College Survival Advisor

My son turned 18 yesterday. In less than a month he’ll be graduating from high school. He didn’t apply to a four year school. He decided to move to another part of the country and try a community college first. I want him to begin at least one class right away. His father is more inclined to stay out of it, just let him do whatever he wants.

Sometimes we need to sit back and ask ourselves if taking a year off between high school and college will help or not. There’s no doubt that you need an education to get a head. The days of the machinist who bluffed his way into a high paying job and apprenticed as he went along are over. Today, you’d probably have to have a B.S. in mechanics at least to even get your foot in the door. The world is changing and with it, the needs in the workforce.

When I was young a lot of people advised taking a year off before going to college. Get a job, they said. Find out what it’s like in the real world. But these days even entry-level jobs are hard to come by so college may be the best place to be.

Even if you didn’t apply to school, it’s not too late. Some say that it’s much easier to get into just about any college if you apply for the spring, rather than winter semester. Start at a community college. You can either do your first two years, or apply to another university later that year.

There was a time I would have said to take a year off. Travel. Experience life. Now I’m not so sure if college shouldn’t be part of the experience.

As parents, how do we know how much help to give our children when they’re preparing for college? We want them to get the best education possible, but we also know they need to learn to stand on their own two feet.

 It’s important to remember that the last year of high school can be an anxious time for both students and parents. As the world beckons with all the excitement and promise it has to offer, it’s also a time of great insecurity. Up until now, parents have made the major decisions for their children.

 Soon they’ll need to make those decisions for themselves.

 In terms of college it can be reassuring to have parents involved in the college selection.  We might want to spend some time online researching different options, then present it to our children. We should be involved in the application process, but never do the application for them.

 This is especially true of the college essay. It’s tempting to tell our children what to say. I’ve even heard of some parents who actually write the essay for their son or daughter. By all means resist this temptation! Our children need to learn responsibility and will only do this if we allow them the freedom to do so. Sometimes we might need to push them a bit. 

 By the time, our children are seniors in high school we’ve pretty much instilled whatever morals and values of our own. Now they will do with it what they will. They’ll make mistakes, but we grow more from our mistakes and failures than from our success. It can be hard to watch our kids stumble and fall, but they’ll become stronger adults if allowed to make their own way. 

 This is true for their majors as well. We want our children to be practical, but we also want them to love what they do. Maybe we want a doctor in the family, but pushing them in a direction they’re not interested in will ultimately not be of value. 

 State your opinions but don’t try to force them. Give them time to dream and space to grow into their own adulthood. Stand aside, but be there to offer a helping hand when they need it. 

There are a number of reasons why a community college might be a good choice if you’re just starting out, especially in these uncertain economic times.

Whether you’re a high school senior or have been out of school for a while, the decision to go to college is probably one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. But what if you don’t know what you want to do? It’s not unusual to feel that you need a college education–and we all know that it will increase your chances of good, well-paying work–but, you’re not quite sure what you want to do.

Or maybe you’re operating on a tight budget.

A community college makes good sense on a number of levels. It’s affordable. You can easily knock out your requirements before heading off to a college or university. Plus, you can experiment a little. Take some classes for the fun of it or because it’s a topic you’ve always been interested in. You might be surprised and find yourself looking at a career path you never considered before.

Community colleges often have excellent instructors who are actively engaged with their topic. You don’t need a Ph.D. to be a good instructor. In fact, the opposite is often true. You’ll find plenty of Ph.D.’s teaching at the community college level, but you’ll also find a variety of others who are there based on their experience in a particular trade. Often they are working as adjuncts (part-time instructors) simply because they have a passion for teaching.

You can save money by living at home. While this might not be ideal–after all, you’ve graduated from high school and are probably anxious to get out on your own, but if your parents are footing the bill, they may be hard pressed financially. A community college is affordable.

So you barely passed high school? No problem! You can make up your classes and move on once you’ve completed them. Employers look at where you graduated from; they won’t care if you spent two years in a community college first.

I’m a fan of community colleges. I was one of those high school misfits, then in my 20s as a single mother, I realized if I was ever going to move beyond factory work, I needed a degree. I went for two years at Cabrillo Community College in Santa Cruz, California, then moved onto the University of California. A few years after graduating I went back to school at the University of Nevada for my M.A. and now teach at a community college.

I have some of my best memories–and encountered some of my best instructors at the community college.