Summer is just around the corner, and many high school students are preparing to head off to college campuses where they will take summer courses, dive into academic interests, and get a taste of college life.

If you’re one of them, congrats! Spending part of your summer in a pre-college program is a great way to meet new people, explore new ideas, and maybe even discover a future major. But beyond the coursework and campus vibes, these programs are a golden opportunity to move the needle on your college applications, if you know how to take advantage of your time on campus.

Here鈥檚 how to make the most of your summer program:

1. Get to Know Your Instructor

Instructors aren鈥檛 just teachers; they could become valuable mentors. Show up on time, ask thoughtful questions, participate actively, and visit office hours if they鈥檙e available. Building a real connection can lead to an invitation to collaborate on future research, a glowing recommendation letter, or even a personal call to admissions on your behalf.

2. Attend a Formal Info Session and Campus Tour

Even if you鈥檙e already on campus, signing up for an official admissions info session and tour matters. Why? Many colleges track 鈥渄emonstrated interest,鈥� which can boost your 鈥渓ikelihood to attend鈥� score, which can positively influence the admissions decisions should you decide to apply. It鈥檚 also a great opportunity to meet current students and find out what college life is like from the people who are living it year-round. So, register for an official campus visit, ask good questions, and pay attention to things you can鈥檛 tell from the school website or marketing materials.

3. Visit the Admissions Office and Meet Your Regional Rep

Most colleges assign admissions officers by region, so meeting the person who will likely read your application can make a lasting impression. Stop by the admissions office and introduce yourself. A quick, friendly chat could help you stand out when your application crosses their desk.

4. Explore the Local Area

Colleges aren鈥檛 just classrooms; they鈥檙e part of a bigger community. Spend some time checking out the local town or city. Can you see yourself living there for four years? Do you feel safe? How will you get home for the holidays? Try local coffee shops, parks, and bookstores. Take public transportation if it’s available. Identify where you will get groceries. Getting a feel for the area can help you decide if a school is the right fit beyond academics.

5. Tour Nearby Colleges

If you鈥檝e got some time before or after your program, squeeze in visits to other colleges in the area, even if you don鈥檛 think you want to apply. The more colleges you visit, the more you will be able to identify what you want in a college and what you don鈥檛. Touring the campus, grabbing lunch at the student center, or sitting in on an info session can help you figure out what you want in a school, and demonstrate interest if you end up applying there later.

A summer program is more than a resume booster; it鈥檚 a chance to explore your intellectual curiosities, make connections, and show colleges you’re serious about your future. So, make it count!

Stef Mauler

College Coach

The post 5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Summer Pre-College Program appeared first on 黑料大事.

After months of waiting, the time is finally here. Decision Day. With bated breath and butterflies flapping so strongly they threaten to fly away, we log into the University of Texas portal to learn about our admissions fate.

CAP?

What does that even mean?

As admissions to selective universities becomes increasingly competitive, universities look for opportunities to admit more amazing applicants than they can manage through traditional routes. For fall 2023, UT received a record 66,000 applications, of which nearly 12,000 were automatic admits. For applicants not automatically admitted, there will be about a 12% overall admission rate.

CAP students elect a satellite campus (UT Arlington, UTEP, etc.) to begin their education and, as long as they meet the requirements, move to Austin in second year to complete their degrees in the College of Liberal Arts.

While the CAP offer is a great option for many students, it is possible to appeal the decision and be reconsidered for direct entry. Here鈥檚 how to go about a CAP appeal:

1. Letter of Recommendation: Submit one letter of recommendation from a teacher, school official, or community member who can speak to the nature of the appeal, which should include compelling background. Since UT doesn鈥檛 require a letter of recommendation with the regular application, you should already have this letter done. You just need to make sure it is sent.
2. Updated Transcript: Hopefully, senioritis has not set in yet. Demonstrate your continued commitment to your academics by sending in your first semester transcript
3. Expanded Resume: If you didn鈥檛 submit UT鈥檚 expanded resume in your initial application, be sure to do it now.
4. Short Answer Essay: “Describe the new information (not already included in your original admissions application) that should be considered by the appeals committee, and why.” (500 words or fewer)

