#119 How to Change Your College Major Successfully with Kaci Kortis Transcript

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPT… PLEASE FORGIVE THE TYPOS & GRAMMAR! xo-Lisa.

Lisa Marker Robbins 00:49

Choosing a college major feels monumental. And while I’ve worked with 1000s of teens who figure it out while they’re still in high school, other students find themselves reevaluating their choice once they’re immersed in their college coursework. Some students even head to college without a defined path, hoping to figure it out once they arrive on campus. Que se Cortez is a seasoned academic and transition advisor at the University of Cincinnati, who specializes in guiding students in college major choices. In this episode, Casey will share her insights on starting the college and career exploration process early advice for students who began to wonder if they’re in the right major, and how to utilize on campus support effectively if your child is contemplating a major change, we’ll discuss the potential impact on graduation timelines, cost of attendance and options that may no longer be available to your student once they’ve started college. I’m excited to have a guest from higher ed with cases experience with students in transition, who can offer a unique perspective on navigating the complexities of aligning one’s academic path with personal and professional aspirations on the path to college graduation. Whether your teen is in high school, pondering their future or a current college student questioning their chosen path. This conversation is filled with valuable advice and strategies for making informed decisions. I’m Lisa marker Robbins, and I want to welcome you to College and Career Clarity it flourish coaching production. Let’s dive right into a great conversation.

Lisa Marker Robbins 02:33

Casey Cortez, welcome to the show.

Kaci Kortis 02:36

Thank you glad to be here.

Lisa Marker Robbins 02:38

I I’m just I love all my guests, and I love all of our episodes. But since we decided to do this back at the beginning of the year, this is probably for the first half of the year, like the most looking forward to it episode like the most excited, because it’s, I feel like you if we could work you out of a job?

Kaci Kortis 03:02

Yes, that would be the ideal situation if they came to you and figured it all out first. Yeah.

Lisa Marker Robbins 03:08

Or even I don’t even care if they all I mean, of course, I want to work with all of them. But like, if high school students could just figure out their path. Because you and I know that it’s possible, you would be out of a job. Because you help confused college students. You work at the University of Cincinnati. That is correct. Or my daughter’s a senior that is not how we met, by the way. All my listeners we did meet on LinkedIn.

Kaci Kortis 03:34

Yes, we did. And out of contacts. Yeah, seriously.

Lisa Marker Robbins 03:39

And I think, you know, high school students always underestimate we have a module a lesson in the course that helps them build out their LinkedIn profile, because there’s so many advantages to it, we use it to learn about careers and universities and, and, and build your network. And you and I naturally, like really quickly gain traction, like you know, you’re likeable. And we have the same passion. And so we met on LinkedIn people, we do not know each other. We live in the same city, nowhere near each other because we live in a major metropolitan area we’d never would have met if it weren’t for LinkedIn. Correct. And so when I say the dream would be that you don’t have a job. It’s because you have your A, what will we say your you help students facilitate an academic change, like, tell us right I do at UC.

Kaci Kortis 04:34

So I work with students in transition. So that could mean a student that is changing majors that could be a student that is changing campuses, that could be a visiting student that is testing the waters or just coming here to transfer something back. So all those students in transition, and sometimes it’s a little bit of academic crisis, because it’s the first time they’ve had to think about what do I really want to do? So it’s really great conversations that we have Do we have a team of advisors that work with students and at any stage of their college career, so it could be as a freshman, it could be a junior, who suddenly realizes, they don’t know that their path is really what they want. So talking through their options is what our office does.

Lisa Marker Robbins 05:16

Okay, so now my listeners understand why with what I do for a living. My goal, and actually your you said, your goal, too, would be that your job’s not needed. Well,

Kaci Kortis 05:27

and I come from a high school teaching background. So I know a little bit about where they’re coming from. And, you know, I have a school counseling degree as well. So I know that it’s a lot of pressure in that high school time period, it would be great if they could slow down and have some of the same conversations that we’re having two or three years later in that early stage. So I would love if every student would be able to have that kind of conversation before they came to use the.

