After graduating high school the next step that must be taken by a student is deciding on whether they want to go to college or into trade or a different path towards their future. Not only is the decision difficult but the application process is just as stressful. If a student is looking to attend college some of the main factors they should look for when making a decision are the courses they offer, the price, how far away the school is, and most importantly if they feel they could succeed when attending that particular school.

If a student decides to attend college, the  application process is something that is a must. During the process a student must decide what schools are the best fit for them. Each school offers different programs that could benefit and further the education development. 

According to HigherEdConnects The college admissions process has many flaws. Test scores are able to be easily manipulated, achievements can be fabricated or exaggerated in order to be accepted, and admission essays can be plagiarized.

In society today, there are paths being opened for students that do not include college. A four year university is still a viable option, but there are also trade schools, apprenticeships, and other ways to move forward in your education career. 

“I would recommend the specific training or education you need to get to where you want to go, whether that includes an apprenticeship, or a four year school or community college,” said Tyler Hunt, the career counselor at Central Kitsap High School.

“It has been well known that college has been pushed more than any other form of education or training,” said Hunt. “Why is this the case when you are able to work 70% of jobs in our economy with community college or through trade?”

Some students experience what is known as the one-year party scholarship, they attend college for one year but later decide to drop out.

“Well of the 33% of students who start a four year school, being specific here, doors open. The question is whether the right doors open,” said Hunt. 

According to Education Data Initiative, the average cost of attendance for a student at a public four-year college on in-state tuition is $25,707 per year or $102,828 over four years. The cost of college has a big impact on the decisions of where to go. Over the past 60 years the price of college tuition has nearly quadrupled.

“Average tuition and fees for all four-year schools increased 3.6 times what they were in 1963, from $4,609 for the 1963-1964 school year to $16,647 for the 2019-2020 school year” according to Academic Influence. 

According to Taking Charge America people end up choosing community college because it is cheap and you can save money on food and housing. At Central Kitsap High School a student can get help deciding on finances by reaching out to Anna Fulford who is the school’s Financial Aid Outreach Manager. According to Community College Research Center the school year of 2020-21 nearly 33% of undergraduate students enrolled into two year community colleges. 

“The most affordable route for a lot of students happens to be the two year route or some colleges now also offer a bachelor’s degree or a four year degree at a community college,” said Fulford.  “If you live at home and you go to a local community college, you’re going to be able to basically cut in half the costs of college, for those first two years because you won’t have to pay for dorms or food but will be able to explore a lot of different class options and try some different majors out to see whether they fit you or not.” 

Community colleges also offer some Running Start programs; these programs are used to help high school students who want to start earning college credits sooner than usual. Running Start is a good program for the students who are dedicated and know college is going to be in their future.  At Central Kitsap High School the running start advisor Rebecca Dougherty helps students decide on whether the  running start program at Olympic college is a good program for them or not. 

“Running Start students a lot of times will have completed two years of college preparatory classes and so they [students] don’t often know if they are going to be a transfer student, because once they get accepted into the college once they get accepted, they do in fact become a junior status at that college if they have completed their Associate of Arts degree,” said Dougherty.

On the other side of the application process, Michael Johnston is a senior at Central Kitsap High School who recently started the college search and began sifting through the many choices of scholarships, courses, and universities.

 “The University of Texas at Austin. It’s a really good school for engineering, I’m hoping to get into the dual math major program they have there which is civil architecture and then civil engineering,” said Johnston.

Johnston stated he experienced what most students go through,  being overwhelmed with the applications and mountains of paperwork to be done in order to qualify for financial aid or the long list of possible schools to attend. He said that in order to help organize his thoughts he used something called the Common App. It’s a way for students to not feel so overwhelmed when applying to schools and programs. 

All a student needs to do is enter their information, what colleges you wish to apply to and it will lay out the whole application process for you in a much more streamlined manner.

“Although perhaps you may not use the degree you plan on achieving if it is not practical, I suppose in today’s world, I think college is a good experience for people to refine these executive skills and understand that they can succeed if you really push yourself,” said Johnston. 

The future is something that nobody can predict, people can have a plan of what they want but it might not always work out. College is one of those times where you must decide how you want your life to continue, what college to major in and what you choose will affect the way your life moves forward.

Applying to colleges may seem stressful but if you seek help there are plenty of options for help, you could reach out to counselors, there are websites to help and there are plenty of people you can ask.