In the Know

As the end of each school year approaches, various questions and decisions go through student’s minds, such as, what do I want to be when I get out of high school? What college should I go to? Should I even go to college? Do I have the grades needed to get into the college I truly desire? Everyday, many teachers stress to their students how important college is and show them examples of how difficult it can be to live by themselves as an adult in the real world. Is showing students the many difficulties of becoming an adult enough to make them want to go to college? During the sophomore year students should start to look at colleges they are interested in attending. Usually, the junior and senior years are when students begin traveling to see the colleges. Sophomore guidance counselors need to show students how important grades, extra curricular activities and community service are when applying to colleges. For many students, however, their junior and senior years may be too late to improve their grades for top colleges. If students are informed during their first years of high school how competitive colleges really are, it might make students try harder as they will be aware of the process. Another upside to informing students earlier about colleges is the possibility of more graduates creating fewer dropouts. Enrollment in colleges would also then increase rapidly. In 2007, the college enrollment of high school graduates was 67.2 percent in the U.S. The other 32.8 percent pursued a different career, without a diploma according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics ().