<p>I don’t know if she’s interested in having children, but if her options are so wide open and if her interests are so varied, it would be very much worth considering which career would best mesh with motherhood. This is a gross generalization, but I’ve found that women with MDs (who choose specialties where one can have a part time schedule with consistent hours, like dermatology) and PhDs are better able to combine work and motherhood than women with JDs and MBAs. Talking to some women who have actually worked in the fields she is considering and asking them about work/life balance issues could be very helpful.</p>
<p>Perhaps a master’s degree in art history combined with coaching in her sport would be the best bet for your D as her next step. Then she can decide what to do next, a PhD in art history or law school perhaps. </p>
<p>If she has a 3.1 in core science classes that is low for med school. They look at the science/math average and the overall GPA. Both are around 3.5-3.6 for all students admitted to medical school. Med school admissions is very numbers driven, according to my research–grades plus MCAT score. There is a whole sequence for applying for admission, including serious study time prior to taking the MCAT, which is currently given only twice a year, April and August. Med schools want a very serious commitment to being a doctor, not just one of several things that might be interesting to pursue.</p>
<p>Since your D’s grades are so good in art history that seems to be the most logical course to pursue to me.</p>
<p>ADad and TheDad combined have excellent ideas. For what my opinion is worth, sounds like for next year she should take the volunteer coaching position to get experience, both as a possible career base and to see how it feels to be a coach - whether she has or can develop the necessary skills to become one of the 100 (for what it’s worth, it sounds to me like her sport is swimming or diving). Medical and law schools are quite a grind and require higb grades for admission. </p>
<p>Investigating art crimes - if her aim is to become a high earner, I would guess that many of these positions are in prosecutors’ offices - exciting work perhaps but not necessarily high paying - but could lead to a position of public respect. But if she wants to pursue that as a career, she might, for instance, be able to start as an investigator, then if she likes the legal field, go to law school at night to become a prosecutor. This is not an unusual path, and she could attend a local evening law school while building up her experience in art crimes. </p>
<p>Another possibility might be finding work in a leading private investigator’s office. Again, don’t take my word for any of this; I’m not in those fields - talk to people who are and see if any of this is feasible.</p>
<p>If she’s really interested in art investigation she should develop her own TV show. ;)</p>
<p>I am not sure exactly what training someone would need to investigate “art crimes.” But with your daughter’s background (art history plus biochemistry) would she possibly be interested in classical art RESTORATION? I would not be surprised if an expert in restoring classical art would also be one who would be qualified to be involved in analyzing art crimes, at least insofar as determining forgeries, ages, styles, components, chemicals used by a particular artist, etc. Do you live near a major museum, where your daughter could try to find out how they maintain the classical or ancient artwork? </p>
<p>Just a thought, perhaps completely off base.</p>
<p>Cangel, thank you for that information; I sent her the link. I went to their website and unfortunately there is no testing center in our state, but there are several in major cities where we both travel. Once her final season of competition ends she will have some time to follow up on this. </p>
<p>TSdad - she actually thought of that, and sort of looked to me for an opinion, but I probably gave her the same deer-in-headlights look I’ve been serving up. Her college had a career session just a couple of weeks ago where the CIA, FBI, state police, local police, campus police, and some other law enforcement representation gave presentations and talked about careers. She was most interested in the federal law enforcement, but didn’t discount entirely the state/local police. Plus, she recognized she could apply for a position with undergraduate degrees, whereas the federal agencies require post graduate degrees. </p>
<p>TheDad - “not all who wander are lost” - LOL! I love that; it actually describes her quite well. She pretty firmly set on going “somewhere different” for graduate school though. In high school, she was deferred EA, then ultimately rejected from Harvard; she had some very nice offers from schools in other parts of the country and I think she has always wanted another shot at an Ivy, or at least something that will let her experience a different part of the country.</p>
<p>AdmissionsAddict, she wants a nice family and lots of children (I do hope they’re a lot like her), but is firm that she will not consider marriage until she has completed all of her schooling and has launched her career. Of course, I do completely realize that “life” gets in the way of such plans. But this IS part of what may be making her feel rushed - sometimes she tells me “I must complete X by age X so that I can have my career in place by age X, so that can have my financial security in hand; I need this all done by age X so that I can have time to marry and have children”. </p>
<p>Bookiemom, she knows the numbers for med school, and she would agree with you completely. Plus, she doesn’t really wish to be a doctor any longer - she was thinking of med school in terms of some of the PhD programs offered. </p>
<p>Dadofsam, they did offer excellent ideas, as you have. I am very appreciative. I also didn’t realize the offer of the volunteer coaching position could be so valuable, so I am going to encourage her to commit to it.</p>
<p>Pafather, you’re so close to the mark I wonder if you have been sitting in the room with us during some of our recent discussions. She has talked extensively of art restoration, and her thinking was as a lawyer, possibly evaluating art for value, or even the business side - insurance, for example. That was sort of her thinking when she picked up the minor in classical antiquities. Of course, I was deer-in-the-headlights again. </p>
<p>We have no museums of note in our home city, but her college has one, and she knows every piece of art that comes and goes. In addition, I travel a lot to Washington, often work there for several weeks at a stretch, and as often as possible I fly her up so we can have a few days together. The last three years, she has spent every minute of our Washington time in the museums, leaving only to eat, or when they close. Her favorite is a place called Guggenheim (???). It’s puzzling to me; she can walk in a room with only eight or ten pieces, and spend two hours in that one room. She’ll spent 20 whole minutes in front of one piece of work, examining every inch of it. Me? I’m done with the entire facility in five minutes. Anyway, to try to fill her craving for this stuff, starting back about three years ago, I’ve bought for her every art history book I can find. I don’t have a clue what any of them contain and I do not know the first thing about any of the subject matter. All I know is that they’re big, heavy, and expensive. For all I know I’m buying her the same pictures of stuff over and over. But she loves them, gobbles them up, so I keep hauling them home or shipping them off to her. </p>
<p>This summer, I am hoping to send her to Italy so that she can explore a bit deeper. She doesn’t have any study abroad experience, owing to her athletic commitments the past four years so maybe I can at least sent her some place for a few weeks so that she can go ahead and indulge herself in stuff that will make her really, really happy. But here in the U.S. or there, I will suggest to her that she open some dialog with some of the people behind the scenes; that’s an excellent suggestion.</p>
<p>If she’s interested in art crimes and restorations, I have a fiction recommendation for her: WHAT’S BRED IN THE BONE, by Robertson Davies.</p>
<p>ADad and TheDad…I am inspired!</p>
<p>LATETOSCHOOL - she may want to look into an exchange/semester abroad - in Italy - to be able to really study Italian/International Art - just a thought.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose kiddo is doing just that - with Italian immersion to go with it - an experience never to be fogotten!!! for sure</p>
<p>She probably would enjoy Thomas Hoving’s new book, MASTERPIECES (if she hasn’t already read it!) :).</p>
<p>It is “the curator’s game”: he shows tiny pieces of great paintings (say, a vase, a swath of color, a small face, a window) and, based on that alone, the reader must identify the painting and find the tiny piece in that painting.</p>
<p>About her plan to be a philanthropist for her sport in later life:</p>
<p>With a long long term plan like that, there is always the risk that the sport will look vastly different in thirty years and there will no longer be such a role, or the role will be much different than she envisions.</p>
<p>Obviously, such changes may or may not happen; but my advice would be to give some thought to the possibility. COULD that happen? People who ran local hardware stores thirty years ago presumably thought that their business was quite stable and yet in a relatively few number of years that business has been radically changed by Home Depot and others. Could similar changes happen in her sport?</p>
<p>Latetoschool - I may send my daughter to that weekend round of testing an interviews - she is a college frosh, and beginning to struggle with the what next. She is also shaping up to have broad interest. The family that I know that used these people - Mom went through it at your daughter’s stage, and found her focus in life. Then she convinced her husband to do the evaluation years later, he used it to plan the last 1o years of his career, with a goal of early retirement and a retirement career change. It is an interesting process.</p>
<p>Cangel, I’m thinking about it too, for me, for the third and final stage of my career. I’ve been very, very lucky so far, somehow achieving financial success and great happiness with no more than a tenth grade education - could I do even better with some actual strategic planning and professional insight? Plus it might help me figure out my own problem - does an attempt at a college degree even make sense for me at this point, and if so how can I best leverage it into revenue. The price for testing is very reasonable for what they say they will deliver back, and it’s an easy matter for us to fly to one of those cities - we might make a mother/daughter trip of it. Boston is one of our favorite places and we always can use an excuse to go there. </p>
