Do Something Youve Always Wanted To Do
You are finally free to explore and do what youâve always wanted to do. Maybe youâve always wanted to pursue a sport or become fluent in a language but never had the time to actually act on your desires. Well now you are in luck, because this is the ideal time to complete your lifetime to-do list!
Move Away From Your Hometown
Starting over in a new place and reinventing yourself without the social pressures and expectations of your family and childhood friends is probably one of the most appealing things about college. But the truth is, you dont need college for any of that.Moving away and trying things on your own can be a doorway to all kinds of new adventures.Get out into the world, explore, and figure out who you are when the people who know you arent around.Getting out of your comfort zone is the fastest way to gain some perspective, get to know yourself, and figure out what you want from life. The best part is you can combine this with any of the other college alternatives on this list. You could even move to a college town, get a job, attend a few classes, and go to parties and enjoy all the benefits of college without any of the downsides.
Complete A Sponsored Degree
If your decision for not wanting to go to uni is financial-based, you might want to consider doing a sponsored degree. Theyre, essentially, school leaver programmes, though they provide you with the opportunity to work towards obtaining a degree while being financially supported by a company, either with annual bursaries or a full salary.
Youll need to research the different companies in your chosen industry offering such programmes, though its important to understand that you wont really have a say in what university you attend or what course you do. You could attend university on a part-time basis while working for the employer, or you could attend university on a full-time basis and work for the employer during the holidays.
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Build A Digital Footprint And An Audience
Today, being a content creator is an increasingly viable way to earn a living. Whether you blog on Medium or WordPress, curate a newsletter on Substack, launch your own YouTube channel, build a TikTok empire, host an original podcast, become a Twitch streamer, or create educational online courses or whatever avenue you choose creating content online and building an audience can be a full-time job.Sure, not everyone is cut out to be a TikTok or Youtube influencer, but there are endless ways to monetize your content, for example through advertising and affiliate marketing.In addition to being an avenue for expressing yourself and earning an income, building a digital footprint a brand, if you will allows you to build a signal thats stronger than any college degree.
Reasons You Shouldn’t Go To University
Here are the worst things about going to university and being a student:
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How Do You Know A College Alternative Is The Right For You
You might be thinking Well, skipping college sounds great, but how do I know its the right move for me?Honestly, nobody can tell you whether a college alternative is the right path for you except you. Which route is best for you depends on where youre at in life and where you want to be. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees or silver bullets.Sure, college might be the right path for you if youre dead-set on a specific career and youre certain that theres no better way of getting qualified for that career, for instance, if a degree is legally required to work in that field.However, even if this is you, you may later come to regret your decision if you didnt take the time to validate whether this career and the lifestyle that comes with it really aligns with what you want from life.If youre hungry, willing to work hard, and a little bit clever about it, you can soon be much closer to where you want to be without spending $160K or more in the process.Whats the worst that could happen if you took a year off to experiment and give yourself time to decide? Gaining some experience and trying different things might change your perspective and your priorities.Further reading: College Isnt for Everyone
If You’re Thinking About Not Going To University
Many students feel pressured into going to university by their parents, teachers or even society as a whole because it’s often still considered ‘the norm’ after A Levels. So, try asking yourself these questions first:
- Where do you want to be in 10 years time?
- Do you definitely need a degree to reach this goal?
- Are there any alternatives you could consider?
- Have you found a suitable course and university?
Try not to put too much pressure on yourself to make a decision straight away. Writing down the answers to these questions on a piece of paper and then reading them a few days later might help you gain some perspective if you’re struggling to decide if uni is the right choice.
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Pursue A Creative Talent
Fancy yourself acting in the big screen, singing on stage, or killing jokes on a set? The time is now to go for it and skip college.
Because the fact of the matter is that its easier to support yourself on this pursuit than while providing for a family later on in life.
So give it all you got to become a professional actor, singer, dancer, comedian, or artist in this window of opportunity.
Spend a year auditioning for as many roles as you can and start small to build your skills.
