Posts Tagged ‘college acceptance’

How did your research phase go? Did you find some good information? Were you able to eliminate at least one option? Better yet, did you choose a major that you are excited about pursuing?

If so, great! We can work on your education plan, which will be the next post. If not, read on for some pointers to help you look more closely at your options.

Often conducting research on college majors gives us the clarity we need and we can come to a solid decision.

Other times, we can be left feeling even more confused about what we want to do.

If so, what a drag – what was the point of all that effort?

Trust me when I tell you that this is perfectly normal! Putting this in perspective a little, we are talking about making a commitment to become an expert in one area that you will eventually pursue as a career.

And aren’t careers supposed to be BIG, scary endeavors where we do the same thing year after year until we are finally able to retire?

That might be what you feel like right now, so wonder making a choice is tough.

I’m here to tell you that careers are supposed to be something fun that we look forward to getting up for! They are dynamic and often change in ways that can’t possibly be predicted right now. You will get bored, change jobs, work hard, get promoted, get tired, work less, work smart, meet people, work alone…the list goes on and on.

What you decide on today is not likely to be your career twenty years after college. You might stay in the same field, but your job will change, probably sooner than you think!

So, what can you do right now to help solve this problem of choosing a major?

You can pay attention to what speaks to you and gives you a feeling of satisfaction. You can think about your ultimate intention, such as helping people or making sure all kids can read, and think about all the different ways you can meet that intention. Wanting to help people doesn’t mean you have to be a doctor. You can be an office manager who runs a fair environment, preparing employees with usable skills, and helping them allow their careers to grow.

You can be a counselor. A teacher. A dancer. A business owner who sells only environmentally conscious products. A designer of beautiful spaces for people to enjoy. If you can think it, you can be it!

Let’s get back to your list.

If you’re looking at your options and you’re still not sure what to choose as a major, try some of these tactics:

1. Get three blank pieces of paper. On the first one, list the majors in order from the one you are most interested in studying to the one you are least interested in studying. On the second piece, list the majors in order according to how much money you can make working in that field, most to least. On the third one, list the majors in order of the most to least predicted job growth. Compare the order of each list. Are any of them the same order? Do you see any patterns that concern you? If the major you are most interested in has the lowest salary range and the fewest jobs, is that something that you can live with? At the end of the day, are you willing to possibly study one thing and work in another field until you find something you really want to do? Consider how you would feel if you were unable to find work doing what you love. How important is the salary to you?
2. Carefully look at the research you’ve collected and see if anything closely related to the careers/majors sticks out that maybe you didn’t originally research, but that sound interesting now. Take the time to research them too and see if you come up with any new possibilities.
3. Write your major choices down and give the list to three people you trust. Ask them to rank your choices according to the one they can most see you pursuing, the second, and third.
4. Put your list away for a week and try not to think about it. At the end of the week, write down your thoughts on each major and see if you have any further clarity. If not, put your information in an envelope and in another week or two, give it to a friend and ask them to mail it to you. Once you receive it in the mail, look at it with the new eyes of time and keep open to any clarifying language.
5. If desperation strikes, write your majors on slips of paper and pin them to a dartboard. Which one do you hit? Which one do you find yourself subconsciously aiming at?

Don’t give up on the search for the right major for you. Will your choice be 100% perfect? Probably not! There are plenty of majors out there that require students to take one, two, even four or five courses that don’t excited us. That doesn’t mean that the rest aren’t worth taking or that the field isn’t worth getting into! There are plenty of sociology students who have to take Research and Statistics and hate it. But they don’t let it get in the way of their dream!

Feel free to send me an email if I can be of further assistance clarifying a major: sara@joyfulbydesign.com.

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, dream job, increase confidence, joyful by design, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, life coaching for your student, motivation for college, parents of teens, save money in college, save time in college, student success, student success coaching, teen confidence, teens, what's your major, why choose a major

How is the research phase going? Check out this handy comparison chart to help you look at the details of majors you are considering.

