25 Ways to Make College Pay Off: Advice for Anxious Parents from a Professor Who's See It All

273 Pages·2007·0.91 MB·English

by  Bill Coplin

25
Ways to
Make College
Pay Off
Advice for Anxious Parents from a
Professor Who’s Seen It All
Professor Bill Coplin, Ph.D.
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Coplin,WilliamD.
25waystomakecollegepayoff:adviceforanxiousparentsfromaprofessorwho’sseen
itall/BillCoplin.
p. cm.
Includesindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8144-7456-3(pbk.)
ISBN-10:0-8144-7456-X(pbk.)
1. Careereducation—UnitedStates. 2. Collegestudentorientation—United
States. 3. Careerdevelopment—UnitedStates. I. Title. II. Title:Twenty-
fivewaystomakecollegepayoff.
LC1037.5.C684 2007
378(cid:2).013—dc22 2007006947
(cid:2)2007BillCoplin
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This book is dedicated to my students past and
present and their parents.
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
25WaystoMakeCollegePayOff xiv
PARTONE:ThreeGoalsforCareer SuccessThroughCollege 1
Chapter1: Skills 3
Chapter2: Character 8
Chapter3: CareerExploration 17
PARTTWO:BuildingaGoodRelationshipwithYourChild 27
Chapter4: Focus,Focus,Focus 29
Chapter5: TheGoldilocksPrinciple 39
Chapter6: APlanIsaBeautifulThing 53
PARTTHREE:TheHighSchoolYearsasCareerPreparation 63
Chapter7: IsYourChildCollegeMaterial? 65
Chapter8: Get CollegeCreditsinHighSchool 77
Chapter9: TheApplicationProcessasaCareer-DevelopmentTest 88
Chapter10: Choosing aCollegeBasedonCareerMission 96
v
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vi Contents
PARTFOUR:Academics:The50-50Principle 111
Chapter11: The LimitsofAcademic CourseWork 113
Chapter12: BewareofAcademicOverachievement 125
Chapter13: Transferring IsLikeMovingtoaNew House 135
Chapter14: Graduation:Early,On Time,Late,orNever 141
PARTFIVE:TheOther50Percent 151
Chapter15: The CollegeofHardKnocks 153
Chapter16: Student Activities 161
Chapter17: JobsDuringtheAcademicYear 173
Chapter18: Summer IsaTimeforReal-WorldLearning 182
Chapter19: Get offCampusforatLeastOneSemester 193
Chapter20: LookElsewhere forSkill-DrivenCourses 200
PARTSIX:Post-CollegePaths 209
Chapter21: GraduateSchoolShouldNotBeaDefaultOption 211
Chapter22: SecuringThatFirstJob 223
Chapter23: SucceedingintheWorkplace 239
Index 251
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Preface
‘‘Letthebuyerbeware.’’
—EnglishtranslationoftheLatinlegaltermcaveatemptor
A father of a college sophomore approached me for help starting a support
group called No Basement-Dwelling Grads. Having seen other families find
their empty nests occupied by children who do ‘‘well’’ in college but are
unabletogetjobs,hedidn’twantittohappentohimandhischildren.
He hadgoodreasontoworry.Herearesomegruesomefacts:
■ About 46 percent of college freshmen will not graduate from four-
yearprogramsinsixyears.1
■ About60percentofcollegegraduatessaytheyplantolivewiththeir
parentsaftergraduation.2
■ Only 20 percent of the 450 business and political leaders in a 2004
survey said yes when asked whether schools are preparing students
tomeetemployers’needs.3
Who’s responsible for the swarms of overqualified, underemployed,
still-living-with-mom-and-dad twentysomethings? Well, there are the pro-
fessorswholovetheirsubjectsmorethantheirstudentsandcollegeadminis-
trators who are more interested in winning research grants and filling seats
than educating undergrads. Many critics (and victims) of this consistent
failure have been given a voice over the past decade by state and federal
politicianswhohaveissuedreportsandproposedlegislationtoholdcolleges
anduniversities accountableforhighcostsandlow achievement.
vii
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viii Preface
Althoughcollegesanduniversitiescoulddoamuchbetterjobofhelping
undergraduates pursue satisfying careers after college, students don’t seem
toknowhowtogetthemostoutoftheircollegeeducations.Parentspaying
the freight need to provide guidance to their children on how to make the
collegeyearspayoff.
I’mnotsayingundergraduateeducationdoesmoreharmthangoodfor
its students. But I know it could do a lot better. And as a parent, you can
help your child use his entire college experience, not just the courses, to
prepare for a satisfying career. You can maximize your child’s opportunity
to find and pursue a satisfying career path after college by following the
