YouLookFab Forum » Topic: College/career planning for teens

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: College/career planning for teens https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Mon, 27 Apr 2026 10:06:17 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php kellygirl on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1188955 Sat, 08 Mar 2014 21:46:59 +0000 kellygirl 1188955@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thanks, Isis! I have that book on order. That website you linked has some great information too. Thank you so much! Isis on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1184468 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 20:38:38 +0000 Isis 1184468@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I second a recommendation for the book , "Colleges that Change Lives" which features Liberal Arts Colleges (LAC's) .  My daughter applied to a bunch of  LAC's and got "merit" scholarships at all.   The "merit" is sort of a scam; at many of these LAC's,  "merit" scholarships are given to more than half the class (not true for the most competitive ones).  So if your DD has pretty high  SAT/ACT scores and a decent GPA you won't be paying the outrageous tuition.  Several schools came to about what our public university would be..... I liked this blog <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thecollegesolution.com">http://www.thecollegesolution.com</a>  which even explains how to figure out possible merit scholarships (each college has a financial calculator on the site) As for a career, I would think more about figuring out what she likes to do now (hobbies, jobs, projects).  She will figure it out along the way..... kellygirl on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183998 Tue, 04 Mar 2014 06:32:12 +0000 kellygirl 1183998@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow! I’m so grateful to you all for chiming in with such great information! I feel like a lot better about how to proceed (although still overwhelmed!) @SarahA:  Thank you for bringing this other option up. I honestly don’t know anything about the military/academies (except for what I’ve seen in movies) but they sound like a great option. DD#2 has expressed an interest in serving her country so perhaps that will be an option for one of them at least. I have a few general questions and will PM you. Thanks! @Anna: Oh, okay, that kind of technical school. Thanks for clarifying. @Froggiebecky: Thanks for chiming in again. I wholeheartedly agree that DD is going to have to choose her own school. I feel like my job is to help her make the right choice. Finances will be a consideration but ultimately, we want her to enjoy her college experience and not suffer through something that is hard enough without being miserable to boot.  @Kstabs: Thank you for linking that website. I will definitely check out the reading list. What a great resource!   @Donna: Whoa! My phone battery died while perusing those forums. More questions than I could ever come up with on my own and lots of great information. I had some concerns about course loads/AP classes and feel like I got a better answer than I could get from the school counselor (assuming she even manages to return my call.)  I’m hoping that we can take time to tour a few colleges while they are in session--it’s just difficult with all of their commitments. In the meantime, we are going to try and visit a few colleges when we vacation this summer (hopefully in the PNW.) At least she can get a feel for the scale of the school and the scenery--lol! Good to know about the various cost differences too. LAC (I had to look that up) sounds like a viable option. We assumed both would go the UC or CSU route but competition is much stiffer these days than when we went to school (I’m realizing how totally out of the loop I am in this department!) After reading some of the forums, I’m not sure that either of those will be a sure thing. It also sounds like fit will be determined best after she narrows her course of study.   I’ve definitely got some homework to do. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience! I’m very, very grateful! You guys are the best! DonnaF on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183640 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 23:29:23 +0000 DonnaF 1183640@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hi, Kelly; Do you know about the College Confidential web site and forum?  Lot of valuable info and sharing there.  Also, Colleges That Change Lives has a web site. I think about 80% of kids change career goals and majors after they've been in college for at least a semester.  Organic chemistry seems to weed out a lot of pre-meds.  Seems to me the big push at a lot of colleges (Cal; Stanford; others) is to get more girls interested in computer science and not turned off by the guys who have been coding since they were 12. We found that it was a lot more valuable to visit campuses when school was in session.  This means checking college/university calendars and visiting during the high school's spring break/Cesar Chavez Day or whenever.  Do not go on a Friday; not many classes and not many students around.  If she thinks she might want to go to a large uni, have her sit in on a large lecture class.  That experience was enough to discourage my DD from universities.  She now attends a LAC. High school and even college classes seem pretty divorced from real world jobs IMHO.  DD was fortunate enough to have an internship where she was able to observe what social workers and psychologists do at least within a hospital setting.  It was enough to tell her that it wasn't her path.  Maybe your DD could shadow someone on Take Your Daughter to Work Day? For us, the net price of DD's LAC is less than a California public; less than a UC for sure, and I'm pretty sure less than a CSU.  In addition to financial aid, DD has two merit scholarships, and I wouldn't classify her as extraordinary.  