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Are You Prepared�For Life After High School?

College Readiness Initiative

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What are my options?

Explain the variety of paths that a student can take. Describe the different opportunities students have in completing a 2-year programs and 4-year programs, such as in Accounting. For example, a student with a 2-year Accounting degree can expect to be considered for jobs such as Accounting Clerk, Bookkeeping, and Auditing Clerk, with a median salary around $36,000. A 4-year Accounting degree would qualify a student to take the Certified Public Accountant exam, and be considered for jobs such as Accountant or Auditor, with average earning potential of $65,000 per year. Also explain that there are certificate programs that may be completed sooner than a 2-year degree, so that it is possible to start working full time at a higher paying job while continuing an educational pathway toward a 2- or 4-year degree.

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Some College Pathways …

2-year Associate’s Degree

Nursing (ADN)
Pharmacy Technician
Early Care and Education
Automotive Technology
Welding Technology
Accounting
University Studies

4-year Bachelor’s Degree

Nursing (BSN)
Biology (pre-med)
Elementary or Secondary Education
Engineering
Accounting
English, Chemistry, Political Science, etc.

Accounting Clerk, Bookkeeping, Auditing Clerk

Median salary: $36,000

Accountant, Auditor, CPA

Median salary: $65,000

Emphasize the variety of options that students have, even those who want to immediately attend college. Challenge them to think for themselves about their future goals and not feel pressured to do something “just because that is what everyone else is doing, that is what my sibling did, or that is what my parents expect me to do.” Empower them to take ownership of their lives.

2015 High School Graduates: 69%, or roughly 7 out of every 10, went on to a 2- or 4-year college, either full- or part-time. 36% of high school graduates got a job, including some of those who also went on to college. -- Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Fewer than 1 in 3 high school students are eligible to join the military due to emotional health, physical fitness, educational constraints, drug use/charges, and tattoos.

Emphasize that nearly any employment requires achieving new skills, especially in order to progress. Any educational credential can add to the value of an employee: certification, diploma, skills training, associate, bachelor, master’s or doctorate degree.

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Automotive Technology

General Engineering Technology

Industrial Electronics Technology

Mechatronics Technology

Welding Technology

Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning Technology

Emphasize that career planning and thinking about one’s future is an ongoing process, but that there are certain steps and actions that can help a student learn more about potential opportunities and even learn more about what types of opportunities are compatible with their own interests, strengths and life goals.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook is a good resource for researching job demand, duties, educational requirements and potential salaries.

Go to college websites and look at their lists of majors.

Look at the College Board website and explore their lists of job categories and majors.

Google … what are the best jobs for a new high school graduate?

Talk to adults about what they do, what education they needed to do their job, and be aware of all of the choices out there.

Emphasize again that “This is YOUR life!” Take ownership.

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Steps to Prepare for Your Future

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www.bls.gov/ooh/

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Steps to Prepare for Your Future

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What is the ACCUPLACER?

A college placement assessment tool

created by

It provides scores that help colleges place students into courses they are prepared to take successfully

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What ACCUPLACER Assesses

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Why Participate in the CRI?

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ACCUPLACER and course planning

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www.ACCUPLACER.org

How to Prepare:

Download the study app
Read sample questions
Take a practice assessment

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English review websites:

Math review websites:

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On ACCUPLACER Day

Be rested and well-fed
Take your time –ACCUPLACER is not timed
Read the directions for each section carefully
Answer every question – there are no penalties!
It’s OK to guess – go with your first instinct

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Do Your Best!!

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After the ACCUPLACER

Review your scores with a Tri-County or high school counselor.

Use your scores to determine your readiness for college courses.

Talk to your school counselor about your plans for senior year.

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Who sees your scores?

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Questions?

Contact anyone in our office with questions about Dual Enrollment!

Meg Dieringer – 646-1448 mdiering@tctc.edu

Louise Elder – 646-1512 lelder@tctc.edu

If there is time … spend it discussing important actions that students can do to prepare themselves for a successful future.

Reading – discuss the plasticity of our brains, and how many of us have trained ourselves to live in a distracted environment, with phone notifications training our brains to always be ready to switch tasks. This has prevented us from being able to think deeply, to concentrate, problem solve, or comprehend long reading passages. It takes practice and retraining to be good at anything, and this includes reading, thinking deeply, and concentrating for a long period of time. Explain studies done by researchers such as Clifford Nass and Nicholas Carr, the author of “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” – published in The Atlantic in 2008. Carr has since gone on to write two books on the subject.
Discussions – encourage students to talk to other adults when they have opportunities to ask them about what they do for a living, their training, opportunities in the field, etc. Constantly strive to learn about what career options exist.
Ownership – encourage students to accept the responsibility for their choices, and realize that what they do cannot every really be undone. We can always change course, but things we do will always be something we have done. The consequences can be good or bad, so it is important to be well-informed and in control of our choices. There is only one person that each of us must live with every moment of every day or every year that we are alive. And that is ourselves. Be sure that you are choosing to be a person YOU want to be. This extends to every facet of our lives, from feeling pressured from friends, family, or society to make choices about what or how we eat, dress, behave, talk, or make educational and career choices.

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What else can you do to prepare?