Stand out from the crowd, look for college alternatives

My kids are finally at the point I feel they’ve mastered the basics of reading, and that’s gotten me thinking about the long term.  Especially as I talk with my friend Amanda, her kids are in high school and thinking about college, and how expensive college is.  Mostly they’re thinking of how to get scholarships.

I listen to Dave Ramsey, and I hear over and over again the stories of young adults graduating from college swamped by debt.  I was one of those kids, I graduated with a mountain of debt.  I worked like crazy to pay off that debt.

I don’t want that for my kids.  I want them to start life debt free, and the articles on thePraxis facebook page share many examples of people regretting the debt they went into to get their college education.

So, when I heard about Praxis as a college alternative I filed it away to learn more about.

Right now I’m listening to an interview by the Praxis founder.  I have to admit I’m intrigued.

Especially as I think about self-motivated learners.  I think about Amanda’s daughter and how this would be great for the careers she’s looking at, and her skills.

My brother spent years between high school and college with no idea what he wanted to do.  Then he had an internship and KNEW what he wanted to do.

Which has me thinking internships are very valuable.  They also show colleges, if you decide that’s the next step you’re serious about your degree, and makes them stand up and take notice.

That can be very helpful when applying for scholarships.  Good grades are a dime a dozen now.  When I graduated from high school I graduated in the second quarter of my class with a 3.98 GPA.  Over 1/4 of my fellow graduates were above 4.0, I was average and didn’t stand out in scholarship applications.  Not when someone else could claim acing the SAT.

If I’d had a gap year and used Praxis as my college alternative, I would have stood out.  Those scholarships which eluded me, would have taken a second look at my applications.

Amanda’s daughter has a year before she needs to seriously start looking at college and college alternatives.  My kids have several years, but I want to be prepared for when it comes.

When it’s time to look at college and college alternatives, I’ll be looking at Praxis.