College Confusion

[scarlett09]

In terms of getting her interested in college I would highly encourage you to check out precollege programs that would interest her. There are tons of programs available from 1 week to 6 weeks that allow students to experience college life while doing something they love. Start looking now because they fill fast. Some you have to apply to and others you just sign up. Feel free to pm me and I can help you find a program she might be interested in and tell you about the one's dd17 did.

This!!! Some programs won't take a current sophomore, but they will take a rising junior, which she would be in the summer. I also like DCJenn's idea of auditing a class, a great way to see that there is more to school than just math, there's a whole big world out there! My other suggestion would be to see if you can connect her with a girl who is currently in college, through friends or colleagues. From previous experience, sometimes just talking with a current college student can really easy the fears and anxieties of HS juniors and seniors, especially in young women.

And I totally don't get the math thing. I know that those who create the educational policy of this country have decided that we must keep up with the math superpowers in Asia. That means that 4th graders should know sine, cosine and tangent and all of those other crazy math things that I've long since forgotten about. I struggled in math and science in HS. I was on the Honors track from 7th grade through 10th (pre-algebra, algebra I, geometry, algebra II). In 9th grade geometry after some poor grades, my parents kind of forced me to sit at the front of the room and ask questions (the teacher agreed to this). At first, I didn't like it, but eventually those behaviors became part of how I tackled the math problem. I still struggled in algebra II sophomore year, (B-C grades) so I stepped down to the College track in junior year for pre-calc. I did much better and it boosted my confidence a little bit, enough that senior year I jumped back into the Honors track and took calc I (the people on the super-Honors track were taking AP Calc). I got really luck when it was time to go off to college - placement testing showed that I belonged in the school's calc I classes, which meant I had met 90% of the college's math requirements for graduation. Yay! The other 10% came from taking 1 math class, which I got out of the way first semester and it was called Math for Liberal Arts or something like that. I haven't had a whiff of math in 10 years!! Science is a whole other ball of wax - I also started out in the Honors track. I did well in earth sciences, but struggled in Physics sophomore year. It was terrible. I got C's that should have been D's and the final semester was really a F that my hysterical sobbing brought up to a D. After that year, I stepped down to the College track and took Chemistry. I did a lot better (A-B grades) and I actually enjoyed it. Thankfully there was no science my senior year and I only had to take 1 science course in college, which Human Sexuality satisfied.

My long story is trying to make the point that I struggled in math and science, but somehow made it work for me. I got into colleges and universities and did quite well. I always succeeded in English, history, electives, Latin (well sort of), etc. I was interested in college because I wanted to get the hell away from my backwater town, I wanted to meet people and do things that didn't revolve around parties and small-town gossip. I loved (and still do) learning - I feel like I can't learn enough about the world around me. Even though I know Wikipedia isn't really a true reference source, I could sit and read through it for hours on end. I'm by no means an expert on any of the subjects I read up about, but I love learning a new little tidbit about the world and its history. What made me interested in college (besides getting far away from white-trash-land) was looking at brochures, visiting schools (I remember visiting my friend's sister at Ithaca when I was a sophomore, it was really cool) and talking to friends about the whole college thing. I also went to 2 programs at nearby college campuses - one was through a community service organization I belonged to and the other was yearbook camp, lol. Even though it was just 2-3 days away from home, experiencing dorms, dining halls and being away from home made me really excited about college.

HS guidance counselors should have access to career counseling materials, such as career inventories or surveys, that can help HS students make some sense out of how their interests can apply to college majors/jobs/careers. I feel like this is sometimes an overlooked portion of counseling HS students, as a lot of time is spent dealing with schedules, grades, college prep, and other personal problems. Don't get me wrong, it isn't all on the counselor to propel the student to something meaningful after graduation, but giving access to the career counseling resources available would be a HUGE help.

