• Set specific goals along the way as you work to achieve a bachelor's degree.student image by Ivanna Buldakova from Fotolia.com
  
  When a young adult decides to go off to college, he takes a big step toward independence. For many young people, college marks the first time they have the freedom of being away from home and parents. Some people abuse this freedom, however, and end up in trouble or even kicked out of school. To stay on the right track toward earning a bachelor's degree, you should set certain goals.
  
  

Preparation

• If you want to earn a bachelor's degree, you should first set a goal of being prepared for college. Begin by taking a college preparatory curriculum in high school. This curriculum includes classes in English, math, science, social studies and a foreign language. Set a goal of earning at least a B in every one of these courses, and as many A's as you can.
  
  Before you can be admitted to an institution of higher learning, you must take the SAT or ACT, whichever of these standardized achievement tests the college or university requires for admission. Each college or university has its own admissions standards, based on high school grade-point average, performance on standardized tests and other variables. Pay close attention to these standards, and set a goal to meet them and gain admission.
  
  

Core Classes

• Once you have been admitted to a college or university, take the core classes required by the school. Core classes generally consist of English, math, science, quantitative reasoning, languages, cultures, arts and humanities, and social sciences. You must maintain a certain grade-point average in these courses, usually a 2.0, to stay on track for earning your bachelor's degree and avoiding academic probation or dismissal. But simply avoiding probation or dismissal is not going to get you very far. Set 3.0 or better as your goal.
  
  

Major Courses

• After you complete your core classes, you must choose a major course of study to pursue. Once you have chosen a major, the courses you take will be dictated by the requirements of that major. Therefore, set a goal to carefully choose the right major and stick with it if you can. Otherwise, you may waste money and time taking classes you don't need, although that would still be better than continuing down an educational path that is not right for you.
  
  The specialized courses that the college or university requires you to take for your major amount to about 60 semester hours, the same number as the core classes, for a total of about 120 semester hours to earn your bachelor's degree. Set a goal to strive for as many A's as possible in these major courses, to help ensure that you both earn your bachelor's degree and find employment in your field.