Below is a parent roadmap for helping your student make focused, informed, and confident choices.

Build Career Awareness Early

Most teenagers know only a few jobs—usually the ones they see around them. Before building a college list, help your student explore the wider world of work.

Action Steps for Parents

• Start with self-assessment. Have your student take an aptitude or career assessment. These tools highlight reasoning, communication, and problem-solving strengths.
• Encourage short interviews. Ask friends or alumni to share what they do at work and how they got there. Real conversations make careers feel tangible.
• Support hands-on exploration. Job shadowing, part-time work, volunteering, or short internships can clarify fit. Even a week in a professional setting can spark insight.
• Reflect together. Ask: What came easily? What required extra effort? What would you like to do again? Reflection turns experiences into direction.

Helping your teen identify their aptitudes early sets the foundation for smarter college and major decisions later.

Choose a Major That Matches Aptitudes and Opportunities

The best majors align what a student naturally does well with programs that prepare them for careers that fit. Students who use their strengths tend to stay motivated and graduate on time.

How to Guide This Step

• Review degree plans. Read through course lists to see what the major actually involves. The idea of a subject often differs from the day-to-day work.
• Compare program focus. Two colleges may offer the same major but teach it differently. Some focus on research, others on applied skills.
• Explore real-world outcomes. Look at where graduates from that major work and what roles they hold.
• Discuss job outlook and earning potential. Awareness is useful, even if it is not the deciding factor.
• Encourage combination paths. Many students pair majors and minors to blend interests, such as data science with marketing or public health with business.

If your student is unsure, look for colleges that support exploration through first-year seminars, career advising, and flexible major pathways.

Research Colleges with Intention

Choosing a college is not about prestige. It is about fit. Students thrive where programs, people, and opportunities align with their goals.

Make the Search More Effective

• List top priorities. Have your teen identify five must-haves: strong programs, affordability, class size, location, or campus vibe.
• Start with academics. Begin on each college’s Academics page. Review programs, degree maps, and internship opportunities.
• Explore support systems. Look for advising, tutoring, and career centers that guide students from day one.
• Investigate outcomes. Ask about internship rates, job placement, and graduate school success.
• Compare environments. Discuss whether your student learns best in small settings or large lecture halls.
• Track research. Use a shared spreadsheet to record impressions, questions, and potential next steps.
• Ask purposeful questions on visits.
• How do students connect to internships?
• What is the advising process for undecided students?
• What are recent graduates doing now?

Focused research helps your student find colleges where they can thrive, not just attend.

Use Digital Tools Wisely

Digital resources can bring colleges to life. Used well, they provide real insight. Used carelessly, they can create confusion or false expectations.

Practical Ways to Use Online Tools

• Follow a range of voices. Encourage your teen to follow both official college accounts and student-run pages. Official pages show what the college values; student pages reveal day-to-day reality.
• Watch student-created content. Videos about campus life, classes, and internships give a sense of culture. Watch together and ask, “Does this look like a place where you would fit?”
• Use LinkedIn for research. Have your teen look up alumni from specific majors to see where they work and how they got there.
• Join virtual events. Colleges offer online sessions with professors, advisors, and students. These can be more informative than large campus tours.
• Be cautious with comparisons. Remind your student that social media shows highlights, not the full picture. Encourage them to check facts directly with admissions offices.

Digital tools are most valuable when they lead to questions, not quick judgments.

Focus on Discovery, Not Perfection

Even with strong preparation, most students will adjust their plans once they start college. That is healthy. The key is to help them see discovery as progress, not failure.

How to Support This Mindset

• Normalize uncertainty. Tell your student it is okay not to have everything figured out. Curiosity matters more than certainty.
• Encourage exploration. Suggest they take one or two courses outside their comfort zone each semester. Exposure leads to insight.
• Build reflection into the routine. After classes or internships, ask, “What came easily?” and “What felt forced?”
• Help them recalibrate. If a path feels off, guide them to analyze why. Was it the subject, workload, or environment?
• Connect them with mentors. Encourage relationships with professors, advisors, or professionals who can offer perspective.
• Celebrate growth. Recognize moments of learning, not just accomplishments. Awareness is a sign of maturity.

Students who view college as a process of discovery rather than perfection adapt more easily, stay confident, and make better long-term choices.

The Cost of Not Doing Enough Research

Skipping this step is costly. Many students make choices too quickly and later change direction, which can lead to extra semesters and higher expenses.

Key Facts

• One-third of bachelor’s degree students change majors at least once.
• About 10 percent switch more than once.
• Over half of math majors, 40% of natural science majors, and half of engineering majors change fields.
• Nearly 1.2 million students transferred in 2024, representing 13% of continuing undergraduates, a 4.4% increase from the year before.

Behind those numbers are students who did not know enough about their programs or schools before enrolling.

How to Help Your Student Avoid This

• Confirm every college on the list offers strong programs in their intended field.
• Review sample course plans before applying.
• Ask how easy it is to switch majors within the university.
• Encourage your teen to talk with current students or recent alumni.
• Discuss the potential time and cost of changing directions.

A few extra hours of research now can save months of frustration later.

The Bottom Line

Today’s students are approaching college with focus and purpose. They want more than a degree. They want direction.

Parents can help by encouraging exploration, grounding decisions in data, and asking thoughtful questions that build self-awareness.

Ask your student often:

Does this choice use your strengths and move you toward the kind of life you want to build?

If the answer is yes, they are already on the right path.