Very thoughtful questions. My house- 3 college grads, 1 current college student. Every. Single. One. of us “changed direction” at least once. I am the big winner with 5 different major paths explored/started before settling on one. They were all kind of related, though, so I still got done in 4.
Of the two mature adults, one has a graduate degree, one has a graduate certificate. Of the two young adults, one is working and considering what kind of graduate degree to pursue. The other, still in school, is adamant that graduate work is not in the foreseeable future (and that’s fine).
Prestige did not matter for the mature adults as the local college from which we graduated is well-regarded in the area. For the new grad, prestige wouldn’t matter in terms of career; however, she wishes she’d aimed higher. I do, too. Jury’s still out on the last one. Her school, though relatively unknown, really pushes students to use their summers for research and internship experiences. She will probably be fine.
All three college grads are working in fields related to the undergraduate degree. Student will be interning in her field this summer. There has been at least one major career change for each mature adult.
Loans. All three college grads had them. Mine was very small. H’s were huge, and paying them off was awful; meant living very lean for a few years. Young adult’s was taken so there’d be start up money. I think most is still sitting in a bank as an emergency fund or to be used for grad school. Youngest adult, still in school, should finish up without them. Honestly, I don’t think loans are bad, and small ones are more a nuisance than a burden, but things sure are easier without the debt!