How can someone know if attending college is for him/her?

Question

How valid are other options?

Answer 1

College isn't for everyone. Nearly everyone is capable of completing a degree, but that doesn't mean it's the best use of time and money for everyone.

There are a lot of good careers that don't require college. Furthermore, if you go when you're 18 just because you think you're supposed to, you probably won't do very well. If you go work for a few years, you might find something you like, you're good at, and which pays well. If not, you'll probably be a lot more motivated to do well in school in order to have a better career.

Answer 2

Attending college is for everyone. Education is the most valuable contribution you can make to your future. There are so many types and locations of colleges that there is no good reason not to attend one at some level.

It's possible that you should consider all other "options" as not something that is exclusive and would preclude getting a college education but instead as other things to do in addition to getting a college education.

For example: you can travel to Europe for a summer - and go to college in the fall. You can go get a job, and go to college in the evening. You can get married, and go to college with him/her. You can be a hermit in a cave, and go to college online. You can join the military, and go to college in your off hours. You can even go to prison, and still go to college.

Very often, we look at things as an either/or situation that simply aren't - attending college is one of those things that can be done while also doing other things as well.

Answer 3

Other options are only really valid when one knows that their lifetime occupation will not require extra education. For example, many people in the entertainment industry (esp. singers) do not pursue further education in order to get ahead in their field, because it is not necessary.

If you are pursuing a specialized area, such as the medical field, law, etc. then further schooling is required. You just need to figure out where you want to be in life and make a map to direct you there. If college is not one of those stops in the map, then you know where to go.

But in this day and age, education beyond high school is almost mandatory for employment opportunities.

Answer 4

Contact the college of your choice and talk to a career counselor. They can have you take a acuplacer test to see where you are at academically and help you to find a program they best fits you. I will give you some advise, Do not choose for money, choose from the heart. Do something that will make you proud of yourself for years to come.

Answer 5

I find it helps to simulate the experience before actually agreeing to go. See if this is for you:

1) 1st take all the books in your room, give them to your mom, and buy them off of her for a thousand dollars. Then throw them in the garbage since your tests will be based on lecture material.
2)Mentally prepare yourself for your field. Read books on whatever you are going to learn, look at periodicals, peruse on line blogs giving you as much insight as possible on your field of study. Now scrap all that knowledge and prepare to take "the social history of rugby" as a mandatory elective
3)Every weekend, pull up a chair and sit in it. Suction a beer bong to your face and do not move until sunday night at 11:00pm.
4)Save up all your laundry for a month. Now bag it and drive 200 miles with it to simulate you taking it home to your mom.
5)Get your mom to lecture you at 8 AM. Practice falling asleep every time she makes an important point that is likely to be on a test.
6)Imagine the orgy that college life is represented as on TV. Get your expectations up. Now imagine the orgy that is represented on "Revenge of the Nerds" with the girls of Mu. Get used to it.

IF you can handle all that then you, my friend, are college material. Good luck!!!!