6 Tips to Help High School Scholars Choose a College Major or Career Path

Choosing the right path after graduating from high school is arguably one of the most important decisions scholars make as young adults. Scholars have the choice to continue their education by selecting a college major or they can enter the workforce and gain real-world experience. It’s a critical decision that many scholars make at the age of 18 or in some cases even younger.

Luckily, there are a few simple ways to make this important decision-making process a little easier for high school scholars. Here are 6 tips to help high school scholars choose the right college major or career path after graduating from high school:

Reflect on Your Interests

It’s important that scholars consider their personal interests to help determine their path after high school. We encourage scholars to think about what they enjoy doing with their personal time. Some scholars may have a desire to continue learning and extend their knowledge by attending college. Other scholars may be ready to enter the workforce and continue learning by gaining work experience. It’s important for scholars to reflect on their specific personal interests and hobbies. Compass Charter Schools (CCS) organizes several school clubs like photography, coding, chess, book club and several others. These clubs are designed to extend their knowledge outside of the classroom all while helping them explore their interests and guide them as they choose the right path after high school. Scholars can use these school clubs to determine what they enjoy learning about and then consider pursuing a college major or career path in that particular subject after high school.   

Evaluate Your Core Values

When choosing a path after high school, we encourage scholars to think about their core values and beliefs. Do they believe it’s important to help people who are in need? Are they a problem solver at the core who enjoys puzzles and cracking codes? These types of exploratory questions can help scholars learn more about their personal values. Then, they can use those values to choose a college major like medical, engineering and teaching, or they can choose a career path like the military and community service work. Core values lay the foundation for each scholar to build upon as they progress through life and choose the best path after high school.

Get Help From Advisers

It’s essential that high school scholars have a trusted adviser that they can rely on for advice and recommendations as they near high school graduation. CCS has a wonderful team of school counselors that support middle school and high school scholars academic and personal growth. They serve as a trusted, reliable contact to guide each high school scholar as they consider college or a career. We encourage all high school scholars to build a relationship with their school counselor and consider their advice and guidance. Advisers can help scholars explore different areas of interests and reflect before making important decisions about their future.

Take Introductory Courses

Scholars can test a certain college major or career path by taking introductory courses in school. CCS offers a wide variety of elective courses for high school scholars including botany, zoology, criminology and forensics, hospitality, retail and several others. These courses help scholars test different areas of study and potential career paths before they graduate from high school. The courses are designed to support scholars’ decision making while they consider choosing a college major or career path for their future. CCS also offers a concurrent enrollment program for high school scholars who would like to start experiencing college courses and earn college credits. The school counselors at CCS guide and support the high school scholars who want to start experiencing college. The concurrent enrollment program doesn’t require scholars to choose a major. Instead, they are given the opportunity to take a few courses to test the waters and then make a clear decision about their future as they near graduation. Introductory courses are great resources that can help high school scholars choose the right college major or career path for their future.

Check Requirements

Regardless of their decision to pursue a college degree or to enter the workforce, we encourage scholars to check the requirements of the path they want to follow after graduation. For those scholars who want to earn a college degree, it’s important to check the entrance requirements for each college or university. Some schools may require test results from specific entrance exams like the SAT or ACT. The next step is to review the entrance requirements of specific college majors. Some majors may require a certain number of volunteer service hours, or a portfolio full of work samples. These entrance requirements vary for each school and each college major. It’s important that scholars do their research and check the requirements.

For those scholars who want to enter the workforce after graduation, it’s important to check the specific requirements for the role before applying. Depending on the industry, some careers, like the military, may require passing an intense physical test. Other careers may require previous work or volunteer experience, or they may require passing a written exam. These job requirements vary depending on the industry and organization. We encourage scholars to do their research and check the requirements for the job they would like to pursue after high school.

Follow Your Dreams

Last but certainly not least, we strongly encourage scholars to follow their dreams when it comes to choosing the right path for their future. Scholars should strive to pursue college majors or careers that truly interest them without being persuaded by the input of other people. Scholars should do what they love! It’s important to remember that nothing is ever set in stone and that life will always have changes. Scholars can change their major in college and they can change jobs if they find themselves unhappy at work. Following your dreams will likely help each scholar find the right path for their future so that they can make a lasting impression on the world!

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Compass Charter Schools (CCS) is a WASC-accredited virtual charter school that serves families throughout California. Interested in learning more about CCS’ flexible academic programs? Visit our website, or contact our enrollment team at enrollment@compasscharters.org or (877) 506-8631.