Hi, I am an incoming senior in Illinois. Asian Female. So I’m confused on which path to take. My whole life I’ve been told to go into the Medical field (Physician Assistant, Occupational Therapist, or Nursing) because it’s a safe and good choice. But Math and Science is not really my strong suit. I’ve been looking into Business lately. I was thinking Business Administration with a minor in Marketing. I’m open to being anything that makes a good salary (in the business field or the healthcare area) Eventually get my MBA too. Could I get into Indiana University or Purdue or DePaul or something close for that? Never took a business class (except Consumer Ed) so I don’t know much about the profession but I did a lot of research online. I’m a creative person, can communicate well, organized, focused and would love to travel to cool international places for work in the future (maybe work for an airport or large corporate company?). My cousin works for the DFW airport and she has a cool job and she went to UT Austin. UT Austin is one of the top business schools and I know I can’t get into there. Is it worth going into business if I don’t go to a big business school? I’m also afraid I won’t get a good paying job and won’t move up (become a manager/leader?) because I am a woman and a minority and a lot of other smarter people are going for the same jobs I am going for. I don’t want that to stop me from having a great job. I was talking to my mom about healthcare administration but my mom says the job outlook is not good because, in a hospital, not many healthcare administrators are needed but other jobs like nurses heavily needed so it’s easier to get a job as a nurse than a HA.
I don’t think I could get into a direct program. My gameplan is to apply to a lot of colleges and go to the best one I get accepted to. But I’m not sure what area to declare my major. My ideal college would be a large, diverse college in an urban/city environment but I am still open to a small school if that means I get into a good program and I get scholarships. I live in Illinois and I would like to go out-of-state.
I don’ think it’s worth going to community college for business. Maybe for healthcare.
Some of my dream colleges are Michigan State, UT Austin (TX), Marquette (WS), Daemen College (NY), Nova Southeastern (FL), Loyola University of Chicago (IL), St.John’s University (NY), Indiana University, DePaul University (IL)
GPA: 3.0 (hopefully it’ll go up my senior year)
ACT: 25 (taking it again in Sept., hopefully, it’ll go up)
ACT Writing: 10
EC: Lots of clubs, no sports, honor roll freshman and sophomore year, lots of volunteer hours (Nursing homes and other random events), Art show, Freshman, and Sophmore Cabinet.
Advanced/Ap Classes: Advanced Geometry Class, AP Lang, AP Biology
Bad Grades: C+ 1st Semester Chemistry, C+ 2nd Semester Adv.Geometry, C+ 1st Semester US History, C+ 1st and 2nd Semester Pre-Calculus. Got mostly B’s but some A’s.
Letter of Rec: Was never really close with my teachers or counselor but I’ll ask my counselor
** I transferred high schools right before my Junior Year. The high school I go to now is a more academically challenging high school (that’s why my GPA is so low) so maybe colleges will see that when I apply. It was difficult adjusting to the new school. Didn’t join many clubs/activities. **
I have lots of questions so, please just give me as much information as possible.
-What colleges will accept me?
-Should I go into business and work really hard? (I’ll work hard no matter what lol)
-Should I do a pre-program?
-Should I just go into Nursing so I will have a job when I graduate?
-Can I get any scholarships/financial aid money?
- Small, diverse schools? ( I don’t want to be in the middle of nowhere)
-East Coast/West Coast schools?
-Safety/ High Acceptance rate schools?
I’m open to any new career paths that will grow in the future.