Go to College or Don’t

Chioma Agbahiwe
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” We as adults ask this of kids and teens all of the time. How many of us adults even know what we want to do? Well, raising a teen and a pre-teen has me contemplating the advice I need to dish out these days.

Thinking about their future scares me and brings me all kinds of anxiety. We tell our kids to get good grades and go to college. Still. Is this enough? Will the results be fruitful? As a parent, we want to guide our children to success. (Now I know we can go into detail about what success is, but here we’ll keep it simple.)

In California, we have two university systems, the UC and the CSU. We now have Cal State Universities where a 3.5 g.p.a. is needed to (realistically) be admitted and UCs with average g.p.a.s of 4.0 and above for their incoming freshman. Where does this leave students with g.p.a.s of 2.5 or 3.0? Community College? Do they stand a chance at being accepted to a four year university?

Then, for many the question is also should we even advise kids to go to college. There are many folks out there saying don’t do it. Skip it. Just google ‘skip college’ and read the numerous articles about other advice to give teens in 2017.

The book End of Jobs discusses the changing dynamics taking place in our country. One has to consider the job industries that look promising when looking at the future. Or, should a student not consider what looks promising and follow what they think they have a passion for?

With all of the information available out there, one has to be mindful of the changing landscape when advising teens on their future.

In the end, what do we tell the kids? “Get good grades and figure it out”.

Chioma Agbahiwe

Nonprofit Executive.Speaker

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