<p>Has your student taken aptitude tests or evaluations? I know that some of the free versions they give at schools are more like interest surveys, which is silly. (I may be interested in performing on Broadway, but that doesn't mean I have the aptitude.) There are some companies out there that charge quite a lot for more extensive aptitude testing. It would be cost effective if it would prevent a 6 year undergrad experience with 5 different majors.</p>
<p>What is your experience with aptitude testing?</p>
<p>No experience to share, but I am also interested in this subject! There’s a local radio host who talks about his kids quite a bit and they took the "Birkman"interest/aptitude test in high school. He thought it was really helpful in helping them understand their suitability for some careers. I played phone tag last week with the woman whose number he gave as his “tester”. I’ll let you know the cost when I find out.</p>
<p>My kid took the Johnson O’Connor test years ago. (You can only take a “half test” as a young teen.) It doesn’t really tell you what to major in, but it did reveal some rather weird interesting things.</p>
<p>One thing that was interesting was that it gave us a handle on how good kid was in certain areas. I’d alway thought my kid was off the charts in one area–which kid did not want to pursue and I pushed. Well, aptitude test showed my kid was “high average” in this area. Since I’d probably score in the bottom 5% myself, I had an inflated idea of how good kid was. </p>
<p>It really doesn’t tell you to major in X, rather than Y, but I nonetheless thought it was worthwhile.</p>
<p>My husband is a big believer in Johnson O’Connor. I am less so. I think it can give you some interesting data, but I’m not sure of the real value. My husband and all his brothers did the Johnson O’Connor evaluation years ago, and he had our daughter do it. WildChild never got the opportunity.</p>
<p>I will have to find out the name of the test our school gives. It generates a list of careers that would be a good match for students. Pacifist D’s number one match was military intelligence. S got model/actor! How does a skill/interest test know he’s not short and funny looking? (As his mother I can objectively state he is not )</p>
<p>funny, just today I was trying to convince #1 son to do Johnson O’Connor. I did when I was just out of college & thought it was great…helped me understand what it was about certain career choices (that I would eventually have) that related to my “strong” aptitudes.</p>
<p>On one of those interest tests in high school, I answered that I liked public speaking, I didn’t care about how much money I made, that I liked working with people, and that it was important to me that my work had a purpose.
The career test result…that I should be a priest.
The real-life choice that met the same criterion: deputy district attorney.</p>
<p>I took a vocational aptititude test in jr. high. It was a lot of fun and it told me I could do anything except be a secretary. I still am a lousy typist, though I am much faster than I was in college. My ultimate career (architect) pretty much requires me to be a jack of all trades.</p>
<p>My older son took one that told him he might like to be a meteorologist, which seemed reasonable, though I’m puzzled that computer programmer did not come up as a suggestion since even in middle school it was obvious that was where he was headed.</p>
<p>Younger son was told he should consider being a garbage man, he swears he doesn’t know how they came up with that suggestion.</p>
<p>I asked Happykid’s guidance office about this a couple of years ago, and was told “we do it in 11th grade”. Well 11th grade has come and gone and no testing, so I figure they’ve decided it is essentially useless for most students. Maybe if the kid really is hopeless they have something available?</p>
<p>The aptitude test I did in HS came out really flat - I scored just about the same in all fields. The one I did at the end of grad school had two mutually exclusive peaks at the OPPOSITE ends of the scale: environmental science/agriculture and teaching. Since I was a newly minted M.S. in Agriculture looking for a college teaching position, I just sat and stared. All I could think of was the bias of the test designers. What on earth could have led them to think that working with your hands out-doors was diametrically opposed to teaching?</p>
<p>D took one of these (don’t know which one) in middle school. One of the top career choices it gave her was “clown”. And she is terrified of clowns! Needless to say, she has chosen another path.</p>
<p>OMG, if these tests really offer career choices such as clown and priest, I’ve just got to have my kids take them. What a great thing to have to tease them about forever!</p>
<p>The school does give a free test - I forget which one - but only to juniors and seniors, in May of each year. It would make a lot more sense to either give it early in the school year to juniors or seniors, or late in the year to sophomores and juniors.</p>
<p>The tests are fun, and who knows, perhaps your student will learn something from them. The thing to keep in mind is that the tests are population-based, and the people who take them are well, individuals.</p>
<p>We had one of those “discover the right career for you” tests in middle school. I chose answers so that they would confirm the career areas I wanted anyway. I had a friend who kept telling me that I should take it more seriously, that it gave real insights into what careers people should pursue. I got the last laugh when she saw her results and reacted to them. ;)</p>
<p>Johnson O’Connor is of a different scope & magnitude than those simple vocation tests mentioned on this thread. Two ~4 hour testing sessions (often over two days) followed by an hour or so of verbal & written assessment/feedback.</p>
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