In upstate Western NY there's definitely a big push towards offering kids the option of vocational school. Kids I work with generally have their minds made up about it by 11th grade, but there are two interesting phenomena. Many students don't want to study for exams, and so make the choice to go vocational out of laziness, being unaware of the professional certification regime. I also see many students whose parents want them to go vocational, but they've been sold on the college experience so relentlessly that they will go anyways.