Disaster! Dropping Out, in Debt & Depressed

Two big stories broke this week.

For those of you who are considering majors and student loans, a great report is just off the presses. The Hamilton Project launched an interactive calculator that cites earnings data on about 80 different majors, allowing people to look up typical debt burdens by major, over the first decade after college graduation. The link above is to the NYT article, which has a link to the full report.

Another new report focuses on the students who go to college and drop out, and what happens if and when they go back. I spend a lot of time coaching students who dropped out of college for any number of reasons: money, health, wrong school, etc. But the biggest reason students drop out is that they don’t know what they want to do.

The effects of that decision to drop out are long-lasting and far-reaching. Read this report on those who leave college early.

One Mom's gifts

Right after reading that report, I was really touched when a mom, Susan, called me to work with her son, who has been in and out of college. She also hired me to help two other students she knows. Here is what Susan wrote. God bless her for caring so much about these young people.

“Consider this opportunity part of your Christmas gift, but it is really a life gift.  At the end of this exercise and counseling with Pam, I just know you will have some ideas and be excited about a college curriculum to follow and how to pursue a career that will make you excited about every day. 

“Pam Scott helps people find their dreams by narrowing down their likes and dislikes and discussing college and career options that will suit your strong points and desires.  She will also introduce you to people who have similar personality traits, drive and interests for you to talk about what they do in their professional worlds.  She will guide you through an analysis of yourself.  I went through this analysis after [my son] was born; I think of how much it would have helped me as a younger person.”

If you know a young person who has had trouble finding his or her way in college, follow Susan’s example. Help that student find the right path and graduate from college. Our city, our state, and our country need these young people to find their calling.

You can always reach me at 404-248-9475 or pam@whats-your-major.com.

5+ Tips for Picking a Major So much has been going on in our world since I last posted. Christopher and Jessica got married. Family from around the country invaded for a great family reunion. I’ve gotten to talk with several student/educator groups. Now it’s time for me to get back to work helping parents and college-bound students. A lot of great advice has come out recently for parents of students in the college process. Here are just a couple of articles that parents need to check out. Choosing a Major by Age 16 Pays Off Following the old adage of “go to college, experiment, check out lots of courses” no longer works with the ever-increasing cost of college today. College courses are expensive. Each path pursued but not chosen represents time and money that could have been spent pursuing the right major. Of course, colleges benefit greatly from that model. The longer the student stays at college, the more money the college makes. Note to parents: Changing majors is expensive. At the very least, help your student narrow down their options. Don’t let your student be like one that I worked with who went from Business to Russian History to Sound Engineering. 5+ Tips and more The author of this article gives good tips for choosing a major. But I would like to add to that list. Have your student try out majors during the summers or holidays while still in high schools. Hundreds, if not thousands, of online courses are available in any subject a student is interested in. One site offering online courses for students is iTunes. Check out iTune U. If the two links above don’t help you and/or your student with picking the right major, give me a call. I can take your student through our Pathfinder Process to help him or her find the right direction in college. And if you know a college student or college grad who is still confused about the future, send them my way. I work with those folks, too. We save your student time and we save you money. Pam Scott, 404-248-9475 pam@whats-your-major.com P.S.: Please pass this email along to any friends or family members who have students searching for direction. With your help, we can make this part of the college process a little less painful.

College Not the Only Path

Recently a friend who reads this blog asked me a great question:

“Is college the only answer? I know my son is not college material, but he is very talented in other ways. What do you suggest for kids like him?”

I was so grateful for her question and the chance to address it in this blog. I can easily get on my soapbox about the number of kids going to college, who go into debt then drop out and try to pay students loans while working in a minimum wage job. 

College is NOT the only answer, nor should it be for many kids. Here are some facts parents need to be aware of.

• Almost 80% of jobs in the US do not require a typical “4-year degree.” Bureau of Labor Statistics
  
• Only 56% of freshmen manage to get a degree in 6 years, so the “4-year” standard is a myth for many families. National Center for Education Statistics
  
• In 2008, more than 6.3 million adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher were working in jobs requiring only short-term OJT. Parent’s Guide to College and Careers

What’s a parent to do? The best resource on this topic I’ve found is this report from Georgetown University. Check it out. Our students have options, many of which we don't even know about.

If you don’t believe me, read the words of this New Orleans high school student, published in Time magazine. While the author is African American, her arguments cross all racial lines.

Future Jobs & Unhappy Doctors

Two important stories were in the Wall Street Journal in recent days, both related to jobs. One is about jobs of the future, and one is about why medical doctors are unhappy and not recommending their profession.

Check out this article if you have a student facing college or already in college but unsure of what to do. The article is based on a report by the Conference Board. According to that group:

“Our extensive database of occupational data points us to the U.S. industries most at risk of labor shortages. Topping the list are: healthcare, including hospitals and nursing facilities; transportation industries, including ground passenger, water, and rail transport; utilities; social assistance; and mining and construction.” The report also cites skilled labor occupations.

