Advice on what to do during a year-long wait between high school and college?
Question:
I usually do this myself and I can understand where you are coming from. I think you should stick to your original plan and look for a job in the field that you are interested in, even if it is only an internship. That way your parents will think you are actually "learning" about your intended career field. It shows responsibility and I'm sure that way you will feel good about taking the year off. Alot of people do it.
You need a reason to take a year off, so you can talk to your parents about it reasonably. It would be a good idea to do a few things if you do take that year off:
1. Study. Don't just sit back and wait. Find a subject (like writing) that you can practice and work on during the interim.
2. Complete a LOT of scholarship applications. I would think you could tell them you'd complete one scholarship application per week until your year is up. That gives you a good chance to avoid loans.
3. Work. Get a constructive job and start setting that money back as spending money for the school year. It will make your parents much more likely to accept the year off if they know it will make college cheaper for them.
You sound like you need some focus. Try contacting the admissions office or advising office at your school and talk to them about setting a one-year plan to get started in school. They might help.
Travel, get a job for a few months and save up, then spend a few months traveling and then come home and get your college stuff in order. You have the rest of your life to be a grown up, enjoy your year off, you'll most likely never have another one!
actually it's deponds on your situations, but whatever you gonna do is better than wasting time, if i was you i would rather to go to some institutions to improve my skills which would be helpfull for my future life.
I would say either take a couple classes at a community college or online just to keep your mind fresh while still earning credit to help you later on. Online or community colleges are usually cheaper and don't require you to take out large loans if any. Another option, you can work and do volunteer activities to help boost your resume for when you actually apply for scholarships, or later on after you graduate from college and are looking for a job. Volunteering or joining clubs ALWAYS looks good on applications and resumes, as long as you are active in them.
P.S. I think the user raymarblue has some great advice as well! ;)
Going to college is definitely the best idea, UNLESS you have some special skill or talent that you are ready to use to earn income. I was going to the Marines ( passed the physical test) but then I was accepted to the only school I applied to.
It is many years later, and I have 3 graduate degrees, and a great job and career. I made a LOT of friends during school and had a lot of fun. Trick is, I figured out what I wanted to do early on - be a lawyer.
Specific answer to your question: work a full-time or part-time job, and plan your MAJOR for college, and really polish off those applications. If you are ambitious, you can try to take 2-3 classes at your local community college (make sure they are up to par and standard, such as a basic math course or two, and possibly a science or computer course, rather than english courses).
Major: pick something that interests you AND that will make you money when you get out (i.e., accounting, finance, sciences...).
About the job: apply to offices as an office assistant or anything of the sort, rather than retail, waiting or fast food places. It should look better for your applications.
Get a job! You can earn some money and get valuable work experience.
I would suggest you get a job with a temp service and have them place you in different types of organizations. That way you may find your way to a career path.
My advice to you would be to first do your financial aid application and start looking for some schloarships and grants to help pay for school. A year seems like a long time time but trust me it will go by before you know. I say use this year to set goals for yourself and decide if college is what you really want to do and if so be thinking about what you want to major in and how that will relate to what you want to do in life. Basically use that time to grow as a person and also get involved in some volunteer work.
I was in the same situation after high school. I didn't prepare at all for college, so I spent a year working a full-time job. It gave me some experience in the "real world", and I was able to earn money and build my savings account. After that, I went to school with much better focus, and I'm doing really well (and I'm entirely debt-free). If you're not ready for college, don't rush into it. Some of my friends did that. They earned poor grades their first year, and ruined their chances of getting scholarships or going to graduate school. Be smart about it!
You need to understand the problem before making a decision.
If you wait, you lose out on opportunity. Financial aide is not given as frequently or much to "slackers" who take a year (or several) off before college. Colleges that are selective (like UofAz Pharmacology) reject applicants that dont show significant ambition in the field by jumping straight into college. Again the "slacker" bites you in the butt. Use it or lose it - you forget what you know and when you take the placement tests are going to score lower and have to take more classes to "catch up" to where you are right now. There is less free money to pay for college, and less colleges wnat you as a student, and you get stupider over time. Your parents know you are going to have to take more money from them because you cant provide it yourself in order to go to a lesser college, and work harder just to get where you are now.
So what are you going to trade away for the loss in opportunity? Travel? Leisure? that sounds like a loss. When you have to work harder overall to get less its a loss right? You will have to pay more for less, and have less to show for the same work. Thats a loss.
Personally I think you should move out of your house, pay your own bills, and work at a 7-11 or other highly exploitive job. After a year of that degrading abuse you will deeply appreciate the idea of making 10x as much money for 1/3 the work, and getting benefits, and respect for doing something you love.
Right now you are a kid - you aren't wired to appreciate how easy you have it, or how hard someone else had it so that you could have it easy. You are wired to not be able to not waste your opportunities. Wasted opportunity is the story of nearly every person in your generation. The rare story is the one who doesn't waste opportunity, or potential. I dont think you are wired to be rare, just average.
If you really want to wait you can always work and maybe take a class or two at a community college. I would recommend looking into colleges and universities that you would be interested in pursuing. Talk with the admissions counselors about scholarships, grants, and loans. If you plan on taking a class or two at a community college talk with the registrar (in the registrar's office. You want to make sure that whatever courses you take would be transferred into your college of choice.
During your time off consider various career options and possible majors. I would also recommend doing some volunteer work, especially in an area that you think you might be interested in pursuing as a future career. I would definitely work and save up money for school. I would also consider taking classes at the community college (even if it is just one or two courses a semester). If you take a course or two before going into a college or university full-time it might help in receiving scholarships at whatever college you do attend.
As I mentioned earlier, look into colleges and universities that you would be interested in pursuing. Talk with admissions counselors (financial aid), the registrar, and professors and students within the major(s) that interest you. Visit the campus(es) more than once, especially during the year. If you haven't taken the SATs/ACT do that (at least once).
Good luck.
I took a year off between School and University and I think it was the best thing I ever did... I spent the year working in a city office job as a receptionist, and it let me save money, get a break from studying and generally appreciate what it's like to stand on my own feet and not have to rely on my parents for a while.
After I'd been out of school for a while i realised the plans I had originally made for uni weren't really what i wanted... and I was aiming for a field where I was going to be really unhappy... I learned alot about myself in my time away,...
My advice would be to take the year off and spend some time working, and save money. then after a few months you could spend some time travelling or put your savings towards your college fees. Just remember, there isn't a rush, you don't HAVE to go to college now. I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but in my Uni course (in australia) almost half the class are mature age students (over 21) and they usually top the class in exams because they've had they're time away, they're learning fresh and they know they're working towards something they really want to do.
Good luck!
All the best for whatever you plan...
1. Get yourself a list of possible reasons for NOT attending college...
2. Decide on the course you would like to take when you join college
3. Talk to people in that profession and find out what basics you would have to learn which would help you.
4. Work towards your goal
OR
3. Think of some work related to the course you plan to join so that you will have an idea about that course...
Any work would be nice since you wish to earn too...
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