Lisa Marker Robbins 05:55

So when somebody lands in your office, and and I want to say to like, you’re currently working with college students who say like, I would say, You gave us like different groups, but the vast majority of them are, they’re a University of Cincinnati student who is in a major, and they’ve decided it’s not for them, and they want to switch majors, right? That’s the majority of them. You also previously have worn the hats of an academic advisor. So just stopping. And for our listeners who don’t know what an academic advisor is at the college level, because maybe their oldest is a junior in high school right now. And they’re like, what, what does that job? What are those people do?

Kaci Kortis 06:41

So prior to coming over to the office, I’m currently in I worked with exploratory students as an academic advisor. So what I would do is I would meet with them at orientation, we talk about their interests and what they’re thinking about doing, and help craft a schedule that let them kind of taste test different majors before they move forward and declare a major. So an academic advisor is the person who sits down talks with a student and helps them plan their path forward. Typically, an academic advisor is going to be in a certain major, and have a little bit more specialty in that major college. My role, though, is exploratory. So students that weren’t quite sure yet what they wanted to do. So a little bit different, but all with the same goal of getting students to graduation, and being that support and resource as needed. So

Lisa Marker Robbins 07:29

these, let’s start with these exploratory kids, they come in. So on their Cincinnati application, which does ask you to you can apply directly into the major at UC. Correct. And so these are kiddos, who, when they were phased in their common app application, Cincinnati said, What major Are you applying to? And they’re like, I don’t know, we’re gonna figure it out. When I get there. They would mark Exploratory Studies. Yes.

Kaci Kortis 07:57

So if a student is not sure what they want to do many colleges, universities will have an exploratory or an undecided major, that allows students to come in and take some more general classes. And this is why it’s important to work with a an advisor. So you know that you’re meeting some criteria as you’re moving along and exploring. There’s often sometimes students that maybe didn’t get into a competitive major, but they’re still looking at UC for other options. They just don’t know what that other option is yet. So there’s a lot of different types of students with an exploratory it’s one of the larger majors because of that, because at 18, it’s a little intimidating to think about what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. So we work with the students to help them feel comfortable, and normalize what that’s going to look like. Moving forward.

Lisa Marker Robbins 08:45

Two things that you said, as you were speaking, that came to mind number one, and I think this is really just a disclaimer for you and me who are very seasoned in this area. You said at use, you said that you say we have Exploratory Studies, many colleges do. So let’s first of all, say not all colleges have Exploratory Studies, like correct, you’re gonna give us examples today. How things work at your institution? Correct? You’ve only worked at one higher ed institution. So you can’t speak to other schools? Nope. Which is very common. And so the families need to be wise consumers, they need to do their homework and kind of our conversation is going to give them some ideas of questions that they can go out and ask other you know, you hope that they’ll look at you see, I think personalities a fantastic. Yes, absolutely. But if they aren’t interested in you see, they can still take all the information from this episode and craft the conversations that they need to be having with the other colleges.

Kaci Kortis 09:48

Yes. And so at UC we have exploratory studies. We also have an office like mine that has advisors willing to meet with students who are changing But that isn’t necessarily the case at every institution. And that’s why you want to look to see what type of services they have. Do they have an undecided major? Do they have someone in advising unit maybe centrally that’s willing to work with a student to figure out their path? Or their career advisors? Maybe at that institution? Is there someone your student can talk to if they get in and realize, Oh, this isn’t for me. And it you see, we’re lucky enough to have two offices, depending on the student if they’re exploratory or changing, that we can meet with them to do that. But as you know, not everybody has that type of service. So it’s important to look at what’s available?

