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Your Options After High School
Your Options After High School
There is no one right path after graduation. The best plan is the one that fits your interests, goals, and budget. Start exploring early, and talk with your counselor about which options make sense for you.
Start With Xello
Start With Xello
Xello is AHS's college and career planning tool, and the best place to start exploring. Your Xello account follows you from year to year, so everything you save is there when you meet with your counselor.
How to sign in: Go to your waffle menu in the top right of your browser. Scroll all the way down and Xello will be an option to click on. Sign in with Google, using your school Google account.
Where to find help in Xello:
Not sure what you want to do? Take the assessments: Career Matchmaker, Personality Styles, Learning Styles and Skills. Find them under About Me. Your answers power your career matches. If you have already taken it, you can reset it or change you answers. Click on the 3 dots on the right of your screen.
Explore careers: Go to Explore Options and choose Careers. Careers are sorted by how well they match you. Click Find out why on a career to see the reason, and use Sort & filter to narrow by education needed, pay and job demand.
Research colleges and majors: In Explore Options, choose Colleges & universities to see admission requirements, costs and programs.
Trades and apprenticeships: In Explore Options, choose Courses & apprenticeships.
Save your favorites: Click the heart on any career, school or program. Find everything you saved under the heart icon at the top of the screen.
Plan your classes: Under Goals and Plans, use the Course Planner to map out your high school classes around your goals.
Build a resume: Use the Resume Builder under About Me to track jobs, activities, volunteering and awards. It's a big help for scholarship and college applications.
Juniors and seniors, college applications: Under Goals and Plans, add the schools you're applying to in College Applications to track deadlines and request transcripts and letters of recommendation.
Can't find something or locked out? Stop by the counseling office and we'll help.
Community College (2-Year)
Community College (2-Year)
Earn an associate degree, diploma, or certificate in one to two years, or start your general education classes for less money and transfer to a 4-year school. Iowa Western and other Iowa community colleges also offer high-demand career programs. You may qualify for the Iowa Last-Dollar Scholarship, which can cover tuition for eligible programs if you file the FAFSA by July 1.
Trade School and Apprenticeships
Trade School and Apprenticeships
Learn a skilled trade like welding, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, diesel or automotive technology, or construction. Apprenticeships let you earn a paycheck while you learn on the job. Learn more at Apprenticeship.gov.
Military
Military
Serve in the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, or National Guard. The military offers job training, college tuition benefits, and leadership experience. Taking the ASVAB is a great first step. See the Military Options page under Future Planning for our local recruiters' contact info.
Going Straight to Work
Going Straight to Work
Many local employers hire right out of high school and offer on-the-job training, certifications, and even tuition help down the road. Your work ethic, attendance, and references from high school matter here.
Before you start: can your paycheck cover your life? Living on your own costs more than most people expect. In Cass County, a single adult with no kids needs to earn about $20 an hour full time just to cover basic needs (MIT Living Wage Calculator). Things to plan for:
Taxes: Your take-home pay will be less than your hourly wage × hours. Federal and state taxes and Social Security come out first.
Housing: Rent, a security deposit, utilities, internet and renter's insurance
Transportation: Car payment, insurance, gas and repairs
Health insurance: Does your job offer it? You can usually stay on a parent's plan until age 26.
Everyday costs: Groceries, phone, clothes and fun
Savings: Try to build an emergency fund of at least 3 months of expenses
Job benefits: Compare pay, plus benefits like health insurance, retirement matching, paid time off and tuition help
Helpful tools:
MIT Living Wage Calculator for Cass County: what it really costs to live here
EPI Family Budget Calculator: compare the cost of living in different areas
NGPF budgeting games: try SPENT and see if you can make it through the month
MyMoney.gov: free basics on budgeting, saving, credit and borrowing
IowaWORKS: search Iowa job openings and find job-seeker help
Thinking About Waiting a Year? Know the Numbers
Thinking About Waiting a Year? Know the Numbers
National data show that students who put off college are much less likely to ever finish a degree. In a U.S. Department of Education study, only 40% of students who delayed college earned any degree or certificate within six years, compared with 58% of students who started right after high school. For bachelor's degrees, the gap was even bigger: only 9% of students who waited earned one, compared with 42% of those who went straight to college. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics, "Waiting to Attend College," 2005.)
If you are considering waiting, talk with your counselor first. A safer plan is to apply, get accepted, and file the FAFSA during your senior year, then ask the college whether you can defer your start and keep your scholarships.
4-Year College or University
4-Year College or University
Earn a bachelor's degree at a public university (like Iowa State, the University of Iowa, or UNI) or a private college. Many careers in teaching, business, engineering, health care, and science start here. Plan on a college-prep course load, take the ACT, and watch application and scholarship deadlines your senior year.
Taking only the minimum classes needed to graduate may not be enough to get into college. Admission requirements vary by school and major, so if you aren't sure yet, plan on a college-prep course load starting in 9th grade.
Iowa's public universities (ISU, UI, UNI) use the Regent Admission Index (RAI):
RAI = (3 × ACT composite) + (30 × GPA) + (5 × number of core courses)
Iowa residents with an RAI of 245 or higher who complete the required courses are automatically admitted.
Below 245? You can still be admitted. Each university reviews applications one by one.
Minimum high school courses (years):
English: 4 at all three (UNI requires composition)
Math: 3 (UI Engineering requires 4, including pre-calculus)
Science: 3 (UI Nursing requires biology, chemistry and physics)
Social studies: ISU 2 (3 for Liberal Arts & Sciences), UI 3 (2 for Engineering), UNI 3
World language: UI requires 2. ISU requires 2 for Engineering and Liberal Arts & Sciences. UNI does not require it.
Private and out-of-state colleges set their own rules, so check each school's admissions page. Many selective colleges like to see 4 years each of English, math, science and social studies, plus 2 or more years of the same world language.
Helpful links:
Xello: explore colleges and majors, save favorites and track your applications (sign in with your school Google account)
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