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Questions
and Answers for students and parents concerning New Questions added on 03/11/2007
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A.
I have been asked similar questions in the past and have always replied
back to the parents with parent answers. This time I will try replying
directly to the sons and hope that my reply reaches a few slightly open
ears or eyes or minds. Gentlemen,
you've got it right. It is very hard to know what you should do for a
career. It is just as hard to know what careers are out there.
Generally, men get this reasonably well figured out by the time they
turn 50, but trust me, you are not the only ones who find it all very
confusing. The world of work is very confusing, and significantly more
confusing than it was 100 years ago. You can't go looking for one
obvious answer. It doesn't exist. You've heard it before, many people
have seven careers in a lifetime. There is rarely one right career. You
make a career; you don't join it. Gentlemen,
I know I may lose you on this one, but there is one really good source
for advice, one advisor who really cares about you like no one else in
the world, one advisor who knows at least a little about you and what is
ahead for you. That advisor is your father. I know you don't think he
knows you. I know you are cool to taking his advice. Don't take his
advice. Be independent of your father. If you are lucky enough to have a
Dad at home, I strongly encourage you to very quietly, leaving no trace
of evidence, listen to his experience and advice and put just a bit of
it in the back of your mind. Argue with him if you want . . . he
deserves it, because he did it to his Dad. As bad or as stupid as his
advice may seem today, you will recognize its value sometime shortly
before you turn 50 . . . and about the time you are thinking about
sharing your own advice with someone younger than you who doesn't see
the merit of all your wisdom and experience. Hopefully, you will
recognize its value well before that point in your life. Gentlemen,
as best you can you are looking ahead to life after school and to the
beginning of your career. In fact, your career has already begun; it is
just that the pay probably isn't coming in as well as you might hope
that it will. Sometime before age 50 you will probably recognize that
success in a career is not about skill or intelligence, it is about
learning. You will do that throughout your career. The better you can
learn, the more successful you will be. That learning has already begun.
You can use that learning to design your own career, or you can just
randomly learn a lot (or a little) and let someone else decide what you
will do for work – someone like your guidance counselor, or the want
ads, or, perhaps worse than that, your Dad. Take steps toward your
career now. Steps in most any direction are better than not taking any
step at all. Gentlemen,
it is very clear to me after 28 years in education, that more boys are
more bored with their education than ever before. That is a real problem
for this country. More importantly, it may be a real problem for you.
Your career isn't clear to you because you haven't designed it yet. I
strongly encourage you to take a very active role in designing your
future . . . and your education. Start from what interests you today,
not what society thinks might be a good job for you to do. Making money
has some advantages, but ask your Dad how important he thinks it is to
make lots of money. If your job were very boring for you in your future,
you would make decisions, yourself, to make it better. Do the same with
your education. Change your job. Change your education. But, don't join
the unemployment line. Don't drop out of education, whether in school or
out. Most
adults spend a lifetime trying to design their careers. Even if your Dad
looks like he has his career all squared away and it seems that it all
fell together for him, it is very unlikely that he feels that way. Ask
him if he thinks he has it all figured out. Unless your Dad is REALLY
old, he is probably still just doing his best to figure it all out. A college education . . . and your Dad . . . are two of the best resources you will ever have to help you design a career that will help you live a life you are proud of after college. Q.
Does it really matter whether our child
takes honors courses in ninth grade? A.
It really does matter. Actually, for a majority of students applying to
college, whether or not you take an honors course doesn’t matter much,
I suppose. That’s because a majority of colleges don’t expect their
applicants to take honors courses. But, for all those students
considering some of the more selective colleges in the country –
perhaps the 200 most selective colleges out of 4000 – your choice of
course level really does matter. These colleges expect their applicants
to take at least some honors courses. The more selective the college,
the more honors and AP courses the college will look for. So, the course
levels you choose in ninth grade clearly do affect your college options. Unfortunately,
it is generally not very easy to switch from the “CP” track to the
honors track during high school. It can be done, but it usually requires
some extra push from the student and the parent. It
is a complicated issue and will only get worse, I predict. For many
years, colleges have used course level as a first filter. If you are
applying to a most selective college, your application is unlikely to go
anywhere unless you have almost all honors and AP courses. As colleges,
schools, and communities steer away from SATs, ranks in class, and
perhaps even GPAs and “weighted grades”, even more of the weight
will shift onto course selection. It
spells trouble. I remember talking to a college admissions
representative from a moderately selective, well known, This
admissions representative’s message did not surprise me; it was the
enthusiasm and pride with which he said it that should cause concern. So,
my answer to the eternal question, "Should I take an honors course
and get a C or a CP course a get an A?" Take the honors course if
you hope to be a good candidate for one of the 100 or so most selective
colleges AND if it is the course from which you will learn the most.
