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Though we wish it weren’t so, college only lasts four short years. To an 18-year-old, it might seem almost impossible to think that far into the future. Parents, on the other hand, realize that those years will pass in a flash (wasn’t your senior JUST running around in diapers?? And weren’t you JUST living in the dorms yourself??). So we encourage parents to really help their college-bound sons and daughters think through the end goal of college.
What Is Your College End Goal?
As the old adage says, failing to plan is planning to fail! Though students can certainly change their minds about majors and career plans throughout their college years, there are certain basic considerations you should take into account when choosing a college.
Here are three common scenarios and how planning ahead can help (all three scenarios assume that you have limited savings for higher education):
Joe wants to get a degree in business and pursue a marketing career right after college.
- Joe should make sure he is applying to schools with strong undergraduate business programs. There is no point applying to a small liberal arts school if he knows he’s not interested in a liberal arts degree.
- He should consider location. It’s easiest to get a job straight out of school when you’ve already put in some time at relevant internships or part-time jobs. Being close to the city where you ultimately want to work helps here. For example, if you know you want to be in finance, think about schools that have well-worn pipelines to banks in major cities like Chicago, New York, and Boston. The school itself doesn’t have to be in those cities, but it should have a great track record of placing alums in the kinds of jobs you want.
- Joe should pick the best school that gives him the most money. (This is really just our college admissions advice to everyone!)
Emma wants to go to medical school after college.
- She should think about the fact that medical school means roughly another $250,000 in education costs. So why spend $200,000 on an undergraduate degree when she knows she’ll have that medical school bill coming?
- Emma should consider being a big fish in a small pond, rather than the other way around. Every year, there are students who go to “top schools” for their undergraduate degrees and who cannot get into medical school because their grades are not up to par. At the same time, students who attend a “lower-tier” school but earn a higher GPA are often accepted to medical school. We say go for the less expensive “small pond” every time.
- She should make sure that the school does have a track record of placing students in medical school. As with anything in life, relationships and connections are important. If a medical school has had a good experience recruiting from a certain school, they are more likely to admit students from that school in future years. Don’t be afraid to ask these kinds of questions in your college discernment process.
Sam wants to be an English teacher.
- Sam should make sure his potential schools have strong liberal arts programs. It’s no fun being the red-headed stepchild at a school that is mostly focused on business and learning about the bottom line when you know you want to study Shakespeare. If he really wants to teach, it helps if the school has a good education program as well: he should study English because he loves it, but taking some education classes as well will give him some idea of what to do in a classroom!
- Sam should be realistic about his earning potential. We need English teachers! But we don’t need English teachers who are drowning in student debt. It just doesn’t make sense to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt when your chosen career has a salary cap of around $60,000 per year.
Every situation is unique, but this should give you some idea of the questions you should be asking and considerations you should be making when it comes to making the final decision on college. Don’t just hope things work out–help your student develop a plan so that things work out. This plan can be flexible and adaptable, but not having a plan can be catastrophic.
Need help thinking through your college end goal? Schedule a consultation with one of our fantastic college planners. They can help you think through these questions and many more.