Decisions About College vs College Deadlines

“It’s October already, what do you mean you don’t know where you want to go or what you want to study”? Unfortunately, far too many parents, friends and counselors are asking that question this time of year. The students on the receiving end of that question are way past tired of hearing it. The only thing that will make the question go away is a plausible answer and the pressure to come up with an answer only makes the decisions more difficult. So, what is an indecisive teen to do?

Get off the fence and do something, anything… Go visit a local college, make a list of the things you like doing, ask 10 of your friends what their parents do, pick the top two most interesting things and go talk to those adults about their work, go back and look over that career interest survey they made you take at school or find out what all your friends are planning to do. If you are too lazy to do any of those things, pick the state college and a private college nearest you and apply. If you have great grades and test scores, you will likely be welcomed with open arms and maybe even scholarship money. If you are not such a good student the scholarships may not materialize.

Now, these suggestions are meant for the student who wants a college degree but is unsure about how to proceed. I understand that there are those students who don’t want to go to college. Let me warn you about entering the workforce with only a high school diploma. You will never be paid what you are worth and you will be a rung on a ladder for everyone who comes to work with you that has some sort of education beyond the high school diploma. At the very least, get a certification in something related to the job you plan to do. As you begin to see the value in additional coursework, it can be taken nights and weekends or you can take a break from working altogether and go to college full time.

The absolute worst thing you can do right now is nothing. Doing nothing is like a deer caught in the headlights. We all know what happens to the deer if it doesn’t move. Don’t be that deer!