Enjoy! 8 – Comparison Chart for Major Reserach

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, compare college majors, dream job, education, high school students, joyful by design, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, motivation for college, save money in college, save time in college, student success, student success coaching, tallking to kids, teen confidence, what's your major, why choose a major

By this time you should have a list of possible majors that we can start working with. If you recall, when this process started, we talked about posting a list where you could add ideas for majors to it easily. I gave you a link to an interest assessment designed to help you match interests to possible careers and majors. I also encouraged you to talk to the people in your life about your future and to use a journal to generate ideas for college majors.

If you haven’t already, take a few minutes and review any written information that you might not have transferred to your list yet. Look over your list of possible majors and read it once to see if it feels complete.

I recommend that for this next step you have at least two different writing utensils. A highlighter and a pencil work well. Our goal today is to narrow down your options and come up with a list of majors that you will research further.

Step 1: Cross out the majors or careers that you absolutely know you will not pursue. If Belly Dancing made it to your list and you are pretty sure you won’t be studying that as a college major, go ahead and cross it off. Other things to cross off are any hobbies that you enjoy but are pretty sure you wouldn’t want to either take lots of classes in or work at 40 hours a week.

Step 2: Highlight the majors or careers that you are interested in learning more about. How many are there? If there are more than five, look at your list again and ask yourself the following questions about each one:
• What do I see myself doing for work in this field?
• What about this is appealing to me?
• Will this major or career help me to reach some of the big goals I want to accomplish in my life?
• Am I leaning towards this because I think it feels right for me or am I trying to make someone else happy? Proud? Is someone else’s (parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, significant other) satisfaction with my career more important than my own?

If there are five or less, these are the careers that we will move onto research. If you feel as though there are too many majors to research, you have some options. You could:

• Try narrowing down your list again
• Ask someone you trust to research a couple of the majors for you
• Write down the majors on slips of paper and pick two that you will research this week, two more the next week, etc.
Remember that while there certainly may be a sense of urgency, it’s not always imperative that all this happens in one day. Trust that these decisions take time.

Finally, once you have a list of majors that you will research, rewrite it on a new piece of paper and put it somewhere safe. In a few days we’ll talk about getting started with researching your options.

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, education, increase confidence, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, life coaching for your student, motivation for college, parents, parents of teens, save money in college, save time in college, student success, student success coaching, teen confidence, teens, what's your major, why choose a major

Using Journal Writing to Help Choose a Major

Each semester I talk with students about how they make decisions or solve problems. I love these talks that allow students to reveal a private piece of themselves and opens the doors to neat discussions.

Without fail, I have students who use writing to sort things out. Some call it journaling, others keeping a diary, and some just grab blank paper and start scribbling away to process whatever is in their head. The medium doesn’t matter – the process does.

I have read dozens of articles and books that complain that our students don’t write anymore, that the good writers are few and far between. While this may be true, what I don’t think has changed is that students are still using time-tested techniques to process what goes on in with their lives.

And writing is a powerful tool for helping us to make decisions and solve problems.

When it comes to choosing a major, we’ve looked at taking the Interest Profiler assessment, asking people we know, and leaving our master list out where we can see it and add to it over the course of a week.

One more powerful exercise is the use of prompted journal writing. This is often most effective when you take ten to fifteen minutes (setting an alarm is a good idea), and sit down in a quiet place with paper and pen, and write a free response to a question I give you.

Ready?

Question 1: What would you do with your life if you knew you could not fail? Time, money, education, and resources were not an issue. You can go anywhere, do anything, and be whomever you want. Where will you go? What would you do with your time? Let yourself dream and see what you come up with!

Question 2: What comes naturally to you? What are the things that you do well without even trying? Are you a good listener? Do you enjoy planting and watching things grow? Do you love to read stories out loud to your kids? Could you design web pages in your sleep?

After you’ve taken some time to write responses to these questions put them aside and let them sit for at least a day. Then read them, letting yourself feel what excites you about these ideas, and search them for clues as to areas of interest you may have or ideas for a college major.

If you would move to Hawaii and sell flip-flops on the beach, maybe you should consider a major focused on business and entrepreneurship. If you would explore lava rocks and learn more about volcanoes perhaps Geology.

Definitely add any ideas for majors to your master list of possibilities. Let yourself continue to brainstorm and add ideas to your list.

