Finding the Right Postsecondary Fit Using College Majors 11th Grade Advisory Activity UNIT 8: Finding the Right Postsecondary Fit ACTIVITY 1: Using College Majors GRADE: 11 Learning Target: The students will identify colleges based on their college majors of interest. Opening: 5 minutes – The advisor begins by reminding students that they have recently spent time envisioning their future selves. Earlier in the year they took a Career Interest Profiler, and they identified careers of interest. The advisor asks them to keep that information in mind, and says that choosing a college can be easier if they have an idea about what they want as a career, and possible majors related to that career. Note to Advisors: Some of your Juniors will have already taken Career Exploration. In this course they have done all of the assessments on MCIS, researched careers and colleges. All of the activities and website references in this presentation are DIFFERENT than what was used in Career Exploration. This will give Juniors the opportunity to compare and have more resources to reinforce the choices that they are considering for careers and college.

Websites & Apps: Finding Colleges There are many websites and free Apps that help students connect their majors of interest with colleges College Board: Big Future Peterson’s College Search SchoolGuides.com ACT.org Activity: 20 minutes – Slide 2: The advisor explains that there are many websites and even Apps that can help students connect their majors of interest with colleges: 1) College Board: Big Future 2) Peterson’s 3) College Search 4) SchoolGuides.com 5) ACT.org

Peterson’s College Search Slide 3: The advisor shows an example. Students can go to Peterson’s College Search website and search by state, major, and type of degree. This sample student selected Minnesota, accounting, and a two year associate’s degree.

Accounting: Associate’s Degree Slide 4: The advisor shows that Peterson’s identified 24 colleges in Minnesota that have an accounting associate’s degree program. Students can refine that list further using tuition, student population, and setting. Peterson’s has a free College Guide App. The advisor should ask any of the students if they have downloaded any college search or test prep apps.

College Search Website Slide 5: The advisor shows students another example using the College Search website. The sample student selects culinary/chef as a college major.

Culinary/Chef Colleges Slide 6: The advisor explains that College Search identified 618 colleges and universities in the U.S. that have a Culinary/Chef major. Tell the students they should try searching several of the sites using different criteria.

Examples: Colleges and their Unusual or Strong Majors Anoka Tech: Automotive, Computers, Electrical Engineering Itasca Community College: Nursing, American Indian Studies Carleton College: Science, Liberal Arts, Computer Science Gustavus Adolphus College: Sciences, Art, Political Science University of Minnesota: Business, Education, Computer Science Julliard School: Music, Dance Iowa State University: Agriculture, Veterinary, Engineering Howard University: Science, Liberal Arts, Afro-American Studies University of Southern California: Accounting, Cinematic Arts University of Hawaii-Hilo: Agriculture, Biology, Performing Arts New York University: Fashion Design, Math, Journalism Slide 7: The advisor explains that not all colleges have all majors. Generally the larger a college is, the wider variety of majors it offers. The advisor says that most colleges have a stronger reputation in some majors than others, and it is helpful to ask people working in a field you are interested in where they would suggest you go to study that major. As an example, the colleges listed below have less common or particular strong majors in the listed fields (many other colleges offer strong programs in these fields, and these colleges also have other strong majors–this is simply a sample, and schools may tailor this list to their region):

Interview a Partner What are your careers of interest? Do you know any colleges that have good majors for that field? If so, what are those colleges? Where do you want to go to college? Why? In or out of state? Warm or cold weather? Urban, Suburban, Rural What size college are you interested in? Large, medium-sized, or small student body What type of college do you want to attend? Public, Private, Religious, Military Slide 7: The advisor tells students that even if they have a major in mind, they have to choose from among the colleges with that major. A number of factors have to do with personal preferences, and while they may not know the answer now, they are important aspects to think about. The advisor asks students to select a partner and interview them using the following questions: 1) What are your careers of interest? 2) Do you know any colleges that have good majors for that field? If so, what are those colleges? 3) Where do you want to go to college? Why? In or out of state? Warm or cold weather? Urban, suburban, or rural location? 4) What size college are you interested in? Large, medium-sized, or small student body? 5) What type of college do you want to attend, such as public, private, religious, or military? The majority of time should be spent on the first questions that focus on careers and majors, but the additional questions remind students of other factors they have discussed. Closure: 5 minutes – The advisor informs the students that it is fine if they do not know a specific major now, and “undecided” is often the most popular major among incoming freshman. However, narrowing down fields of interest will help make sure the college they choose has options that will satisfy their goals. The advisor concludes by saying they will spend the next three sessions looking at other elements of finding the right postsecondary fit to help them find the right college.