The Modern-Day Irrational Craze Over College After High School

I’ve always wondered about the cultural and societal fixation on going to college straight after high school.

When I was in my senior year of high school, people were asking me, “Where are you going to college?” and “Omg, did you get decisions yet?” instead of “What are you going to be doing after high school?” This always struck me as really odd because I always wondered why college was treated as the only choice, and all other paths were basically never talked about.

Now, admittedly, I was more naive and not so careful with my decision-making back then and was caught up in the excitement of going to college with my fellow senior high schoolers. Everyone told me to go to college straight after high school. So I applied to something like thirty schools, applying restrictive early action to Stanford. I tried very hard on my essays, staying up many nights to “get into a good school” while also trying to balance the five Advanced Placement classes I was taking at the time. It was the only thing in my mind: “College College College.”

One day, while we were discussing my late-night essay sessions, my high school vice principal asked me where I wanted to go to college while we were discussing my late-night essay sessions, and I answered, “UC Berkeley or Stanford.” She asked me why. I was really dumbstruck by that question because I really didn’t know why. I was simply cruising the wave of social expectations to go to college and hadn’t really given deep thought to why I wanted to go there or what my career end goal was. I made up a lie and said, “I like the weather there, and it’s near home.” 

When decisions were released, I got into UC Berkeley. “Omg Omg Omg!” I shrieked. I was super excited and out of breath because I could finally say I went to Berkeley, and I enthusiastically shared the news with my family. 

I entered Berkeley at 18 years old, carrying a vague idea of my career goal of “working in healthcare” because I was good at science and math and I had some volunteering experience at a hospital (which I did not enjoy). However, it seems that rushing into college with a shaky and unclear career hypothesis of “working in healthcare,” a hypothesis premised on theoretical classes but barely any firsthand life experience, was not smart. I hardly cared about any of the college work I did because my soul was not interested in or involved with this path, and it was truly draining my energy. This was my mistake. 

I am concerned about this modern-day push by teachers, administrators, parents, and many students to go straight to college after high school. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 62.8% of high school graduates enrolled in college immediately after high school in 2024. How does one even know what they want to do in their life at 18? All they have been doing is mainly classes with a bunch of theoretical work that is rarely applicable in the real world. How does an 18-year-old know they want to be a doctor or data scientist already without barely any real hands-on work experience? Are they truly sure to go into tens of thousands of dollars of debt in college to get that degree for their career at only 18 years old? Where is the push for discussion before applying to college about interests and what your career goals are? 

They will say something like, “Oh, you’ll find your interest in college.” I could not disagree with this more. You do not go to college to find out what you want as a career. All the classes are the same as high school: all theoretical, without great relevance to actual jobs. Learning about biochemistry won’t tell you whether being a doctor is fit for you. Learning about algorithms won’t tell you whether becoming a software engineer is right for you. You have to work or volunteer hands-on in a career field to actually find out what you want as a career (surprise!).

Why isn’t taking gap years to work, intern, or volunteer to test your career hypothesis rarely talked about? Shouldn’t people go to college knowing, or at least being confident in, their career goal so they can confidently and efficiently work towards a committed degree and destination? Wouldn't that be preferable to rushing to college straight after high school to have a high chance of having to change interests and majors, as many students do, and having this bumpy, multi-resetting progress in your degree requirement path while simultaneously going into tens of thousands of dollars of debt that becomes more prolonged the more you reset your progress? College is so expensive these days, but we still are pushing and rushing students to go straight after high school. Furthermore, it isn't guaranteed that these students will finish that degree. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, only 61.1% of students who entered college in fall 2019 earned a college credential within six years.

Society has lost its belief in taking gap years after high school to allow students to evaluate their interests and goals. It’s as if the admins higher up in the system are conspiring together to want the fastest path to brainwashing students in college and rob them of their money. From my experience and observations, I know 90% of people in college should have first taken some gap years after high school to do hands-on work to evaluate and clarify their interests and goals, including me. You will only learn whether you like a field or not by actually getting firsthand experience in the field, not by listening to professors talk about theoretical material. Want to be a doctor? Shadow or volunteer at hospitals or clinics. Want to do engineering? Intern or volunteer at a tech company. Want to do programming? Try building your own game or app first. 

This is the same principle that applies to all other aspects of learning. You learn to speak Spanish by doing it. You learn to enjoy cooking by actually cooking. You learn to dance by actually dancing.

Yes, it may be difficult to get your foot in the door in certain fields at first, and it may not pay much, either. But this undiscussed strategy is far superior to speeding your way into college after high school, at 18 years old, with a shaky and unclear career hypothesis that is premised on theory-based classes, day-in-the-life YouTube videos you’ve watched, the SAT, and high school clubs. It's superior to going tens of thousands of dollars into debt to learn more about non-applicable, theory-based classes again at college. And it's better than switching majors multiple times to restart on your degree requirements because you realize you don’t care at all about your hypothesized interest in vertebrate zoology.

Normalize taking time to reevaluate career goals by doing hands-on work before going to college. Normalize taking gap years to reevaluate your interests. Normalize not rushing to college. 

Exclusively for our VIPs: The Lure of DSA and Undiscussed Radicalization of the Younger Generations

Editor's Note: Do you enjoy PJ Media's conservative reporting exposing the radical left and woke media? Support our work so we can keep bringing you the truth.

Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.