Most high school and college students fall into one of three categories with regard to career:

• They are all set to dive into a specific career path.
• Their career is unknown, but they have a specific subject they really enjoy.
• They have no idea of a career or a subject of special interest.

If you fall into the first category, you may want to investigate the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook to learn what level of education is needed for the career you have chosen, what the job forecast is for that career, and what the job typically pays.

If you are in the second category, you may want to find out what career options you might have if you major in that subject in college.

If you have no idea of a career or subject of interest, it might be best to determine your personality type using a Myers Briggs personality test and then see how the careers for that personality type appeal to you.

Whichever group you are in, it is good to get first hand career exposure for car...more

Here are a few of my favorite college planning reference books and websites organized by category.  What other references do you like and use?

What makes a college right for you - College Match 

College Majors - Book of Majors

College Guides:

• The Princeton Review, The Best 3xx Colleges
• Fiske Guide to Colleges
• America’s Best Colleges for B Students
• Colleges That Change Lives
• Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians and Writers
• The K&W Guide to Colleges for Students with Learning Differences
• Rugg’s Recommendations on the Colleges 
   

College Search Sites:

• http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
• https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/college-search
• http://www.collegedata.com/cs/search/college/college_search_tmpl.jhtml
• http://www.collegexpress.com/lists/ 

Chance for acceptance - Naviance scattergrams from your high school

Financial Aid:

• Financial Aid information- http://www.fina

Four years of college can fly before a student realizes it.  By junior and senior year, that fateful question becomes ever prominent:  what will I do after college?  

For most students, taking the time to work closely with the career center adviser on campus can make this prospect less daunting.  Students should visit their career center and connect with an adviser at least by January of their freshman year.   This is an invaluable step to gain assistance in finding summer internships, employment and even advice on working or studying abroad.  All these steps strengthen the resume and help students learn more about professions for consideration.  Working with an adviser early and consistently each year of college builds a relationship that will pay off with big dividends by senior year, when assistance with the job search is most critical.

If for whatever reason a student does not make those connections, and finds him or herself needing help and...more