Don't forget this last part! You
can find a rough list of the most selective and highly selective
colleges, those that will be looking for honors and AP courses, in the CollegeHorizons
search on the web site below. Q.
I have heard about co-op programs in college. Are they a good idea? A.
Some students just love to learn. The teacher tells them what to study,
and they learn with a smile. Other students, including more than a few
high school boys, want to know how they are going to use this
information, how it will benefit them, how it will show itself in the
real world. The traditional education model may be, “Learn what I am
teaching you, students. Trust me, you will need it some day.” The
co-op education model is, “I’ll share some information with you. You
go out and see if it is useful. See what other information and knowledge
you need. Come back and learn it. And, then go out and try your new
knowledge in the real world.” Cooperative
education integrates classroom learning with work experience. Often, you
study in classes, perhaps for a semester, then you work for a semester,
then study for a semester, then work. You alternate each semester. For
many students, it is a great answer. It helps them see a purpose to
their learning, which is always beneficial. At other colleges, it is
more likely a paid internship for a semester or two during your four
years in college. Co-op
programs are more common than you think. There are nearly a thousand
co-op programs in the To
get a better understanding of how co-op programs work, I suggest you go
to www.northeastern.edu. In
A
better sense of purpose for your college education? That makes sense to
me. The ability to change or redirect your career interests before you
hit the world of work is very valuable. Making money while in college?
It has its benefits. Better odds of job placement right out of college?
You can’t argue with that. Are there any negatives? Perhaps two. Being
part of a co-op program may mean you will be in college longer, perhaps
five years instead of four, perhaps summers. And, if you are looking for
a close-knit college community, you are less likely to find it at
Northeastern. Your friends this semester will be off working somewhere
next semester. You
can find more general information about co-op programs at www.co-op.edu. Q.
Do I need to go to college if I want to be in the military? A.
No. You do not need to go to college to be in the military. You do need
to graduate from high school or earn your GED, and pass the military's
ASVAB test. If you do this, you will enter the military, the Army or Air
Force or Navy or Marines, as an enlisted soldier. Should
you go to college to be in the military? Getting more education is
always a good idea. The military thinks so, too. While you are serving
in the Army, for example, the Army will help you take courses at local
community colleges or online, and in most cases they will cover all your
costs and help to make sure that the credits you earn can be applied to
a degree at a college that you choose. Through
the Montgomery GI Bill, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines help you
pay for college costs while you are active in the military or retired. So,
you can join the military right out of high school, you continue your
college education while on a military base, and the military will help
you pay for some or all of your college education. Another
option to consider is the ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps), which
enables you to attend one of over 1200 colleges with an ROTC program.
You attend college, take regular college courses plus military courses,
do some military training during the summer, have a military commitment
after college as an officer, and, depending upon the length of your ROTC
involvement and your academic achievement, have some or all of your
college costs covered by the military, plus you may receive a small
living stipend. So, you have a quite traditional college experience,
taking regular courses plus some military courses, with summer and
post-college military commitments, and you enter the military as an
officer. If
you are a very strong student in high school, probably do well in
sports, and are involved in the community, you have another option. The
Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines have their own
colleges. We call these the Service Academies. More often we call them That
is a quick answer to your good question. The military can make your
education beyond high school very affordable, but do remember that they
are offering you this financial help in exchange for your time and
service in the military. It is not just a job and an adventure, it is a
serious commitment. There
is much more to learn about the military and its potential role in your
education beyond high school and in your career. Just a few helpful
websites are: www.goarmy.com, www.navy.com,
www.airforce.com, www.marines.com,
www.gocoastguard.com, www.military.com,
www.finaid.org, www.myfuture.com,
www.todaysmilitary.com, www.collegeboard.com,
www.usma.edu, www.usafa.edu,
www.usna.edu, www.cga.edu,
and www.usmma.edu.