adviceprovidedinthisbook.
This booksuggests ano-nonsense approachtoward yourchild’s college
experience. That meansno nonsense with your child and no nonsense with
the college program. You may find it difficult to follow all of the book’s
recommendations, and you may disagree with specific suggestions; like any
self-help book, you can pick and choose from the advice provided here. If
nothing else, it will show you how seeing college as a chance to gain work-
related experience is the key to preparing your child for a successful career.
But I recommend following through on the specific strategies at the end of
each chapter.Theywillmakeahugedifferenceinyourchild’ssuccess.
I developed and tested the tips in this book during my forty years of
student advising, lots of research, and interviews with some of the nation’s
mostprominentemployers.ButtheyarealsoadviceIgavemyownchildren.
Now in their late thirties and early forties, they each had a different college
experience, but all found worthwhile work and happy lives. I will give you
some detailsonthem andtheirspousesinchapter3.
Ifnothingelse,Ihopethisbookhelpsyouandyourchildbecomebetter
consumers of undergraduate education with respect to career preparation.
There are other purposes for a college education: Children need to mature,
have a good time, become good citizens, and learn for the sake of learning.
But this book’s focus is on helping parents help their children prepare for
rewarding careers after college—the number-one reason parents pay as
muchas$200,000forafour-yearundergraduateprogram.
I decided to write this book for parents rather than students for a very
simple reason. In discussing my previous book, 10 Things Employers Want
You to Learn in College, with parents, I realized that writing directly to stu-
dents was not enough. Students rarely read the book; their parents and
relatives did. Moreover, I realized that parents approach their children in a
varietyofcounterproductiveways.It’sasifthey’reattheracetrackspending
money and watching from the sidelines. Their primary activities are cheer-
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Preface ix
ingforhighgradesorlettinglooseatorrentoffour-letterwords whentheir
children appear to be faltering. Parents have to become investors, not gam-
blers, intheirchildren’scollegeeducations.
Thebookisdivided intosixsections:
■ PART ONE: Three Goals for Career Success Through College.
Thissectiondescribesthethreegoalsthatyourchildshouldhavetoprepare
foraviablecareerpathaftercollege.Thethreegoalsareto(1)developskills
employers want, (2) build the character employers want, and (3) explore a
varietyofcareerpaths.
■ PARTTWO:BuildingaGoodRelationshipwithYourChild.This
section describes how you can establish a working relationship with your
child to support his career preparation during the college years. The advice
recognizes that you can’t make your child do anything, but you can coach
himtobesuccessful.
■ PARTTHREE:TheHighSchoolYearsasCareerPreparation.This
section provides suggestions on what parents should do during the years
before college, including the application and college-selection process. If
yourchildisalreadyincollege,youcanskimthissection,butyoumaygain
some insight into his college performance by looking back on his high
schoolyearsthroughthelens providedby thesechapters.
■ PART FOUR: Academics: The 50-50 Principle. This section de-
scribes the academic component of a college education. It shows why aca-
demicsconstitutenomorethan50percentofyourchild’scollegeeducation
with respect to his career preparation. It also provides answers to other
academicquestionsrelatingtogradepointaverage(GPA),transferring,and
graduatingearly.
■ PART FIVE: The Other 50 Percent. This section provides ideas on
howyourchildshouldusehercollegeyearstodevelopskills,buildcharacter,
and explore careers by engaging in activities outside of the classroom. I
discuss the vital importance of student activities, jobs, internships, and the
career-services office as well as the key roles these things can play if your
childusesthem intelligently.
■ PART SIX: Post-College Paths. Graduate school should not be a
default option. This section shows how the twenties can be used by your
child to hone skills, enhance character, and discover a career while earning
enoughtoliveon hisown.
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