5. Undergraduate category archive
It’s Not Just About Getting In 0
By now, millions of high school seniors across the country have received the news from their colleges. We wish them all the best of success. Spring always brings some surprises, both good and not so good. This year was another tough year. Hopefully, the final decisions that each of them made by May 1 have been carefully thought through.
Now, seniors will be looking forward to proms, accepted college days at their respective campuses and finals, well, maybe not finals. One of the many questions they will be asked at points along the way and while in college will also be a question that has become harder for students to answer.
It is what do you plan to major in? 
For the thousands of students who have not seriously researched the options while in high school (as we advise students) will likely be overwhelmed by the choices, particularly at a university where the choices are ever increasing. Colleges and universities reported nearly 1,650 academic programs to the Department of Education in 2015; 355 were added to the list over the previous 15 years as colleges, to stay competitive and current, adopted new disciplines like forensic psychology, global studies, cyber-forensics and agroecology and all kinds of health sciences disciplines, including Adventure Education and Leadership.
Graduating with a double (or triple) major, minor or concentration as a way to hedge bets in an uncertain job market has become increasingly popular; the number of bachelors degrees awarded to double majors rose 70 percent between 2001 and 2014, according to the DOE.
How to Ensure That College is a Good Investment 0
As the high school Class of 2022 becomes the college Class of 2026 as freshmen in college, the College Board continues to support the belief that earning a college degree now is more important than ever before in the global economy. A typical bachelors-degree recipient, they claim, earns 80 percent more than a high school graduate during a 40-year career, more than $500,000 over a lifetime. That financial incentive has resulted in an enrollment surge in the past decade for American colleges and universities.
In addition, since 1990, supply and demand and increased Federal Aid loan and grant programs (for the poor) have allowed colleges to continue increasing tuition and fees faster than inflation since 1990. (Grove City College is a prime exception.) This has stretched the budgets of parents with incomes ranging from $100,000 to $350,000 to save even enough to cover one or two years of college costs. In past posts I discussed why college is so expensive.
When the financial bubble burst because of lack of oversight of investment banks in 2008, average college costs in the U.S. consumed some 40 percent of median earnings in the United States, up from less than a quarter of income eight years earlier. 
Now as students and parents have fallen prey to the student loan scam, debt has surpassed more than $1 trillion, parents are asking what they were getting in return for the high cost of a college degree. While the value of higher education to prepare for a career continues to be the big selling point promoting college, prospective students and their parents are beginning to cast doubt on the return on investment of certain majors and particular colleges.
In response, many colleges, like Lafayette, and High Point University are focusing even more on the outcomes of their students and are putting in place programs to better prepare their undergraduates for the job market. In an extensive survey of college leaders, conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education in the fall of 2014, six in 10 of them reported an increase in discussions about job preparation for their graduates in just the past three years. The survey, completed by some 800 vice presidents, deans and directors at two-year and four year colleges, focused on their attitudes about the value of their degrees, strategies to measure the outcomes of their graduates, and what skills higher education should provide to students.
President Obama used the annual address to announce new higher-education proposals, proposals that did not bring joy to college 
administrators who wanted more federal dollars for student aid. But on this night, the president was not to announce any new federal investment in higher education. Instead, he said his administration would release a new College Scorecard that parents and students can use to compare schools based on a simple criterion: where you can get the most bang for your educational buck.
Now there would be a government tool (and additional layers of costly, redundant bureaucracy) that would turn college into a product to compare in the same way consumers size up cars or televisions in Consumer Reports. The more things that change, the more they stay the same. Everyone wants to protect what they have, particularly if what they have is a cash cow.
Working with students with college aspirations, we show them the value of following steps that will lead to the outcomes they want. One of those steps is helping them discover what they want and another to help them understand the financial ramifications of those decisions.
While colleges and universities attempt to redefine their approaches to measuring student outcomes after graduation, we show families how to do their own due diligence in measuring the merits of colleges by asking good questions and applying good old, albeit rare, critical thinking.
It all starts with a complimentary get acquainted, no obligation conversation with us at (978) 820-1295. Simple postgraduate surveys are not enough for many prospective parents and students to. But there are proven methods to prepare students for the job market and measure their success long after graduation.
Do You Want to be a Doctor? 0
Do you have a student or are you a student with aspirations to be a Doctor of Medicine or pursue any healthcare profession? With all the talk about healthcare issues and challenges, our basic western system of Allopathic medicine continues to frustrate both the patient and caregiver. My strong suggestion to aspiring doctors and nurses is to read this book and/or this one and watch this in its entirety before entering a field that is getting more purblind in understanding true wellness and based on scientific methods that have proven to be inadequate when it comes to curing …much less preventing disease.