It
is really too bad that this moment of such great opportunity is now
measured in units of pressure, pounds per square inch. Most high school
juniors I talk with grumble that their peers haven't even started to
think about college. Most high school seniors I talk to, those who
started during their junior year or sooner, are very glad that they
started the college process when they did. What
many students haven't understood yet is that the value of a college
diploma is less than it used to be. The quality of what you learn and
how you learn really matters. Going to a college with a great social
scene can be good fun, albeit with a not-small price tag, but good fun
and a diploma aren't likely to help you reach your career goals over 45
years after college. The
hard part is not figuring out what the colleges are like. The hard part
is figuring what the student really wants out of college. Visiting
college campuses to help you understand the colleges can take a lot of
time, but figuring out what you want out of college (and beyond) can
take much longer. Visiting
college campuses really helps students sort through their values, their
needs, their goals. Prime time for visiting colleges is junior year
vacations. I gave up believing the line from high school seniors that
the coach won't mind if I miss a few practices and a game. That's a trip
that isn't going to happen. There
are some great college options around the world. He should start early
so that he can find his best options. And, yes, finding his best options
will help him get into college.
Q.
What can we do to encourage more students in our community to attend
college? A.
First, you are right to recognize that the real opportunity to help more
kids go to college is in the will and commitment of the community.
State funding and federal funding will help, no doubt, but a lack of
funding is not what keeps most students from a great college education. I
think that our future matters. I can't think of a better way to improve
our future than to invest in a great education for our children. The
problem comes with the definition of "our." The definition
seems to be getting smaller every day in this country. Today, more than
twenty-five years ago, helping kids get a great education and have the
opportunity of college is focused on our own children. It seems that
each child within a community is competing against local peers for a few
spots at seemingly selective colleges. And yet, the real opportunity for
a healthy future is communities – people working together as a
community to make good things happen, rather than competing against each
other for access to college and a higher income in the future. With the
notable exception of Bill Gates, the number of organizations,
businesses, and individuals who are committed to the greater good in
education is fading fast . . . and that is a problem. The
question you are asking really matters. The answers matter even more. Recently,
I attended a conference on access to college and wondered to a state
leader whether we might be best off if we encourage our students to look
at all their college options in and out of state. They might choose to
leave the state. They might gather knowledge that we don't have in this
state. They might come back to the state with a more global perspective
for what we are all saying is a more global economy. My question came
after a lengthy discussion about the need to build in-state enrollments.
The response from the state leader was that we need a balance. So, we
balance the future of our children and their opportunity for a college
education with . . . ? In the ongoing political battle between the
present and the future, we need to make sure that the future is the
clear winner. So,
what can communities do? First,
care. We need to really care about the future of our own children
and others' children and our whole community, however we define it.
Without that sincere care and commitment, not much will change. Some
will get the break, others won't, and communities will flounder. Second,
counselors. Whether you like it or not, the really key people in
this equation are guidance counselors. They are the front line. Trying
to develop big programs with advice from one or two school counselors
will have limited success. School counselors have a difficult job. They
are badly outnumbered. They could do better. They need to do better. We
need to help them help our community's kids and future. It is our job,
not just theirs. We need to listen to them and we need to help them.
Counselors need more information about careers and the higher education
experience. Adults in communities can do that. Third,
information. Actually, every community already has all the
information it needs. But, this information rarely comes to the surface.
If every student who went to college, and every parent who worked their
way through financial aid and the FAFSA, shared just a little
information with their community, it would make a huge difference. A
local perspective of a college from a former (and hopefully future)
community member now at college would be more valuable than any web site
or view book or campus tour or college fair. A network of information --
community members helping each other – would cost almost nothing. In
the process, we would hope that sharing this information would excite
more students about the value of a really great college education and
would convince more families that it really is possible. Perhaps even
more importantly, it would help local students make better decisions
about where and how they invest their time and money in the opportunity
of higher education. The quality of the experience really matters. Q.
