What would you work on first?

[bjcheung77]

So, I have someone message me on the other sister board asking this from a recent high school graduate:
What would you work on first?  They seem like they want to work on everything but not at once...
Note: This individual barely passed their grades in High School, majority of their classes are just squeaking past 50% (C-)
Furthermore, they have no idea where they want to be.  They want to be able to get into a Graduate program though.

1) Upgrading your abysmal high school classes (mainly English, Math and Sciences), all of them a C or C- level
2) Go to a community college to work on some basic "trades" classes and hope to get into a well paying "trade"
3) Go to a community college to get an AAS in something of their interest or a specific prep for any profession
4) Work on getting alternative credits to get a Bachelors of something such as a BALS or BSLS at the Big 3.
5) Work on online certificates such as those from Coursera/Udacity, etc or courses to get into the IT industry
6) Find a job in IT (help desk or something easy) to get experience and then work their way up in Info Tech

[ss20ts]

Once you graduate, high school is over. You can't redo those classes. I would go to a community college and take the basic gen ed courses with a plan to transfer to a 4 year school. I'd try to get an AA or AS out of it at least. Or an AAS if there was a field I was interested in, but I'd still get those gen eds because you'll need them later.

College is nothing like high school. I didn't care at all about high school. I was not someone who was prepared for the difference in high school and college. I grew up in a really small town where I knew every single person I graduated with since 2nd grade or earlier. We all literally grew up together so losing everyone was hard. Go off to a big city (even though it wasn't a huge city) it was still a HUGE culture shock and I didn't know a single person.

College courses move much faster so if you aren't thrilled with a topic, you're done with it in a week or less. In high school, you may spend several weeks on that topic.

If the person doesn't know what they want to do, the working on IT may not be a wise idea. If they are interested in it, then maybe take a Coursera or Udemy class. I'd only get a Udemy class if it was on sale though. I definitely wouldn't pay for Udacity. Save that kind of money for courses that give college credit.

There's a big world out there. For some folks, it takes longer to find themselves. There's nothing wrong with that!

[StoicJ]

I'd lean towards suggesting that person work two jobs (at least one of them involving sales or working for themselves), and not put much money into schooling.

Maybe their education should come from work and reading, and not institutional ed.

[freeloader]

I'd lean towards suggesting that person work two jobs (at least one of them involving sales or working for themselves), and not put much money into schooling.

Maybe their education should come from work and reading, and not institutional ed.

I agree with this.  Maybe the person figures out they want to pursue a trade or something that doesn’t require college, maybe they end up starting a business where education isn’t required. Maybe they work 60 hours/week at minimum wage for 6, 12, 18 months and realize that busting your hump and barely getting by is no fun. If they decide to pursue higher education, they probably would take it a lot more seriously and do better. 

It’s really easy to say “I’m done with high school and I will take college more seriously” but talk is cheap. I didn’t take college all that seriously at first and it took many years and some good luck to make up for those shortcomings. 

Get a job or two, join the military, become an AmeriCorps Vista for a year or two. For a person who a) doesn’t know what they want to do and b) doesn’t have a great track record, college seems a waste.

[dfrecore]

I wouldn't suggest spending a dime on school if you're already not a good student. Instead, I'd suggest working A LOT at 2+ jobs, and figure out what you do and don't like.

I'd not suggest something like IT, unless the person has expressed an interest. If they had, I'd do free/cheap learning there. No need to spend a lot of money before knowing if you actually liked it.

[freeloader]

One other thought, perhaps a bit of a dissent from my “real” opinion: if the person is posting on the sister board or reaching out to people on that board, it is probably because that person wants to pursue higher education. If I were that person at 17-19 years of age, just out of high school and bunch of people were telling me “don’t go to college, work for a while” I probably would have dismissed them out of hand. Most of the people on this board have insights borne of our experiences, but it’s hard to convince people, especially 18 year olds who think they know everything...

That in mind, If the person is REALY determined to be pursuing higher education, I would try to point that person to some non-credit certs, something like Sophia or Study.com, or even a microbachelors program, something that isn’t a huge financial commitment and doesn’t have a GPA attached. One or two semesters of sub-2.0 GPA can have ramifications for the rest of that person’s life, same thing for a big fat student loan for even that short of a period in college.

Very good chance that person is likely facing peer-pressure to go to college or is judging him or herself (whether consciously or subconsciously) for their decision to delay or not pursue a conventional college education. Working 2 jobs isn’t going to do anything to alter that but being able to say “I am taking online college courses through Sophia” or “I am doing a microbachelors with XYZ university” might!

[Alpha]

Surprisingly (to me) I'm having a bit of a hardcore reaction to this question.  My first thought was "College is not for everyone."  Maybe this person should go get a job somewhere, focus on good job performance, good attendance, get a raise or two and THEN, if they can put together a decent plan, give college a shot.  Their lack of high school success indicates a low probability of college success.  Is it possible?  Of course, but it would seem more likely if they had any idea at all of what their subject interests were.  The idea that everyone has to go to college is a big setup for lots of people.  But if they're going to insist on attending a CC then I'd suggest the 1) take an aptitude test.  or several.  2) talk to the school counselor about the situation.  3) take a set of courses designed to test out your interests/abilities and plan on getting an Associates in Somethingorother.

[rachel83az]

College is not for everyone. But, if they want to at least TRY to go to college, I would say that ONU and ASU classes would be the way to go! Very low or no buy-in costs. They can discover if college/university is right for them and maybe get some credits that they can, at least, use towards a BOG degree. Some people do terrible in HS and then thrive in college/university. The only way to know for certain is to actually try.

[StoicJ]

If they really want to try the college thing, I'd say drop one of the two jobs, and go to a community college for a semester. Maybe a 1st semester of 2 courses (6 credits), and also try an alt credit course or two. In my area, that could run as little as $600 plus books. Pell has that covered, and then some (it still covers part-time, right?).

Generally, I'd say butt-in-seat would be best, but I'd also make it real clear to them that if they find campus politics to be too distasteful, or if they don't like it for whatever reason(s), they can switch to another school or avoid campuses and earn credits by other means.

[dfrecore]

College is not for everyone. But, if they want to at least TRY to go to college, I would say that ONU and ASU classes would be the way to go! Very low or no buy-in costs. They can discover if college/university is right for them and maybe get some credits that they can, at least, use towards a BOG degree. Some people do terrible in HS and then thrive in college/university. The only way to know for certain is to actually try.

My kids both struggle with the self-paced courses, so I might try something that isn't self-paced (so ASU courses that are not self-paced).  But ASU is a bit pricy for me, not sure if this student has someone helping to pay for his courses?  If not, I might try something cheaper.