I'm in 10th grade, no idea what I want to do for college but probably want to go. What should I do to prepare?

Question

Right now, my main interests are history, Austrian economics, physics, biology, and Baroque music. I spend most of my time doing stuff related to that. Now, there's nowhere I could study Austrian economics, so that leaves me with history, physics, biology, and music. I can't even decide if I should think about science colleges, or liberal-arts colleges.

But, I figure it can't hurt to be prepared, and maybe after I take some tests I'll be able to decide if that subject is what I want to pursue.

I'm going to take the SAT -already took the PSAT- but I don't know what else to do. I don't have grades or a transcript (working on the latter) so I was thinking AP classes or subject SATs...but what's better?

Since I haven't had a very systematic education, I'll have to go over something once to be comfortable with it before I'll be okay with taking a test. So before I can take a biology test, I have to finish my biology lectures and *then* prep for the test.

What do you recommend?

Answer 1

ask you parents if you could go to a cammunity collage for part of your high school, that way you will be on your way to getting a degree befor you even leave high school. that is what I am doing for 12th grade

Answer 2

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Answer 3

iam in 11th grade and i have no clue just get all your hard required classes out of the way and talk to your gudince  counselor. get all of your credits done DO NOT FAIL!!! IT REALLY hurts your gpa.

Answer 4

Most colleges want to see

Biology 1 and 2

Either or both

Math oriented (and lab oriented) Chemistry and/or Physics

Pre Calcu or Calc

Defiantely you need to do all your Algebra, Geometry and Trig

They also want to see some type of "Civics"

And advanced English Grammar and Comp

It would be a good idea to explore "styles" like AP, Harvard and Chicago

The rest is up to you.

College loves Micro and Macro people.

Answer 5

Definitely take the subject SATs and, even more importantly, the APs. Both the SATs and the APs give colleges a quick way to compare you to other students and the APs have the added benefit of showing them that you have done rigourous coursework. Also think about English, math (although, if you are dealing with Austrian economics--and great job there, I'm impressed--I assume you have done a great deal of math), maybe calculus or pre-calc, and a foreign language. Not that you have to do them all right now, but you are going to want to make sure that you have a solid background in English and math before college and many colleges really want you to have some foreign language background. But don't worry too much about that...I learned more Spanish in a 2-week immersion program in Spain than I had in 3 years of public school Spanish.

But, if you are really intersted in Austrian economics and have time available over the summer, you may want to do a seminar at the Foundation for Economic Education (www.fee.org). They are a free market organization, founded by Leonard E. Read, with the goal of educating people in free market issues. I've met many people who have attended the seminars (including my younger brother!) and they all really loved it and thought it was a great experience.

Answer 6

I really like Michele's answer!  She did a fine job.  Hey, love that Austrian economics part!  It is what I am teaching my kids, and no kidding, other than my husband and the books we use, I cannot remember ever reading that phrase anywhere - so you are quite advanced.  Ideally, when choosing a career it should be something you enjoy as well as something you can actually make money doing.  You  would be less likely to be able to make money with music.  I know there are exceptions to this, but you can't plan on being one of them.  You could go into teaching music, but with the other interests you have, it sounds to me like you'd be happier doing something more technical.  Since you are into economics, you probably realize that some of the careers that might interest you are being sent overseas.  Looking at your interests, 'engineer' pops out at me, but a lot of engineering jobs are being sent overseas, so you need to consider your future very carefully.  One place you might start is with some sort of a test to determine your interests.  I don't claim to know a lot about this - the only place I know to check into this is bjup.com - they have various testing services, and they have an interests test that can be given in conjunction with the Iowa test, plus a separate career assessment test.  I am SURE that if you looked around just a bit you'd find other things, and you might even be able to find something free online.  Another option might be to talk to an admissions officer at a college.  Good luck, and don't waste the next few years - you sound like you have a whole lot of potential.

Answer 7

Since you are not sure what you would study at college, why not take some courses there now, while you are in high school. Even just a class each semester, in whatever subject interests you. Sometimes taking classes at a college helps in deciding what you want to do.

Also remember, whatever you decide to do, you can always change your mind later. Originally, I went to college to be a teacher. After having my kids and then homeschooling, I decided to switch gears and go for graphic design. Now I teach that, too!

Answer 8

Keep working on your transcript.  Prepare well for your SATs.  Take AP classes and/or tests - as well as CLEP exams. Look into taking a course or two (in something that interests you and which you'll do well at) at your local community college.  Do community service work and/or part-time employment - look good on applications and a good way to form relationships for eventual letters of recommendation. HTH!

Answer 9

Find and talk to some adults that have careers related to things you are interested in and see what they have to say about their jobs.  Maybe one of them could help you get a summer job where they work and you could see first hand if that is something you might want to pursue.  Apply to several colleges since you do not know where you might get accepted.  Homeschoolers seem to do very well in college.