Do you think it is a good idea to take a year off between high school
and college? Often
times, a student will finish high school, want a break from the
educational process, get a job, get used to the income, and have a hard
time going back to the lifestyle of classroom learning, less
independence, and probably no income. On
the other hand
… if you pursue a different educational experience between high school
and college, that can be a great choice. Taking a year off from learning
is never a good idea. Going a different route and gaining a new interest
and new knowledge in a particular area that you might study in college
is likely to significantly increase the return on your investment in
your college education – you will get more for your money. As a
country, we should spend less time worrying about how much college costs
and more time worrying about maximizing our return on investment. If you
enter college with enthusiasm and with a mission, your college education
will produce great returns – far greater than any other investment you
will find on Wall Street or A
great educational program that doesn’t feel like a classroom, but does
develop your enthusiasm and mission is of great value. There are many
great options. The best ones are probably those you create yourself, but
many are all set up for you. An Internet search for “interim year”
will direct you to many great options. GlobalQuest, ITHAKA, NOLS,
Outward Bound, Dynamy, Sea Semester, and Audubon are all good options,
but not always cheap. The Experiment in International Living was one of
the originals in this business. The School for Field Studies is a great
option for those interested in the environment. There are many great
options all over the world, but you can create an equally valuable
experience in your own hometown. Q.
Is there a way to find out why I wasn't accepted at a college? A.
Sometimes your guidance counselor can have a productive
conversation with the college admissions office. It may give you a sense
of your weaknesses as an applicant, but not always. Although I always
encourage students to take this college admissions process into their
own hands, it is unlikely that you will get much helpful information
from a direct call to the admissions office. It is also a very difficult
and awkward conversation. College admissions is an art, at best, but not
a science. If your SAT scores were 400 points below the college's
average, they may tell you that didn't look good, but they are rarely
interested in opening up their decisions to public debate. You may be
able to reapply, but you won't be able to argue against their decision. This
is the time of year when many students who have applied Early Decision
are getting letters, big and small, in the mail from colleges. That
letter can be a great Christmas present, or it can be otherwise. It is
almost always a tough blow to get a "No" from the one college
you were really hoping to attend. Understand that the vast majority of
students applying to selective colleges are fully qualified applicants.
That probably includes you. It wasn't that they didn't think you would
do well at their college. It wasn't that they didn't like you. You just
didn't get picked. Maybe
the application above yours in the stack was much like yours with many
of the same qualities as you could offer, but they hadn't accepted a
student from the other town in many years and wanted to this year. Maybe
they already had a violinist or a right wing and didn't need another.
Maybe that other student made a personal connection with one admissions
representative. Maybe they had already accepted a student from your town
and were less interested in accepting two. All those are unusual
circumstances, but they do make the point that, despite all your
efforts, there is a lot about the college admissions process that you
just can't control . . . or predict. At these selective schools, you
throw your hat into the ring and hope that it gets chosen. If it does
not get chosen, know that the college may have made a poor decision,
move forward, and be assured that some other college, among the 4000,
will have the wisdom to invite you to be part of their academic
community. At
most Ivy League colleges, over one third of valedictorian applicants are
rejected. Do you really think they weren't qualified to succeed at the
college? They just weren't wearing the right hat! We
have some great colleges in this country and in this world. Many have
wise admissions offices. One admissions office made a mistake and didn't
choose you. Like it or not, your life will be full of these experiences.
Present yourself to the college world with pride and stay determined to
make the most of the opportunities that are presented you. Q.
I can't figure out which colleges I really like. Is it really bad if
I end up transferring after a year or two? A.
No, it is not really bad. Starting at a college and dropping out
after several months may be really hard on you and your parent's wallet,
but transferring after a year or two is not "really bad." It
may even be "really good." Setting
aside a lot of time to explore your college options and finding one that
will be a great experience for you is a great idea, but no one said that
four years at the same college has to be best for you. Most of the
students I have worked with who transfer from one college to another
have outgrown of their first college. That means growth, and that is
good! Choosing
a great college experience is not an easy process. Let me use a football
analogy, and if you don't like football, you can easily switch it to
soccer or field hockey or ice hockey or basketball. A quarterback can
throw you a short pass to where you stand at the line of scrimmage. That
is an easy pass, but you will have a lot of work to do to gain yardage.
Or, the quarterback might throw you a longer pass that will be harder to
complete, but not too hard. Still you will have work, though less work,
to gain good yardage. A long pass, going for it all, will be harder to
complete, but if you catch it, your chances of gaining a lot of yardage
are very good! The
toughest variable to come to understand in the college search process is
not the colleges; it is you. You could go out for a short pass and
choose a college that matches all your current interests and styles and
what you know, but moving forward from there may be more challenging.