Hustle your butt off for 18 hours a day. Split a studio with five friends. Fight tooth and nail to make your dream become real.
If its needed, move to a place like Los Angeles, Austin, or New York.
College wont help you nearly as much as you can help yourself in these creative fields.
Gain A National Vocational Qualification
NVQs are work-based qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved though assessment and training. Theyre designed to help people demonstrate their skills and prove their competency in their desired role or career path. There are five NVQ levels:
- Level 1: Equivalent to GCSE qualifications
- Level 2: Equivalent to GCSE qualifications
- Level 3: Equivalent to AS and A-level qualifications
- Level 4: Equivalent to Higher National Diploma and bachelors degree qualifications
- Level 5: Equivalent to masters degree and doctorate qualifications
Youll study at the level thats right for your particular job role and level of experience, and progress accordingly. NVQs are generally studied part-time and can either be taken as a standalone qualification or as part of an apprenticeship.
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What To Do Instead Of Go Back To College
We discuss all the options people have instead of going back to college!
Welcome to Degree Free, where we explain what you can do instead of go to college, and how to teach yourself, get work, and make good money.
On this episode, we talk about:
– how to improve your current job or transition to a different role in the same company- how to find a different job – how to start a business in your spare time
Ryan shares his experience of enrolling and almost starting a mechanical engineering program before he dropped out, and how people can get into an industry they want to work in.
Hannah talks about how to look for opportunities to retool or educate yourself to move up or around in a company, and how to realistically assess the value of getting a master’s degree for a small raise.
Hope you all enjoy the episode!
Take Adult Education Classes
Adult education classes are a great way to sample college life without going full-time. It will give your teen the opportunity to take various classes and decide what direction she wants to go before committing to a major or degree program. Start by researching community colleges in your area to find one that offers classes that appeal to your teen.
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Why Getting Advice To Go To College After School Might Be The Worst In Your Life
First of all, people donât want you to skip the college and succeed. They went to college. It was miserable and they tell you to do the same, so they donât feel guilty for themselves for wasting their time. Most of the time this advice will come from your parents, family members and closest friends. They need to justify their decisions, so they feel good about themselves. You canât blame them they donât know any other way of life.
Be An Adventure Guide
Are you the adventurous type? Whether you’re into white water rafting, skydiving, rock climbing, abseiling, kayaking, snorkeling, or bungee jumpingturn it into a part-time or even a full-time job. Many adventure companies look for young people to hire.
There are opportunities both within the United States and internationally. Many companies look to hire eager, English-speaking guides due to the popularity of these activities among college students abroad.
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Top Alternatives To College For 2021
There are a lot of different entry points into the world of work and ways of gaining the skills required to get to where you want to be. If youre not so sure about that last part, thats okay too. Some options will help you decide what you want to do as you go along. Others even give you the option to pay only once youve landed a job.
Campus Week: Five Alternatives To Wasting Your Time And Money On A Worthless Degree
Who cares that a trio of merry pranksters, say, managed to fool a peer-reviewed journal by successfully submitting an article about canine rape culture? We rarely bother with the foibles of hematologists or dentists or poets. So why do we treat associate professors and their troubled flocks at American universities any differently?
The answer is simple: Its because the modern American university was designed to be the Great Turnstile through which millions squeeze on their way from the outer boroughs to catch the subway to Manhattan. That was the whole point of the GI Bill, which imagined higher education as an engine of social transformation. If the trained and disciplined efficiency and valor of the men and women of our armed forces can be directed into the proper channels, thundered the Senates Finance Committee upon unanimously recommending the bill, we shall have a better country to live in than the world has ever seen. If we should fail in that task, disaster and chaos are inevitable.
The stories, then, are meant for young students, their parents, and everyone else who is planning a future predicated at least in part on a college degree. If you read them correctly, they all have one simple moral: Get out.
Higher education, as weve understood it for the last 70 years, was how America got and stayed ahead.
Read more from Campus Week, when Tablet magazine takes stock of the state of American academia and university life.