At this point, your list of major possibilities should have at least three possible majors on it. If you don’t, give yourself a timeline of when you will stop writing down ideas. What feels good to you? A day? A week? When will it be time to stop brainstorming and move onto the next phase?

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, dream job, education, high school students, increase confidence, joyful by design, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, motivation for college, save money in college, save time in college, what's your major, why choose a major

Believe it or not, the people we interact with everyday, parents, friends, teachers, counselors, etc. are a fantastic resource for helping to choose a major.

They know you, they like you, they want you to do well in life, and most importantly, there’s a good chance they’ve seen you do things that make you truly happy.

So how do you get them to help you?

One simple question:

What do you see me doing with my life?

There are many variations. You could ask, “what do you see me doing for my career?” or maybe “what kind of job do you think would be good for me?”

You can send an email or ask them in person. Let ten know that you need their help, but that you don’t want this to take too much of their time. Five to ten minutes at the most.

Whatever the responses, write them down on your master list of major possibilities. Remember, we are still in the brainstorming phase of this process, still collecting suggestions.

So, let’s get started! Take a quick minute to email up to ten people asking them what they see for your future. You just might be surprised at the results!

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, dream job, education, high school students, increase confidence, joyful by design, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, life coaching for your student, motivation for college, parents, parents of teens, save money in college, save time in college, what's your major, why choose a major

All right, by now you’ve got your master list of college major possibilities stored in a safe place where you can easily add to it. Let’s look at one of the brainstorming tools we can use to get the ideas going.

One of my favorite resources is an Interest Profiler assessment which can be found on www.flchoices.org or through the website www.FACTS.org. Both of these sties are offered through the Florida Department of Education. They are full of information that is beneficial to students in Florida as well as students around the country.

To access the Interest Profiler, which is a free online assessment, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.flchoices.org. Click on “Jump In”.

a. If this doesn’t work, follow this path: www.facts.org > Site Map > Career Planning – FL Choices > FL Choices > Jump In

2. Click “Choices Planner” to get started.

3. Under “Work” click the hyperlink for the “Interest Profiler.”

4. Click “Start Answering Questions” and complete assessment.

Once you’ve finished the assessment your results will appear. You will be given your top two areas of interest, which will be any combination of two of the following:
• Realistic
• Investigative
• Artistic
• Social
• Enterprising
• Conventional
You can click on each area and see which careers match that one area, or you can click the link to “see careers that match both your areas of interest.” This will generate a filtered list that meets the criteria of relating to both of your top two areas of interest.

Wait a minute, I’m choosing a major, so, why am I looking at lists of careers? Your major and your career choice are closely related. If you want to be a teacher, you will choose a major in education. A future electrical engineer will select an engineering major.

One of the coolest things about Florida Choices is that once you start browsing the careers, you can view information on the college major appropriate for that career and start looking up programs at colleges and universities where you can learn the skills needed for a job in that field.

Spend time browsing the website and add careers that interest you to your list of possible majors. If you see a career and you’re not sure what you would major in to work in that field, click the link to read more about the career and see what you find.

Allow yourself to dream! If you love to dance and think you might want to major in performing arts, write it down. You can decide later if that’s a road you want to take. Right now, it’s all about looking at your options. Decisions don’t have to be made right this minute; let’s just keep taking steps toward those decisions so we can feel good about our progress!

Technorati Tags: choosing a major, college acceptance, college admissions, college coaching, college planning, college students, college success, dream job, high school students, increase confidence, joyful by design college coaching, life coaching for students, life coaching for your student, motivation for college, parents, parents of teens, save money in college, save time in college, teen confidence, teens, what's your major, why choose a major

How many times have you shared information with your teenager that wasn’t taken seriously, scoffed at, or blown off? This is the number one complaint I hear from parents of teens. The sad truth is that many teens reach a point where they are simply not interested in what mom or dad have to offer.

A powerful way to ensure your teen continues to learn valuable life lessons is to team him up with one or more mentors. A mentor for a teen can be an adult that you both trust, a friend of the family, an older cousin, a colleague at work who is willing to spend some time with her, a member of your church or community; someone who cares about your son or daughter and who can share a life experience with them.

