Life After High School

As our youth grows older, they start approaching the end of their K-12 schooling. So, what choices do they have after graduating High School? Over many years of my academic and professional career, I have created a general list of options which I share with my students. Being an academic coach and a business consultant for many years, I have my own opinions about the importance of college education for every student, but that will be discussed in later blogs.

Here are some options with no order of importance as each student may choose his/her own path.

Life After High School - What are the options?

Upon graduating high school, our students can do one or more of the following (in no particular order of importance):

A. Work - Go directly into the workforce and get a job. Most of the time these jobs will start at minimum wage and will not require any special skills or knowledge. In such jobs, professional advancements and promotions are very seldom.

B. Technical or Vocational Schools - Students may choose to attend one of several vocational training institutions where they will learn skilled labor and gain specialized knowledge about certain types of work. The list is very large and will not be discussed at this point.

C. Junior College (aka Community College)
1) AA degree (Associates) - A student may receive an AA degree from a JC in a field of their choice. This is usually a two-year program and usually the lowest academic degree after high school. This degree assists many individuals in getting slightly higher paying jobs as certain positions may require such a degree.
2) College Transfer - Many students who do not apply to four-year colleges (universities) directly after high school, choose to take this route where they get to take all the necessary courses to transfer to a university. These courses are designed to fit the general education requirements of most universities within the U.S.

D. University / 4-year college (Undergraduate School) - A four-year college is the same as a university and is generally known as Undergraduate School. Students with high High School GPA's and SAT or ACT scores may apply directly to colleges and start pursuing their bachelor's degree directly out of high school. Different universities have different admission requirements and each prospective applicant must contact the admissions office of each university and inquire about such requirements. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT (American College Testing) are standardized tests measuring the overall knowledge of each prospective college entrant in Math, Critical Reading, and Writing. These tests are similar in many fashions, yet different in others. Different students perform differently on each of these tests. Colleges may have their own preferences for such tests and it is the student's responsibility to check with each college's testing requirements for admission.

Life After College to be discussed in later blogs.