If you are looking to protect yourself and your loved ones in case of an accident or emergency, your best option would be to look into top life and health insurance companies. If your goal is to safeguard your house, you would most likely choose Trex Fencing and one of its high-performance, perennial beauty seclusion solutions.
Family health and home safety, arguably the two most important things in life. If we were to name a third, it would be education, the schooling, coaching, and preparation we give our children. After all, a good education is an integral component of a person’s life, oftentimes a determining factor in whether people achieve success, or they fail.
But how can we as parents make the best decision, especially when it comes to choosing a college or university and a major? How can we give our kids the independence they deserve while at the same time providing useful guidance?
There are no right and wrong answers to these questions. In most cases, we should simply do what we think is best and let the chips fall where they may. Still, here are a few tips we could consider.
Finding the Right Fit
Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Oxford are all excellent schools. According to studies, they are four of the five best universities in the world. Others include the University of Chicago, Tokyo University, and King’s College in London. If you were to speak to HR managers and recruiters at the leading global corporations, nobody would argue against your child attending one of them.
But that doesn’t mean he has to, even if he manages to get accepted. A graduate of Harvard Law School will earn more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in his first year as a paralegal in a big city law firm. If he decides to join a consulting firm like McKinsey or Boston Consulting or an investment bank like Goldman Sachs, his salary won’t be much lower.
But what if that’s not what your son wants? What if his true love is painting and the right fit for him is a smaller school closer to home? As we can see, the right fit is something unique to every person. Thus, the key lies in helping your child explore different options and look at various curricula and campuses before deciding what is best for him.
Thinking Long Term
If you love New York City and are planning to get married, raise a family, and settle there permanently, a wise choice would be to enroll at Cornell, Columbia, or New York University. There are plenty of reasons for this.
First, it will be easier to get a job once you graduate. Many companies tend to hire locals before people from the outside. Second, if you are considering a Master’s or post-graduate degree, you can save money. More often than not, colleges have a three-tier tuition system for same-city students, state residents, and out-of-state learners. Finally, you can get a head start on your dream life. Four years is more than enough time to realize whether a city is what you thought it was or you should move somewhere else.
Thinking long-term also entails researching what public services and infrastructure your city of choice has to offer. For example, New York City has some of the best hospitals and financial institutions in the world. It also boasts a wide variety of entertainment choices including international cuisines, the theater in Broadway, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum, and a long list of sporting and music events.
Passion and Practicality
We have taken a look at two important pointers on helping your kids choose the right university. Now let us look at the topic of majors.
When trying to decide what major to choose, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Do you want to study something you can use at work? As odd as it might seem, in countries like Japan, most students’ areas of study are very different from the career choices they make.
- Are you choosing a major in an area you love or one that you think will make you the most money?
- Does your major fall in line with your core values? For instance, if your priorities are to help people, you could major in education, nursing, or police work.
- Are you willing to dedicate four years of your life to learn about this?
- Have you already listened to the advice of parents, student counselors, relatives, and friends?
By asking yourself these questions, you will gain a clear understanding of what you wish to study.
The key to choosing the right school and major lies in finding the right fit, maintaining a long-term perspective, and balancing passion and practicality. Once you’ve considered these, your choice will be much clearer and straightforward. It will also be the best one.