Facilitating these relationships will give your teen another person they can trust in times of need. They will gain a different perspective of the world and possibly be exposed to a culture or environment they wouldn’t normally be exposed to.

What can a mentor do with your teen? Maybe the could take them to work to learn about their job, or complete a special project with them, such as gardening, collecting goods for the troops, or volunteering together to read to the elderly.

Your teen will build confidence through fostering a relationship and learning something new that is entirely their own experience. The important thing is to just get started! So, who can you reach out to today to offer them a role as a mentor?

Technorati Tags: college acceptance, college admissions, college planning, college students, Florida State University, high school students, increase confidence, kids, leadership, middle school, parents, parents of teens, self-reliance, tallking to kids, teen confidence, teens

I was out running errands over the weekend and I found myself wondering at what point in my life I became an “errand runner.” I have fond memories of my mother sending me on mini-errands at the grocery store. I would get my assignment and run across the store to find the items in question, bringing them back with a feeling of triumph, and excitedly receiving my next mission.

As a junior in high school I became responsible for picking up my little brother from preschool. Over the years, no matter what the errand, what was really happening was that my parents were teaching me to be responsible for something outside of myself, along with of course, the ability to run errands for myself.

And so, my suggestion this week is – you guessed it - ask your teen to assist with errands that contribute to the overall running of your household. Doing so will help to not only build confidence, but will also give your teen lifelong skills that can be used to facilitate their own success as they transition from adolescence to emerging adults.

Technorati Tags: college acceptance, college admissions, college planning, college students, high school students, increase confidence, kids, leadership, parents of teens, self-reliance, tallking to kids, teen confidence, teens

A third strategy for boosting your teens confidence is to focus on their talents, skills, and strengths, and find ways to incorporate using them in your family life. Good managers do this all the time in the world of work. They pay attention to their employees and when they notice a particular area of strength, they help the employee find a way to use it. This strategy is a win-win; your teen gets to do something they enjoy and develop a skill and you get the benefit of being in the company of someone who is engaged in an activity that makes them happy.

An example of this might be having a teen who enjoys decorating, moving furniture around, and making an interior space look nice and putting him or her in charge of organizing seating and decorating for family celebrations and holidays. This might range from seating arrangements to table settings to handmade placecards.

Any business owners out there? Or people who are interested in creating a family website? If your teen is into website building or other aspects of the tech world, ask them to help you make a video for your business website. Or invite them to undertake a project building a site for your family pictures.

Teens have talents, skills, and strengths and can contribute in ways that mean something to them – by all means encourage them and watch their confidence in that skill blossom!

Technorati Tags: college acceptance, college admissions, college planning, college students, high school students, increase confidence, kids, leadership, middle school, parents of teens, self-reliance, teen confidence, teens

“Leadership.” I don’t know about you, but I hear the word “leadership” fairly frequently. I see opportunities to attend “leadership training” and I have filled out applications for jobs looking for someone with “leadership skills.” What exactly do they mean by leadership skills? It’s not a field in which I can earn a college degree. It’s not something I was taught along with my ABC’s and it certainly wasn’t anything I learned in high school…or was it?

Young adults today are being challenged more and more to compete in a global marketplace. At Tallahassee’s own Florida State University, the academic profile of the middle 50 percent of freshmen accepted in 2009 included a GPA of 3.5-4.1 (www.fsu.edu, May 24, 2010). A GPA of 3.5 translates to letter grades of “A’s” and “B’s.” This is the most academically competitive class FSU has ever had. Beyond college, we live in a world where technology is at our fingertips and one job ad can collect literally hundreds and thousands of resumes. How is your child going to stand out in this crowd and get into the school she wants? How about landing the job he’s always dreamed about?

One way is to develop leadership skills. Students who have learned to be leaders, decision-maker, embracers of change, and opportunity seekers are going to come out on top in the years ahead. Not only will leaders have the knowledge and skills to move ahead, they will possess the attitude and fortitude to keep going despite obstacles. The challenges of life will not go away for any of us, but we can give our children a competitive edge by developing leadership skills.

Stay tuned for ideas on developing leadership skills in teens!

Technorati Tags: college acceptance, college admissions, dream job, Florida State University, leadership, parents, teens