My philosophy of placing more emphasis on the prevention of disease than the treatment of symptoms and 
strengthening the body’s natural immune system is making more sense as the nation as a whole becomes sicker physically, mentally, and spiritually. Bastyr University and other Naturopathic colleges teach that approach. It is all about the ounce of prevention that is worth more than a pound of cure. Particularly when the cure is simply designed to manage the symptoms with questionable drugs and not address the real cause of the disease. Recently, intelligent whistleblowers are speaking out against the other big-money maker product, vaccines! It is, particularly now, a big risk as more M.D.s are realizing how damaging vaccines can be. In this day and age, it is very important that parents, particularly mothers, research the reasons for any vaccines and how they are determined to be safe before allowing their children to be vaccinated.
Not convinced? Here is a refreshing well-researched article by a West Point graduate and former army officer. Now, with Codex Alimentarius, Big Pharma is trying to make it illegal for a physician to practice proven alternative therapies to heal the body and/or prevent the disease in the first place. Call me if you wish to explore proven solutions in how to achieve optimal health for your family. It’s not “rocket science”. Eric Goodhart
Future Docs Are Confused, Too
Struggling to understand the national debate over health care? You’re not alone — your future doctor may well be baffled, too.
A study published in the September issue of Academic Medicine found that nearly half of all medical students believe they have been inadequately educated about the “practice of medicine” — especially related to medical economics.
Our patients expect us to understand the system, said Matthew M. Davis, one of the researchers and an associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine in the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan’s medical school. “If we don’t, that can result in poor patient care. And if we don’t expect doctors to understand the health care system, who is going to?
The study, by Davis and two colleagues at Michigan, examined tens of thousands of survey responses from medical students about the extent and perceived quality of their training in an array of curricular areas, including clinical care and decision-making and the practice of medicine — with the latter including health care systems, managed care, and practice management, among other areas. Read more »
Are You a Procrastinator? 0
If you are, you may put off reading this. That would be your first mistake. To all you college bound students, you will soon be taking a milestone step in your life journey. Hopefully it will be the college of your dreams. Even if it is not, if you have done your research properly, all will work out fine. Thousands of college graduates have learned, in hindsight, that it was meant to be and it wasn’t bad after all.
They quickly learned in the first month of college that a professor’s expectations and assignments given would be nothing like those from teachers in high school, even those AP classes they took that were supposed to prepare them for college level work. Those that got through in four years quickly learned how to get organized and stay focused.
If you were a last-minute kind of student in high school, that may have worked. But college is a different world. If it is not, then you may be at the wrong college. Because if you are not challenged, you will not grow intellectually, spiritually, or socially. But I digress.
The phrase “I’ll do it later” is probably the biggest killer of college success. Chances are, you will not get it done later. If you do wing it later, it will be sloppy and not your best effort. This causes stress and sets you up for the kind of anxiety that leads to dropping out of college because of low grades and/or illness.
The day planner that your proud grandmother gives you at high school graduation won’t do you any good if you are constantly putting things off. Sometimes students (and adults) put things off because they are intimidated by them. It manifests in the subconscious. You are afraid of failure so you set yourself up for failure. The solution is to simply get started. Break the task into manageable chunks and schedule time for each task.
Maybe it is long blocks of time that you find intimidating or tedious. No problem. You can do anything for 25 minutes. Am I right? Work with NO distractions. Put the electronic gizmos away and out of sight and sound. That includes the ear buds. No, you don’t work better when you listen to music. 🙂
Buy a timer and set it for 25 minutes. Focus on the task seriously for that period. As you begin to see something accomplished, whether it is a writing or reading assignment, you will begin to feel better about it. Dare I say, even inspired to do more. You also will soon realize that by tacking homework when it is assigned is soooo much easier than waiting until the 11th hour.
Still stuck? Another technique you can apply is to blatantly lie to yourself. Tell yourself that you don’t have to do the entire thing. You are just going to read a couple of paragraphs or just draft an outline. What will happen is that you will get some momentum going and realize that you can do more than you first thought.
Reading a few paragraphs becomes finishing the whole chapter. Outlining the paper becomes drafting the first paragraph and so on.