Fat merit scholarships are given out by CTCL (Colleges That Change Lives) type schools:  Not tippy top ones, but ones that your neighbor and daughter's classmates might not know.  Colleges in the South and Midwest cost less than those on either coast due to cost of living differences:  Room & board of $8/9K vs. $16/17K last time I looked.  The Midwest was a better political fit for DD, lol!  We visited four LACs over spring break of her junior year.  She concluded that she didn't want to go to a school in middle of nowhere (which defines most LACs!), and I think we needed to get out of California for her to really see what that meant.  In addition to sitting in on classes and gauging students' level of engagement, she quizzed students on what type of music was popular, observed how they were dressed, etc.   Note:  DD's path is not in academia; she will never pursue a PhD.  (She's a sophomore and continues to say her ultimate goal is to be a high school administrator in an urban school, although all the administrators at her urban high school discouraged her from that path.)  She seems to be quite a big fish in her little LAC pond and has had many, many leadership/advisory opportunities.  I simply cannot imagine that occurring in a larger school.  But again, that all depends upon what floats your student's boat!  We focused on *fit*.    kstabs on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183566 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 22:08:09 +0000 kstabs 1183566@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wow a lot of fabulous advice in this thread. I have a friend who runs preparatory programs for high schoolers and I have linked to her college admissions reading list for parents and students which includes 6 books with titles like College That Changes Lives by Loren Pope. It seems like there is a lot beyond relying on the counselor these days that can be done to prepare for college/future careers. I am no expert in this arena, I am one of those people who could never decide what to major in and don't work today in an area related to my college major. Hope this helps! <a href="http://www.noanxietyprep.com/Book-List.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.noanxietyprep.com/Book-List.html</a> froggiebecky on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183510 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 20:55:58 +0000 froggiebecky 1183510@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ More adding:  I started at Texas Christian University, and finished at Texas A&M U.  Did a masters at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Now at Macquarie University (Australia) and University of Edinburgh (Scotland).  If your DD (or any of you fabbers) have questions about any of those schools, I'm happy to answer. (Or need a ref. from Texas A&M--their alumni group is legendary.) froggiebecky on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183507 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 20:51:32 +0000 froggiebecky 1183507@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Chiming in again here:  If she's interested in lots of things…that's a good thing. There's probably a set of trends, though, that link her interests together. For instance, with my costume design…I worked in a shop where I was a pattern drafter because I could do the math--all the adding and subtracting of fractions. It's creative, but I was good at it because it was engineering… Like Anna, I found entry-level in the sciences quite low-paying. I taught high school because it paid more than working for the National Weather Service. I tried to use the Air Force to go back to school, but through a fluke of the numbers, they didn't take me (if I had applied to be a pilot, I would have gotten in. According to their tests, I can fly a plane well). Best grad school advice I ever got was "If you're in the sciences and you have to pay for your grad degree, you're doing something wrong."  On the school search thing…she's gotta listen to her gut. She's the one that's got to live there. My mom really pushed me to the school I started at, and was unhappy at. I knew I didn't like it at the tour, I didn't like it at orientation, and I just never felt like I fit in. I went because they gave me $40,000 (private school). When I told my mom I was leaving, she fussed about the money. I told her that at that point, I'd pay HER $20,000 to not go there anymore. If the money's more or less equal, your DD's got to make the decision. It's just as much a part of growing up as anything else. She's gotta live there; she's got to love it herself. If she doesn't, and it's not a good fit, she'll find herself either miserable and not enjoying it the way she could, or right back home again. While college shouldn't be a total party--she's there to learn--there's no sense in being miserable because you're not finding your niche and where you fit in. That was my biggest lesson when I left undergrad school #1--I can't pick where I live or go to school because my mom thinks it's good for me and I'll "grow to love it".  (It's also why I won't move back to my home city, even though my dad has asked me a million times. I'd only be doing it only because he wanted me there, not because I want to be there for myself.) Tell your DD to have a little faith in herself, and a little faith in the universe. The right path will present itself, and it will all be OK. :)    annagybe on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183498 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 20:38:35 +0000 annagybe 1183498@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I went to Oregon Tech. Cal Poly seems similar, but has no medical. Sarah A on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183459 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 19:54:10 +0000 Sarah A 1183459@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ You have gotten some great advice. And it sounds like you are well underway on your planning. I would like to add a #5 to Froggiebecky's types list. The 4 Military Service Academies (West Point, Annapolis, Air