Alternatives to College​

"Gap time" is a year or semester that students take off typically before enrolling in college. It doesn’t have to be time hanging out at home -- "gappers" often work to save money, volunteer, intern, or perhaps study a language abroad. Most students elect this time off because they don't feel prepared for college or they're looking for more life experience first. According to Jason Sarouhan, a counselor at Center for Interim Programs, a gap year consulting organization, gap years enable young people to gain more independence and self-empowerment. "The time between high school and college offers the natural opportunity to take a break and to recalibrate one’s focus and centeredness," he says, adding that young people can benefit from structured time away from school or work.

 

The best way to arrange a gap year is to gain admission to college and then request that admittance be deferred for a year, if the college supports this option. This step will usually require that a plan for the deferred year be submitted and approved. There are some colleges, however, that do have specific college sponsored gap year programs for admitted students, e.g. see Tufts and Princeton. If you don’t get admitted to college before your gap year, then be sure to maintain contacts with your high school counselors in order to complete the admission process the following year. 

 

There are around 100,000 18- and 19-year-olds who join the military right after high school. There are five branches of the U.S. Military: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. Each branch involves the armed defense of our country and requires a specified period of commitment. Beyond being a form of service, the practical benefits of being in the military are another reason to consider joining. 

 

• A salary that is on par with what a new college grad makes ($30-$45K).
• Free health care for you and your family.
• Little-to-no living costs, meaning you can save money faster.
• Tuition is paid for while in service, should you decide to earn a degree at some point. (You have a variety of online learning options, and many military bases have satellite classrooms of prominent colleges so you never even have to leave post.) You can also take advantage of the GI Bill once your active service is complete, and get at least portions of your education paid for, depending on your time on active duty.
• Travel the world – while certainly not the point of military service, this is a benefit that shouldn’t be ignored.
• 30 days of vacation per year. The average for folks with 20+ years of service in the American civilian workforce is only 17 vacation days.
• Retirement, with benefits, after 20 years of service. For an 18-year-old, that means you can retire at 38. While you likely won’t live off those benefits for the rest of your life, you’ll have much less to worry about financially.

There are a few requirements for joining military service:

• Must be 18 to join, without parental consent. You can be 17 when enrolling if you have parental consent.
• Must be a US resident (includes territories like Guam and Puerto Rico).
• A high school degree is not required, but is strongly desired. GEDs are sometimes acceptable as well.
• Pass the ASVAB Test – tests your comprehension in various categories like science, language, technical skills, mechanical skills, etc. It helps in assigning career roles within the military. The different branches have different passing scores for this test.
• Pass a physical. Each branch has different requirements for height, weight, and body fat. You are also tested for various physical ailments that could handicap your service.

Is a four year university just not the right choice? Perhaps a trade school or a vocational program at a community college is a better match. A number of well-paid and rewarding careers can be attained through vocational certificate programs. Trade schools offer specific vocational training for a wide variety of skilled careers. Sometimes this means getting an associate’s degree at a community college, but many times it’s simply a year or so at a technical school.

These careers are often associated with “blue collar” jobs, and sometimes carry some negative stereotypes in today’s culture. But the reality is that there are literally millions of people who work in skilled labor jobs, and they’re paid well, especially compared to newly-minted college graduates. The average starting salary for a college graduate is $45,000, while the average salary of someone who went through trade school is $42,000. Not much of a difference, and the trade school graduate is entering the workforce at least two years sooner.

In addition, you’re almost guaranteed a job coming out of one of these programs. There are numerous stories of large energy and construction projects that had to be canceled not due to money shortages, but due to labor shortages. Companies simply can’t find the skills to complete the work needed.

Yet another benefit of skilled labor is that your skills are not as exportable as those of people who sit at a computer in a cubicle all day. Even work that was formerly done by lawyers and doctors is being outsourced. You can’t outsource electrical or plumbing or welding jobs. These careers are truly what makes our nation run on a daily basis.

 

Mike Rowe, former host of Dirty Jobs, is doing his best to dispel the stereotypes surrounding blue collar work and is trying revive interest in the skilled trades:

“There were over 3 million jobs in 2008 that were sitting there, and nobody was really talking about them because they weren’t aspirational. So long-story-short, I figured lack of appreciation for skilled labor ultimately manifested itself in a kind of disconnect that led us to push kids in one direction, ignore another direction, and that ultimately created a whole lot of jobs that nobody was too enthused about.”

Rowe started a foundation that provides resources, scholarships, and even a job board for those interested in pursuing skilled trades. So, what are some specific career options? Take a look at the partial list below, and learn more details about these trades at Rowe’s website:

• Construction
• Welding
• Landscaping
• Electrical
• Painting
• Forestry
• Photography
• Woodworking
• Masonry
• Locksmithing
• Metal Work

Some students are interested in immediately entering the workforce for a year or two after high school before deciding on their college path. Even if you start at minimum wage, things like showing up early and staying late, having integrity in the workplace, and treating customers and coworkers with respect will move you up the chain. Believe it or not, those seemingly simple characteristics are in high demand.

By working full-time at a fast food joint, or as a barista, or doing landscaping, you’ll learn invaluable life lessons. You’ll learn about customer service, about working even when you don’t want to, about budgeting your income, about balancing life and work. Those are things that many people don’t learn until they’re out of college.

If after a couple of years of working you decide to go to college, you’ll be two years more mature, and you’ll have money in the bank to help you pay tuition. While wages are lower and unemployment is higher for those with only a high school degree, a little bit of elbow grease can go a long way.