You are not alone, the majority of humans find a reason to put things off that we either don’t deem important or don’t like even if we know it is important. Even administrators at the most selective colleges like Princeton University realize that procrastination needs to be addressed. Look here to see what they have done to help their undergraduates.
Is Getting Into College Easier? 0
Is Getting Into College Easier?
You may have read or heard about how the number of applications have s
piked at so-called prestigious colleges around the country. That triggers fear in many households with college bound students. Fear is an often-used emotion to control the actions of people as to what to do (or not do) going forward. Some observers of the college selection process say it is actually easier to get into colleges (even the more competitive ones) than in previous years. Really?
They say that many students do not realize that getting into a good college today is a lot easier, and will become even more so in the coming years. That is the case, according to the Hechinger Report. The writers of the report say it is important to let go of the “fear” mindset because they claim it is one of the reasons why students do not bother to apply to more competitive colleges. Instead, they settle for lower quality schools, when they could have been accepted to much better institutions.
Actually, that is not the case with the students we have been guiding over the last 25 years. They are very much focused on the most competitive colleges, often too much so. When their college list begins to take shape, they are often doing it the wrong way from the top down, rather than the bottom up.
If the reader has college aspirations, you must first think about what is college for and why it is the logical next step for YOU? Though it may become easier to get accepted to college, the same due diligence in finding the colleges best qualified to help you reach your goals is just as important as always. Therefore, even though many colleges and universities may not be that selective, don’t neglect taking the steps that will help you determine if the college to which you apply is qualified to help you reach your goals.
By the way, don’t fall for the well-meaning but misinformed guidance of colleges and some counselors that tell you “Don’t worry about what you want to major in or do for a career. You will have plenty of time to figure that out in college”. If you believe that, read this now.
Yes, it may be easier to get into college in the coming years as there will fewer high school graduates until 2023. We are already seeing college Enrollment Managers conceive ways to not only “fill seats” but with the most revenue/per seat. 
Many colleges and universities will be increasing their marketing efforts to attract these students. Families might get to finally have (dare I say) the negotiating power. That’s because these institutions compete with each other when it comes to the record number of applicants. You may already have seen how colleges encourage everyone to apply without regard to their qualifications. The more applications they get, the more they can reject, thus moving up in the rankings.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center‘s said that there’s actually going to be more colleges looking for students, so getting into college is not something students should be worried about. But what I say is, they should be worried about how they are going to pay for it. For that and other answers to your questions, call us.
…continuing the Milestone Step 0
Some students go to college knowing exactly what they want to do. But most don’t. At large state universities it is not uncommon that over 75% percent of freshmen, even those who have declared a major, say they are uncertain
about their major, and half will change their minds after they declare, sometimes more than once. That is one big reason that only 37% of students graduate in four years.
Colleges and universities have vested interests in students declaring early. Retention rates for declared students are better, and they are more likely to graduate in four years. But college officials also recognize that deciding on a major can be overwhelming, especially when coupled with the fear that a wrong choice will result in added semesters and tuition. Students no longer have the luxury of stumbling into a major or making mistakes, not that they ever did.
This requires thinking ahead. Teenagers are not expected to know what to do with the rest of their lives at age 18, but with coaching they can cover the bases with prudent planning. Some majors have a curriculum that follows a tight sequence of courses. It’s easier to switch out of engineering than it is to take it up later in the college career.
The biggest mistake students make is failing to research what’s required of the major, and the profession. Nursing may sound attractive because a student wants to help people, but nursing students take the same demanding math and science curriculum as premed students, and the work is often technical and not for every kindhearted soul. It is also a similar track with Physical Therapy.
More niche filling additions to the list obviously reflect marketplace trends and student demand, like culinary science/culinology, digital arts and sports communication. At Montclair State University in New Jersey, which offers 300 majors, minors and concentrations, a new fashion studies major has been hugely popular, thanks to the university’s proximity to Manhattan; with Madison Square Garden and Giants Stadium in sight. It also guides the ambitious undergrad toward internship opportunities in a sports industry and event-planning major within its business school.
Still, it’s difficult to predict the employment market. That is why I will encourage students to think outside the 
box. In other words if the job doesn’t exist…create one. Many students choose majors they think will lead to jobs, but four years from now freshmen will be applying for jobs that don’t even exist today.
Most employers are looking for transferable skills the ability to problem solve, work collaboratively, write and speak clearly and think critically. These can be developed in any liberal arts discipline. It makes no sense to suffer through a major because you think it will lead to employment.
