College Prep Ebook Launch

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A bit about this Ebook launch: Are you a student currently applying to and have been accepted to college? Do you feel like the whole college application process is overwhelming? Would you be interested in mapping out your career plans and college journey while standing on the shoulders of giants who have already been there and done it successfully? Do you want to avoid the hurdles that upperclassmen have gone through as they learned everything the hard away about what to do in college? Do you want to keep a very high GPA and build a successful list of accolades and accomplishments to go along with it on your resume?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you have definitely come to the right place! This blog is written by students currently enrolled in and about to graduate from college who are willing to give you the insider's perspectives on the Do's and Don'ts as you start your college journey.

 Make sure you sign up for our email list and we will let you know when our Ebook gets launched (Hint: it will be launched very soon!).

In the meantime, make sure you stay connected with us by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter.

To your college success and happiness!

Pre-Health Students: Experience in the field

For students interested in pursuing healthcare fields, such as becoming doctors, dentists, pharmacists, physician assistants, and etc, usually you will not find internships advertised online (very rarely are they posted online). Also, a different lingo is used when talking about gaining experience in the healthcare field. Instead of using the word internship, experience in the healthcare field is typically referred to as “shadowing” or “observing.” So now, you may be wondering, how do I find doctors, dentists, pharmacists, etc to shadow/observe if they don’t post openings online?

What you will have to do is contact doctors and dentists through email or phone calls and personally ask them if you can come and shadow/observe them at their clinic or hospital. A good place to start would be your own doctor, dentist, etc that you typically see in addition to any family members, neighbors, and close friends of your parents in that field. If they refuse, then you can use Google Maps to your advantage. Find doctors, pharmacists, etc near where you live and keep calling and sending emails to them until someone says yes and allows you to gain experience at their hospital or clinic. Some colleges also have health centers on campus and you should ask the doctors, pharmacists, etc over there as well.

Another thing I would like to point out is that for students trying to enter healthcare professions requiring graduate school training, you are REQUIRED to have experience in the field. Medical, dental, pharmacy, and other healthcare graduate schools look for experience in the field before admitting students in their programs, so make sure you sign up for this exposure to the field as early as possible in your college career. Sometimes, these graduate schools may even have requirements for how many hours you should shadow a doctor or pharmacist, which can be upwards of 100 hours or more. Hence, it is best to get started early on to make sure you have enough time to explore your field of interest and acquire enough hours to satisfy the graduate school requirements.

Gaining this experience will also let you decide earlier on if you want to be a doctor, pharmacist, etc. Some students may start out with a desire to become a surgeon, but after shadowing during freshman year, if they feel that they don’t like dealing with blood and/or life/death situations, then becoming a surgeon may not be the best idea for that student. Hence, they have time to explore other fields before locking themselves into a healthcare field for three years and then realizing in their junior/senior that they don’t want to go into healthcare because they start shadowing late in the game.   

Stay connected with us!

 Thank you for stopping by on our blog. We will keep adding content to help you navigate your way through college. In the meantime, make sure you stay connected with us by liking our Facebook page and following us on Twitter.

 Calling all parents and students! Like what you are seeing so far in our blog? You can sign up for our email list below and we will let you know when or Ebook gets launched. You don't want to miss out, make sure to take this 20 seconds to do it now.

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 Our Ebook will be launched very soon and we will inform you when it comes out.

 To your college success and happiness!

Choosing a College Major

Even as a high school senior, I highly recommend that you declare a major when you are applying to colleges, even if you are not 100% sure if that is the major you will stick out with. You may think well, that doesn’t make sense to me, I am not committed yet!

The reason for this advice is that numerous scholarships are offered to seniors in high school based on what they want to do in college (yes, they will take your word for it and gladly give you the money).  Don’t skip out on free money!

Don’t believe me? Here are some scholarships being offered to incoming freshmen, many of them depending on their declared major:

http://superscholar.org/scholarships/25-popular-college-scholarships/

          Now then, which major should you declare? Arguably so, this is the hardest decision a student has to make in their entire college career. This decision will impact both how potential employers will assess your abilities when you apply for jobs as well your earning potential if you choose to stay in that industry. Although the typical mantra on the street is to major in anything you are passionate about, there is a key puzzle piece missing in this advice.

 I would actually rephrase that advice and say it this way: major in anything you are passionate about, as long as there is sufficient demand and potential for growth in that industry. With increasing amounts of automaton and outsourcing in our society, many jobs are now performed either by machines or by foreign workers in other countries. Be sure to check out the career statistics for your major and career path you are interested in before you pick your major to ensure you are picking a viable major that you won’t regret. With rising student debt, this is extremely important. You don’t want to take out $50,000 in loans for a degree that won’t get you a job, would you? Make sure to choose wisely.

I recommend that you start out with degrees in the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) and business fields. The rationale is that these fields typically have higher salaries and demand for jobs, so it is worth checking out majors in these areas. Afterwards, if you don’t like the major you chosen and feel like STEM or business fields are not what you are interested in, then you can drop it and pick up another major that interests you.

Now, some of you may be thinking, if your new major doesn't provide good job prospects, what then? If you are interested in subjects that don’t fall in the above categories, then try to incorporate a unique spin into your brand as you major in the subject that does interest you. For instance, if you really love English, incorporate how you would be an asset to firms that are typically hiring in the STEM and Business fields. Perhaps you can be a key player in the way important business documents such as financial reports are written and edited at that business firm. Likewise, if psychology is your favorite subject, consider applying for product development positions. You will bring to the table a unique mindset for understanding consumers and their behavior, which gives the company an incentive to hire you as they develop new products to increase their profitability.

Similarly, if art is your passion, perhaps you can design the t-shirts and key chains that the company uses for their recruitment efforts at college campuses. Maybe you can even design better graphics for their website. Your creativity will make that firm’s products and brand stand out, making you a valuable asset to the company. In this way, you can turn a major or career that seems to not have much demand or does not pay well by itself into a highly profitable venture. Additionally, artists can also use sites such as etsy.com to generate side income from doing what they are passionate about such as painting and selling it directly to consumers.  

After picking a career and major, you should assess the level of education required for that career. Some careers, such as becoming a doctor, require more than just completing a Bachelor’s degree. Students also have to complete four years of medical school, a type of graduate school, followed by additional years of training for residencies and fellowships. Similarly, if you want to become a leading researcher at a top university, you will have to earn your Bachelor’s degree, go on to graduate school to earn a PhD and possibly even complete post-doc positions before you are hired for a tenure-track faculty position. Hence, the amount of education you need to complete is based on the career you choose.