There comes the point in every high school kid’s life where they must start thinking about college. If no one in your family has been to college, or even if everyone in your family has been to college, planning in advance is vitally important to ensure that you get the right place on the right course in the right institution.
If you are unsure whether you should go to college, here are four reasons why it’s a good idea.
Learn about yourself
College is the perfect time to invest in you and learn about yourself. You could call it finding your way or finding your direction in life. Many college graduates will say that college was the making of them, their first taste of freedom, and sometimes the chance to reinvent themselves.
One of the best things about college is the ability to mix and match to what suits you. If you’re interested in a field, for example, history, you may wish to take a few classes to see if this is a field, you’d like to continue in. A lot of colleges don’t require students to declare a major until the sophomore year, so there is time to decide and change your mind.
If you’re worried about whether you’ll get in, remember there are many factors that form part f your college application, including extracurricular activities and your GPA, check out the University of Alabama acceptance rate on CampusReel for a good benchmark and to find out the requirements.
Career prospects
It’s no secret that college graduates can earn more money than their non-college graduate peers, and some careers are not even open to you if you have only a high school diploma.
Data shows that the average employee with only a high school diploma earns approximately $45,000, whereas the same aged-college graduate earns, on average, $78,000. A college degree is still worth it in the careers market!
Gain Life Skills
College is an exciting time to not only find yourself but learn to become yourself. You will also gain your independence and learn new things about living that you might not have had to consider before.
Life skills are vital for everyone to learn, whether it’s cooking or budgeting, communicating, public speaking, or even listening. These can all be fantastic skills to learn and practice in the safe space of a college campus.
Don’t forget to enjoy college too, many class options are purely for fun, take a few, enjoy your time!
Meet People
From lifelong friends to your future sweetheart, college is a wonderful place to meet people from different walks of life and from all backgrounds.
Use this opportunity to discover diverse cultures, different world views, political views, and the way different people interact. Whether that’s joining clubs like ultimate Frisbee, or writing for your college newspaper, give as many things a try as you can and meet as many people as you can.
Going to college is a once in a lifetime opportunity, grab it with both hands!