I highly recommend taking a version of a career inventory which uses Holland's theory. The theory basically assumes that there are different types of people and environments, and that an interaction between the two determines a person's behavior and the type of occupation that they are attracted to. There are a lot of tests out there that apply Holland's theory; I like one of them in particular called Self-Directed Search (SDS). I know it comes in booklet form (of course I can't find mine right now), but you can take the test online for $4.95 through the SDS website: http://www.self-directed-search.com/. You take the test and when you are finished, payment will be required before you see the results. It generates a really detailed report, with links to O*Net, which provide detailed descriptions of the occupations that match up with the participant's interests/codes.

[peggyfromwastate]

Great information everyone!!!!

Alison the high school would be in mountain view-- so a little down the road. But we will spend time on campus for sure. I love the Stanford campus!

[SoonerTexan]

She worked a menial labor job moving crates and what not at a local farm here (yes, there's a farm-- although Dh doesn't think it really counts lol), and she really enjoyed the work. She worked hard and found it rewarding.

Have her come do it in Texas in July...

My take is this...not everyone needs to go to college. However, if you don't have solid alternate plans, it is probably a good idea to get a degree in the meantime in the cheapest way possible. Community College sounds like an AWESOME fit for her.

To me, solid alternate plans would be vocational school or a career like photography where you really don't need a formal education. However, I will say that even though I plan to do photography "full time" someday, I will use my business degree heavily. I know too many people who kind of floated around after HS because "college wasn't for them," but they didn't have any other good ideas either. And honestly, a college degree is almost a "must" for anything now. It's stupid, but that is the way it is.

I also agree about college visits. Most schools have some sort of day for high schoolers to come visit. Remember my little brother who wanted to enlist? Made a HUGE difference for him. He went to a football game and I was able to set up a time for him to meet with someone from the MIS program (choice of major at the moment) and he got to tour the ROTC program. LOVED IT and totally changed his perspective. He just did his ROTC interviews this past weekend!

I think the best thing you can do right now is talk to her about what she sees herself doing when she grows up. It's such a hard thing for high schoolers to visualize with the multitude of options out there. Additionally, they often have unrealistic expectations about what certain careers really involve. My mom (who has 1 kid working, 1 doing post-bach work to get into nursing school, 1 in college, 1 senior in HS, and 1 about to enter HS) says her biggest regret is not pushing us to explore what we wanted to do much earlier in our lives. My sister is currently floundering a bit with the whole nursing school thing--she should have been thinking about a lot of the decisions she has to make very soon months or years ago.

I found my way relatively easily, but I had a clearer path than most freshman in college--I knew I wanted some sort of business related career that would allow me to find a job easily and make enough money to support DH in med school. I did switch 3 times in my first semester. I started out in general business, struggled through Economics, decided that sucked and business wasn't for me (Ha--don't use that stuff much at ALL now!). Then I considered meteorology. However, I talked to a meteorology teacher who let me know how much math was involved. I also found out jobs are scarce and concentrated in the military and a graduate degree is a must for almost any job. My vision of what it would be like (storm chasing) and the reality (number crunching and research) were DRASTICALLY different.

Then I decided I would do PR with a business minor. That lasted 2 months...my business minor required an MIS course and I fell in love, especially after hearing ALL of their grads got jobs that year (different economy) and seeing the salary chart! I also talked to the professor outside of class to get a better idea of what the career involved. I had no idea what MIS was when I started college and it ended up being a pretty good fit for me. I also decided to double major in history just to do something I loved.

Talk to her about her interests and how they could translate into a job. Too many kids think their options are limited to the doctor/business/lawyer path. If she likes working with people, she should consider counseling (like you said?). Have her shadow someone--I think you would be surprised at how many people would be willing to talk to her or follow them around for a day. My mom might be willing to email her if she is interested.

Or what about non-doctor health professions? Techs, physical therapy, speech pathology...the list goes on and on!

Public Relations? Library science? Human Resources?

Teaching?

Or what about starting her own business in some way, shape, or form?

If she can figure out what she wants to do first and then see what education is required/helpful, she will be better off than 90% of her peers. Really force her to do the research--if she finds something she loves she might be able to start making the connections she needs now. Tell her by next summer she is required to research 3 different potential careers and then see if you can help her set up shadowing for each of them.

[alison]

Leave it to you to move to where there's a Costco! And REI, too. .