Lisa Marker Robbins 10:37

Well, yeah. And I think that families, they often don’t understand that, you know, like, just because just because the university has a career advising center, or a Transition Center, and they might call it something different, correct. It doesn’t mean that they all do or that they’re created equally, right? Yeah, no, I just recently, I shot a video, actually, I think it’s, we look, oh, it’s over on the on the resources page of our website. So I even I will put the link to this in the show notes. I forget what the tag is to get there quickly. But it flourish coaching co.com, forward slash, I think its numbers is is what it is. I showed them how they could use the college navigator.gov. To see this brings up another point to see like how many kids are graduating in a major because this goes back to the point that just because a university has some something doesn’t mean that it’s what you’re looking for, and you need to do your homework. So just because a University has a biology major, or a college has a biology major doesn’t mean that like if they only graduated to kids in biology, then it’s probably not where you want your kid to go for biology. Right? So just because they have a transitions office, or Exploratory Studies, like dig in deeper and understand what it is that they offer. Right? Correct. And

Kaci Kortis 12:09

that the difference, I would say, with exploratory and just having some other kind of more general support is exploratory advisors are trained for our services on the first two years of almost every program at the University. And so we can help students look and see what the options are for them. Sometimes it’s a more general, Oh, you want this major? And they just know the the very top layer of stuff, but they’re not getting down into the curriculum. And what does time to degree look like? Is it going to add time to your your time in college? Is it going to cost any different? You know, those types of things? What’s the experiential learning going to be like it you see, we have a big experiential learning, you know, Co Op, and that kind of thing. So talking about those different things with your student, and actually, our exploratory advisors, they teach a class called discovering, you see where they go through all of the learning about yourself, because for many students, it might be the first time somebody has walked them through, what are your values? What are your personal interests, those types of things for the first time, so we were chatting, you know, that we would love these conversations to be happening earlier, but sometimes they don’t. And so this is a great resource for students to explore everything that you see through one course. And with the help of that academic advisor as well. So

Lisa Marker Robbins 13:33

you, you ramp, so five different ways. Right? It sounds like a lot of the conversations that you’re having, both in Exploratory Studies, and in your transition role now are a lot of the same conversations

Kaci Kortis 13:49

they are they are in exploratory, I would say is truly a student who is starting at one they don’t know, you know, moving forward, which direction, most of the time transition students are deciding between a couple of options. So maybe they’re thinking business or communication, and we can talk them through what are the differences? Let them know business, you’re gonna need some math, is that, okay? You know, those types of conversations to explore both paths. But really, it’s a conversation. So when they walk into our office, it’s just a conversation, it’s to get things started, there’s no obligation that they have to change. And it’s a

Lisa Marker Robbins 14:30

conversation with you and leave and go like, Oh, you know, what, like, the option I thought would be for me isn’t gonna fit because of XYZ. Correct? Or, Oh, my word I had no idea I’d have to take calculus for to be a business major, which is a true statement, my friends. Yes,

Kaci Kortis 14:47

it is. We see that often with nursing, for example. We’ll have students that say, I just want to help people and then they get in they’re like, this is a lot of science. I didn’t know there’s so much science in nursing. I just want to help people. So We can come back and say, Okay, well, what are some other options for you public health, maybe, or, you know, now that we have more information, and that’s really what it’s all about is gathering the information and implementing it for the student. Yeah,

Lisa Marker Robbins 15:13

um, one of the things that you brought up, which I think really enforce, first of all, one thing I like about this conversation is, I think what we’re doing right now gives, it does give hope. I mean, there are limitations once you’re already in an institution about what you’re going to be able to do. And we’ll talk a little bit more about that. But I want this conversation. Like if a, if a family has a high school student, I wanted to give them tools and inspiration that this is figure out all while a student was still in high school. And it can save you a lot of pain and heartache and money later. And if you have a college student, or your student gets to college, and they get into a little bit of a crisis is figure out double like there are resources. So this is kind of like throw up your hands and go like, Ah, well, it’s a disaster. We quit. Right, right. There are paths forward, there might be some limitations. Right? So one thing that was interesting, I don’t know this about you see, we just did a deep dive research project with the 50 state flagship universities, so that other Ohio School a little bit. So every one of the 50 states has a flagship university here at Ohio State University of Florida University of Georgia, on and on. So we did a deep dive research and we were looking at does your school admit directly to a major? And that was the biggest category of the state flagships? Yes, most universities are admitting, like you see, are admitting students directly into their major, you can secure a spot in your major as a high school senior, then, then there was another category. Well, it’s complicated. Yes, Ohio State was the case. Ohio State’s a complicated one. They’re directed meant to some majors, they’re pre major for other majors. And there are some limitations or some capacity caps and things like that. Right, then? No, was no, we had met him the university but not into their major. That was our smallest category, there were only eight of the 50 schools that say no, we’re not going to admit them to the major. What I found interesting was half of the schools that don’t admit the students to a major and, and even have, like undecided still require the student to tell their intended major.