<p>TheDad and ADad, where in the world do you find such great books??? I looked them both up on amazon.com, she would love both of them, so I’m getting them for her. Thank you for that. </p>
<p>ADad, I cannot see that far ahead into her sport. I don’t even know the determinants that would let me guess. As of now, though, the U.S. doesn’t produce many winners in international competition or at the Olympic level, mostly, I think, because there are significant barriers to access: it’s expensive, requires certain things and so inner city youth can’t get there. </p>
<p>D got into it because - long story, the year before kindergarten I visited the public school she would attend; I reviewed the classes, met with the principal, and just didn’t like anything I saw or heard. Visited the local catholic school and liked everything a LOT better. But I didn’t have any money, and, I am sole support. So I made a deal with the parish priest - he let me work in the rectory office evenings and weekends in exchange for her tuition. </p>
<p>The first three years of this deal, I was so broke I couldn’t even afford a phone, or a car. By fourth grade I could quit the parish job because I could afford to pay the tuition from my primary job, but finances were still very tight. By the time she was in sixth grade, I insisted she try out for a sport. I told her it didn’t matter which sport - and she didn’t have to be any good at it, she didn’t have to win anything, and she didn’t even have to continue if she hated it, but, if I was going to work that hard to pay for a decent school, she had to at least try a taste of everything on the menu.</p>
<p>I never formed the intention that she be some sort of athlete, rather, I simply viewed physical fitness and teambuilding as very critical - as critical as spiritual and academic enrichment. </p>
<p>So, she tried out for all of the sports, was terrible at all of them, and couldn’t make any teams, except for track: the track team simply let anyone sign up regardless of ability to run fast. </p>
<p>By high school, she had quite a few wins; I went through the same process and we picked the catholic high school because it was simply the best option in range. There, she discovered - in freshman year - what is now her primary sport, and she continued to compete in track throughout high school. She ended up being recruited for both sports for college, and now has international recognition, as well as several national medals. </p>
<p>My point is that track prepared her physically for her primary sport, and, had I not taken her down this road, and had the catholic high school officials, and later several influential members of the community given so generously of their time and talent, she would never have had the exposure: public schools, unless they are very well funded and have significant parental support simply do not have such programs.</p>
<p>I think her intent is to be able to reach into some of those inner city areas and coach interested students who would not otherwise have access; this is a process that requires igniting the interest of parents, school officials, and community, too. Will that be the case in 30 years? It’s hard to say, but, probably, given the overall poor state of public education, and the very slow progress towards any sort of notable reform.</p>
<p>JeepMom, her very best friend (they met in kindergarten, went all the way through high school together) just did that. She goes to Rutgers, several states away. D is currently looking into it, but isn’t sure if she has enough requirements left to make it count for credit. She’s thinking not, so, if that’s the case, I might just buy her a ticket and finance a few weeks for her to go there this summer.</p>
<p>Whatever happened to the boyfriend that worried you awhile ago? Is he still around influencing her?</p>
<p>Thanks for your kind words. I do have an interest in art history, so Hoving’s book caught my eye.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would ask her to think about the 30-year question. The idea is this: sure, the future can’t be predicted. But IMO she should be OK with the idea that possibly her current plan A will not work out for reasons outside of her control. IMO, it is better to make peace with that (perhaps remote) possibility now, rather than learn 20 years down the road that Plan A looks like it won’t work out, and have to think “now where am I”?</p>
<p>And, congratulations to your daughter on her wonderful excellence in her beloved sport–and to you for the essential support and encouragement that is virtually a prerequisite for such success!</p>
<p>A thought… </p>
<p>MIT has a materials archaeology department - they use materials science to track the movement of pottery throughout the classical world (inter alia). Something she might be interested in - or some related field.</p>
<p>I love Robertson Davies’ writings.</p>
<p>Urban archaeologists make a very good living sorting out the mysteries of the past. </p>
<p>Auction houses like Christies and Sotheby’s also do a lot of sleuth work. Not well paid unless you set up your own business.</p>