We are very fortunate to live in an area that has some good options for VoTech high school education. I know a few students who have gone through one of these programs, but none of them have gone on to college after. (Which is why they were in the program in the first place.)
Kiddo #3 toured the campus this week and loved it. She’s been interested in doing something in the medical field pretty much her whole life and just lit up at the idea of some of the votech programs. In particular, there is one that would certify her as a dental assitant, or one that would qualify her as a surgical tech. (Unfortunately they dropped the LPN program and only offer CNA otherwise that’s probably what she’d do.)
I’m really torn on whether to encourage this or not. She is interested in going away to college and not entering the workforce directly from high school and I wonder if the votech courses would be held against her in admissions. Students who go through these programs are still considered students at their home high school and receive a diploma from that school. She is a hard working student who gets straight A’s, but is not in all the advanced/weighted/AP classes and is not interested in going to a top school or even very far away to college. She wants to do something with surgery (surgical nurse, assisting an oral surgeon) but has no interest in med school.
While she wouldn’t apply for over a year, we kinda need to make the decision ASAP so she could change her schedule for next year in order to get the extra PE credit needed for graduation out of the way since that’s not offered at the VoTech program. There may be other tweaks involved that I’m not aware of so we’d need to check it out.
Would you let your child do the program or not? What pros and cons do you see? I’d especially love to hear from parents who had a child do Votech and then go to a traditional college after.
My advice would be to talk to a couple of your in-state colleges to get their views on this. I know in my state that the kids who go to VoTech high schools are encouraged to go to the state four-years, and they do great in medical and other STEM programs. In some cases, ours graduate high school with an associate’s degree or certificate that even gives them some college credits.
^ Same in our neck of the woods. The GC in the VoTech may also know if there are any requirements that aren’t fulfilled for college entry.
I know a couple of very successful nursing students who did a vocational tech program for high school. I agree with calling some instate college nursing programs and talking it through with them to be sure.
One of my kids went to a voc/ tech school (here called CTE–Career and Technical Education). As I had experience with other high schools, very high level, with other child I can assure you that here at least the CTE school was as hard if not harder than regular high school. The CTE schools in NY state at least have to fulfill the students’ regular HS curriculum PLUS the CTE training. The CTE is also accredited by the state in some way, so that it’s not some random training, but a supervised curriculum that results in its own certification process. Very difficult curriculum. To fit in all of those classes, the days were longer at school (8-4 for class time). Also, each class required homework and afterschool time spent workign on the CTE hands-on component of the education. This meant coming home late and then facing extra hours of study at home. CTE schools can be very very rigorous, more demanding in many ways in my experience than regular high school.
The CTE school my child attended offered only one AP class–calculus. This was because of the wide range of academic abilities at the school. Also, the schedule was already packed with regular HS classes plus CTE training. While all students there were prepped for college and were offered guidance for entering college of some sort, the few students who were more academically ready were offered “honors” classes plus that one AP class.
Students from this school regularly attend the entire range of colleges, from CUNY community college and four-year schools and SUNYs to Ivy-level LACs and some Ivy schools (in the past that’s included Columbia and I think UPenn and Cornell, because of the tech interest). Some students were lower-achieving academically and in NYC at least there’s an apprenticeship program available for post-HS education, which several kids entered.
The upshot to answer your question is that CTE schools educate a wide range of academic abilities; they have limited AP or advanced classes, but they also offer tehcnical hands-on training unlike regular high schools; college choices seem unhurt by this unique curriculum and may even enhance the application because the student applying is interesting and unique.
Dental assistant or surgical tech are not really in the health field and wouldn’t prepare her for a nursing degree (which is very competitive). Nursing is quite competitive and in most states, it’s very hard to get in - many admitted students had bio and chem PLUS AP bio, AP stats, and AP Psych plus volunteer experience.
Some CTE programs involve PLTW and a strong college prep program along with a certification, but others mostly offer programs for struggling students who won’t go to college (or will attend the CC for a technical associate’s). Unless you can describe the programs better, it’s a bit difficult to see whether it’d be to your child’s benefit.