I run into lots of students who think they want to be doctors. Their reasons vary from “I like babies” as a reason to be an OB/GYN to “I want to be rich” as a basic reason for wanting to go to medical school. This article, written by a doctor, describes why doctors are disillusioned with their field and often don’t recommend others pursue an M.D. Share this with a student you know.

LinkedIn & College Majors

I hope you’ve had a good summer. Some interesting articles have appeared that I think you might find helpful. I’ll be sharing these with you over the next several posts.

I’ll start with Why Choosing a College Major Actually Matters because it echoes what I believe.

LinkedIn just announced a new tool that will help you and your student explore career options. Check out this site to see what you can find. Let me know how you and your student benefited from LinkedIn's data.

If the two links above don’t get you and/or your student to the right major, give me a call. I can take your student through our Pathfinder Process to help him or her find the right direction in college.

And if you know a college student or college grad who is still confused about the future, send them my way. I work with those folks, too.

Communication Tips & Careers

Summer brings time for relaxed conversations with your teens. Here are a couple more tips for communicating with your students, from the American Psychological Association.

• Engage adolescents with nonthreatening questions. Choosing only one or two questions at a given time, ask adolescents questions that help them to define their identities. For example, whom do you admire? What is it about that person that makes them admirable? What do you like to do in your free time? What do you consider to be your strengths? What are your hopes for the future? What have you done in your life that you feel proud of (even if just a little)?

• Listen nonjudgmentally (and listen more than you speak). This enables the adolescent to realize that you value his or her opinions, and thus to trust you more.

Career Report for Graduates

From U.S. News and World Report, comes this study of what fields today’s grads are getting jobs in: software, accounting, public relations, and more. As a journalist and educator, I think it’s nice to see that not every job listed involves engineering. Check it out.

Help your teen find direction this summer 

Summer is a great time for your student to explore the world of career opportunities that are out there. Contact us to schedule time for your child to get focused on the right major for him/her.

We save your student time and we save you money. 
Pam Scott, 404-248-9475
pam@whats-your-major.com

It's Normal for Teens to . . .

Recently I’ve been hearing some friends complain about their teenagers being teenagers. I empathize, of course, now that our kids are adults. Here is some advice from the American Psychological Association that I wish we had known when our kids were teenagers. My friends found it helpful.

It’s Normal for Adolescents to...

•  Argue for the sake of arguing. Adolescents often go off on tangents, seeming to argue side issues for no apparent reason; this can be highly frustrating to many adults. Keep in mind that, for adolescents, exercising their new reasoning capabilities can be exhilarating, and they need the opportunity to experiment with these new skills.
• Be self-centered. Adolescents can be very “me-centered.” It takes time to learn to take others’ perspectives into account; in fact, this is a skill that can be learned.
• Constantly find fault in the adult’s position. Adolescents’ newfound ability to think critically encourages them to look for discrepancies, contradictions, or exceptions in what adults (in particular) say. Sometimes they will be most openly questioning or critical of adults with whom they feel especially safe. This can be quite a change to adjust to, particularly if you take it personally or the youth idealized you in the past.

• Be overly dramatic. Everything seems to be a “big deal” to teens. For some adolescents, being overly dramatic or exaggerating their opinions and behaviors simply comes with the territory. Dramatic talk is usually best seen as a style of oration rather than an indicator of possible extreme action, unless an adolescent’s history indicates otherwise.

Source: APA's Developing Adolescents page 11

Did you find this helpful? Please pass it on to your friends!

Add "What’s Your Major?" to your summer to-do list

Summer is a great time for your student to explore the world of career opportunities that are out there. Contact us to schedule time for your child to get focused on the right major for him/her.

We focus on helping students find the right major for them in college, before they go or after they get there. Check out our offerings.

We save your student time and we save you money.

Pam Scott, 404-248-9475
pam@whats-your-major.com

P.S.: Please pass this email along to any friends or family members who have students searching for direction. With your help, we can make this part of the college process a little less painful.

Communicating Successfully in a Family Do you ever feel like you are speaking French and your teenager is speaking Chinese? It certainly happened in our family. Parents have asked me to teach them how to talk to their kids about college. Given that I've focused on interpersonal communications my whole career, this was a welcome challenge. I've created a new offering--Communications in a Modern Family. This 3-session offering looks at the different personality types in a family the different communication styles of family members why communication breaks down and how to fix it The outcome: greater peace and understanding in the family. We also include our PathFinder Process for helping students find the right major for them. In addition, we give families a decision-making process they can use with their teen. Call us at 404-248-9475 to learn more. Or email us at pam@whats-your-major.com