Here鈥檚 a suggested structure:

• Introduction
  • Introduce your name, high school
  • Indicate that you were disappointed by the decision to CAP but understand, given the strength of the applicant pool
  • Restate interest in UT as #1 choice
• Academics
  • Review of first semester grades (if strong)
  • Any areas of improvement?
  • Any new research projects or extra-curricular classes?听

• Testing
  • If you did not submit test scores, explain why test scores may not be indicative of academic potential (test anxiety, lack of professional test prep, etc.?)
  • If you were able to take test scores since you submitted your application, consider submitting them if they are in the middle 50%
• 听Extra-curricular Activities and Accomplishments
  • Any new activities, employment or internships?
  • Any new accomplishments with your current extra-curricular activities?
  • How are you impacting your community?
  • Any interesting plans for the summer that will be compelling?
• Why UT
  • Why do you want to study your specific major? Please reassess your major in terms of your high school transcript and popularity of the major you selected. 听If your chosen major is not consistent with strength in grades or is one of the most popular/difficult to gain admission to majors, reconsider your choice
  • How will you take advantage of the extra-curricular opportunities at UT? Be specific!听 Which clubs or activities or traditions will you participate in and how will they enhance your growth and development.听 I suggest you pick at least one that relates to your chosen course of study, one that continues an interest from high school and one that pushes you outside your comfort zone to try something new.
  • What have you done to prepare to be successful in this major? What appeals to you about the Academic opportunities at UT? Be specific!听 Which classes, professors, research opportunities, experiential learning, etc. will you take advantage of and how will these experiences help you achieve your goal (see elevator pitch/unique value proposition)听

• Conclusion
  • Reiterate your dream of becoming a Longhorn and why. If you have a family connection or personal experience at UT, say so.
  • Explain how you will contribute to UT鈥檚 community (what values or experiences will you bring with you)
  • Indicate your additional letter of reference will further elaborate on why you are a great fit for UT

听With the volume of applications, a CAP appeal is unlikely to be successful, but there is no downside. So, I say let鈥檚 give it a go!

Stef Mauler

The post UT Austin: Am I In? Am I Out? What is a CAP Anyway? appeared first on 黑料大事.

Choosing classes in high school can feel like a high-stakes game of Tetris. You’re trying to fit all the required courses into your schedule, while also trying to find time for extracurricular activities and maybe even a part-time job.听 And, if your school does arena scheduling, get prepared for the high school version of The Hunger Games, where a student’s future largely depends on quick reflexes and a steady internet connection and is often determined in six seconds flat.

It can be really tempting to take the easy route, one that is sprinkled with As and free weekends that allow sufficient time for all the other things that compete for time in a high schooler’s calendar. As an educator, I have seen many students take this route because 鈥榳hy not鈥�?

I get it. I understand why this is attractive to young people. Unfortunately, taking the easy route is detrimental to future success.

As I counsel seniors on their next steps after high school, we often consider their course load, and I am often astounded by the lack of rigor they have pursued their senior year. These are seniors who are college bound. They have taken English IV, government, and economics in the summer because, in their opinion, it is easier, and by the number of students taking this course of study I do believe they are correct. Their senior year is riddled with late arrival and early dismissal and one or two core classes. When I challenge them to take AP courses or at the very least dual credit courses, they laugh. 鈥淲hy would I want to do that? I want my senior year to be easy.鈥�

The road to success is not paved with 鈥榚asy鈥� bricks. How are students going to be ready to manage the rigor and self-control needed to be successful in university and in life? High school should be the training ground. As universities become more competitive, our students need to train harder. Yes. Train.

Students should take advantage of a full schedule of courses each semester. They should take classes that challenge them. Courses that make them uncomfortable. These classes will help them build their study and self-governing skills and stamina. In addition, a rigorous course of study enables them to practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills, both of which are life skills not just skills in education. Students鈥� ability to handle rigorous courses parlays into the real world.

Do not let your students be comfortable. Challenge them. Train them for what they will encounter both in university and in the workforce. Enable your child to manage the stresses that will come.

