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How did you feel about starting college in the spring semester?

I got into and decided on my first choice school, but I got into a program where you start in January and then catch-up to everyone during a summer semester abroad. I'm really excited about all of that, but now that the summer is almost over and most of my friends are gearing up to go away and start school, I'm kind of bummed to be missing out on that part of the experience. How did you deal with that kind of situation?

#school #college #springstart #springsemesterstart #freshman

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Ken’s Answer

It sounds like that you might want to look a other options, as you are already feeling left behind. What is suitable for someone else might not be suitable for you. You really need to look at your own interests which are not related to others. Perhaps a good way to go at this point is to enroll in your local community college, so that you can begin now on a track that will allow you to develop your own abilities and interests. It really does not matter where you go to school. The most important things are that you work as hard as you can to get the best grades and do active personal networking to allow you to become involved with people who share your career interests, as that will be your best route to fulfilling your education/career journey successfully.


Go to the admissions office of your local community college and talk about your career interests and arrange to take interest and aptitude testing and talk to graduates of that school in your area of interest to get an idea of what they were able to do with their education at that school.


Getting to know yourself and how your personality traits relate to people involved in various career opportunities is very important in your decision making process. During my many years in Human Resources and College Recruiting, I ran across too many students who had skipped this very important step and ended up in a job situation which for which they were not well suited. Selecting a career area is like buying a pair of shoes. First you have to be properly fitted for the correct size, and then you need to try on and walk in the various shoe options to determine which is fits the best and is most comfortable for you to wear. Following are some important steps which I developed during my career which have been helpful to many .

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person at your high school and college who tracks and works with graduates to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. You can locate them by asking your school academic advisor, favorite teachers, and the reference librarian at your local library. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
Thank you comment icon Thank you for your response! I still feel confident with my decision to choose the school where I will be starting in the spring, and I am going to be taking a chemistry class in the fall to bridge that gap. I made my decision, and at this point there is no going back on it even if I wanted to. My question was geared towards those who have been in a similar situation and is about what they did to deal with leaving home later than their friends. As you said, I don't need to have the same path in education as everyone else, but that doesn't mean that it isn't always going to be easy to stray from that common path. Emily
Thank you comment icon Maintaining a proper focus is something that you will contend with all or your life. Developing discipline when necessary will bring consistency in results. Ken Simmons
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Michelle’s Answer

Hello, Emily B. I started college in the Spring semester. I was over-eager, yes. I moved 3,000 miles away from my birth town to go to college. That large of a move threw the timing off. So I started in the Spring. Before I started school, I had to situate myself with a place to live , obtain employment, get my driver's license and buy a car. I couldn't wait to start in the Spring, though. College had been such a long term goal of mine and it seemed like I was so close yet so far from it. Soon enough, the time came and I was more than ready. The good thing was, that since I took my time, I had a place to live, a job and a car.


I dealt with the delay by exploring and discovering my new town and going to a lot of entertainment, parties, socializing, etc. It took me a while to get used to the new town because it was so different from where I grew up but once I got to college, it got better. I kept busy and, soon enough, Spring semester came and I was so glad.


Feeling anxious to start indicates that it is something you want very badly and that's a good thing. Starting in the Spring was not bad, however. Once I got there, it was a wonderful experience and everything fell into place. I took one course during that summer semester because I couldn't bear having the summer off when I started late to begin with. Everything worked out very well, though.


Best wishes in your future endeavors.
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much for lending your experience! I've heard from other students in the program that the late start wasn't bad, but those same students are the ones convincing you to go to the school. I really appreciate similar sentiments from someone outside of the school! Thanks again! Emily
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