Ways To Chart That Post-College Paycheck

Through the current state of human genome mapping, we can now take a small test tube of blood and accurately predict someone's height, weight, age, hair and eye color -- and even what her face looks like.

If biology has progressed that far, is it really possible to project what a college student might make in the job market -- before her first day of freshman orientation? Well, no, not exactly. But it is possible to hit some projected ranges.

It remains a truism that college graduates make $1million more than those who stopped education after high school. But drill down into such data as from the U.S. Census Bureau and there are huge variations both by subject and across majors. Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce has a refined study on income potential.

But there are others. For instance, the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project parses data by percentile, so that, for example, economics majors' earnings are about three times as large at the 90th percentile compared with the 10th percentile. Where you count economic beans after college matters -- and thus there is stunningly greater value in degrees from such schools as the University of Michigan than your local commuter college. Thus one can arrive at a much narrower range building off university quality.

There also is a data farm called Educate to Career, which ranks about 1,200 universities and colleges -- showing, for instance, starting salary averages by major within those schools. The median social work degree grad starts around $44k, while the median engineer begins in the $80s.

Readers can drill down to find out, for example, the average SAT score at Carlton College, and that the school produced 34 computer science grads in recent numbers.

The ETC College Ranking Index is full of interesting metrics used in its algorithms. Some of the metrics include: Major, weighted against national norms; percentage of persons employed within one year of graduation (weighted on an occupational trend basis); and the all-important net cost of in-state tuition. Using Purdue University as an example, one can learn the four-year graduation rate is 37.5%, the "net" annual price of tuition is $5,414 and the average engineering grad starts out at $47,500.

The ETC index has an interesting take on why Ivy League schools do not fare as well as other top universities. But the bottom line is that the index can help identify schools providing a quality education with proven career placement at a lower net cost than at some of the elite universities.

-- Mike Ryan

California Dreaming

Have you gotten tired of Midwest winters? Are you thinking four years of shorts and flip-flops at a California college is sounding like more your style?

Get in line.

California universities have long attracted young women and men, but we have just passed a significant milestone—a number as relevant as 61 was to baseball—before steroids helped shatter the single-season home-run record.

UCLA has received 102,177 applications for the Class of 2021, the first time an American university has received more than 100,000 freshman applications--each with a $70 application fee unless waived.

Do the math. That's a staggering amount of competition for what will be somewhere around 6,500 acceptances.

Cal State-Long Beach, home of mascot Prospector Pete, got nearly 62,000 freshman applications, and USC received almost 52,000 from prospective Trojan freshmen.

And this is in a state cutting back on education budgets.

So while you and your parents are preparing your college app packages and thinking about going West, have you assembled all the details, filled out the questionnaires, answered all the "optional" interrogatories, checked all your spelling and grammar and written a 1-in-100,000 college essay?

If not, get cracking! Those California beaches require more than a little legwork.

--Mike Ryan

Take The Team Approach To A Good College Fit

Aristotle was an early proponent of "learning by doing". Consider a hot topic in education these days called PBL, project-based learning.

Yes, the book is still part of the U.S. History curriculum, but increasingly teachers are assigning say, a World War 1 documentary to a class team. PBLs are knocking down the barrier between book-learning and post-academic real-life projects.

It's time to consider a PBL as an effective method to grow big-schooler knowledge about the college hunt.

There is so much more information about college classes, professors, application tricks, essay tips, undergraduate cultures and more than there was just 5 years ago.

It seem to me that it is time for high-schoolers to recruit a cadre of college-eager peers, say four or six like-minded students who agree to set up a calendar of obvious tasks and regularly meet for progress reports.The group's goal would be to guide each other through the rush-to-apply process. In K-12 education, PBL has evolved to address core content through rigorous, hands-on learning. The PBL skills learned seem a perfect fit on college prep, whether discovering the quirkiest essay prompts of the University of Chicago, why Boston College kids refuse to use lunchroom trays or how Oberlin students can hang a Picasso in their dorm rooms.

Bonus points to inviting members to your PBL group from other schools who will no doubt have a fresh perspective on what's important.

-- Mike Ryan

#BestOfTweetsWorstOfTweets

You have an image, an online persona. In marketing parlance, you are a brand with positive attributes. Lucas Cruikshank and Tavi Gevinson Dude Perfect carefully design their Web worlds into branding icons on the Internet. Your web presence should be cultivated so use social media wisely in your junior and senior high-school years.

Positivity promote your personal brand. Twitter. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Flickr. Google+. Think about who you are as a representative of your high school. Consider a few positive words that define you, the well-rounded future college scholar, not the underage Instagram poster with beer bottles in the picture background. Use these appropriate words as a filter before you post anything publicly to Facebook or other social media—if you think what you are about to post doesn’t measure up to your brand, DON'T.

Inventory your social media accounts, your blog posts and YouTube videos. Potentially offensive comments? Risque photos? Inappropriate gestures or clothing? Profanity? Serious negativity? Drinking? Bigotry? Threats?

So let's state the obvious: If Grandma might not approve, delete it.  And remember, it’s all about upkeep. Junior year is a great time to Google yourself and review every social media account with a fine-toothed comb. Tighten your privacy and security settings; cruise through your Activity Log and Archive. Delete posts and images that may be deemed detrimental by a university scanner. Again, if you don’t think you could show it to your parents, don’t let the world see it.

