Making College Worth It
Incomplete, impersonal, unimaginative, short-sighted and expensive.
These are some of the words that describe most forms of college planning. Many planners don’t have the time to research for their clients properly. A quality plan may take a week or more to research and assemble. A family’s inability to afford such a plan means they must go it alone or follow incomplete advice from their circle of knowledge.
Incomplete College Planning
Many view the entrance to a college as the finish line in the traditional college planning timeline. Getting the student into a college is the goal. Test prep, tutoring, essay coaching, and filling every extra minute of a student’s day with extracurriculars are the focal points of traditional planning. Yes, they are important to the process. An improved application can get a student into that most prestigious college possible, then what? The baton is handed to the college.
Impersonal.
Many larger high schools can only afford 1 guidance counselor ( let alone a dedicated college counselor) for every 400-500 students. Smaller private schools and homeschool/hybrids may not even have a counselor. Face-to-face meetings are rare and short. These limitations may not satisfy the needs of the family, leaving them lost in the crowd.
Unimaginative.
Looking for a way to get your students interested/focused in the academics of college? Finding degrees that pique their interest is key. I have a student interested in research meteorology. I found that New Mexico Tech offers a Physics degree with a concentration in Atmospheric Physics. The study of lightning and atmospheric electricity. They have one of only 2 such research facilities in the US. You will be able to find those unique concentrations that could really peak your student’s interests.
Short-Sighted
Discussions may start with, “What do you want to major in?”. Is the next question asked, “What will you do with that degree?”? Will that degree and the skills learned to afford your student entrance into their career path? Will they acquire the people skillset needed to excel and earn promotions?
If your current process has any or all of these qualities, find out how Making College Worth It can answer all of them.