Force Academy (my alma mater) and Coast Guard Academy. People don't often think of these but they are typically ranked as excellent schools and do not require the student to pay tuition, room or meal expenses. Although, you will be required to a Commissioned Officer in the branch of service afterward. I believe the current commitment time is around 5 years. This provides the benefit of 100% employment upon graduation as well. For my 5 years of military service (for which I was also financially compensated with a monthly paycheck) my undergraduate and graduate work was basically fully funded (I maybe paid a few thousand for my graduate books.) There are many other details and if DD has any interest in this route please feel free to PM me. ETA: To April's comment, there are high school summer visit programs for both academic selection and sports camps (if she is an athlete) that can give a feel for the Service Academy experience--which is VERY different from standard colleges but quite amazing. kellygirl on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183395 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 18:39:22 +0000 kellygirl 1183395@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Thank you, Ladies! I knew you would come through with a wealth of great information! FWIW, I’m not expecting her to decide on a major or career path right away. If nothing else, I want her to realize the possibilities and maybe narrow the field. I think that will help her feel less overwhelmed. @ramya: I think the SATs are one way for students here to figure out their strong points but in a very general way. Sounds like you have found the perfect fit in engineering. @Ornelia: Thanks for reminding me about the personality tests. I had forgotten about those. I have time to look into those and will do so. She doesn’t really have much time until summer anyway.  Your “random” thoughts are very helpful too. I was one of those people who got a degree in something totally different from what I actually ended up doing. At some point, I’d like to go back to work but definitely doing something else :)  @Froggiebecky: Great to hear the perspective of someone who has recently gone through this. Sounds like you have a diverse set of interests! You’ve asked some great questions and given us a great starting point. You’ve also helped me figure out how to structure the college tour plan. I was feeling a little overwhelmed about that myself since we will be trying to visit a few universities this summer to get more of a feel for them. I will definitely try to help her narrow the “type” and go from there (I have a feeling she will prefer 1 or 3 but we shall see.) @April: Thank you. You are going through this now so thank you for sharing your perspective.  The summer program sounds terrific. I know one of DD’s friends is doing one and feel like I should have known about this earlier. I guess we will be ready for next summer.   @IK: How fortunate to have a driving passion! I don’t think DD is that lucky but hopefully  with a little work,  she can figure out what she likes. She’s one of those people that are pretty good at many things but doesn’t seem to have a passion about any one in particular. Lol about telling her what to pursue. I have a feeling that might work best of all.  @Liz: Thank you for your honesty. Career prospects are definitely something to consider and I think that is one of the things she is most worried about. We have been planning on financing college for quite awhile and while I’d prefer a state university, we are open to private as well. Grad school--well, that’s another story$$ @Anna: Thanks for sharing. These days, it seems like a Bachelor's is just a starting point. I don't know much about technical schools (except the ones on tv) so I will look into those as well. Most of those require a Bachelor's degree to start?  annagybe on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183377 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 18:21:52 +0000 annagybe 1183377@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ If she wants to do anything in the sciences, you actually do need to start early. I got my first degree in biology, but it took me a long time to finish because I started late. ETA Unfortunately a lot of science jobs require grad school for any good job. Basic lab tech jobs in chemistry and biology pay pretty crappy. I actually did office work after my first degree because it paid more. I went back to a school for a technical medical field and now have a great job. Tech schools, I mean real tech schools not the for-profit ones that advertise on TV, are great for getting a real career. Liz A. on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183338 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:19:01 +0000 Liz A. 1183338@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Kellygirl, the most honest advice I can give is for her to pick a school where she can graduate with no debt, and a major with good career prospects. Within those two broad categories, she should pick the school that feels the most her, and the major she enjoys the most. Is she self motivated? If not, she will likely be better off at a smaller school. I went to a large public school, and I had a blast, and I excelled academically, but I got no help or direction whatsoever from professors or administrators. I majored in something I loved, but I would need a doctorate to make it a career. After getting a grad degree I don't use in something else, I have finally clawed my way to a reasonable standard of living, but I recommend kids these days... Make it easier on yourselves. It's really hard out there right now. Best of luck to your DD. ironkurtin on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183277 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 15:58:32 +0000 ironkurtin 1183277@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I'm always impressed by the advice given on YLF! Here are my two cents: Very few people have a driving passion. I was lucky enough to both have