Kiddo #3 is a rising Junior in HS and I’m debating whether to pay $$$ for a private college counselor like I did for his siblings. Now that I’ve been through the process twice, I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things and can help direct him. However, the one aspect I felt was extremely helpful through our private counselor was a “personality test” they administered to determine which majors would be a good fit. Does anyone have any recommendations, or have you found something like this on your own that was helpful? My S27 is a very average student so he won’t be applying anywhere super competitive or to a super competitive major like Engineering or CS so just another reason why I"m not sure if the $ is worth it.
Over the years, I have taken several of these, both with a professional and online. My personal take is that they can be helpful in understanding how you see the world and how others see it diiferently. (DH and I are in opposite quadrants of the Myers Briggs, and simply knowing that has been very much of a pacifier when we’re tackling a problem together but with entirely different concerns and approaches. ) i don’t see it being quite as helpful in picking a career. There are career aptitude batteries. You might try looking up executive coaches. While many of these folks deal with people who are already launched, their focus may better align with what you’re looking for.
This would not be how I spend my money. Find a college with a strong core course requirement and no need to declare a major upon admit.
I’ve taken these tests numerous times over the years and every time, they have said I should be a nurse. I can’t stand the sight of blood!
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If you really wany to do this, look into a way to take maybe the YouScience test. The Meyers-Briggs has notoriously had questionable validity.
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If nothing stands out as a passion to your student, go in undeclared.
Those tests are directional at best and faulty at worst.
There are likely areas the student doesn’t even know exists but might find when looking at curriculums beneath majors.
Or perhaps his guidance counselor has a free test.
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Before paying any money, a bit of reading:
Meyers-Brigg type tests are meaningless, and are not based on any reputable scientific
How Accurate Are Personality Tests? | Scientific American
and
The most important part of that last article is the following quote by Jeffrey Hayes, who was the President of of the Company that produces the test (CPP):
Using the Myers-Brigg test to see what major would be a good fit definitely falls within the realm of “dictating life decisions”.
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It can be interesting to take a Meyers-Briggs personality test, but I certainly wouldn’t make major life decisions based on the result or spend a lot of money on the testing. The MB test is pseudoscience created by persons without psychological training. It has both weak scientific validity and reliability. Many test takers reading their personality type may think that the description is very fitting, which is not a contradiction to having weak scientific validity. Cognitive biases, self-fulfilling prophecy, Barnum effect (liking the vague positive-sounding descriptions), … all contribute. Problems with Meyers-Brigg include the personality types typically using binary yes/no categories without weighting and ignore several recognized and important aspects of personality.
Psychologists often favor the Big Five model, which returns a value in 5 dimensions – openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. It doesn’t assign you a category based on binary selection.
None of the above will directly tell you which major or career to choose. There are some tests that focus more towards that goal, such as RIASEC (Holland Codes). However, I’d suggest instead focusing on getting more experience in fields that may seem interesting – taking a class, talking to someone who works in the field, related shadowing/internship, … Tests can only go so far.
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Agree with this 100%. There are extreme introverts who excel at sales, PR, lobbying, acting-- all fields which are supposed to be filled with extroverts, and there are extroverts who are phenomenal data scientists and pathologists and cryptographers-- which are supposedly fields where introverts excel.
Do not pick a field based on personality- and certainly not based on one of the MANY very flawed commercially available tests that are marketed.
if a kid has specific interests- writing and sports, for example-- then encouraging him to submit a few articles to your local paper about local sporting events as a way to test those interests can be helpful. Shadowing in certain fields- dentistry, for example- can be super helpful for a kid to understand what the actual job is about. If you dislike what you see, you can save yourself a bunch of time and money.
But the world is filled with happy professionals with jobs that they love that they discovered by accident after majoring in Archaeology or Asian Studies or whatever else it was that they found in college.
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Thanks for all your responses. It wasn’t a Meyers Briggs test that was actually given but I wasn’t sure the name of the test I was looking for and that seemed closest. For our older son, who has very obvious strengths and interests, this test was spot on in terms of offering about 5 different possible majors that would potentially align, and my DH and I totally agreed with the results. My youngest is just a little less obvious nor does he excel at any one subject which is why I was just hoping to get something directional. I guess we can just stick to big state schools with decent business and communications departments.
thanks! I think this is more in line with what I was looking for!
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Yes, as I said, and others have subsequently reiterated, the Meyers-Briggs is entertaining but has no discernable validity. The YouScience, last I looked at it, incorporates both aptitude type skills and career interest inventory tools (similar to the Strong Interest Inventory or the Holland Code).
Strong is suspect because of some racial and cultural bias issues which are subtle in some cases, not in others.
Some of the other well known tests have gender issues as well.
I took one several years ago because my company was evaluating various assessment tools- it spit out that my strongest domain interests/knowledge suggested that I become an econometrician or a nun.
I struggled through all of the required econ courses in grad school, and as a highly identified Jew, found the nun suggestion hilarious.
YMMV.
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@blossom, I thought you were a saint!
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You are hilarious!
I love “Call the Midwife”… so maybe that kind of nun?
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I haven’t looked at the Holland or Strong in decades, but I don’t recall a nun being a career option!!!
eta: DH recently asked me to empty lateral files he wanted to use, and asked me to take old files to the shedder. And NOW I wish I had those old dinosaur materials to look at.
My kids both took these tests (some kind of personality test – don’t know if it was Meyers-Briggs) as part of their HS’s college and career readiness program, and they results were so off-base that it was almost comical. I took one once, just out of curiosity, and it was equally laughable. These tests don’t help anyone pick a major. You and your kid already know something about his interests and aptitude. A strong general studies curriculum, along with some good academic advising in college, will help him find a major. You’ve been through this cycle before, so you don’t need the same advice you’ve already received about the admissions process.
Apply undecided (as most students do), and let your kid find his way in college (as most students do – even the ones who think they know what they want to major in). As long as the college is the right fit, that’s where he’ll find the direction that meshes with his personality, interests, and values. So that simplifies things – just focus on finding the colleges that fit best, and apply to those.
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Our kids independent high school college counselors used YouScience and our kids found it of value. Not sure if an individual can pay and take the test - seems worth googling and it may be what your other children took. Guessing there are other similar “tests” geared toward HS kids too.