Kaci Kortis 17:40

Okay, for planning, probably to make sure that there’s space and that kind of, yeah,

Lisa Marker Robbins 17:46

yeah, it was interesting. Like, if the college is asking you, okay, we get that you don’t know. But if you had to know, like, what would it be today, the university is still using that information then. Right? And they won’t be asking. Some

Kaci Kortis 18:00

institutions do things like meta majors. So there’s a certain area that a student would be interested in. And that’s maybe where they would admit to some meta majors, something that’s jargon out there in higher education. So yeah, I could see where that would happen just for planning and class purposes, enrollment, that type of thing. But it used to be a we do direct admit into programs, which gets students into their colleges, and starts that relationship very early. So they are in the College of Engineering and doing all the engineering things so that within a few semesters, they’re co opting and they’re already out there in the field. So there’s different advantages and disadvantages, depending on how you look at it. Yeah.

Lisa Marker Robbins 18:42

Okay, so somebody lands in your office, I really want our listeners to understand like, how this works, because the bottom line is, you’ve got to you’ve got to devote time, to this process of figuring out and this was something I was gonna say earlier, and we went a different direction. It’s not a forever step into work, right? Like you and I were both high school teachers out of college. And I would argue that we’re both still teaching Oh, most definitely, but in a very non traditional sense. And our, our degrees have helped us have the skills to do what we’re doing. So I tell I always share that. So I always say like, I’ve had eight microbe pivots in my and I’m far older than you, but in my my 30 plus years, and in my job but at the heart of it I’m a teacher, that’s the through line so you’re not making a forever decision. You’re making a first decision that if you do it based on self awareness, and to your point you said like you help kids figure out their values, things like that.

Kaci Kortis 19:50

Right. And so I will say same like you I came out of school, I worked at a museum for two years and then I taught for three years and then I came back to grad school and I was in one off Suppose that I move to another office than exploratory. And what I can say with that, just like the students every little bit gives me more information about what my true path and purposes still, at this point moving forward. So as you’re saying, it’s not a one and done thing, you’re always taking in that information. But when a student comes to me, some of the questions I might ask is, okay, you’re in this major, what do you like about it? And what do you not like about it? So let’s start talking about, what I want to make sure of is that a student is not experiencing something like imposter syndrome, where they’re in there, and they’re like, I looked around, and I don’t belong here, when actually they can do it, they need a little bit more support, maybe? Or they took one bad test. And they’re like, Oh, nope, I’m out. I can’t do this, when really, we know that that’s a really hard class, you know, organic chemistry or something. So I want to have that conversation and say, Yeah, everyone’s gonna struggle in this class, you’re doing great, you know, and reinforce, that they can do it if that’s what they’re passionate about. Because sometimes, we you all know, the students that they went through high school, and they didn’t have to study, they were just really good at everything. And for the first time, they’re facing a barrier that they have to overcome. And they don’t know, can I do this? Maybe this isn’t the right major for me, I need to step back. Maybe I need to change to something else. So when I’m talking with a student, I want to have that conversation. Tell me what’s going on? How do you find yourself in this position? Are you thinking about this other major? Because you heard from a friend that? Or have you done research, and looked at it and said, I really don’t like this major, what I’m asking them to do is articulate where they are. Because for some students, they shut down, they’re like, I just want out, and I need to unpack it. Well,