In the final analysis, wherever a teenager goes and does after high school, which I call Crossing the Gap: Preparing for the Transition, where they go does not matter as much as what they do when they got there.
The late great business philosopher, Jim Rohn, said this “A formal education will make you a living, but self-education will make you a fortune!” These two college graduates understood that. You can too! 1 (978) 820-1295
Fifteen Extraordinary Colleges 0
Five Extraordinary Colleges You’ve Never Heard of until Now
In our offices we have large North American maps with the locations of most all the colleges in the U.S. and Canada. It is always fun to place a pin into the map where a student of ours matriculated but never knew existed before meeting with us.
In of the Extraordinary Colleges You Never Heard of Until Now series, Deep Springs College in California was one of those colleges. In my opinion, it was Shimer College in Chicago, one of the most unique colleges in the U.S., to receive a pin. I hope you read the first two installments above if you haven’t already.
As seniors wait to hear from all their colleges to which they applied it is now time for juniors and sophomores to continue the exploratory process. We are going to begin our next college road trip in the beautiful state of Maine in one of the most sought after vacation spots in the Northeast Bar Harbor, Maine, the epitome of New England charm.
There, smack dab on the Atlantic Ocean you will find The College of The Atlantic. Eat your hearts out Southern California! The beauty and historic significance of the Maine coast puts the boring sun drenched Pacific beaches and ubiquitous shopping centers to shame. Mount Desert Island was a summer escape for wealthy families looking to get away from the heat of the cities. Today, a little Gilded Age charm still exists. A stone castle built in 1895, now acts as College of the Atlantic’s main administrative building, while other homes have been purchased and renovated into residence halls.
Amazingly, the College’s 350 or so independent, bright, committed and VERY environmentally conscious students consider Acadia National Park as their backyard and personal research laboratory. Ask any one of them what their degree is in and they will tell you Human Ecology! I love that! When you understand what it is, maybe you will too.
Have you heard about our money saving “Dry Run”? 0
I wish I heard about you sooner is not an uncommon response after I explain what we do. I expected that at least two of the colleges my daughter had her heart set on would give her more financial aid. Every year, several families come to us because they heard from someone that we can help them get more money from the top choice colleges to which their child has been accepted.
Quite often we can, but once the horse has jumped the fence and headed for the hills it is much harder to do. You do not want to be a parent who realizes too late that the cost of four years of college is not possible without borrowing an amount that resembles the cost of a used Rolls Royce.
No matter how often I talk about the importance of our money saving heart attack prevention exercise called the Dry Run (step # 3 in the college planning timeline) there are still families that do not take advantage of it. Of course, it is not the end of the world if the student attends a community college for a couple of years. In fact it could be a good strategy in some instances. But more satisfactory outcomes result with planning that includes an early look at the financial options all families have.
Many families go through the college selection process content not to question the colleges we have financial aid pitch or our average grant package is $33,000. Wide eyed impressionable teenagers are told to “just put your application in and then apply for financial aid. Once you are accepted we will send you a financial aid package.”
All that students hear (and some parents) is what they want to hear. Reality comes knocking at the door too late for many of them. Though the most frugal and financially savvy parents have saved enough to cover the first year or two, it often does not cover all four or dare I say, five or six. To do that is very difficult without a steady source of extra income coming into the household. (By the way, we do have a solution for that too. Read the last paragraph here; then give us a call.)
In the meantime, if you have a student still in high school with college aspirations, NOW, not later, is the time to call to complete a Dry Run. It does not matter if the college list hasn’t been started yet either. We can suggest appropriate colleges.
Spring Surprises 0
The Class of 2021 has seen a year of stiff competition similar to recent years. Once again, the elite colleges rejected 95% of their applicants. They all knew the 6% acceptance rates going in but it is still tough to take rejection. And to hear that everything happens for a reason is not any consolation for those applicants who were Valedictorians with 1600 SAT scores. In any case, where ever you go, keep college a four-year or less experience. The fact is that only 38% of those who enter college this fall will have earned a diploma after four years. In addition, the current pandemic and questions about safety for students are still a concern.
The 60 or so elite colleges have over 90% graduation rates in four years. Yes, it can be that (or less) with most other colleges if you have done (and continue to do) your due diligence. Take responsibility for your education and the advising at your college.
But here are some reasons why that percentage is so shockingly low.
- ALL four-year colleges are considered. Both public and private from the non-competitive to the most competitive. Often large state universities and less competitive private institutions have weaker or overwhelmed advising staffs.
