If you are a high school student with college plans in mind, your high school may offer college classes that can be taken concurrently or in place of high school studies. This allows you to get a feel for college-level work and walk into your freshman year with a leg up on your fellow classmates.

The application process, in most cases, asks for a completed application of admission, a personal statement or entrance essay and submission of aptitude test scores. The most requested test score is the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). Check with school counselor or the College Board website for information on testing dates and times in your area. Post-graduate degree seekers need to determine, based on the requirements of their selected school, which entrance test to take. The GRE is the most popular graduate school entrance test. It measures verbal and quantitative reasoning, verbal and analytical skills. For students interested in attaining an MBA, the GMAT is the test of choice. An LSAT exam is a requirement to enter law school. For those pursuing medicine, there are targeted exams by discipline that you'll be required to complete to gain admission to medical school.

The typical Bachelor's Degree takes approximately four years of full-time study to complete. Knock that time down by completing classes during summer breaks, taking advantage of testing out of classes and requesting credit for skills gained in the workforce. The time it takes to complete your post-graduate studies will be determined by your choice of post-graduate work.

You'll find that your classes during the freshman and sophomore years are very broad and seemingly have nothing to do with your intended major. However, as you progress into your junior and senior years, your classes will have a tighter focus on your degree choice. Your post-graduate work will delve even deeper into your major.