The rest of my life?, What do i do now? Options

[cnelson]

Hey guys, for any of you who have seen be around the forums, probably know that i am 18 year old senior in high school. The last couple of months I've been weighing my options heavily about what to do for college. For the first month or so I really only had like two ideas.

The first was go to community college for two years figure out what i wanted to do, or go to Rutgers and get a degree in business management. I was also considering maybe becoming a teacher. I am an avid golfer and have been playing now for about 3 years, I have also been on varsity for school for the past 3 years. I am not as great as some players my age but i can hold my own. Thats when i was looking one day and found a couple interesting schools.

I found, PGCC (Professional Golfers Career College) and SDGA (San Diego Golf Academy) . Now don't jump to any concussions. These are not school that claim they will turn me into a professional golfer. I would get an associates degree in Professional Golf Management. I have a passion for golf that i don't believe most people will ever share with me. Thats what made me so interested in these two schools.

Over Dec. I went and visited both campus's that they have in South Carolina. One is in Myrtle Beach (SDGA) and the other in Hilton Head (PGCC). I quickly did not like Professional Golfer's Career College, however i felt differently about SDGA. It seemed like a great school, very small class's but everything else seemed really good. I got accepted on the spot to both schools just waiting for my letters in the mail.

I just don't know if this is the path that i should peruse. I do have a love for golf and would love working in the industry. However I live in NJ and its not like i could come home every weekend to visit. I have a girlfriend who i've been with for about a year and half, I have two best friends that i've known for 14 years. I have my parents here. Theres just a lot of things that are in the back of my mind. There are some days that i feel strongly about going to school there and other days that seem like it wouldn't be a good idea.

Some of you probably don't know, but the amount of jobs in the golf industry is very good and the school has a 85 to 95% job placement rating. She showed me the website that the students get access to before and after they graduate and it lists all the jobs, by state. I saw a whole bunch in NJ. I would like to become either an Asst. Pro, or a Head Pro. at a course. (Thats someone who you would go and take lesson's from) Asst. Pro's start around 35,000$ to 45,000$ and once your a head pro, if you're working at a good country club you could be making anywhere from 60k to a 6 figure salary.

But I still have no idea what i should.. If anyone has any opinions i'd great appreciate them. Thanks.

[Scott]

I think it's good that you're already planning out stuff for your future, that puts you a step ahead of a whole lot of community college kids. but at the same time, you should realistically consider which college option can best help you in the future: a 4 year degree from a respected liberal arts school (for example, Rutgers) or a 2 year degree in a specific field from a trade school. Now I'm not bagging either option, there's great options for all types of people, but there's no doubt that a 4 year degree opens up a whole lot more opportunities in many fields - including golf, business, teaching- than anything else. also, you'll meet tons of new people in college that are your age, people you won't be able to meet at a golfing trade school or anywhere else.

i would recommend going to community college for two years intending to transfer for a BA, and see where you are after two years. who knows if you'll still even like golf? a bunch of my friends did this and i think they thought it was a pretty good choice. nothing's set in stone and you can always just change your mind and sign up for something else if one option doesn't work out, i also have a few friends who decided during college that it wasn't what they wanted.