Before You Pick a Major, Try This First - with Shellee Howard

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 Decide00:21 Meet the Hosts01:22 Vision to Next Steps03:19 Try It to Know It06:46 Athletes and Reality Checks09:26 Passion Versus Paycheck11:17 Choosing a College11:40 What Schools Look For15:13 Beating the Overwhelm20:51 Car Ride Questions21:35 Who Leads the Process23:42 Assessments and Neutral Help25:55 Campus Fit and Tours27:35 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 followerswww.facebook.com/shellee.howard1College Ready Page 4.8k followerswww.facebook.com/CollegeReadyPlanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/collegereadyplan/Youtube: @collegereadyplanhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr_WodPHDfSWEbiPdsRDbyQTikTok: collegereadyplanhttps://www.tiktok.com/@collegereadyplan?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pcGoogle: College ReadyTwitter: https://x.com/GoCollegeReadyDiscussion 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?Thanks for joining me on Confident, Calm, and Clutch Car Ride Conversations! If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a moment. Share it with other parents or coaches who could use a little extra inspiration on the go.For exclusive tips, tools, and updates join my newsletter at www.confidentcalmclutch.com/newsletterFor more specific tips on building mental toughness, buy my book Confident, Calm and Clutch: How to build confidence and mental toughness for young athletes using sports psychologyIf you are a coach looking for ways to build mental toughness into your practices then check out my coaching resources (books, assessments, conversation starters, community and more) here.Parents join my Facebook group to Help Your Athlete Gain Mental Toughness for ParentsHave an idea for a topic? Submit your idea here.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email me: [email protected] Me on:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valstoncoachingInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/valstoncoachingYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@valstoncoaching9666Watch every episode of Car Ride Conversations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOjguEFjF88w5Wl-eA9dlkwLk7f_sI12V