decisions...

So a friend from work got accepted into a college program. It's a general arts and science one, which I had considered taking in the past too, because like her I don't know what I want to do. She said I should go too but I don't know what I should do. Firstly I hate to admit it but I'm a high school drop out, I'm getting my credits currently but won't have them in time for applying to this program (like the same time as her). According to the school's website I can apply as a mature student, but I'd have to book an information session and then I'd have to go through some kind of assessment.

Assuming all that went fine and I passed the assessment, the real problem is that I'm afraid to commit to school for 2 years, especially when I get to thinking that I'd have another 2-4 years of school after that if I found something I want to do...I feel like I'll still have those habits of not attending, or putting off doing the work, not to mention just the idea of having to go to school sucks :P. And I guess I also feel like a general program would be a waste of time because it doesn't really get me anywhere (as opposed to a program geared for specific careers). I wish I was one of those people who knew what they've always wanted to be when they 'grew up' :/

i guess my question is this: what's the alternative?

I didn't know what I wanted to do when I left school either. Sometimes going to college is actually a pretty good place to figure that out - you can talk to lots of people about their courses and take lots of different papers until you find something that feels right.

It might be scary to commit for 2 years, but if you don't take an opportunity to improve yourself you're just committing to having the same life, for the rest of your life.

So either way, you've gotta do something with your time right? Might as well be in school where there's a better life at the end of it all. Get through it and get the qualification, you won't regret it.

Since I'm an extremely indecisive person, I'm back again :P

I've decided that if I take that program I will take just the 1 year program, because I'm not interested in any courses in year 2.

So here's what I'm considering now. Do I take this program and hope it allows me to get in to a future program without my high school diploma, or go to the adult school and get the last of my credits (I've gone there in the past, it's fast track so you get your credits in 9 weeks). The college program is a year long, whereas I'd get my HS diploma in like 5 months and I could start another program in Sept '09 instead of Jan '10. The plus to taking the college program though is it might help me pick what I want to do 100%, whereas finishing high school I might still not know. Both will get me into 'school-mode' again, but college might better prepare me (for a more 'intense' program later).

Do I take this program and hope it allows me to get in to a future program without my high school diploma, or go to the adult school and get the last of my credits

if you have some ideas about what kind of program you might want to do, you can ask advisors in the different schools and get an answer in writing.  i would just approach a few colleges and universities with a hypothetical, "If i complete this program" question and see what they have to say.

but how many HS courses do you have left?  if it's not many, it's probably worthwhile to bite the bullet and finish.  then you'll have so many more choices ;)

Well, I'll be getting my grade 12 English in December, then grade 12 biology and 11 chemistry by February (that is, assuming I pass the final exams :P). So that is 3 out of 8 :/ English and math are the only "mandatory" credits I need left, the rest are electives. The adult school has 4 "quads" instead of 2 semesters, with a max of 3 courses during each, so I can go in quad 3 and 4 and get the 5 remaining credits by the end of the school year.

One problem with the college course is it starts Jan 7th, and I have until Feb 7th to finish my current courses...so I'd have a month of double work load (and I don't want to just drop getting these credits). Also I was told to enjoy my days off work because December gets really busy. I don't have a whole lot of time to decide...so with all this I'm kind of stressing (probably the reason why I can't sleep lately!!).

See if your credits from the college program you're looking at transfer to the regular university of your choice. Ontario Transfer Guide. If not, then I wouldn't bother with it but if they do then I would start going to school Jan 7th - the sooner you start, the sooner you finish. I went and got the college equivalents of Bio & Chem 12, wrote an essay to prove I could do university English and did adult education while taking my first year classes to get my math prereqs (none of my high school classes worked in Canada).

Honestly though, I'd go to the advisors at the college and ask for help - they deal with this sort of thing every day and will be a mine of information.

Good luck to you - you sound like you're leaning toward starting Jan 7th, but you're just frightened because everything is happening so quickly. It's ok to feel overwhelmed but don't let it prevent you from making the right decision - if the credits transfer then I don't see any reason why you shouldn't just deal with the double course load for a month. It'll fly by!

Well I did email another college that has a program I may be interested in, and she said they would accept the math and science (as long as it's chemistry) that I would get in this 1 year program. Though I didn't think to ask if I'll still have a lower chances of getting in (but it's still not full for Jan '09, so I'm guessing it's not a competitive program anyway). I'm not like 'set' on going for it though, still would want to explore other options. This 1 year program has 5 science electives, which is a direction I keep leaning towards, so that's the main reason I think it might point me down a path.

here's the program curriculum if anyone's interested.

p0nda, I guess I am afraid with how fast I have to decide, and how fast it's coming. One more thing that I'm thinking about is if I wanted to apply to a university instead, they will want a HS diploma I believe, and probably physics (which I wouldn't get from this program). I did check the site you gave and nothing matched, but I only looked at 2 universities. With a general uni search, 3 other general arts and science programs came up, but not the one I'd want to take...at this point I can't see myself in uni haha, but never know if I get set on a specific career that requires it.

I guess I could just apply anyway, just sucks to pay $95 to apply and then another $50 for assessment testing when I might not get in/decide not to go -.-

It's a right pain!

I am not going to offer advice on this subject because I'm not the best person to do so.

All I will say is I hope you figure out what it is you want to do and you don't end up like me.....middle aged and still not happy with what you are doing for a living, now that really does suck!

So I'm going through the application website, and looking at my horrible transcript, lots of W's ("withdrawn" I guess), splattered with marks from 50's-90's. I don't see how I'm going to get accepted with those W's and a 54 in math for example, which is low from bad attendance, not brains (getting 90's in my current course)...but they won't see these marks I'm getting now because I haven't finished them so they're not on my transcript :(

I could request a progress report from where I'm getting my credits through, but that'll take awhile to get mailed and whatnot. Then I'd have to mail it to the HQ of this admission's website. And it's Friday night so none of that is going to happen until next week. I went to an info session/tour today and the guy said it takes a few weeks to hear back if you're accepted and requiring setting up an assessment test (though maybe it's not so busy now since applications are technically over, this program just happens to still have room). I feel like I have no time to even bother. Doubt college open on weekends to call about it. He did say this program never fills up though...

bah

Ok, looking at the curriculum, I'm going to have to come down on the "against" side. It just looks like a bit of a waste of time - you can figure out what you want to do in your first year at university or college (if Ontario is anything like B.C. then you can transfer your credits from one institution to the other, and college might be a better fit for you at this point because the classes are smaller and it's less of a drastic change, but I digress..) without having to take a "figuring out" course.

I would recommend continuing down the path you're taking and definitely going to the schools of your choice to ask the advisors what the best route is for getting in to their institutions. If it makes you feel better, group of professors from my school were talking about career paths today - 3 of the 4 "fell" into their chosen paths after they had already graduated university. You'll figure it out eventually.

First year of college/uni of what though? Do you mean pick a program that I'm interested in, and then change to another one later if I want?

Original Post by vicereine:

First year of college/uni of what though? Do you mean pick a program that I'm interested in, and then change to another one later if I want?

I didn't declare my major until I hit 3rd year but yeah, that's basically what I mean. Start down a Science degree if that's what you're interested in, but also take classes in Arts or Economics or whatever else takes your fancy. I started in a college then transferred into Arts (didn't take my math like a dumbass) and finally ended up in Sciences in the biology department. Out here you don't *have* to apply for a program until the end of second year, but I'm not sure if it's the same in Ontario.