one and be good enough to make it a career. The upside is that I love what I do. The downside (at first) was that I didn't have a hobby because my hobby was my job! The honest truth is that college major simply doesn't mean very much. People switch all the time. Grad school degrees are more directed, and even then people swap out after! My freshman year I picked up the course list at UCB and took everything that interested me. That included religious studies and intro to immunobiology. I wound up where I was meant to be, in the a Rhetoric department, and I learned a lot more than if I'd simply chosen a single track and ignored everything else. Your DD has her whole life to make these decisions. But if you really want her to make up her own mind, tell her she MUST be something specific that you have chosen at random, say a high-risk social worker, litigation attorney for the mob, etc. etc., and see how fast she decides on her own. April on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183226 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 14:43:06 +0000 April 1183226@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ My son is a junior this year and I'm asking him not to come up with his major or the specific college he wants to attend, but to focus on exactly those broader factors that FB named above: 1.) big school or small school?  2.) city or country? He's tending to get starry-eyed about places he's heard of (big-name schools that everyone knows) and I'm also encouraging him to recognize that there are people from every school at the top of their fields.  He knows he wants something in the science/tech/engineering/math area, so that narrows things down somewhat. One concrete suggestion is to look at the summer programs for high school students that many, many colleges offer now.  Typically students go for a few weeks, take one course of study, and can either commute or live on campus.  It gives them a taste of what it's like to pursue a certain subject and to start thinking about whether it's for them.  Look soon, though, because admissions season is now.   The ones I have looked into are expensive, but as I have assured DS, they're not as expensive as doing an extra year of college when you decide in junior year that you hate your major.   froggiebecky on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183142 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:21:00 +0000 froggiebecky 1183142@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hi Kelly,  I don't have any kids myself, but I've done the school thing (many times over), and I've been a high school teacher. Here's some things I've found, mostly picked up by trial and error…. It's okay to not know, and it's okay to change your mind. In fact, she probably will. (Though most people I know didn't change the way I did, from business to costume design to engineering to meteorology.)  Think about hobbies, things that interest her (even if she's not that good), and what she's very talented in. Think about what interested her as a child, as well. For me, I was reminded of meteorology when I remembered that I'd always been interested in it when I was little. The idea that I could STUDY it had never occurred to me. It requires a ton of math. I'm not naturally talented at math, but I'm well-trained. Think about how she works best, how she interacts with people…is she someone who's naturally giving, wants to help everyone around her? Is she a bit of a knight--wants to save the world? Is she comfortable working alone? Does she prefer it? Is she self-motivated? Probably the best career advice I ever got was from my parents, when I decided I wanted to be a costume designer. After much debate, they said OK, but then my dad said "Is this something you're going to grow to resent when you're working at 2 in the morning and barely make enough to eat? There's lots of ways you can incorporate this into your life--you can sew for yourself, you can volunteer at a community theatre. All those things will allow you to walk away when you're tired or don't feel like doing it. You'll never stop doing the things you love, even if you don't get paid for it. But it would be sad to see you hate your hobby because you can't eat on it."  I walked away, and I'm glad I did, because it gave me the freedom to pick the projects I love, and do them on my own terms.  When the time comes to tour colleges, there's really only 4 types:  1. A large public school in a small(er) town 2. A large public school in a big city 3. A small private school in a small town 4. A small private school in a big city I've been on lots of college campuses, and they tend to "feel" the same, along those four lines. This will also give her a good idea of how a school should feel if wants to apply, but isn't able to go tour it (it's across the country or something). When she tours campuses, she needs to follow her gut on how they feel, and she'll know within 15 minutes or so.  Also, after the tour, go find a dining hall on campus, and find some students and sit down with them. Talk with them. As them what they like and don't like. Ask about their social lives, how easy it was to find friends. They'll be honest.  Quickly, my own story was that I toured #2,3,4 on that list. I hated 2 and 4, and loved 3, but didn't go for lots of different reasons. I ended up at 4 and was miserable. I transferred to #1 when I changed majors and loved it. When I got a masters, I looked at 1,1,and 2. Even though 2 was in a different state, it felt exactly the same. I ended up at one of the #1s again.  Once she knows the type of place she'd be happy at, apply to schools that are good at/known for what she's interested in. i.e., if she's a science girl, she needs to go somewhere with a strong science/math/engineering/medicine program (by contrast, their humanities, law, and arts programs are probably not as strongly developed). At the undergrad level, strong programs = good professors, good choice of classes, good network as she enters the job market.  