What’s Your Plan?

In 1979, graduates from Harvard’s MBA Program were interviewed:

• 84% had no specific goals at all
• 13% had goals but they were not committed to paper
• 3% had clear, written goals and plans to accomplish them

In 1989, those same graduates were again interviewed with the following results:

• The 13% of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84% who had no specific goals at all.
• Even more staggering, the 3% who had clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97% put together.

The concept of planning ahead, having goals and writing them down is as importance to the success rate of a student’s college experience as it is for the graduates of Harvard’s MBA Program.

Consider this:

In the latest study conducted by the Department of Education, 59% of post-secondary students graduate within 6 years. This means that 41% of students who enter college as a freshman will take longer than 6 years to graduate….if they graduate at all.

How many of those 41% needed to change majors, or transfer to different schools or paid for courses that did not transfer? How many of those 41% didn’t plan ahead with written goals? Probably zero!

For a high school student and his parents here’s some of the planning and research that should take place:

With our guidance and coaching we can help you and your student plan ahead and increase your level of success.
Your student’s plan should start with the end in mind.

We refer to this as the Career to Major to College.

Self-Analysis:

We recommend a student perform a self-analysis study to gain some perspective on what career paths may interest the student based on four personality types; realistic, artistic, investigative, and conventional. Results may yield many different occupations, which is okay. The student will have the greatest success being involved in areas where they have the most interest. Once success in one area has been proven by accomplishment, then a narrowing of focus during or after college can build toward a very rewarding career.

Career Exploration:

With the help of interactive career exploration tools, your student can research and examine each career in greater detail. He will learn what a typical day is like, the average salary earned, working conditions, duties and much more.

Remember, a college education should start with the end in mind. After discovering career characteristics, let’s begin to narrow down some choices and identify careers that resonate.

Choosing Majors:

After identifying a career or two, a student will need to match the majors to the career path and make sure the curriculum is in line with the career requirements.

College Research:

Now that a career path and the associated majors are known, the search for suitable colleges begins. With our guidance, the student will cast a wide net to begin the search for colleges that meet their needs. This master list allows the student to then focus on the characteristics and culture of the college to provide the best environment for success. This list will be revisited frequently during the process as new information is acquired. The size of the list will become more manageable as time goes by, eventually settling on roughly 6-8 colleges.

Now you’re off and running!