Follow your passions?

When I was in high school, the prevailing advice I heard from teachers, guidance counselors, and other adults was to "follow your passions." While I don't necessarily think this is terrible advice, I think it has some significant flaws. First, it assumes that high school students know what their passions are. In my experience, most high school students have interests, but few have what they would call passions. Second, it assumes that passions translate into jobs, which they sometimes do and sometimes don't. Third, it fails to consider that young people today are financially savvier, more practical, and more anxious than I was when I was a teenager.

I work with clients who are all over the map in terms of their certainty about what they want to study in college. Some know exactly what they want to major in and what they want to do with it. Others know that they enjoy playing video games and watching movies, but have no idea how this translates into choosing a major.

I meet students wherever they are in their process. I help them better understand their own interests and aptitudes, and how these align with certain college majors and careers. Developing students' self-awareness also aids greatly in helping them select the right school and program.

Students wanting to study a popular and lucrative field such as petroleum engineering or nursing may discover that certain colleges and universities have stricter selection criteria for those programs than they have for their overall freshman class, and that it may be difficult to switch majors later into one of those programs. Students who are undecided about what to study may prefer attending a college that encourages them to explore early on so that they can discover academic programs they like and professors they want to continue working with. Some colleges want students to declare a major right away, whereas other colleges won't allow you to choose a major until spring semester of sophomore year. These are important aspects of a college's curriculum to understand as you decide where to apply.

For help deciding what you want to study and where, use the contact form on my website to schedule a free consultation.