- Students may fall behind on credits earned in their major.
- They change majors more than twice; credits are not transferable.
- Students drop out for academic or affordability reasons.
- Some classes are over enrolled, limited or cutback and students are not able to take the prerequisite courses in their majors in a timely fashion.
When researching each college using the AAA method a student will be better prepared to avoid most of the above scenarios. This includes understanding the data the colleges are required to report on the Common Data Set. If you do not find the CDS on the college website or via the search box, ask admissions for it.
In any case, if the Class of 2017 thought it was competitive getting into college, they will need to consider this. Job prospects for new college graduates are at historic lows, partly caused by financial misfeasance and malfeasance on a global scale. If a recent graduate has some internship or cooperative work experience to show on his or her resume, that will help. But with the economy what it is, the challenges still remain.
The average student loan debt for graduating seniors in 2015 was $28,186. This year, I dare say the average will be at 
least $30,500. Since the 1970’s student loans have increased the cost of college. In fact, that is the primary reason college costs are inordinately high! Need proof? Here it is! We are facing a student and parent loan bubble that will dwarf the mortgage and derivative frauds above.
If loans are a burden, parents and students should not hesitate to call us now. We have a sure-fire plan to show you how to become debt free sooner than you think. It makes no sense in starting off with a job that does not give you the ability to pay basic necessities, provide the comforts and lifestyle you want to have and still meet monthly debt obligations.
In the meantime, for newly minted college graduates… get ready for the toughest job you will have. Start by reading this timely New York Times article How to market yourself.
Good News for the Undergraduate 0
For 29 years I have been encouraging college students to take full advantage of their college’s advising services. (Get your free gift below,) This includes professor mentoring, internships, and the Career Planning Services office. One does not have to look very far to learn that many college graduates are leaving college with student loans and few job prospects much less any related to their chosen major.
Now, with the current challenges stemming from the global pandemic based on a virus strain of the common Coronavirus family from which over 99% of healthy humans are either immune or can recover with proper nutritional care provided by a true healthcare professional who understands the innate power of the human immune system. Pandemics have regularly occurred over the years, remember this one? In any case, it is all that more important that we plan how we will earn a living providing for our families and serving others in our communities where governments have temporarily restricted one’s movements by means of edicts and/or mandates.
Yes, on the surface it may not bode well for the current undergrad. However, there are steps that both the student and the college can take to brighten that outcome. I was very encouraged before colleges went to “remote learning” when I saw the attention given to sophomores at some colleges during the annual ritual of newly minted college freshmen saying goodbye to parents. 
It is encouraging to see more and more colleges taking their role as advisors more proactively. For instance, look at Lafayette College’s website. They are not hesitating to open their books to prospective students with information as to what past graduates have been able to accomplish.
If you are a recent graduate or parent, and considering doing something new, here are two resources I can confidently recommend. They can work with you wherever you call home. 🙂
1. Kim Meninger, MBA, a very intuitive Executive Coach and Career Strategist. Take your first step here.
2. Joanne Meehl Career Services offers terrific tips on her Blog and one on one counseling.
If you are a college student, how much research into the advising and internship options have you done? If little, start to familiarize yourself with the career services office, even if you are a freshman. By the way, one student who took the matter of interning VERY seriously has turned her experience into a business. Meet Lauren Berger, the InternQueen.
Once the freshman year has been successfully navigated and you know what is expected academically, it is now time to really get serious and think about why you are in college.
The passing of Steve Jobs reminded me of his 2005 graduation talk to Stanford graduates. It is without a doubt, one of the finest commencement speeches ever delivered in history! Here is the life-changing message. Think about what he said. For me, it was one of the most insightful and spiritually aware statements of purpose I have ever heard. Let me know what you think?
Speaking of “insightful” if you have done your four (4) insightful self-assessments with us, do not forget they reveal within them a rich resource of career descriptions and academic concentrations that are matched up to your individual natural strengths and innate characteristics that will comprise your personality for your life on this planet we call Earth!
It is literally at your fingertips for years to come. Take advantage of that. If you have not bookmarked the link, I will send you the link. In addition, if you have any questions regarding your choice of major, send me an email ~ help@SmartCollegePlanning.org
Finally, all undergrads (or grads) that complete our undergraduate survey here by July 15, 2023 (in celebration of our 30th Anniversary) my gift to you will be the book The Secret to Getting a Job After College. (Or another one of your choice.) We look forward to hearing how you are doing now and what you plan to do going forward.