What did you do after High-school?

Did you go to college? If so, what college and what major?

Did you go into the military?

Did you go straight into the workforce?

Just curious because I’m in the process of applying to colleges right now. (University of Virginia, James Madison University, and Virginia Tech). I’m a senior in high school and planning on majoring in Chemistry to go into dentistry.

 

va and Va tech are hard schools to get in.

 

Spent one year at SUNY UB then transferred to SUNY College at Oneonta
Got a bachelors in Biology with a minor in Chem.
After graduating took some additional courses at Rutgers Cook College to meet my entry requirements for professional school.
Went to UW-Madison for my DVM

You may want to look into the course requirements for dentistry admissions. You may find you will need many more biology courses than you would expect.

 

I went to University of Texas at Dallas for 3 years for a Computer Science 2000
I finished an Associates for Culinary and Hotel/Restaurant Management in 2007
I just finished a bachelors in Rehabilitation Studies with an Addiction Minor this year at The University of North Texas.

You're in high school, you are literally having to raise your hand to take a piss. Don't feel like you have to decide right now what you what to do with the rest of you life. Being a non-traditional student has been one of the better things in my life. Take your time and be patient. Good luck

 

Im in the same boat, im a “junior” right now but graduating early this year with the senior class. I’ve already applied at NYU, Washington State, and University of Colorado Boulder

 

Agree with this. A couple of off years exploring options won't hurt, especially if you're unsure of what you want to do. I went straight into college and then straight into grad school from there. Then took 2 years off before starting a PhD program.

BTW, I also went to UTD!

 

I graduated high school and wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Military or College. I somehow stumbled into a job working on cell phone towers doing construction, maintenance and "beef ups". It was a traveling job and I went all over the country and it was a blast. It was hard, exciting work and I grew up FAST. I worked there a year and then went to college for a year and found out I wasnt that into school. I joined the Army and it was awesome. After I got out I got into the defense industry and now work for the government. I am currently looking to go back to school to move up to the next level at my job and couldn't be happier. There is no cookie cutter life man, get out and travel, do something new and out of your comfort zone. Find out who YOU truly are. College isn't going anywhere, your only young and free once and your gonna be glad you got out there and did something different.

 

I’m pretty confident. (Not trying to be cocky but I do pretty well in school and I’m a legacy at UVA cause of my parents and grandmother.) Im not that interested in Va tech but I love JMU’s campus and my brother goes there’s.

I’ll be taking a lot of chemistry and biology. I think I can major in either one but my dad did chem and I’m also more comfortable with chem. But who knows where I’ll be in a few years.

 

I’m in the same boat, I’m a senior right now, and for me it’s either military, or mountain biking

 

And pay for that expensive ass education if you decide to go that route!

 

I see a lot of people going to college for a generic education or major and ending up working a job that doesn’t even require a degree.

 

You will likely change your major several times before you graduate. You have time to decide. Chemistry major? After organic and inorganic chemistry there comes physical chemistry (good luck).

 

Worked in the oilfields for just short of a year and hated it. Loved the money though. Left and joined the military.

 

^^This.

I joined the Marine Corps at 17- best decision I ever made. Learn who you are, learn what you want, get unique and meaningful experiences, push yourself beyond your limits, learn a skill, see the world, and make the best fucking friends you’ll ever have (your results may vary).

With a 4.0+ GPA in high school everyone said I was stupid for going in the military, let alone the Marine Corps. Definitely not for everyone, and not pushing it if it’s not an interest of yours, but don’t listen to anyone who tries to talk you out of what YOU want to do.

I assume you have your doubts if you’re asking strangers on tacomaworld. My advice would be to get some alone time and think long and hard about what is important to YOU.

 

Im more curious about you guys rather than asking for advice. One of the reasons I’m thinking dentistry is because my dads owns a small dental office in our town. He has worked for like 18 years and only works Monday-Thursday. I really want to have a job where I’m my own boss but makes good money.

 

I totally get that, and that’s one reason why I got out of the military and started my own business at 23, without college. I have my GI bill, so college is still an option- one that will be paid for if I decide to go that route at some point.

There are a lot of businesses you can start (be your own boss and make good money) with or without college. If cleaning teeth, or making people happy about their appearance/dental health, or *insert reason here* makes you happy, that’s awesome and I say go for it. If you want to spend “X” number of years in college to be a dentist just to make money and you’re going to HATE every second of your mon-thurs work schedule I’d really urge you to reconsider.

I don’t know your motives or reasoning, but that plays a huge part (in my mind anyway). Totally cliche, but I say do what makes you happy. Money is important, but it’s not everything.

You’re smart to be thinking about this stuff NOW. Whatever route you take, don’t stop thinking and reassessing. Strongly consider any and all opportunities that come your way. Just because you choose a path, doesn’t mean you have to stick to it. Things change, and people constantly fall into jobs and opportunities they didn’t even know existed when they started along that path.

 

That’s exactly my thoughts. It’s like it’s all laid out for me.

 

I graduated high school back in 1985. Took 2 1/2 years off working in a garage as a mechanic. The shop owner laid me off and told me to go to college. Got my bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and have worked in the engineering field ever since as a Tooling engineer, Manufacturing engineer, and currently as a Quality engineering manager. If you're not ready for college, take a year or two off but go to college. A degree in the sciences will pay off for you.

Also, when you start your career, save as much as you possibly can for retirement. You'll thank me when you're in your 50's. I wish someone gave me that advice...

 

I graduated and did CNC machining until for a couple years while taking a couple semesters at college but the economy was too unstable to begin a career so I joined the Army. Just finished 8 years all in the Special Operations community and after 5 deployments I separated and am now starting an apprenticeship as a lineman. Couldn’t be happier and wouldn’t go back on any of my decisions.

If you’re set on going to college full time I’d say at least look into National Guard that way you would get state tuition benefits like yellow ribbon program and chip off a bunch of your debt

 

Went and worked on an oil rig. Then built houses for a bit. Then went into the army.