If education is not supplying rigorous, challenging curriculum, then when will they learn how to manage challenging situations? How will they manage being accountable for the effort when it really matters?

Challenge your child to take the 鈥榟ard鈥� course or the 鈥榟ard鈥� teacher. Students will find, 鈥淣othing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.鈥� 鈥� Booker T. Washington.

Rebecca Orona

College Coach and Very Hard Worker

The post Why Rigor Matters appeared first on 黑料大事.

Demonstrated Interest

Demonstrated interest includes all the ways students show they like a school. Why do colleges care if you like them? They are the ones making the decision, right?听 Well, not exactly.

A college鈥檚 reputation is determined by many things: winning football team, cool location, or famous alumni. But, one of the top drivers of a school鈥檚 popularity is its ranking; and, one of the top drivers of a school鈥檚 ranking is yield. 听Simply put, yield is the percent of students who accept a school鈥檚 offer of admission. The higher the yield, the higher the rank, and the more popular the school becomes. A student who takes the time to invest in learning about the school demonstrates interest and gives admissions the confidence that, should the student be offered a place in the incoming class, he or she is more likely to accept which increases yield, rankings, and popularity. It creates a virtuous cycle of selectivity (and tuition dollars).

According to The National Association of College Admissions Counselors , 40% of colleges considered demonstrated interest to be of considerable or moderate importance in making admissions decisions. However, the advent of COVID in 2020 and the resulting surge in applications, made yields much less predictable. In this post-COVID world, colleges are struggling to accurately forecast the size of their class and, therefore, seem to be putting more and more emphasis on demonstrated interest.

You are likely familiar with the idea that many highly selective schools calculate an 鈥�academic index鈥� to easily compare students鈥� academic performance and competitiveness, but did you know that schools like Wake Forest have long calculated an 鈥淟TA鈥� or 鈥渓ikelihood to attend鈥� score for each applicant, as well? In these cases, a student is given a point value for each possible activity that demonstrates interest. The points are tallied and create an LTA score which, like the Academic Index, is written on the front of the student鈥檚 admission folder for easy reference. When it comes to choosing between 2 students who may look very similar, the student with the higher LTA wins.

Here are some ways you can demonstrate interest at your target schools:

• Register with the admissions mailing list
• Participate in webinars and virtual events
• Open emails AND click on the links, answer the surveys, and show them you read it
• Attend admissions visits to your school
• Visit the campus, register for (and attend) the information session and tour
• Follow them on social media
• Email admissions officers (but don鈥檛 be annoying)
• Write a strong supplemental 鈥淲hy鈥� essay that shows your understanding of the school鈥檚 culture, educational philosophy, mission, academic and extra-curricular offerings
• Apply early
• Recognize that nothing is optional (interview, video, supplemental essays, etc.)

The ultimate demonstration of interest is to apply under the school鈥檚 binding early decision deadline if they offer it. But, if you aren鈥檛 able to do that, take the time to invest in the checklist above.

Stef Mauler

College Coach

The post Do You Love Me? Do You Love Me Not? appeared first on 黑料大事.

Although Ivy League and highly selective schools have tried to deny the use of a formula to determine admissions outcomes, the truth is that they have been using such a statistical tool as an input to admissions decisions since the 1950s. The Academic Index, 鈥渙r AI,鈥� was initially developed by Ivy League schools to ensure recruited athletes maintain the academic integrity of the institution and remain STUDENT — athletes rather than ATHLETE — students.

In order to maintain academic standards, the AI for an athletic team must be within one standard deviation of the AI for the entire class. That means that an athlete with a lower AI may still be admitted, as long as there are others on the team with higher AIs so the average for the team is within the acceptable range. In order to compare athletes to non-athletes, the AI of every student is calculated and, often, is marked on the front of the admissions folder to provide an easy read of the student鈥檚 academic prowess.

So, how is this magic number calculated?

