In Brian’s junior year of high school, he was determined to become a petroleum engineer, the highest-paid field of engineering. This was fueled by his love of science and math as well as successfully navigating a college-level first-year engineering course while still in high school. His Midwest family set out on a whirlwind tour of Texas engineering schools. Not much later, he abandoned petroleum engineering that would take him far from home then set his sights on general engineering at schools closer to home.
At the start of the senior year, he applied to selective schools in-state where he was likely to be admitted, but by February he had again changed his mind on his major to pharmacy. This family had utilized LEAP for essay development, but nothing further. When they explained the vacillating journey to a college major, I inquired whether they knew pharmacy would be a 6-year program, PCAT testing, and applications in the sophomore year with a possible transfer to a school where he gains entry to the PharmD program. They were shocked.
At this point, they applied the breaks and asked for a Fit 2 Flourish College Major-Career Coaching Consult before paying a deposit at his future college. His coaching investment with LEAP was about 1/3 the cost of textbooks for a year in college, or better stated 1% of one year’s Cost of Attendance at the average in-state school- .25% of the total cost of college at your typical in-state college investment.
As it turns out, Brian’s scientifically based coaching showed he was about a 4% match on future career satisfaction if he became an engineer and 25% as a pharmacist and other healthcare-related fields. Bottom-line is there are much better matches for Brian which highlight his aptitude for math and scientific problem-solving skills. He changed course a third time and enrolled in a top business program.
His results saved this family approximately $75,000 in future costs. Wonder how? Watch our video on how we calculate the astronomically high cost of the switching majors which will likely lead to a 5th unplanned year of college.
Choosing a College Major That Sticks from Lisa Marker-Robbins on Vimeo.