Whoa- dental assistant and surgical tech ARE health care, as much as any other ancillary health care field.
Your D would need to be sure she is able to take required courses that will prepare her to be competitive for college admissions. Be sure there is enough foreign language offered and that she gets the years of such things as math and English.
Another consideration is what your D now states and what she wants just a year or two later can change. I vehemently stated I was only going to take the minimum science in HS and ended up as a chemistry major in college at a time when not many girls did it.
Likewise your D may be enthralled with getting to do her interest sooner than waiting until after HS at this point. However- depending on the type of student she is she may be disenchanted with the level of the others in her classes at this HS. Like everyone, she is multifaceted. Since she does not want to jump into the workforce immediately she may be better off getting more “theory” and less “hands on”. Perhaps being able to do volunteer work will satisfy her. Depending on her academic abilities she may discover other health care fields she actively likes in addition to her current favorites. As a retired physician I have interacted with many excellent professionals in many ancillary fields. I have also known those who switched fields within the hospital.
Your D may love the campus but she has not yet spent time in classes with the students. Will she find others with the same interest in going further after HS? Will she be a good fit? I wonder if there are any health clubs at the regular HS that she could join.
If this program leads to some kind of state or national certification/licensing then it is possible that she will have a skill that can get her a better paying part time job in college. That alone can be worth a votech program for some students.
Many of the voctech students in my area are now immediately pursuing college so much so that students who would have traditionally been well-suited to a tech school are being shut out. It is well-known in my state that the tech school are far better funded than the public schools. Students interested in pursuing college are taking advantage of dual enrollment classes to ensure they are prepared.
Thanks for the responses, especially to @Dustyfeathers for sharing your story. You all have given me things to think about and take into consideration.
I think I need to start with the high school GC because I’m sure she would know what classes need to be taken prior to enrollment in the votech school as well as acceptance into local colleges. (Our school district has set stronger graduation requirements than the state.)
I know the medical votech programs can be competitive to get into and without a good grade in Biology, you are unlikely to be accepted. It’s much different than the vehicle maintenance program that a friend enrolled her son in when he was in danger of failing or dropping out of school. I do think the program could be a really good fit for Kiddo, but like was pointed out, it will matter who the other students are.
@happymomof1 - I hadn’t thought it all about being able to get a better paying job while in school. That is definitely something to consider!
One other thought that I had while reading the other replies is that the student also feels so powerful when s/he’s involved in this training. If the child is excited about their CTE program, then they can feel really empowered. My own child decided to not pursue the line of study of the HS once graduated. That seems fine. The experience of doing a unique, interesting (and in many ways fun) program was a gift to us. It wasn’t the “usual” HS experience. That experience never goes away even if the child decides later to pursue other interests.
All of what @Dustyfeathers said is why we’re having our daughter attend a Voc. Our LPS thinks quite highly of itself but I see no sense of purpose or mission among the students, administration, or faculty there. Everyone seems to be biding their time. Our LPS is obsessed with telling you how it offers so many AP’s and electives. But I’m no longer sold on AP and the electives the LPS offers just seem frivolous. The LPS encourages well-roundedness, apparently not knowing the ship sailed on that years ago. The motivated kids at the LPS kill themselves on a hamster wheel of mediocre athletics, tepid ECs, and “rigorous” academics…and then the valedictorian ends up at a state school or a second tier, but very expensive, university. The students at the Vocs are engaged, immersed, and happy to be there. The Voc kids get into all the same colleges and sometimes even more selective ones as our LPS. So if the standard program at your local LPS gets middling results, and results from a Voc program are no worse and possibly better, why not give it a try? The kid can leave the Voc if they try it and it doesn’t work out.
The most important thing is to make sure she keeps her college options open by getting all of the classes successful applicants to colleges on the radar have. First be sure she gets the number of years of courses required for admissions but also pay attention to what most admitted students will have taken. For example, two years may be acceptable but if most have four years of a subject those are the students most likely to get accepted.