Each school calculates it a bit differently. But, it typically includes a combination of:

• Weighted Rank (if available)
• Standardized Test Score
• Unweighted GPA of core classes

Of course, the AI is simply a data point. It is a comprehensive data point that encompasses a number of academic factors, but it is one of many pieces of a candidate鈥檚 application. A student with a top AI is not a shoo-in at the most selective schools, just like a student with a lower AI is not an automatic deny. 听In addition to strong academics, successful candidates also have compelling recommendation letters, insightful essays, meaningful extra-curricular activities, and notable achievements and awards.

Stef Mauler

College Coach

The post Unpacking the Academic Index appeared first on 黑料大事.

A couple of months ago, I had a conversation with a parent of a sophomore who was concerned that her daughter had no idea where she wanted to go to college, what she wanted to study, or how to start figuring it all out.听 The only thing she knew for certain was that she definitely did NOT want to go to the same school her older sister is currently attending!听 After the mom and I shared a few commiserate chuckles over sibling rivalry, I shared the following:

• Start exploring. Gump told Forrest that life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you鈥檙e gonna get.鈥澨� The college search is sort of similar.听 You never know what鈥檚 out there until you start, so start exploring!
• Begin locally. If you are truly uncertain, you still have to start somewhere, so why not your own backyard?听 Visit the closest college to your home鈥攏o matter what type it is or how it鈥檚 ranked听 I can almost guarantee that on your first few visits you will learn more about the process than the schools themselves, so save your gas money and start nearby.
• Add variety. Schedule a visit to the closest large research university, medium-size comprehensive university, small liberal arts college, community college, etc.听 Keep in mind that these can be both public and private.听 At this point, don鈥檛 worry about price or reputation, you are just exploring.听 If you are going on a summer vacation or road trip, stop at any colleges that you might see along the way and drive around the campus.

By exploring what鈥檚 around you, things will start to fall into place.听 You may find that you like the large campus feel, or you might find that you really like a smaller more intimate campus.听 Once you know, you can then work with your family, counselor, college adviser, etc. to start building a list of schools on which to focus.

Colleges really are similar to that box of chocolates鈥攖here are so many varieties available!听 Large schools in small towns, large schools in big cities, small schools in small towns, small schools in the suburbs, small schools next to large schools in small towns or big cities, and everything in between.听 There鈥檚 usually something, or even several, for everyone.

The key is taking that first step. 听And when you first get started, don鈥檛 walk on campus and ask yourself, 鈥淚s this where I want to go to college?鈥� rather ask yourself if 鈥渢his is a college I would like to put on my list?鈥�

Good luck on your journey and may you find your own special combination that feels just right!

-Deana Ison

College Coach, Film Aficionado, and Mom of a College-bound Freshman

The post College Is Like A Box of Chocolates appeared first on 黑料大事.

Fashion legend Carolina Herrera is famous for dressing First Ladies like Jacqueline Onassis, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump. Herrera knows a thing or two about helping people stand out for the right reasons. 鈥淎ttention to detail is of utmost importance when you want to look good,鈥� the Venezuelan-born designer has said.

But you don鈥檛 need live in the White House to follow her advice. Right now, many high schoolers are creating resum茅s to share while asking teachers and counselors for college application recommendations. For most juniors, this is their first attempt at creating this type of professional document. The task can seem daunting.

As a hiring manager in the business world, I鈥檝e reviewed hundreds of resum茅s of potential new employees. As an MBA and undergraduate coach, I鈥檝e helped scores of applicants polish up their documents. Again and again, I tend to see the same mistakes among high schoolers putting together a resume for the first time. Some errors are about the content, while others are more cosmetic. Both matter鈥攂ut working on formatting and style can provide quick and easy wins.

Here are a few quick tips.

1. Check spelling and punctuation.

In the era before software spellchecking, people might forgive a misspelled word or two. With technology like Grammarly, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs that use AI to offer suggestions, mistakes look like apathy, like you just couldn鈥檛 be bothered. Take advantage of the tech help but also have a friend or family member (someone with an eagle鈥檚 eyes for reviewing documents) look yours over before you share.

2. Standardize the bullet point endings.

There are basically three ways to end a resum茅 bullet point. One way is with nothing, while another is with a period. The most technically correct way is to use a semicolon after each bullet except the last one for a section, which should end in a period. (Almost no one uses this method.) The key is to be consistent. Pick one method and make sure each bullet follows your rule.