But your job is not finished.

Next, we all use spelling shorthand but if you see series of poorly spelled verbiage, erase it. Everyone accepts AMA and TMI; C3R741N P30PL3 is definitely clever; but wierd is wrong. Trim down your Likes, Groups and Apps. Do you want a college social media reviewer know that you seem more focused on Farmville or Candy Crush than homework, sports and clubs?

Adjust Facebook privacy settings to review all tags; this gives you ways to minimize a questionable tag and better control of the brand you are showing the world. Similarly, un-Tag anything embarrassing. This is genuinely important for getting that part-time summer or college job.

Lastly, remember that LinkedIn profile you had created a year ago? Make sure that it is up-to-date in relation to your resume. Different dates and other information may be caught by potential employers. Show growth on your LinkedIn employment history; don't just parrot the words on your resume. Build your Skills & Endorsements. Expand your membership in Groups that match your academic and work interests. And find Influencers to follow who make you appear more advanced than others in your age group.

Colleges have many ways to disqualify 9 out of 10 candidates for admission. Don't let a visible beer can or bit of profanity make you that No. 9.

--Mike Ryan

FAFSA For The Rest Of Us

One of the biggest nightmares dreaded by parents and students is the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. As many as 55% of households do not fill out the elaborate form, some because of family wealth, but many because it is, well, really, really hard to round up all the pieces.

The new submission date, Oct. 1, replaces the old Jan. 1 date, which in the past forced, and frustrated, parents to collect financial information before their entire situation was readily available. Thus, the 2017-18 FAFSA requires households' 2015 tax reports. How cool is that? We all have that material from our 2016 tax filing.

But wait, this gets even better for all you harried parents. There is now something called the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (IRS DRT) to import automatically your tax information into your FAFSA.

Never lose sight of the fact that FAFSA is a powerful predictor of school financial offers, as well as a factor in Pell Grants and federally supported loans.

So here's the bottom line: With all the information at hand three months earlier, you, the parents and child, get more time to meet most deadlines and crucially now have a way to explore and understand your financial aid options like never before.

It is the dawn of a new day in paying for a college education. And an even better time to contact your college consultant for help navigating the thousands of other issues between you and your child's best college choice.

--Mike Ryan

A Whole New Alphabet Soup of Testing

Did you feel that sudden shift beneath your feet recently? Did the ground shake in your Illinois household?

The state's move to begin offering high school juniors the SAT college entrance exam after many years of ACT control has added an extra layer of uncertainty for high schools.

Expect some degree of chaos in your school district as the learning curve develops. Thousands of Illinois teachers comfortable in guiding students to better ACT scores now find themselves in virgin territory.

One tutor notes, "The ACT tests reading, math, English and science. The SAT is more of an aptitude test. What are you capable of learning?"

Parents, don't believe for a minute that your child will achieve comparable percentile ranks. Just as there are "left-brain" people and "right-brain" thinkers, there are high performing ACT scorers who can stumble through the SAT--and vice-versa. 

Parents should consider having their student take both the standardized ACT and SAT tests so a comparison can be made on the best representative score results. If scores don't reflect your student's best realistic outcome, strongly consider working with a test-prep tutor who can strengthen weak areas. The goal is for a better score in a repeat test.

The winning College Board, which operates the SAT operation, said, "More Illinois students will benefit ... from an assessment that provides more information than ever before about a student's readiness."

A research company pegged the spending in the American test prep industry around $4.3 billion in 2015. Is your student prepared for her/his all-important SAT?

- Mike Ryan

Make A Roadmap To Build Your College Search

You have this high school thing down. You have decided college is right for you.

Good for you.

But where do you begin?

Ask your high school counselor.

College fairs.

There are rankings such as those from "U.S. News and World Report”  (hint, the numbers are rigged.)

There are massive books such as Princeton Review or Fiske Guide.

Or you can discuss with family, friends and alumni.

And then there are websites. Lots! College Navigator, Unigo and even Facebook since universities maintain an active Facebook presence. There is a dizzying array of options to review in trimming the short list from thousands to a few universities that feel good.

But try this:

Do a Google search for "common data set" and the name of any college.

Poof, you have landed in a treasure trove.

Universities offer an incredible amount of useful selection information via the CDS.

--Detailed enrollment/”persistence” data.

--Freshman admission/enrollment.

--Academic offerings and required classes.

--College life choices.

--Costs and financial aid.

--Student and faculty totals and ratios.

After you have mastered trolling through CDS' info, data mining gets easier. Let’s say, for instance, your grades are excellent but standardized test are a little scary. But you learn, say, that Bowdoin College doesn't require standardized tests scores (which about 16% of applicants opt to hold back).

Or let's say the idea of becoming a small fish in a pond of tens of thousands of students is not your preference. Delve into UCAN-network.org, which is chock full of private college info. Private colleges are not the preserve of rich families. They are expanding outreach, academic support and financial aid programs that help students from all backgrounds realize the opportunity to enroll and succeed in a college of 1,200 like-minded students instead of 30,000.

You have started the process of choosing a college.

Congratulations.

Do your homework, take good notes and plan on visiting some colleges to see how they fit before your applications are submitted.   

--Mike Ryan