Preparing for College

You might as well get used to the idea of going to college. Even if you’re fairly convinced that school is not your thing, you may still find yourself attending college after high school graduation if you don’t want to make your part-time high school job your full-time career.

More and more, college is becoming a necessary component of success in life, no matter how non-academic your long-term career goals are. While it is possible to still make a living without a college education, as our economy moves increasingly away from manufacturing, where much of the high-wage work for people without degrees was previously found, towards technology and service-based industries, more and more high-paying positions will require applicants to have completed some kind of post-secondary education.

Prominent figures in the public eye, including the President of the United States, have recognized this and a national effort is under way to make sure everyone is able to access and complete a college education. While some of these initiatives may eventually make getting into college the easiest thing in the world for high school students, right now, you will need to take charge of your own college preparation. Help is available, though. We’ve compiled some resources that should help you jumpstart college planning. Hopefully you’ll find these useful as you begin preparing for college.

Deciding to Go

In order to make it not only to, but also through, a higher learning program, you’ll need to make up your mind to go. The first step is convincing yourself that attending college is important to your life. While you’ve probably already heard many compelling arguments for going to college in addition to the one presented above, you’re the only one who can ultimately decide to continue your education. This can mean facing and addressing the reasons why students don’t go to college, or researching the many reasons why you should go to college. Thinking about your long-term goals and how college can help you move towards them can lead to setting college goals.

Starting College Planning

After you’ve begun to think about what you want to do with your life and find ways to get yourself to a position where you’ll be able to do it, you may realize that you need to put together a plan for getting through high school and preparing yourself for college. You will also want to meet with your guidance counselor to ask questions about college preparation and college admission to make sure you’re able to put your best foot forward when it comes time to apply. Knowing what to expect in college can also help you get ready.

You’ll want to formulate a plan of action for your high school career, focusing on both academics and extracurricular activities to maximize your prospects of getting into college, winning scholarships to pay for college, as well as having a productive and meaningful high school experience. Check out our suggested high school action plans for some ideas for high school students at any grade level.