I would not advocate going to any school and starting in "general studies". I'd suggest she pick something, even if she's not sure, and she can switch if she wants to. "General Studies" is too generic and doesn't give you a taste of what you're signing up for (or walking away from).  Also, I'd encourage her to be a little smart about her job prospects when she's thinking about what she's interested in. While you can make pretty much anything work…there's lots of underemployed lawyers out there right now struggling to pay back their student loans. Or, for another comparison, my stepsister went all the way through in psychology (she's now getting a doctorate in research methodology). I'm working on a doctorate in environmental science. My stepsister is paying her way through (has the whole time), and is going to graduate with a stupid amount of debt and a tough area to find a job (just not much out there). I'm flying halfway around the world a few times, living in vacation-land, and I'm being paid to do it and will graduate with zero debt and the opportunity to look for work on 3 continents.  Ornella on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183111 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 09:23:19 +0000 Ornella 1183111@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Kelly, have you tried personality tests (many are available on-line) which may also help narrow down the choices somewhat and help you both? I'll look for some. Some random thoughts... I think it is important to know what she does not want/like as well as what she wants to do. The tests might at least help with excluding those. The truth is, as you have said, most of her friends will change their minds or reconsider their choices, but they cannot know it now. Neither your girl nor the friends. I am sure things fall on deaf ears right now - your daughter wants to be the same as her peers. That's natural, but I'd say it is important to keep repeating to make choices because of herself and not because of the others - which I'm sure you know and tell her.  What is she good at? What is likely to give her the sense of satisfaction, achievement, what will she want to expand on - these are questions for you, you might have some idea already. Many people get one degree but work in completely different fields - I've worked with lawyers doing business analysis, psychologists running IT teams, artists turned programmers. What all these people had in common is that they felt very comfortable in with whatever their original fields of expertise were and that confidence was carried over to different areas they found themselves in later. This is why I think investing time and energy into what she has natural inclination for, even though she does not know what she wants to be, is important - the sense of progressing is important. The picture will get clearer as she walks the path. As long as she keeps trying to be the best she can be (not in comparison to others, but to herself alone) and to listen to herself, unpressured and unhurried, it is enough - she'll find her calling.  ETA: I wish there was career counseling or something similar when I was choosing my future path. I'd probably have gone to completely different filed. But I did not have that option.  What I did have was my father's advice (who got the same one from his own father) to always put my efforts in three things: my own language, mathematics and one foreign language. Those, he said, would be the strong foundation for everything. I believe he was right. I had a career to which I hope to return to soon, which gave me a lot of satisfaction and after all allowed to move within Europe a few times, but deep down I feel I still need to find my true calling. I find comfort in <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdQbb3FXSEI">Buzz Luhrmann's "Sunscreen"</a> :-) ... Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your Life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't. ... Although as parent I can relate to wanting the child to have higher chances of good job and security in the future, the fact is that life turns out completely differently to our plans. It's being ready for those changes that matters and one way to be ready is to know what you/she/he are good at. I hope I'll think in this relaxed (?) way when the time comes to guide my child through the times you now face :-) ramya on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183094 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:27:59 +0000 ramya 1183094@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Hahaha you are right. Back in India we have an entrance exam for getting into institutes gor medical or engineering fields. My dad is a doctor. And I was so sure that I wanred to he one too that I almost didn't give engineering exam. When it was time to select college surprise surprise I selected engineering snd turned into computer geek.i didn't di any career counselling and I was sure that science was my calling. kellygirl on "College/career planning for teens" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/collegecareer-planning-for-teens#post-1183088 Mon, 03 Mar 2014 07:00:55 +0000 kellygirl 1183088@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Can anyone recommend sources to help teens decide on what they want to be when they grow up? DD#1 will be a junior next year and she's already panicking about a college career and major. Most of her friends are high achievers and I think she feels left out because she hasn't decided on a career path yet! Can you believe it? I've told her that 90% of her friends will probably change their mind before graduation but that has fallen on deaf ears.  One of the things I want to do with her this summer is explore career opportunities and possible majors but I need a guide. I've read reviews of the teen version of Pathways and What Color is Your Parachute ( for Teens) --they both sound good but I'd love to hear if any of you or your children have used them successfully.  I've got a call into her counselor too but I thought I'd ask here as well.  TIA!