Articles / Applying to College / What alternatives to college are there?

What alternatives to college are there?

Written by Sally Rubenstone | Feb. 11, 2002

Question: What if I don't want to go the traditional college route or join the military? What can I do after high school?

The first step to take is to find out what kinds of schools are available in your area. Let your fingers do the walking, as they say, and look in the "yellow" pages of your local phone directory under "schools" or "schools--technical and trade" to see what areas you can study.

The reason technology and career schools are appealing to many high school graduates (and adults) is the directness of approach. When you compare the time, course load, and expense of the two- and four- year college degree programs with that of the technology schools, it's easy to see why tech schools look good to some students.

Some aspiring students have very definite ideas about what they want to do. They are reluctant to spend time and money taking what seems to them to be irrelevant courses that don't deal directly with their chosen profession as is often the case in college and university programs. The programs at career and technology schools are geared to be completely relevant.

For example, in college, to fulfill a liberal arts requirement in the humanities, you might have to take a course such in Religious Studies or Anthropology. If your major is music history, these two courses may seem irrelevant. There's none of this in a career school. You can study and become certified in computer repair technology, health-related skills, electronics technology, and a host of other needed professions in a short time.

Even though, in the long run, college graduates tend to earn more than other segments of the population, the immediacy and pertinence of the technical school education can prove to be a valid and successful option for a number of high school graduates.

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.