How to Pick a College Major & School: Try, Test, and Build a Real Plan
Host Valerie Alston continues her conversation with college-planning expert Shelly Howard about helping students move from a future vision to choosing a major and school. They emphasize building confidence by trying real experiences, shadowing jobs, volunteering, and leadership roles, to discover both what students like and what they don’t, while also gathering stories for applications. They discuss balancing passion with practicality, including return on investment and realistic expectations for careers like professional sports or influencing. Howard outlines key admissions factors: rigorous GPA, aligned test scores, meaningful service, extracurricular depth, leadership, recommendations, and a strong essay, and explains how her “College Ready” village reduces stress by providing a roadmap and support for both students and parents. They close with conversation prompts on who leads the process and what type of college environment fits best.
00:00 Pressure to Decide
00:21 Meet the Hosts
01:22 Vision to Next Steps
03:19 Try It to Know It
06:46 Athletes and Reality Checks
09:26 Passion Versus Paycheck
11:17 Choosing a College
11:40 What Schools Look For
15:13 Beating the Overwhelm
20:51 Car Ride Questions
21:35 Who Leads the Process
23:42 Assessments and Neutral Help
25:55 Campus Fit and Tours
27:35 Wrap Up and Next Week
You can reach Shelley and College Ready Plan on social media here:
Linkedin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelleehoward/
Facebook:
Shellee Maree Howard 5.3K followers
www.facebook.com/shellee.howard1
College Ready Page 4.8k followers
www.facebook.com/CollegeReadyPlan
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/collegereadyplan/
Youtube: @collegereadyplan
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_WodPHDfSWEbiPdsRDbyQ
TikTok:
collegereadyplan
https://www.tiktok.com/@collegereadyplan?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
Google: College Ready
Twitter:
https://x.com/GoCollegeReady
Discussion questions:
- What's something you've always been curious about but haven't tried yet? What would it take to explore it?
- Think about an experience you've had recently. What did it teach you about what you enjoy or don't enjoy?
- If you could shadow anyone's job or spend a day learning from someone, who would it be and why?
- What's one skill (leadership, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, etc.) you want to develop this year, and how could sports help you build it?
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