Trade School Entry Requirements

After graduation, many individuals decide to enter a trade school. Unlike traditional colleges, where students must complete a wide variety of courses, many of which are unrelated to their desired jobs, a trade school offers a highly focused curriculum devoted exclusively to preparing a student for their job of choice. A trade school student will generally earn their degree in a shorter amount of time than in a traditional college, usually at a lower cost.

Trade School Fields

Trade schools are offered in a variety of fields, including dentistry, massage therapy, optometry, architecture, cosmetology, fashion, graphic design, culinary arts, aviation, construction, criminal justice, electronics, and industrial technology. Best of all, the requirements for enrolling in a trade school are easier to satisfy than the requirements for entering a traditional college.

Diploma Requirements

To get into a trade school, the first thing that an individual needs is a diploma. If they have not earned a high school diploma, a General Education Diploma will also be accepted for admission into a trade school. Depending on the specific trade school program, a high school graduate might also be required to have achieved a 2.0 or higher grade point average for trade school admission.

With a diploma in one’s possession, an individual will need to fill out a trade school application. This application will ask questions about the potential student, including the trade programs that they are interested in, their educational background, the career goals they have set for themselves, and their work history, if they have any. The application will also ask how a student plans to pay their trade school tuition, so an individual should have this figured out in advance.

Once the trade school application has been turned in, an applicant will need to meet with an admissions counselor. This counselor will review the application with the applicant to clarify their answers and ensure that they are enrolled in the right program, at the right level.
 

Standardized Placement Tests

Completing one or more standardized placement tests is another requirement that individuals must meet to enter a trade school. The Career Programs Assessment Test is an exam used by most trade schools for trade school admission. This test is intended to see whether an individual has fundamental skills in the fields of math, reading, and writing, which will be determined by their exam score. A trade school might have a minimum Career Programs Assessment Test score required for admission or use this score to determine which courses best meet the needs of an applicant.

Other standardized placement tests that a trade school might use for enrollment include the American College Test and the Computerized Adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System.

Since a trade school is substantially easier to enter than a traditional college, many individuals turn to a trade school to fulfill their need for higher education. It is important for these individuals to choose a trade school that will prepare them for the job that they actually desire, since their entire curriculum will be based around this trade.