College selection - a nightmare for parents

Faculty selection, entrance exam and children's professional future after high school it's a great challenge for every parent. Professional orientation and faculty choice conversations create anxiety and fear of making the wrong choice.

In addition, the period when our education system requires such an important decision is the period of transition from adolescence to adulthood. This change additionally makes the whole situation even more stressful. For this reason, it is necessary, above all, to encourage high school graduates to have confidence in themselves and that there is always a solution.

What should be taken into account?

• Make a choice. - Your place is crucial in helping your child make the right choice. However, parents convey, sometimes unconsciously, their vision of the business world, the outcome of studies and the future of certain professions. Although it may not look great from your point of view, be careful not to discourage children. It is necessary to talk about work and career, but also to be open to domains that you do not know enough about, because maybe they represent the future of your child.

„When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down 'happy'. They told me I didn't understand the assignment, and I told them they didn't understand life..“  – John Lennon

• The role of parents . - Your role is, above all, to lead a dialogue, to get carefully acquainted with the tastes, joys and difficulties of future students. Listen to them carefully and ask them questions to find out exactly what they want and encourage them to get acquainted with something new or less familiar. However, keep in mind that it is about their life and their career and emphasize to them that the final decision should be made by them, and that you are always there to help them as much as you can.
• The graduate makes the final decision. - If your graduate is absolutely sure what wants to study, the parent must accept the child's choice, whatever it may be. If you try to change something by force, you can only achieve a counter-effect. Your child can always say:

"This is what you wanted me to study, I never wanted that, so I can't pass the exam or I didn't finish college."

• Always prepare several options . - If the one you wanted the most fails, there is always an alternative. There are also very good private faculties, and the possibility of transferring from one faculty to another. You can also see which ones on our blog differences exist between public and private colleges.

• Get well informed - talk to teachers, explore different possibilities, visit student fairs, websites, career guidance counselors, orientation tests, etc.
• Give children time to think about their projects and their choices. In the end, do not be afraid of wrong decisions, there is always the possibility to change the faculty or study program. Reduce the pressure by encouraging them that nothing is terrible, even if they do not pass the entrance exam for the faculty where they applied. This entrance exam may be valid for another faculty (many faculties recognize entrance exams from other faculties). In the end, you can always try next year, and in the meantime, prepare well and think about other possibilities.