know about what local 4 year colleges require to be transferred over and also great loopholes as to getting there quicker.
Community college might be a good in between if you are not wanting to commit to the large price-tag of a 4 year college and you can get that guidance while exploring work experience.
When I was researching online about how higher education has become so expensive there is a simple answer. It just is expensive. The reason being, that a big chunk goes towards staff and operations, and the other is also just economic growth. After the recession in 2008 colleges had to start acting more like businesses and had to get creative with how money was coming in. This
Even though college costs have risen it is still proven that people who have a bachelors degree over a lifetime have made over half a million dollars more than those who don’t have a degree. You can read more about why college is so expensive on this website. This isn’t a website to discourage you, it is there to educate you on the why.
If debt is a worry for you like it is for me, I would recommend going to your local community college. A lot of them have many great programs and resources to get you on track to transfer to a 4 year college of your choice. What is nice is that its a fraction of the cost of a 4 year college and the classes and teachers are just as good.
I feel that ultimately a person should go to college, and it’s a human right to want to learn and gain knowledge. However, I feel we warp the timeline for when and how it should be done.
Some take aways:
- Go to college when you are ready
- Start out at a community college
- Get work experience as soon as possible
Don’t rush into anything you aren’t ready for. I am grateful to be going to college now at 24 with the want to learn. With the motivation to work towards that career I can’t get without the education and degree. I have gained SO much work experience and knowledge that I feel confidence and ready. College feels enjoyable and I know that my path isn’t going to be the same path for you. You are going to have other opportunities presented your way with work, school, and money. You are going to find what works best for you. Just try and think ahead and follow whichever one of these steps works for your path you’re on.
