you should be more concerned with spending the next couple of years working that into some hot mother-daughter action

16yo mother daughter action!? im so in! speaking of, eminems daughter is homecoming queen, and you dont have to look too hard to see why. supposedly a great athlete too. just think some dude out there is shootin it all over her face... ugh...

Guidance Counselor.

She seems interested in law but at 16 I doubt many of
us really knew what we wanted to do.

I would take a path that is leading in the direction away from law school for college. You can always decide while you are there you want to apply and be on just as solid ground as anyone else. That isn't to bash lawyers, but there are a lot of people who go to college planning on being a lawyer and then it doesn't work out either by not wanting to, not passing the bar, or not finding a good job once they do.

Since she seems to be quite smart I would recommend looking into a path to lead to medical school without locking yourself in by just being a pre-med major. While the medical climate will probably change drastically by the time she is done, it still should always be a high paying and secure career. A lot of schools do things differently but having a chemistry or biology degree can do well. The only thing you have to be careful about is that most people who get chemistry or biology degrees still need some sort of post-graduate training to really get the good jobs so even if she doesn't go to medical school she'll likely be going to grad school or as I said before law school.

At this point, the potential career path she wants to take is probably more important than anything else. That would help her narrow down her schools more than anything. She doesn't have to pick the rest of her life out but she should start to figure out if she wants to be in the sciences or engineering or the social sciences.

The mother also needs to figure out how much she can afford to pay for it even if it isn't much. That will help make the decision easier and make a big determination if out of state schools are even an option.

None of your undergrad work other than the GPA has any relevance to law school or getting into law school. Law school should not be a consideration in any decisions prior to law school

I am not sure how her AP classes will leave
her in standing when she actually starts but I would guess there are some pretty standard classes that everyone
would need to take that first year or so if she doesn't know exactly what path she is going to take.

I can only speak towards my experience, but they recommended you had a major chosen when you were applying as different schools within the college have different requirements and admissions standards. Obviously you can choose later on or you can change majors as many did but in general it makes the experience much easier to at least start off in a specific major.

T-Bone, the above is very helpful. I went through the application process recently relatively speaking in 2006/2007. Having an idea of what you’re interested in helps a ton in picking a school. I knew I wanted to study accounting and finance so I went to a library and just looked at the top ranked business schools and the ranking of the accounting/finance programs. I knew I wanted to stick around the Midwest so I just applied to the Big Ten schools with strong programs and Virginia. I made sure to apply during the early admission stage (I believe October 31st of your senior year is the standard deadline) as I read there is some benefit in doing so. I ended up picking Indiana as they accepted me into the university (not hard) but also directly into the business school (competitive) itself. The last thing I wanted was to make the significant investment of tuition and not being able to study wanted I wanted to do in life because I wasn’t accepted into the desired school.

This is good to know. I mentioned to her mother that getting a business degree for example is a relatively
safe and innocuous path. If she liked that she could continue on with an MBA or if still interested in law
maybe choose that path assuming that her marks are good enough.

I recommend a business degree in something that is an actual skill, such as accounting. Business Admin major, for example, in my opinion, is kind of a waste since you most likely aren't going to be hired out in the real world at a manager level in a significant position. You are better off having a skill to sell for entry-level positions.

If an MBA is the goal, business undergrad itself isn't even necessary. Half of the people I went to grad school with were Engineering majors. Also, most upper-tier business schools are going to want to see a few years of work experience and to be able to demonstrate what the degree will mean for their career.

I've held the belief that where you go isn't as important as what you can prove you know.

Yes and no. I think in this sluggish economy bigger schools or good programs offer the advantage of very good career offices and relationships with companies that'll enable you get to great face time to get your foot in the door. For example, I interned with an orthopedic manufacturer who only hired IU grads in accounting/finance positions. My current supervisor for the company I currently work at was an auditor for them when he worked for the Big 4. Was a very nice coincidence that I think helped in getting my current gig.

I agree. It sucks, I know, but having a large alumni network or coming from a school with a reputation of being great in a particular profession does make a difference - especially in a difficult job market. I got my first entry-level job out of college over 600 other applicants mainly because I went to UofI and so did both of my bosses.

I've held the belief that where you go isn't as important as what you can prove you know.

I got my first entry-level job out of college over 600 other applicants mainly because I went to UofI and so did both of my bosses.