听3. Format consistently.

Be cautious about your margins. They should be the same throughout the resum茅. Also, print out a hard copy of a PDF before sending one in an email. I have had students gasp when they realize the beautiful resum茅 (or so they thought) doesn鈥檛 print out their name because the top margin is too narrow.

4. Use 12-point when possible鈥攁nd never below 10-point.

Your recommender will appreciate efforts to make the process as easy as you can. That includes providing a resum茅 that鈥檚 easy on the eyes to read.

5. Avoid 鈥渃reative鈥� designs.

The use of ATS (automated tracking system) software to screen resum茅s for jobs has led to certain layout expectations. For example, dates are usually on the far-right side of the page. The more stylized you make your resum茅鈥攅ven in an attempt to show off your creativity鈥攖he harder you鈥檒l make the exercise for your recommender. Use black ink, not purple, green, or red.

Certainly, it鈥檚 important to focus on your content, too but the appearance of your resum茅 is important. Still, do your best but don鈥檛 worry about perfect. As Carolina Herrera has also been quoted saying, 鈥淧erfection does not exit. Only God is perfect.鈥�

Court Stroud

College Coach, MBA Guru, and Published Author听

The post 5 Easy Tips for a Better College Application Resum茅 appeared first on 黑料大事.

When I ask students if they would be interested in studying abroad, they often say something along the lines of, “I don鈥檛 want an international degree. I only want to go to college in the US… or maybe Canada” (it is听the 51st state).

Studying abroad doesn’t mean “going to school overseas for听four years and getting an international degree.” Typically, it involves studying听at a university in another country for one semester to one year and getting credits toward a degree at your domestic听university.

When I was in college at the University of Delaware, our school offered an exchange program with Bond University in Australia. We sent two students to their school each year, and they sent two to ours. Because it was an exchange program, I paid the same tuition, and the classes counted for credits towards my degree, just as if I was taking them at UD. On top of that, my scholarships still applied. I even qualified for a “discovery fund” scholarship听that helped cover the cost of my flights and some of my adventures Down Under.

Not only did I get to live on the beautiful Gold Coast with clear blue waters and beautiful white sand beaches, but, thanks to Bond’s limit of no more than four classes per semester, I had Fridays off and just one class on Monday afternoons, which left me with lots of free time to explore.

I traveled all over the place. I rappelled down a waterfall in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. I took a surf lesson in Byron Bay. I bungee jumped in Cairns (twice鈥攖he second time, backwards鈥攊t was awesome). I saw a waterfall pouring through the ceiling of a cave lit up by glow worms before watching the sunrise on Mount Warning. I sailed around the Whitsunday Islands and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. I camped and hiked in the Outback, swam beneath waterfalls, and ate kangaroo steak. It was incredible.

But a word of warning from my experience鈥攂ecause I’d had two or three statistics classes at this point, I figured I’d have no problem nailing the stats class I was required to take at Bond, and I skipped it pretty regularly. I definitely don’t recommend this because I just barely survived the final and skated by with a C. As a former straight-A student in high school, this definitely added an unnecessary amount of stress to my life. Would. Not.听Recommend.

Besides seeing beautiful sites and eating interesting foods (meat pies, anyone? Man, I still crave those sometimes), I got to meet all kinds of interesting people. My roommates were from South Africa and Germany. When my German roommate’s friends came to visit us for a month and didn’t speak much English, I got to practice mein Deutsche. When killing time in a hostel in Sydney, I ran into two guys wearing t-shirts that said, “Mitch and Ted’s World Tour.” Naturally, I had to ask what that was all about. It turned out that they were a couple of 18-year-old Brits taking a gap year, which is really common in Europe. Students often take a year off between high school and college, work for 6 months to save up money, and then to travel for 6 months. And these guys were going everywhere. Even with all the traveling I was doing, I still found myself totally jealous. I never knew something like that was an option. In the US, I always felt like I was simply expected to graduate from high school, go to college, and then start my career. Travel would be reserved for the two or three weeks of vacation I would get each year.

But this does not and should not have to be the way.

