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College: How do you decide what you should go to college for?
How do I decide What I should go to college for?
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There are a few things that you need to take into account. It would be great if everyone could just follow their dreams, but most of us have to be able to put a roof over our heads and food on the table at the same time.
1) What do you like? What sort of person are you?
Do you enjoy helping others? Do you like working with people, or working alone? Basically, think about what career paths your personality would be suited for. A great way to do this is to take career personality tests. Many guidance counselors have access to these, or you can look online. Here's a good example: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
2) Where do your abilities lie?
We're not all Stephen Hawking. Much as I'd love to be the next great neurosurgeon, I have shaky hands. Maybe you love helping people, but you've never done well at science. That means that nursing is out. Some level of shakiness on a subject is okay and can be dealt with, but if you've just never understood math, you probably shouldn't be a physicist.
3) So you've picked a career path. What do you need to get there?
Some paths require different education. Are you going to have to go to grad school? Can you skip school altogether and go into an apprenticeship? Make sure that your educational decisions match the needs of your chosen career. A great way to do this is to talk to someone who does what you want to do.
4) You know what you want to do and how to do it. Can you do it?
What are the odds of employment in your chosen field? There are a lot of actors and musicians out there working double shifts at Starbucks to pay the bills while they wait for their opportunity. Some schools post lists of the previous year's graduate employment rates. Mine breaks it down to show what percentage were hired into positions relevant to their field of study for each program. That can be very useful information. Otherwise, this is another question to ask your contact.
5) Can you afford all this?
School can be expensive. Maybe you're lucky and live somewhere where post-secondary education is paid for by the government, or maybe you live in the US where school costs are sky-high. It's very important to know if you can afford school before diving into it.
If you're taking out loans to make it happen, figure out how long it would take for you to pay them back after graduation. Make up a budget using the average salary for someone with the position you're looking for and see if it's worth it. I have a friend who went through her bachelor's and master's for teaching. She had some trouble breaking into teaching full-time, so she's stuck struggling and trying to make minimum payments on her loans on a part-time waitress paycheck.
If you're signing on to be a starving artist, it might not be the best idea to pay $100 000 to get your PhD. Make sure that your potential income is proportional to the cost of education.
6) Put it all together.
You picked a field that interests you and that you're good at. You know what you need to do to get there, and you can hopefully afford it. Now all that's left is to register and spend the next few years working your butt off!
It's important to remember that it's not necessarily a final decision. You don't have to lay out your whole life at 15, 16 or 17. You may find that you hate your coursework, or that you developed a strong interest in another area. You may change as a person, or your financial situation may blow up. There's no shame in re-evaluating and taking a stab at something new.
Whatever you do, don't jump into school if you're not fairly confident in what you want to do. If you're still floating around after thinking about all this, take a year off after high school to work (and save some much-needed money!) and to get some perspective. Working a lousy minimum wage job for a year really changes how you think about skilled careers!
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What you have a passion for.
I have always loved helping people, so I chose nursing.
What classes are you best in?
Try talking to a councilor, they are good at deciphering those sorts of things.
Also, don't stress about deciding, lots and lots of people go into college having no idea what they want to major in, so there is no pressure, you have lots of time.
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