Lisa Marker Robbins 21:49

you I have a girl that I worked with about 10 years ago. And she had been doing this work for about 15 years, and she had done the work in high school and was going into marketing. And it was clear like we give everybody in our college major career coaching course a Berkman assessment. And that yields a report that says your personality DNA looks a lot like the adults who profess that they’re super happy in their job over here, and you look nothing like the people that are happy in these jobs. So right away, you’re kind of funneling it out. So she had made and she had vetted, you know, we’d say, do your online research and then talk to people in the field, do job shadows, like, I know, you and I are telling you ready to do the same. By the way, listeners, that all takes time, they’re either going to have to make the time for it in high school, and they’re still in your house or in college, when they’re a little bit more loosey goosey. They own their time a little bit more having raised a few of those kids, myself. But this girl, she goes to college and she’s a business major. And she gets into econ, I think she was like a macro. And she freaks out and she’s doing horribly in the course. And she was ready to change she they contacted me they’re like, I think my Berkman was wrong. I think I made the wrong decision. And I did what you’re saying, which is like, okay, let’s talk about this. Well, here’s the reality, the career of marketing, you do not have to be proficient in economics. However to earn that degree. Yes, you do. Yes. And so I said, like, get a tutor, like just muscle through who cares if you’re gonna see like, it’s fine, like just muscled through. Which brings me to, you had said earlier, like, sometimes kids don’t realize some of the prereqs Organic Chem or you they gotta take calculus as a business major. Right. But there could be other barriers too, because as you were talking about, like, some majors actually cost more money than other majors. And I don’t think parents necessarily pause to think that. Well, what

Kaci Kortis 24:03

I will say is in terms of cost, there might be a program fee. And that’s usually not wildly different college to college. But there could be a financial aid package that was awarded through your student’s major in college that you need to consider. So that’s something that we often want to talk to students about when they are saying I want to go from A to B, do you have any scholarships that are tied to your major in college, because those likely will not follow you? If it’s a university wide scholarship, you’re probably fine. But there might be financial aid implications of what you were awarded. And then when you move, does that come with you or not? So it’s another step in the process to think about, and then we’re connecting them with those resources. We actually work in the on the same floor as the people they need to talk to so we can get them from point A to point B on the left side. Yes, exactly. On the financial side, so but we want to have that conversation. And to make sure they know that, you know, these are all that, like you said, it takes time, these are all the steps that we need to check. So you don’t realize all of the sudden, wait, that scholarship I had isn’t there anymore? How am I going to pay for this? Because that’s going to have an impact on how you do in your classes, because you’re going to be stressed out. So these are all the larger conversations that we’re having.

Lisa Marker Robbins 25:21

So how often and I know you’re gonna have to spit ball this number. How often do the kids who land in your office end up having to extend their time? You know, as a mom, right? I go, Okay, I had two kids that were headed to college, one that in high school, we knew we were sending into a to a vocational school, he got his construction and carpentry and now he’s teaching that as a living and his 20s. So he, so I wasn’t saving for him. But for the other two, I was like, okay, four years in school times two kids in college, that’s eight years and I have to pay for Thank You, Jesus, I’m done paying for that. And so I’m doing the math, but like, how often does a kid land in your office if they’re now going to be in school five years or six years? Because I know the US Department of Education measures time to completion as six years is normal. And as a mom, I’m like, oh, no, no, no, six years? Four is?

Kaci Kortis 26:27

Right. And it depends on the major. And I’m sure you’ve you’ve talked to other people in higher ed, that’s, that’s an answer we give a lot. It depends. But it does depend, When are they coming to us? Is it the first semester and we can easily pivot? Or are they a junior, and now they want something wildly different, that they’re going to have to change and add on time. So I think it depends on how close it is to what they’re doing, and the timeframe that they come to us if they come to us early. And that’s the importance of working with an advisor, we can help make sure that that path forward is as short as possible. If they’re self advising, which we see sometimes they can get themselves into some trouble. So we want them to work. Yeah, we want them to work with an advisor, your friend might be in the major you want but you need to talk to us rather than your graduate about the classes you need to take. So I It depends. And we want them to work with an advisor so that we can get the best path forward.