Travel has value. It expands our minds. We gain a new understanding of the world around us, appreciation of its beauty, and new perspectives from our global neighbors, who often turn out to be more like us than they are different.

I highly recommend visiting your school’s Study Abroad office and researching the available opportunities. Some schools will even allow you to create an independent study abroad. You simply have to find international universities from which they will accept credits.

See if studying abroad is right for you. You never know what adventures await.

Ben Marley

College, Career Coach, and Avid Adventurer

The post Why Studying Abroad Is Awesome appeared first on 黑料大事.

鈥淢iss, why you makin鈥� us read this old book? I haven鈥檛 read a book since elementary school!鈥� 鈥淢iss! Why do we have to read EVERY DAY?!鈥� My inner sigh is profound. Where did we go wrong? When did reading books become a chore?

In my 26 years as an educator, I inevitably have students who share this sentiment in some form or fashion every single year. They wear it proudly as if it is a badge of honor. I often respond with, 鈥淭his is NOT something to be proud of.鈥� The respective students often shrug and then look to their peers for affirmation. I鈥檝e even had students high-five one another as if they just scored the winning touchdown.

I share a personal story of how my political science instructor my first semester in college assigned 400 pages on a Tuesday to be discussed on a Thursday. I explain that I was able to complete this task because I am a voracious reader. In my experience, I am seeing young people unable to complete 10 pages in 10-15 minutes on a non-academic book they selected to read.

There is research that shows that teens are reading less. An article from the American Psychological Association states that, 鈥溾�ess than 20% of teens report reading a book, magazine, or newspaper daily for pleasure, while more than 80 percent say they use social media every day鈥︹�� As an English teacher and a lover of reading everything, this is alarming. The article points out that, 鈥渙ur young people aren鈥檛 less intelligent, but they do have less experience focusing for longer periods of time and reading long-form text. Being able to read long-form text is crucial for understanding complex issues and developing critical thinking skills鈥︹��

Reading is a muscle. It must be exercised daily. Growing up, my father, a migrant worker to a decorated Vietnam Vet to a retired US Army SSGT, required that my siblings and I read at least 30 minutes a day, regardless of if we had homework or not. We could read any genre, as long as there were more words than pictures. We all now have advanced degrees. I don鈥檛 have empirical evidence to prove that this practice had any effect on our academic success, but I firmly believe that it played a huge role.

Reading, even fiction, helps build vocabulary and exposes readers to correct grammar. In elementary school, I was a huge James Bond fan. Not the movies, the books. I read Ian Fleming daily. Since he was a British author, I was exposed to words not common in the American vernacular. A book report assignment put me in hot water. She was certain that I had plagiarized as I used the term, 鈥榩erambulator.鈥� She pulled me to her desk to scold me and asked me what a perambulator was. In my naivete, I thought she didn鈥檛 know. Shocked, I whispered, 鈥淢iss, it means a baby carriage,鈥� as I didn鈥檛 want to embarrass her in class. My parents had already been contacted by the school as to my impending punishment, and when she called them back to apologize my dad explained his policy. Needless to say, I didn鈥檛 get in trouble.

Help your children put the phone or tablet down. Turn the Wi-Fi off and go old school. Have everyone in the family pick up a book and read for twenty minutes. Get lost in a story. In my opinion, it will help your child鈥檚 future academic success.

Rebecca Orona

English Teacher & Book Lover

The post Reading Matters appeared first on 黑料大事.

“How is a teenager supposed to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives?”听This question really applies to/impacts everyone. How does anyone go about finding their professional passion?

I can think of three ways:

1. Wing It

Try a bunch of things and hope to one day figure it out. Adults give students this advice all the time: 鈥淥h sweetie, don’t worry about it. You’ll figure it out someday.鈥�

Looking at what has been termed 鈥淭he Great Resignation,鈥� which refers to the droves of people leaving their jobs, I’m not so sure that this 鈥渃onventional wisdom鈥� is working out. Something like 55% of people surveyed are unhappy with their careers and are considering a change in the next year, so this platitude about falling into work you love may be simply that鈥攁 platitude.