Assuming you will grow and change (hopefully!), you may find that the
college doesn't allow you to grow and move forward as much as you would
like. If
you go out for a very long pass and choose a college that will be
challenging for you at first and is a better match for who you hope to
be in the future, you may have a very rewarding and challenging college
experience. And, you can make a good case for a fifteen-yard pass to a
college you will grow to get to and then move beyond. What kinds of
passes you catch best matters a lot. And, you will often have to make
adjustments along the way in your path to get open. Not making those
adjustments is a losing strategy. Knowing your abilities as a receiver
and runner, short-distance and long-distance, is important and
challenging. Upon
further review, I hope my analogy is not challenged! In any case, if you
have spent the time and done your best to select a college that seems
likely to help you make the most yards in your life, don't worry about
the possibility that you will need to make adjustments in college to
gain more yardage. Q.
How can we find a college that will help our daughter with a
learning disability? A.
These
days, too many parents are looking for a diagnosis, a label, and a cure.
Parents are usually trying to find an explanation for why their child
isn't doing as well as they would like their child to do in school.
True, a label often entitles students to more support and services at
lower cost, but these labels and services are usually more welcomed by
parents than by students. Most students don't like to be labeled
insufficient. Learning
is a two-way process. A learning disability is the inability of a
student to learn as many others do, and the inability of a teacher or
school system or family or book to teach that student well. A room full
of learning disabled students is a room where we have yet to figure out
how they learn well. Most of those students, particularly boys, labeled
ADHD have a brain that works too fast and academic environments that
teach too slowly. The
world underestimates the effect of interest – all students can
accomplish a lot when they are learning something that really interests
them. They will learn and accomplish even more when the knowledge is
shared with them in a style that works well for them. Before
you race down the list of colleges well known for providing extra
services for students with differing learning styles, make sure you
think about the academic environment of the school, the social
environment, the life outside of school, and prospective majors that
might really spark a student who is likely to have found education less
than igniting so far. Get the social environment of the college wrong
and no level of extra services will enable the student to have a great
college experience and want to learn more after college. The
good news is that many colleges do a really great job. They ignite
students who have been smoldering at best. Aim for and expect nothing
less from your college. A
few colleges that Maine students (and I) often like and that are well
known for providing extra services for students who need extra learning
support include: Prescott College, AZ; University of Arizona, AZ;
University of California at Berkeley, CA; University of California at
Santa Cruz, CA; University of Redlands, CA; University of the Pacific,
CA; Colorado State University, CO; Fort Lewis College, CO; University of
Colorado, CO; University of Denver, CO; Mitchell College, CT; Sacred
Heart University, CT; University of Connecticut, CT; American
University, DC; George Washington University, DC; Lynn University, FL;
Saint Leo University, FL; American International College, MA; Boston
College, MA; Boston University, MA; Clark University, MA; Curry College,
MA; Mount Ida College, MA; Western New England College, MA; Wheaton
College, MA; McDaniel College, MD; Washington College, MD; Husson
College, ME; Unity College, ME; University of New England, ME; Elon
University, NC; Guilford College, NC; Colby-Sawyer College, NH; Franklin
Pierce College, NH; Keene State College, NH; New England College, NH;
Southern New Hampshire University, NH; Adelphi University, NY; Alfred
University, NY; Bard College, NY; New York University, NY; Rochester
Institute of Technology, NY; Syracuse University, NY; Ohio Wesleyan
University, OH; Gettysburg College, PA; Muhlenberg College, PA; Brown
University, RI; Vanderbilt University, TN; University of Virginia, VA;
Castleton State College, VT; University of Vermont, VT; Pacific Lutheran
University, WA; Bethany College, WV; and West Virginia Wesleyan College,
WV. In
thirty years in education, I have yet to see a student surrounded by
learning disabilities who couldn't get a great college education. It may
just take a bit more very careful research and a good understanding of
what the student needs and wants and what the college can and does
offer. Today, most colleges are tuned in to providing extra support and
accommodations for students who need them. You
may find helpful information and advice at www.ldonline.org
and www.ncld.org.
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