How many young people will go off to college this fall with the hope of figuring out what they want to do with their lives? Today, many colleges are requiring the selection of a major as part of the application process. Among the most hated questions other than “when are you going to get married?” is the dreaded “what are you going to major in?” followed by the most hated of them all “what are you going to do with your life?”

Education and Career Consulting

Unfortunately, this is a very common situation, as concluded in a study by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development – Rutgers University, “While they are satisfied with their decision to attend college and graduate with a four-year degree, three-quarters of college graduates said they would do something different if they could start college over again. (See Figure 14.) Large percentages said they would have been more careful about their choice of major (48%), done more internships or worked part time (47%), and started looking for work sooner before finishing college (38%).”

Source: “Unfulfilled Expectations: Recent College Graduates Struggle in a Troubled Economy”
By Jessica Godofsky, M.P.P., Cliff Zukin, Ph.D., Carl Van Horn, Ph.D.
May 2011
http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/Work_Trends_May_2011.pdf

All the best,
Bernard and Lee
Foundations of Brilliance, Inc.
An International Education and Career Consulting Company