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High School Teens and College
From all points in the process
By Tom Connolly: senior Outlet journalist
The winding down of the 2007/2008 school year finds students at different crossroads. From freshmen to juniors, and in some cases seniors, students are planning on using their summer vacation to unwind and relax before another stressful year of school begins, and the one step closer to the real world. Others, typically juniors and seniors, as well as many sophomores, use the summer as a time to make money. This represents responsibility and learning outside the classroom that most students utilize. Still, at the end of each school year there are seniors who are taking the last steps toward the real world and in some cases the final step into the real world. Some will start careers with only their high school diplomas, some will take a year or more off to pursue other interests, but the majority of seniors will be going off to college, most often the goal upon completing high school.
Of course seniors are consistently asked what they wish to do after high school; it's their choice after all. Most students are told from an early time that college is important in order to have a career to support themselves in the future. But how many students look into college before their senior (in many cases junior) year? "I don't know yet what I want to do after high school," said junior Ronnie Gillis. "I haven't even looked into any sort of school or military thing yet and nothing at our career fair caught my interest."
Perhaps the reality is too much, perhaps some just don't care, or perhaps some already have and are doing research and getting help from counselors, parents, and friends. 73% of students nationwide say that the reason they go to school is to get their diploma and go to college. In Maine, 12,941 students graduated and received their regular high school diploma in the last school year.
Now, college isn't necessary per se, depending on what an individual wants to do.
"I've been accepted to six schools," said senior Ames Shatzer. "I want to go into business management or international business."
But students expect college after high school, and some are unpleasantly surprised when they find that in their senior year they haven't done well enough to get into the schools they want. So with all these graduating students there are bound to be a few who have been denied their post-secondary education because of something as simple as not studying enough for the SATs.
The SATs are designed as a test of what students have learned throughout their schooling. The test hopefully shows colleges that students have studied and learned what is necessary to survive in the college environment. For some, SATs can be expensive. This year the SATs cost $43 for those students who must plan to take the SATs on their own. Maine has gone a step beyond the normal process and has endorsed the test to be taken by all students during their junior year for a fractional cost compared to taking it on one's own. This has, naturally, boosted the amount of Maine students taking the SATs to 100% but, unfortunately, has lowered the average scores to well below the national level. The goal of Maine's broad-spectrum SATs is to increase the amount of kids going to college by giving them the tools to be accepted.
Despite the amount of help the state of Maine has offered to graduating students, there are still many students dropping out each year from high school. Just last year there were almost 1,200 seniors who dropped out and another 1,200 plus from the other grade levels. These statistics show that the rate of students graduating from Maine schools is 84.25%, a statistic that seems low but is actually the 27th rank in the nation.
Overall, students are offered a lot in terms of college prep, considering their access to counselors, the Internet, and colleges themselves which tend to give advice to prospective students. "I've thought a little about college," said sophomore Sean Enking, "but I haven't looked into any specific colleges. I think I'll look for more help next year."
The University of Minnesota gives guidelines for parents and teens as to what the student should be doing with his/her applications, classes, tours, and SATs/ACTs. Applications are sometimes difficult for students, with the essays and the repetitive questions that seem to be common amongst the majority of applications. Luckily the website commonapp.com gives students the ability to do one application for several schools. This website was given early as a resource to seniors at Freeport High School and many have been pleased at the ease of which they are able to apply to college.
Classes are carefully considered by guidance counselors to maximize the student's potential and also give them the typical requirements for the majority of colleges.
"I used the common app and even got a college advisor, who I saw twice," said Shatzer. "I was pretty quick. I got everything done before November." In fact the main guidelines for classes for the University of Minnesota are the graduation requirements for Freeport High, save for the performing arts section.
Tours aren't always an easy thing for students to do. With gas prices and in many cases the huge distance to get to the schools, some students and their parents may decide it makes little sense to take the time and money to visit the schools for such a short tour. Therefore colleges have nice tours set up on their websites for students to learn more about what it's like to be a student at their school, covering everything from campus life to classes and courses.
But most high school students end up doing most of this process during the early part of their senior year. Is this a bad thing? No. In fact according to the college planning tips from the University of Minnesota, it's almost expected that a student start the process in the fall of senior year. Still it doesn't hurt to look around, and students who can think of what they'd like to study in particular, are ahead of the game.
"I've started looking at film schools," said freshman Taylor Kissin. "I've looked at L.A. Film School and Columbia College in Chicago. My parents and my brother have helped me a lot with looking around."
Typically around 50% of incoming freshmen are undeclared majors, and even after choosing a major are likely to change it about five times while in school according to a survey done at Mt. Hood community college in Oregon.
Thinking about what to do after high school is a long and hard process. Sometimes it is harder, sometimes easier, and sometimes not nearly as long. Some will know everything about what they want to do from their freshman year, others won't know until a year after high school or their sophomore year in college. "Right now I want to do something in architecture," said Enking.
Maine is doing a lot to expand the options for their graduating students and there are certainly many options that help students on their way. From parents and teachers to friends, counselors and even the Internet, there are plenty of resources students can count on to help them. Hopefully most graduates will end up doing what they were meant to do in the best possible place. A little thought from the get go can't hurt.
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