Goal Matching

January and February are scary and exciting months for high school seniors.  Most of them will receive either their acceptance or rejection letter from the colleges they have applied to in the next few weeks.  (If you are over forty, you are probably thinking it is too early for that, but what we used to call "early acceptance" is now when the majority of students get accepted.  Yeah, we're old.)  There's a lot of celebrating for those who are accepted, with congratulations on Twitter and pictures of acceptance letters on Instagram.  For those who are rejected by their top choices, there are conversations about what to do next.  For some, their top choice is their only choice; so not getting in feels like the end of the world.

I teach at a school where nearly everyone goes to college, so there are a lot of conversations with both seniors and juniors as they contemplate their options.  I have recently found myself having the same conversation multiple times.  It goes something like this:

Student:  I'm not sure I can get into UNC (or some other highly competitive, very expensive school).
Me:  Is there another school that offers what you want to study?
Student: Yeah, but I don't think I can get a job if I go there.
Me:  Have you checked into what those school's placement percentages are?  It's hard to believe that everyone who majors in (student's field of study) there can't get a job.
Student:  No, but I heard UNC is the best for that.
Me:  Where are you thinking about working?  Do they insist on a UNC degree for that?
Student:  I don't know.  I just figured . . . trails off as they realize they haven't done their research.
Me:  You know, I went to ORU.
Student:  I've never heard of that.
Me:  See.  I went to a school you've never heard of, and I've never had a problem getting a job.

The number of times I have had this conversation reveals a belief among students that they must go to the highest end, most competitive, or most expensive university in order to work in their chosen field.  There may be 400 other schools that offer programs in their interests, but they limit themselves to the most difficult one to achieve because of that belief.  The thought has never occurred to them that those 400 schools wouldn't exist if their students didn't get jobs.

Let's get some perspective.  If you want to work at one of those high-end New York law firms that only higher Harvard graduates, then you have to go to Harvard.  If you just want to practice law, there are 205 schools that are approved by the American Bar Association.  You can even find the employment placement stats for all of those schools on the ABA website.  There are almost two thousand accredited nursing schools in the United States, but I have students who insist on putting themselves through the process at UNC-Charlotte because they truly believe it is the only way.  I spent a little time online attempting to find a place that would only hire a nurse trained at UNC-Charlotte, and I was unable to find one.  I do, however, know quite a few working nurses who graduated from Wake Tech's Nursing program.

The key is to match your plans to your goals.  When you visit a college, ask a lot of questions.  I mean, a lot of questions - that's what the guide is there for.  If you are just thinking, "These are pretty buildings," when you make your decision, you aren't going to make the smartest choice.  Some colleges cost as much as buying a house, and you might spend thirty years trying to pay off your student loan debt (Which, by the way, you should pay because you decided to go there and get a degree.  Stop insisting that the college forgive your debt.  They provided a product for a price you agreed to.  They don't owe you anything now; you owe them.  Sorry, soap box.)  There's a pretty good chance that, unless your goals are really extreme, you can go to a much less expensive school and reach your goals without having to live on rice and beans for the first twenty years of adulthood.  You aren't getting married.  You're allowed to change schools.  You will probably change majors because most people do.  If you find your identity in your school, that's idolatry; and you should flee from it.

The best advice I can give (aside from pray for wisdom) is to broaden your scope.  You may discover that there is a school you haven't considered yet where you would absolutely thrive.