Lisa Marker Robbins 27:24

I think to you bring up and we talked I’ve talked about this, I’ve had other guests on where we talk about like Freshman Year Experiences, you know, a lot of universities have courses like that or more kids who have get extended time or some accommodations. Once your student is in college, they have to advocate for themselves, you Casey are not going to go out and find these kids were when the kids were in high school, their special ed teacher would come make sure they’re using their extended time on test or right. So that’s one big difference. They literally have to come now. Are there common majors where you’re like, okay, the doors not even open to that major or it’s barely crack. Like I always think about when I think about undecided exploratory or changing majors. While in college, I picture a door that like when they’re in high school, the doors wide open, right. And I’m sitting here making my arms do all kinds of things on a podcast, but so the doors wide open once they land on campus, the door starts to like close to certain options. And for some options is firmly closed. Right for other options that might be cracked open. And for some it’s still wide open. So where do kids get into like they they land in your office? And I know this is a big one at your university and a lot of universities and they’re they’re a sophomore and they say, oh, I want to be a nurse and they finally figured it out. I want to be a nurse. Right? And that’s going to be very difficult to get into at that. So

Kaci Kortis 29:03

there are some majors that are more difficult to get in than others and require certain coursework nursing for example, here we you have to have a full year of curriculum to apply to that. DAP in? Well DAP is one time a year that they can actually apply. So that’s

Lisa Marker Robbins 29:24

right, you and I are we though it DAP is this sorry. Architecture and Planning. Yes,

Kaci Kortis 29:30

yes, it is very well known throughout. Yes. At UC. Yes, it’s very good. So there’s one time a year that they have their application cycle. So if you have just missed that you might have to wait another year for that. So there’s some of that so that again, this is for that planning intentionality. Talking with people and setting up a plan moving forward is really important because it can be extending your time or closing a door if you’re not seeking those resources out. Yeah.

Lisa Marker Robbins 29:57

You know, as we’re coming In the home plate on this one, which I could keep you probably for another hour, and I’ve talked plenty offline before, too. It’s just fascinating stuff to me. So things I’m walking away with here are a like, you guys are there to help just because someone has a conversation doesn’t mean they have to change their major, but they should be leaning college students, even if they, you know, even if it’s about something else, not necessarily maybe about their major. utilize the resources on your university campus? Yes. vet them from university to university, you know, ask the right questions. Be a wise consumer. People hear me say that all the time, my regular listeners, do we actually, I have a previous podcast episode, it’s number 78 is five essential questions to ask before you apply, and it leans into, I literally give people like the script for for how to do this. So if you were to leave, we got to two ears on this. I think if you were to leave our families with a high school student with a piece of advice, sitting in the seat you do at a major research university, what would it be?

Kaci Kortis 31:11

Start the conversation early, if I know you encourage and start the conversation with the intent to listen to your student, and what their interests and values are. We see a lot of times where a parent might think you’re good at this. So you’ll do you know engineering or business, but really having a conversation to say what are you interested in, you know, leaving the ball in your students court so to speak, that they can tell you what they’re interested in? And also talking about values? I can’t tell you how many times a freshman class that I would teach, we’d say what are your values? And they’re like, it’s they haven’t thought about it before they have family values, but as an individual, what are their values? And then how does that lead to what their profession might be? So starting the conversation early, having the conversation, looking at majors using resources, like what you provide, to start that conversation, those are all great things to start. And that way the student knows the conversation is open with their parent, and they can continue as they look at colleges,

Lisa Marker Robbins 32:12

I always say, you know, I’m a very outspoken person, and I do for a living. And when I was raising my kids, and even now our five kids are all adults 22 to 32. It’s really hard when we do know a lot as parents. But these kids are trying to forge their independence. And I always advise the families that their teens are inside my college major and career coaching course, if you are getting ready to make a statement, or give a directive to your teenager or young adult, pause and rewarded as a question and I think that leads to the listening that you’re saying like we’re really like, it’s that’s a strategy to get to the heart of what you’re advising. Okay, now, what if we have a listener? And they’re like, Okay, my second kid still in high school? Great. I can do some of this now. And you Casey just described my college student who is college major and career confused? What would your advice be to those families? Because I’ve heard a lot of hope in here. But like, yes, yeah. What do you leave them with?

