Believe it or not, college is not for everyone. I know, it may sound like blasphemy; it may sound like I’m crazy. But it’s true, college is not for everyone. It’s sad to see that in this day and age, college has become some sort of talisman wherein every middleclass family should school their child. By wearing this talisman of a college degree, the world opens up for their child and everybody lives happily ever after. The truth is, there are many people who are extremely successful yet did not finish or even attend college. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of the most valuable company in the world, only took one semester of college. Bill Gates and Michael Dell, who are technology giants, also do not possess a college degree. There many other successful people – billionaires, politicians, news anchors – that don’t have a college degree.
This begs the question: Is college for you? That’s why it’s important to take a personality test before you apply to college. A personality test profiles what your instincts are, how you react to stress, how you approach problems, and how you look at life in general. There are certain personality configurations that do well in college and there are some that don’t. If your personality is not fitted for college, that may be one red flag that it may not be for you. Remember, college is very expensive. There are other alternatives to going to college. You could work right out of high school. You get into an apprenticeship or a mentorship program. There actually are many different ways you can take.
Another key benefit of taking personality tests before you take the plunge into college admissions is that it teases out your interests. Let’s say you decide to go into college but you don’t know what to major in. Taking a personality or aptitude test will quickly detect what your aptitude, interests, and passions are. This would help you select the major that would make the most sense for you. The worst thing you could do is to take a particular course or major because you think it will get you money, fame, or prestige, among others. Whatever it is that you take, you must be passionate for it for you to do well. Many college applicants fail to see this and they end up taking courses that they hate and eventually, change majors. Why go through the headache, lost time, and expense of changing majors not once, but several times during the course of your college career, when you can avoid all that drama by taking a personality test in the first place.
As you can see from the reasons above, there are many benefits for taking a personality test before applying to college. You may quickly find out that college is not for you. Also, it can quickly clue you in as to which major to take.
This guest post was written by Chris Walker. He focuses on personal statement examples and college admissions issues. His work is featured regularly at http://www.ivyresearch.com/journal