college // things to consider, where to start

When you get a degree, don't necessarily think about money, think more about what you want to do. Also weigh in the fact that:

1) you need to be able to support yourself with extra on the side for hospitality or just having spending cash. Keep in mind that if you DO get married (don't plan on it, bc that can cloud your judgement and you might make really bad decisions about the future) you could be the major contributor/sole breadwinner and will need a job that can support you, your spouse, and potential kids if you decide to have any.

2) you need to be able to pay back student debts/your parents. Student debts, if you have them, are a duh - you need to pay those back or you go to jail. But parents might also provide a significant amount of money and you need to give back what you owe, even if there is no interest, no pressure, no deadline, no punishment, no reminders.

3) when choosing a major, pick something that pays well but also has elements that you enjoy. If you love math, maybe consider going into accounting instead of a math degree - they both involve math, but one pays better and has more job opportunities.

No matter what your personal life looks like, you'll want options. And the better your paycheck, the more options you'll have. Think about all the decisions that cost money: what apartment/house/area/state/county you live in, having rental properties, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the people you hang out with, the parties you go to, the places you travel, how often you travel, the food you eat, the hotels you stay at, the airlines you fly, the class you fly in, if you can pay for parking while on a trip, or the Uber/Lyft/taxi you take to get to the airport, if you want to go back to college and get a different degree, if you want to go to graduate school, if you want to renovate your house, build a house, build an extension on your house, having sufficient savings, investments, rainy day fund, if you need to get a divorce, or you need to run away from someone, if you have kids you want to take with you when you leave, whether you have some cushioning in case of emergency or disaster, bills you need to pay, maybe if you want to be an entrepreneur and start your own biz, if you want to decorate/redecorate your house, if you want to give to a charity you believe in, if you want to send someone to college, if you want to get someone a nice present, if you want to pay someone to clean your house, take care of your lawn, take care of your kids, if you want to retire, or do it early, etc.

These are all these you might need to have money for, either now or later on in life, and I'm not saying you need a degree to get all these things, but you'll need a way to fund them and the higher-paying the job, the more likely you'll need a degree before you're qualified in that area.

Another thing, when I was reading the ACT's manual for Juniors in high school, they mention the courses you need to take for the first two years of high school. I want you to know what you've done or need to do. When you read the manual scroll down to Question 2, "What Are My Priorities This Year?" bc the first thing they mention are the core courses you need to take to be accepted into almost any college.

If you don't want to, or the link doesn't work anymore, here's what they say:

English - 4 years
Math - 3 years (including Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2)
Science - (including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics)
Social Studies - 3 years (history, geology, and political science)
Other - foreign language, visual and performing arts, computer science, and "many more" whatever that means

Why are these courses important? 1) Most colleges require these for admission 2) What you learn in these classes will give you the well-rounded knowledge you'll need later in life

(if you need a better idea, and would like a checklist or two or five, here are the ones I found helpful. Link opens up in a new tab.)

ONE REALLY IMPORTANT THING I JUST LEARNED (learned yesterday May 23, 2019) - you need to have taken TWO YEARS of a foreign language. I didn't realize that until Mom told me that yesterday and now I'm looking at two years of putting off college because I didn't know to learn a language. Make sure you tell her what you want to study... or don't tell her what you want to study, that's fine, but make it obvious that you really do want to go and you're trying to make tracks towards it. You need to do this so Mom knows what to do and where to get you to make you ready. Because I am not ready and it's putting me off for two years. Mom didn't know to tell me all these things that I am just now finding out.

On the ACT thing they move on to talking about your last two years, not your first. Those will be in a different post.

At the end of Question Three, on page 27, they talk about college considerations which I think is something I should put here since this is all about things to consider and they have some good points. Consider:
  •  Two-Year vs. Four-Year: Some students choose to start out at a two-year community or technical college, which are often closer to home and more affordable, and they award two-year associate’s degrees, which is all that’s required in some careers.
  • Private vs. Public: If you choose the four-year college route, you’ll need to decide between a publicly or privately funded college or university. Private colleges are often smaller, with fewer students, more access to faculty, and better chances of getting into programs and classes. They’re also typically more expensive than public colleges but with a larger student population.
Which type of college you choose will depend on many factors:
  • Your comfort level: class size, distance from home, etc.
  • What you can afford
  • Which college is the best fit to your program of study
By starting now, you’ll have plenty of time to figure out which one is the best fit for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

If you have any questions for me, we live in the same house so just talk to me in person. And if we don't live in the same house anymore, ig you can leave a comment but I'll see it better if you just email me - mairigreer@gmail.com

Popular posts from this blog

college // checklists!

I personally find checklists really helpful - they tell you exactly what you need to do to get to a certain point. And in this case, that point is college. So here are the checklists I found most helpful for me, or that had the most potential, and that will probably be most helpful for you, wherever you are in school. (all links open in new tabs) checklist for 6th-8th graders .  I really like this checklist, even as a graduated high school student - it's a great way to really get you thinking about where you want to be, how you want to get there, and why. It gives you information on what different kinds of schools there are, and gives you some pointers based on what you'd be interested in. It also gives you tips, tells you where to start, tells you what to do depending on the grade you're in, answers questions you're probably asking yourself right now, and basically holds your hand and guides you through the process. Reading it got me really excited for college, so I wo...
Read more

college // high school checklist & articles to read (for senior year, but you can do this any time!)

Decide if the ACT or SAT works with you/your plans , and which one you want to take (if you want to take any at all - I didn't take either one and I still got into college. I applied to a jr college, Ivy Tech, and from there went on to transfer to a public university that would have needed my ACT/SAT scores if I'd directly applied there instead. That's definitely an option if you think you won't have good scores, or don't want to go through the testing stress). Read this article  to make sure the subjects you're studying in high school are adequately preparing you for college, as it goes over everything colleges will/won't look at when you apply and turn in your transcript (you don't have to worry about the transcript, Mom will do that for you if you graduated from high school at home. If you graduated from someplace like CEC, they'll send the transcript. I think you just have to email them and tell them what college to send it to). Then, read this h...
Read more

s t e p # 3 : driving (easy mode)

Getting your hours in is really really important, duh. And if you have a job (it's not necessary, but if you do), it's the best time to get your hours in. Drive to work, let the 21+ yo drive it home. They'll drive it back to pick you up and you can drive them home. Then also don't forget that you can drive to and from church. And if Dad and Mom don't change drastically from now till then, you'll be driving there and back twice every Sunday (so there and back x4) and then also driving there for Wednesday night prayer meeting (which is changing this coming June, so ig you'd be driving to the youth meetings instead of prayer meetings, but it's still driving there and back). Don't think you need to be precise with your hours. You can put them down in hour and half hour increments, no less. So if you run to the store 5 minutes away, you can put that down as half and hour and not feel guilty over it. You need 60 hrs total - 50 daytime, 10 nighttime....
Read more