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What To Do After High School: 10 Alternatives To Starting College
Lost about what to do after high school? As much as society wants to push higher education on you, it is simply not for everyone. There are so many options out there for high school seniors who dont want to attend a four year university, or who would prefer to gain real-life or working skills before going to college. Here are ten things you can do after you graduate from high school.
Take An Online Course
Online courses offer you the opportunity to supplement your education, gain new knowledge and expand your skillset all from the comfort of your home .
There are literally millions of courses available on the internet, ranging from web design to event planning and email marketing. Depending on the course provider, and your chosen course, youll be able to gain a diploma or certification upon completion.
An added benefit is the fact that they usually take less time to complete than a degree course and are much cheaper in the long run.
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Start Your Own Business
Believe it or not, not everyone needs a college education to rise up to the top. Many are already set on what they want to be and how they want to achieve it, so they take a risk of jumping into that career. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnât but this is better than doing nothing while all of your other peers are away at college!
Five Things To Do Instead Of College
life lessons from the bitter disillusioned
Growing up, it was assumed that after high school, I would continue on to college. Both my parents were the first in their families to do so. It was what the smart kids did, and I certainly wanted to be a smart kid. So I never questioned my life path. It simply was.
Two degrees and nearly $40K of debt later, I have some regrets. Dont get me wrong: I love school. If it were free, Id probably go to school forever. Am I using what I learned? Yes. Did it help me get a job? Not really. Im currently a stay-at-home mom with a fledgling business and a blog, neither of which require my degrees.
Im not alone in my remorse over school. My husband went to ungrad and then became a doctor. We were married just before med school began, and it was hard. I worked overtime at my job as a mental health specialist at the local psychiatric hospital so we wouldnt have to take out extra money for living expenses.
Five years later, we were collectively about $280K in debt from student loans We had a mortgage, a new baby, had moved to a new city, and my husband hated his job in residency. He was depressed and miserable every day, and had no time to sleep, let alone spend with his family. So in the middle of his second year, he quit.
So Im here to say what so many people wont, what isnt spoken to our youth or at least not to the smart ones. There is life outside of college. There is success. There are other options.
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Benefits Of Choosing Alternatives To College
The benefits of choosing alternatives to college in most cases are enormous. You might be thinking that itâs a significant risk. You may end up with no degree, no job and will have to come back to college after wasting years trying to discover yourself.In my opinion, the best thing in college is networking and having fun, other than that you can get by yourself.
In my opinion, the best thing in college is networking and having fun, other than that you can get by yourself.
Earn A Vocational Or Career Training Certificate
Not all careers require a four-year degree from a university many professions place more value in an industry certification and workplace experience. Positions such as information technology experts, dental hygienists, radiology technicians, and medical transcriptionists often require a certification that takes much less time to earn than a bachelor’s degree. Your teen can research areas that interest her and find out if a certificate program is right for her.
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An Associates Degree From An Accredited Community College Could Be Right For You
So, you dont want to commit the time and money to get a four-year college degree. Lucky for you, there are other ways to get a formal education.
An associates degree from a public college or university will take half the time of a bachelors degree while still providing valuable training and skills. Community colleges in particular offer affordable associates degree programs. And if you decide you want a bachelors degree in the future, the college credits you earned during your associates degree will likely transfer. A two-year degree will get you trained and job-ready fast, and still leave the open the possibility of pursuing more education down the road.
Great Jobs Without A Four
Once youve figured out what training you need and how you want to get it, its time to look for jobs. Weve identified eight jobs you can do without a bachelor’s degree:
Medical assistantMedical assistants keep healthcare offices running, taking care of administrative and clerical tasks so that paperwork never slows down life-saving work.Average salary: $57,000 per year
Healthcare jobsMany healthcare roles do not require higher education. Workers billing, home health care and more keep the healthcare industry running smoothly.
Pharmacy technician Under the supervision of licensed pharmacists, pharmacy techs dispense prescription medications to patients or health professionals. They may be employed in pharmacies located in hospitals, nursing homes, grocery stores, and drug stores, and they are often required to operate cash registers and check out customers. Average salary: $61,500
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