<p>Alot of kids just need a readjustment period. So many of them these days were focused on school from 9th grade all the way through the BA non-stop they can’t imagine life without classes and homework. The thought of graduation and being adrift is scary. So is “switching” school from the BA institution to a college for an advanced degree and some of them who were hyperfocused on a particular career are suddenly realizing (or so they think) that means 30-45 years of “this.” I’m a big believer of handling new college graduates carefully. Listen to what they are saying. Listen to what they are feeling. It’s a transition. My kid, who dutifully finished college in 4 years last May and found a job and managed to piece it together paycheck by paycheck finally broke down and cried this spring because he thought he’d never have enough money and time to “come home” and he didn’t have enough accrued vacation to come home for Christmas so the last time he had been home was just after college graduation. He was thinking about going to graduate school but was paralyzed. They are fragile. I’ve never believed that high school seniors were fragile…or at least I guess I believed if they were fragile they shouldn’t go away to college…but the fragility of my relatively newly minted college graduate who was doing everything he was “supposed to do” took my breath away. By the way…we bought him a plane ticket. An “expensive” college does not make the kids “stronger” “more prepared” or “more secure” in my opinion. It impacts many at this age from college of all ilk. Remember only 50 percent of kids that start college finish…and I suspect the number that manage that in four years is even lower. The name of the college has little to do with their emotional fragility. Unfocused is, I suspect, a synonym for petrified, scared and…uncertain.</p>
<p>Peace Corps?</p>
<p>@NJSue: “There has been a lot of research about “millenials” and “organization children,” and the problems they have as a generation coming to terms with the chaotic nature of life vs. the structured nature of school. They were trained to see life as manageable and predictable, with ordained outcomes based on meritocratic competition, right at a time in history when those assumptions are crumbling before them. Not an easy time to be young.”</p>
<p>^^^Completely agree with this. Add to this the overwhelming sense that many of these young, high-achievers have that choosing Path A now eliminates any chance of ever pursuing Path B and you have a recipe for paralysis. They don’t have the perspective that those of us who are older and have changed careers, or even the whole direction of our lives, have. They don’t realize that the solid academic foundation they have laid will translate into a lifetime of options, or that it is possible, even likely, to end up working in a field completely unrelated to your undergraduate area of study. High achievers also feel that unspoken pressure to get a job worthy of both their intellectual gifts and the effort and money put into their education. It’s the “from whom much is given, much is expected” syndrome.</p>
<p>@Sunflower: If your daughter is still potentially interested in law school she should look into the possibility of working at a law firm for a year or two as a litigation assistant or legal analyst. Many law firms hire recent grads to assist with paralegal-type tasks, case-related research, and/or legal database management. This might be a good way for her to get a feel for what goes on in a law firm and to interact with lawyers. These jobs can entail long hours but the pay is actually quite good, and the firms fully expect that the recent grads hired for this kind of work will likely either decide go to law school or move on to something else after a year or two. If your daughter is at a HYPS I’m sure that her school’s career center has an established recruiting relationship with several law firms.</p>