Kaci Kortis 33:17

It’s normal. I always ask parents to think about when they were 18? And are they doing the thing they thought at 18 they’d be doing? And most most parents go, oh, wait, they start to remember what it was like. So normalizing a little bit, and then also walking your student through. Okay, well, what resources do we have to start the process of exploring your options? So exploring and gathering information is that next step, because they could think I don’t know if this was right for me. And then after exploring realized, wait, I am in the right, right space. So I think just calmly going forward and normalizing. Okay, I hear you, let’s start to gather. What do you like about your major? What do you not like about your major and finding that resource on their campus, that they can start working with an advisor moving forward?

Lisa Marker Robbins 34:06

I love that. You’re encouraging, like, dig in to figure it out. But you know, what, you might figure out that you were in the right place, all along? Correct. So it doesn’t mean parents just because they’re having a few doubts that, oh, my goodness, we got to make this major change. Like, no, let’s figure out if a change is even necessary, and then figure out what’s possible.

Kaci Kortis 34:28

So I’ll give you an example of a student who wanted to change their major to psychology because they wanted to be a psychiatric nurse, not realizing you have to be a nurse first. And then yeah, so that’s one where they didn’t think they were in the right major, but they were. So these are key examples of having that conversation because they may not know what they don’t know. So exploring, and

Lisa Marker Robbins 34:53

I don’t know, I mean, they know what their parents do for a living but they just don’t know what careers are out there. You And that’s part of the process so

Kaci Kortis 35:02

and the job they want may not exist yet. So yeah, that’s a whole nother conversation about, you know, moving forward. There’s a lot of new jobs out there and exploring may help to uncover one that’s right for them.

Lisa Marker Robbins 35:13

And you never know like, I still say like, I teach an online course with live support. That wasn’t possible 30 years ago. It’s not right. But I’m still using the skills there’s that through line again, correct. of not making verbal yes, not making that forever decision. It’s okay, as a first step into the world of work. I’m sure glad that these kids have you. You are a you’re just a wealth of help and wisdom and hope. I love that. And you and I both wish that your job didn’t even have to.

Kaci Kortis 35:46

But I’m glad that they’re from your end and then we’re on the other end if they’re not. So you know, working together we can get students to their their graduation goals.

Lisa Marker Robbins 35:56

Absolutely. Casey, we I know this is not the last time you’re on this podcast. So I hope you’ll come back. Thank you for carving out time. Thank you for UC for giving your time during your work day to do so. And parents keep doing the work.

Lisa Marker Robbins 36:15

As we wrap up today’s discussion with Casey Cordis, it’s clear that this journey requires patience, understanding and the right resources. Casey’s insights have illuminated the path for parents and students alike, offering a roadmap to navigate the academic and personal challenges that come from transitioning majors. Understanding the complexities of college admission by major can significantly impact your teens future college experience. To further support you, I invite you to access our free comprehensive blueprint to understanding admissions by major. This resource includes data and information for all 50 flagship universities. To give you a deeper understanding of institutional offers and different approaches to admissions by major, our short video guide where I break down the essentials, and student email templates for effective communication. These templates will help you in your team engage with admissions officers effectively asking the right questions about major specific admissions. Find these popular resources at flourish coaching co.com forward slash majors. They’re designed to empower you and your team with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions that align with their academic and career aspirations. Thank you for joining us on this episode of College and Career Clarity. If you found today’s discussion helpful, please consider sharing it with other parents navigating the college planning process with their teams. Your support and following our podcasts rating and reviewing helps us reach and assist more families on their journey to college success.