2. Talk to People

A more targeted approach might be talking to people who seem happy in their chosen careers. Ask 鈥渟uccessful people鈥� about what they do, how they got into it, and how they feel about it.

You can gain powerful insights from questions such as:

• What do you actually do on a daily basis?
• What do you like about it?
• What do you wish were different?
• How did you get to where you are?
• What do you think makes you successful in your role?
• If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?鈥�

College and career counselors can be wonderful sources of insight, as well, which leads us to our third method of finding your professional passion:

3. Take a career assessment听

Warning: not all career assessments are created equal, and sometimes the results depend heavily on your frame of mind when taking the assessment.

For example, when I was in high school, I thought I wanted to go into the healthcare field. I took a career assessment and tried to answer all the questions the way I thought that a doctor would. The test recommended that I become an interior decorator, so that鈥檚 probably not a great approach.

In college, I didn’t fare much better. For some reason, I waited until my senior year to make my way over to the career services center. After spending around an hour and a half on an assessment, I eagerly awaited my results. When the career counselor came to me, she simply shrugged, held up her hands, and said, “I don’t know what to tell you. You don’t match anything.鈥�

Wow. Talk about encouraging. Minus the encouraging part.

With no direction and no guidance, I graduated nine months later and proceeded to spend the next eight years slogging through various low-paying, stressful jobs that I hated.

In recent years, I’ve discovered an assessment called , which gives me hope for career assessments (the assessment pegged one of my least favorite jobs, technical writing, as a 鈥渧ery weak fit.鈥�).

Many career assessments ask subjective questions about the kinds of things you like. “Do you think you like this, or do you think you like that?” The challenge is that most people have no idea what they like. High schoolers, especially, have limited career exposure and related preferences.

YouScience is different because it primarily focuses on a person’s aptitudes, or natural talents and abilities. It then matches users with over 500 career fields based on the mix of aptitudes required to succeed in each.

and surveys are both based on methodology, which uses personality types to suggest careers and clusters that might be a good match for a student.

Organizations like conduct an in-depth series of assessments, often across multiple days, to help students identify their aptitudes. Through a series of 鈥渨ork samples,鈥� students are able to identify the speed and accuracy of different series of tasks in order to identify the academic and professional fields where they are likely to be more successful and, ultimately, more satisfied.

So, what do you do with all of this?

It might make sense to approach the process in reverse from the way I’ve laid it out above:

First, take a combination of the assessments mentioned to gain a better understanding of how you’re wired. Begin exploring the career recommendations laid out by YouScience. They provide all kinds of helpful information about each career such as “a day in the life,” common tasks, how each career fits your own aptitudes, recommended college major, and even a heat map with projected job openings around the US and salary ranges. As you explore this information, imagine yourself working in each role and ask yourself if you think you’d be happy doing so.

When you find a few options that seem like a good fit, save them to your “saved careers” list.

Next, find people working in the roles you’re considering. Talk to family friends and acquaintances, find highly rated companies on and locate employees of those companies on . Reach out via LinkedIn or get employee email addresses from the company website or from a site like RocketReach.co. When you message them, be courteous and let them know that you’re a student interested in their career field. Ask if they’d be open to having a twenty-minute conversation about what they do on a daily basis, what they like and don’t like about their jobs. Ask them how they got there or what path they would recommend to a student in your position. Be sure to ask them something along the lines of, “If you had it all to do over again, what would you do differently?” Perhaps they know of a similar role that involves less stress and better pay.

Lastly, try out a handful of these prospective fields via job shadowing or summer internships. Perhaps the contacts you’ve made in the step above can give you a foot in the door or can at least let you know who you might talk to in order to see if any internships are available.

Whatever you do, don’t wait around hoping for things to fall into place. You’re here for a reason. When you discover your purpose and get to live it out daily, you can experience less stress, greater joy, and more fulfillment than the many dissatisfied adults who are seeking a career change or are comprising the “Great Resignation” and leaving the workforce altogether.

It will take some work to figure it out, but your efforts now can dictate how you spend the bulk of your waking hours for the next 40 or 50 years. The investment of time and energy (and even money) is worth it.

Ben Marley

College & Career Coach

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