Help Your Student Find the Right College Academic Program

Or the student tells me they want to be a doctor, but as we discuss their interests further, they admit that they hate their science and math classes.

Understanding day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of the careers they are learning about is key to finding a college major and ultimately an occupation they will enjoy.

Choosing an area of academic focus, and finding the right college where they can pursue this interest, is often overwhelming for both students and parents. Although starting college as an undecided major is an option, it often leads to more time spent in school and therefore more expense.

As you guide your high school student through the college search process, you can avoid major college distress by learning about program entry, limits and requirements before your student settles on a college and program. Exploration, research and visits are key college planning elements for moving from major distress to major decision.

Start With the End in Mind

Over the course of a lifetime, an average adult will spend more than 80,000 hours working. For that reason, it’s pretty important to find something you enjoy doing!

How can you help your high school student do this? First, they can explore their interests. Second, they can explore careers. Most high schools offer programs such as Naviance or MCIS to their students. These sites offer interest and skills inventories for students to learn about themselves and research careers that match those interests.

Your student should talk with a high school counselor to learn about the opportunities at their school. If your high school doesn’t offer these tools, check out free, online resources such as O*Net from the U.S. Department of Labor. If your child has already taken the ACT test, review the interest inventory results included with their scores. Then explore how those interests and strengths can be utilized in the different career fields identified. When researching different careers, it’s important to understand what that career actually does.

Program Limits and Guaranteed Entry

Once a career path is identified, then you and your student can use the same sites referenced above to search for college majors that match those careers. However, some colleges and universities have limits on the number of students admitted to a particular major each academic year.  Others may require students to complete prerequisite classes before they can apply for the program. Typically these programs are highly competitive, so it’s important to research ahead of time and ask very specific questions when visiting.

Bachelor of Nursing programs often fall under these guidelines. Lab space and clinical requirements dictate the number of students a college can accept into their program. Thus, it’s important to investigate your student's chances for admission, how many students are accepted each year, how and when your student can apply, what back-up major options are offered, and if they have a guaranteed entry program.

Guaranteed entry programs allow students to either apply as a first-year student and be admitted to the college major or guarantee entry into the major as long as certain prerequisites are met. Guaranteed entry can be a huge benefit to ensuring a smooth course of study. If guaranteed entry is not an option, it's important to understand and consider other factors: your student's chances for admission, alternative major options, how the college will help them explore those majors if needed, and your student's willingness to transfer colleges if necessary. Keep in mind, all of these alternate options will likely extend the time and money spent on college.

Accreditation, Licensing and Degree Requirements

Although I have been helping students and families navigate college exploration for almost 20 years, I was reminded of something very important when helping my own daughter research Architecture programs this past fall. Some majors have very specific accreditation requirements in order to be licensed in the field, yet colleges are not always forthcoming in explaining what their programs provide.

For example, to become a licensed architect, a student must complete an accredited Bachelor of Architecture program (B of Arch). A Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in Architecture is not the same, and would require a Master’s degree to get the accreditation required for licensure.  Yet, unless you knew the specific questions to ask the colleges, they may not share that information.

Do your homework ahead of time alongside your high school student so you understand exactly what is needed to get into the career they want and what major and degree program can get them there. Research colleges, their major options and admission criteria prior to visiting. Have questions prepared when visiting so that you and your student can find out exactly what each college can provide, and select the best fit college for them.

Becky Martin is a high school counselor in southeastern Minnesota and a workshop speaker for MyCollegePlanningTeam. With almost two decades of high school counseling experience, she has helped thousands of students and families navigate the college planning process from start to finish. Becky received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, her Master’s degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, and her School Counseling Licensure credentials at Minnesota State University, Mankato.