HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT SCHOOL FOR YOU

For the most part, you should start out knowing what it is you would like to get out of your post secondary education (any kind of school or training after high school) and what sort of career area are you interested in receiving training for. In general, people that pursue careers in areas in which they have a strong interest and aptitude, tend to be successful and happy with their occupations. You should find something you really like to do and see if there is realistic way you can develop your interests into a career. You may love to fish, but if you look at the long-term employment opportunities in this area, you’ll find that not too many people are able to fish and make a living at it. On the other hand, if you like to spend time working on a computer you’ll find more opportunities to turn this interest into a reliable career. That doesn't’t mean you should give up on fishing. You just need to know what the odds are before you start down the path of a career choice.

If you have no idea about any area of work you would be interested in, taking an interest/aptitude test can often help get you started thinking about a career. The worst career choice you can possibly make is the one that someone else picks out for you. Other people can only assist you in the process of you finding a direction for your life. To put this another way, follow your dream, as long as that dream touches down to earth at some point. During your freshman year you will have a chance to take a career interest/aptitude survey when you participate in the statewide test. You can also take a look at web site resources, which offer a considerable amount of career related information. Don’t worry if you haven’t yet made up your mind about what to do with the rest of your life. During the rest of your life economic experts predict you will change your career about ten times before you retire just to keep pace with the evolving global economy.

If there is something that you would really love to do, start investigating that career early on and find out what it will take to turn that dream into a reality career for you. Don’t wait for your senior year. Talk to people you know who do that sort of work. Contact professional organizations that serve people that work in that particular field. Talk to local and/or state employment organizations about opportunities in the field in which you are interested. Don’t rely on what you have seen on television. The action packed life of a police officer portrayed on TV is in stark contrast to the real thing. A typical police officer spends a considerable amount of time doing fairly unglamorous paper work. Dangerous work right? Think it might be safer to take the easy route and drive a cab in New York? The latter occupation is more dangerous than the first. Unless you spend some time uncovering the details of a career that are not readily evident on the surface, you may end up spending time and money on training for a career which you have little factual information about, and stuck in a job that doesn't’t appeal to you.

Depending on what it is you would like to do, there are many different avenues that lead to success. Incidentally, my definition of success in the world of work is finding an occupation that you love which allows you to earn enough money to keep working there. Some careers require four or more years of college while others will require some training after high school, but not necessarily a four-year program.

Once you have some idea of a career direction, you are then ready to start looking for the training you will need to be successful in that vocation. Any school or training program that cannot provide you with clear, simple information about how their graduates are doing in the world of work, probably has a reason. Successful programs want to advertise their success. Ask questions about what happens to students when they graduate. Ask for graduates you can speak to, ask for employer contacts that have hired their graduates. Before you spend any time or money on any training, make sure you are getting what you think you are paying for. For a great example of what a graduate report should look like, check out the “Professional/Technical Graduate Report” which the Community Colleges of Spokane puts out each year. You can find a copy in the counselor’s office or on the Internet.

Be a careful and informed shopper when it comes to education. There are many private vocational programs that offer course work similar to that in the Vocational/Technical Community Colleges. Often times the only difference is that the private schools have an advertising budget and charge three times the tuition!

Apprenticeship programs offer a unique training opportunity in several hundred different vocational areas. You must got through a formal application and interview process before you are accepted into one of these programs. Once in, you will spend about 80% of the work week (40 hours a week) working under the direct supervision of a journeyman who is an experienced professional in the vocational area in which you are receiving training. The other 20% of the work week you will be in some kind of a classroom setting studying to develop and master the academic skills you will need to be successful in the career you have selected. While in training you will be paid and receive all the benefits of a union employee, medical, dental, and retirement. All apprenticeship programs have different procedures for enrollment. If you think you might be interested, you need to contact the appropriate representative early. Some programs have a waiting list over a yearlong. You can find more information about apprenticeship programs on the web resource list.

While a military career is not for everyone, every high school student should investigate the options that the services have to offer. Often times, people have little bits and pieces of information about careers which, when pasted together, do not make up an accurate picture of what that specific career is actually like. When it comes to the military, more often than not, the picture people have is the result of what they have seen on TV and at the movies. If you make a decision to join or not join the military, make sure you do your detective work first and that you have made an informed decision. Find more information about the services on the web resource list.

To sum it up, these are the basic steps to take down the path of trying to figure out what career is going to be best for you:

1. If you don’t have a clue about a career direction, start out by doing some career interest/aptitude activities. During the 9th grade you will have a chance to do an assessment. You can also access interest/aptitude activities on the Internet to help you in the process of finding a career direction that is right for you. Check the Internet resources listed at the end of this document for further exploration.

2. Once you have some ideas of career directions, do some research. Make a list of all the questions about that occupation you can think of and then start searching for the answers. Find out things like; 1.) how much money will I make?, 2.) how long will I have to go to school?, 3.) where will I have to live to get a job?, 4.) are the opportunities in this field growing or shrinking?, 5.) Will the demands of the job fit with my life style? Often times, the more you learn about a career you thought would be great, the more it looks like just another job. Keep looking until you find the one that’s right for you. Use the attached worksheet What Do I Really Know About This Job, as a guide.

WHAT DO SCHOOLS LOOK AT WHEN CONSIDERING APPLICANTS?

Admissions counselors indicate that they are receiving more and more applications that look pretty much the same on the surface based on grade point average and college entrance test scores (ACT & SAT). On closer examination, here are some of the things they consider in the process of determining how to offer admissions to:

Junior and/or senior schedule lacking academic courses beyond minimum core requirements. If you just take the minimum required classes and avoid going beyond these, on paper you run the risk of looking like someone only interested in putting out the minimum amount of effort required to finish the task at hand. Colleges are looking for motivated students who want to excel and distinguish themselves academically.
Taking the easier course when more rigorous options are available. Being an aide when you could take a more challenging English, math, or science class can make you appear as someone looking for a way to complete your credit requirements without having to confront intellectual challenges.

HOW TO PAY FOR COLLEGE

The single most important step towards a financial plan to pay for college is to complete the “Free Application for Federal Student Aid” (FAFSA). All schools use the information from this form to develop their offers of financial aid. The only way to tell what kind of a financial aid offer a school will make you is to file the FAFSA. It’s free and does not commit you to any obligations. It is simply a way for schools to inform you of what sort of financial assistance they would be able to provide you if you attend. You can choose to accept any, all, or none of the assistance that is offered. Even if you have no plans at the present to attend school after high school graduation, go ahead and file the FAFSA. You may get an offer that looks better than the job market on your horizon. The FAFSA can be filed on or shortly after, January 1st of your senior year. It is in your best interests to get this done as soon as possible. The form asks for information from your tax return as well as that of your parents. Estimate this information if you have not got your taxes done yet. Schools have limited funding for what is called campus based federal aid and they all have different timelines for awarding it to students. Get the FAFSA done early to make sure you are considered for these funds. Even if you are eligible, if you file after the schools deadline you will miss out on some funding you deserved. You should consider the advantages of filing the FAFSA on the Internet. It’s clean and quick. Check out the web sites listed in this packet before this year’s application becomes active. When we receive the hard copies of the FAFSA sometime in November, the counselor will make sure all seniors receive a copy. Use it to get your information together before filing on the Internet. In order for men 18 years and older to be eligible for the maximum amount of federal financial aid, they must be registered with the Selective Service. This can be done electronically while filing the FAFSA on line. The only requirement for filing the FAFSA is that you finish a high school program, are an American citizen, and you need the money in order to be able to afford college.