Getting Ready For College

Getting Ready for College
These days seniors in highschool are getting ready, or going into college without a strong plan. They go in without a career idea for their future, without the money to pay for it, with the idea that it is going to be easy, and that you're there to have a great time. This past month i have been looking at colleges and what I have to do to get accepted. The thing is, I had a huge wake up call. I thought college was going to be easy to afford, understand what career I want, and there was not going to be a lot of paperwork, that was idea for me.
Before my senior in high school I imagined college was going to be the easiest thing in the world. I thought the price for college was going to be extremely cheap.

I imagined the dorms were not going to cost anything, so I was going to get a room for free. In my mind I thought college was Just like high school I didn’t think you had to pay for your credits Money would not be an issue for me. In my mind I had a theory what career I wanted. I thought whatever career I picked was the one for me. My impression any career you picked I will be happy. In my mind it was not going to be any trouble or hassle to get in any college you want. I thought the SAT had nothing to do with college and there were just a joke. When it came to paperwork, there was none. As soon as college started you got on campus you signed contract sheet and that was it. College was suppose to be easy in my mind and there was no trouble to it.
It was a huge awakening for when I entered my senior year in high school. Collage was just around the corner and I needed to figure out my next step in life. The price for college is outrageous. There is scholarships and grants to help pay. When I go to college next year I am going to pay thousands of dollars even with my scholarships, grants, and financial aid. For the college I chose, I will have to pay $6.600 for my dorm each year and $28,000 for tuition. When it was time to start thinking about careers and pursue my degree it took me months to decide what I want. Once I thought I had a mind set on a degree I wanted I would think about it hard and realized it was not the career for me. I took 8 career test to get a idea for what career field I wanted to go into. After 4 months I chose Athletic Training for my career. When it comes to college your high school career dictates how much scholarships/grants you get, what college will accept you, and what classes you will have to take when you arrive at college. The SAT tell the college what you have learned in high school, so if you don’t do well on those then they might not accept you. I am currently going through mountains of paperwork for college. I have to read all the papers each college sends me so I keep up and know what is going on. When I entered my senior year of highschool I believed in myself that I had college all planned out, but I was wrong.
I wish i would have plan ahead with money so you can afford college so I did not have go into debt. I am glad that I finally made sure what career I wanted before it was too late. If I would have planned ahead, I would not have had gone through a lot a stress. With this experience I learned to research an idea before I believe in it. Before you think you have a idea what college is like look into it more. There is a lot more to college then you can think. Plan ahead and realize there is a lot more to college then meets the eye.