Pre-Health Organizaitons

Are you considering a pre-health program in addition to your major? Do you have dreams of working in the medical field? Then, you might be interested in joining a pre-health student organization. We at Career Counseling have noticed that a lot of these groups are having interest sessions this week, so we wanted to get the info out to you ASAP. Maybe you can stop by one or a few of these sessions to see what these groups are all about. In general, joining a pre-professional organization will give you the opportunity to get to know other students who share your similar interest, may provide some study tips for those exams required before applying to professional schools, and they also might feature sessions with some current professionals in that field to talk to you about what hey do and how they got there. Remember hearing about the importance of job shadowing and volunteer work during your time in college? These groups may provide helpful opportunities to network and find positions that are available for you to gain this much needed experience.

Dr. Sanker, the Director of the Pre-Health office, sent a great email this week talking about the value of getting involved in a prehealth organization.  I’ve linked the attachment he sent as part of this post, so please check out these different opportunities.

Pre-Health Memo

In addition to these opportunities, here is letter from the APPS president, Annie Lee:

APPS Interest Meeting 9/6 at 7PM!!!

Dear prospective Association of Pre-Pharmacy member,

Hello, my name is Annie Lee, a president of Association of Pre-Pharmacy Students (APPS). I want to invite you to our first interest meeting on Tuesday 9/6 at 7pm in BSB E206.
APPS is a Pre-Pharmacy organization designed for undergraduate students with the willingness and goal of reaching Pharmacy school after attending Baylor University.
The purpose of APPS is to improve the understanding and the likelihood of entering into a School of Pharmacy once you have completed your required courses and/or graduated. This is a great opportunity for students with common interests to congregate and enhance their college experience and knowledge on everything Pharmacy.We will be discussing about APPS requirements and different areas in pharmacy career to broaden your prospective of pharmacy profession. The membership fee is $20 and membership application will be available at the meeting.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions!
Annie Lee
Biology, Pre-Pharmacy
Association of Pre-Pharm Students President
AFC Intervarsity Leadership Team
Annie_Lee@baylor.edu

 

Another pre-health group meeting:

Baylor Pre-Veterinary Society Meeting

Tonight, August 31st at 5:30 in BSB D114

We hope your week is going well and let us know if you have questions about other student organizations you are interested in!

 

Asian Studies Major

Are you captivated by Asian culture? Can’t wait to take the journey to the other side of the world and set foot on the Great Wall of China, tour Japanese Tea Gardens, and explore the region where Tai Chi developed? Find yourself fascinated by the language and history of the Asian continent? Then, a major in Asian Studies might be just the right thing for you! Click here to link to more information about this fascinating major.

 

You may be asking, what are the requirements for this major? Well, I’m glad you asked! The Asian Studies major is an option on the BA Degree. A few course options include: Cultural Geography, Religions of the World, Japanese Civilization, Societies and Cultures of East Asia, Government and Politics of Russia, and many more! Here is a link to the complete list of major requirements.

 

If this major sounds appealing to you, you may want to contact someone in the department, especially if you have specific questions about the major like what career options are available to you if you major in Asian Studies at Baylor. You may also be interested in learning about any study abroad opportunities that are available.

Dr. Xin Wang, Acting Director of Asian Studies
(254)710-2209 (Old Main 313B)

The following is the general contact info for the department:
Center For International Education
Baylor University
One Bear Place 97012 Waco, TX 76798-7012
Poage Library
Phone (254) 710-2657
Fax: (254) 710-2069

Hope you enjoyed your tour of the Asian Studies major! Please leave us a comment if you would like more info about this major or if there is a particular major you would like information on. Take care!

Meet the Majors Podcast Series

Have you ever raised the question, “What can I do with that major?”  Maybe your interest was piqued by a major, but you worried that switching majors would push back your expected graduation date.  For others, the thought of a new major was derailed by someone making negative remarks about it.

The Meet the Majors Podcast Series allows students to hear vital, accurate major information straight from the mouths of faculty members at Baylor.  They address questions like those listed above, and they showcase the unique opportunities students have in their programs.

You can click here to view our archives of previous podcasts.  We are at 29 interviews and counting!  Enjoy our latest installment on the Geology major with Dr. Joe Yelderman.  There is also a link on the web page so you can subscribe to have all new interviews sent directly to you.  If you have ideas for majors you would like to see highlighted in our series, please leave a comment below.  Happy listening!

Session 3

 

The third session can go in a variety of directions. Sometimes you may have narrowed your list of careers and majors down to one specific thing. Other times, you may still be looking at all five different options seriously. Either of these extremes or anything in between is great!

When you visit us for the third time, we will start out by looking at your narrowed down careers list. Your career counselor will give you a worksheet to help you structure this list and include things like the career title, education needed, and why you think this career fits with you. Do you remember the things you and your career counselor discussed during the first session (interests, values, career influences, strengths, etc.)? Well, during the research time between your second and third appointments is the perfect time to bring those ideas back out, because they will help you with the narrowing down process. Also, the websites the career counselor shows you at the end of the second appointment will give you lots of detailed information to help you gain a deeper understanding of what all is involved in that career field or major.

Hopefully, after finishing your research, you will have a more focused idea of where you are headed and you and your career counselor will develop a Plan of Action with different resources and referrals (people and places) to help get you closer to making your dreams realities! The plan of action may hold websites, department contacts, professors, and professionals in the field. Really, the sky is the limit.

Session 2

At the end of the first session, your career counselor will give you some instructions on how to take the online assessments you will review in your second session. The assessments should take no more than 20-30 minutes each and are to be completed at least two days before your second career counseling appointment. Once you have completed the assessments, you don’t have to do a thing before arriving to your appointment, because your career counselor will have all the results ready to review when you arrive at his or her office.

The two assessments we use at Baylor in career counseling are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) and the Strong Interest Inventory®. The MBTI® looks at your personality preferences and how you prefer to respond to life. The Strong Interest Inventory® measures your interests and compares your interests with people of your same gender in a variety of career fields, so you can see with which areas you share more similar interests. Through the assessment interpretation process, you and your counselor will develop a list of majors and careers that interest you. Once you have reviewed both assessments, your career counselor will show you websites to use as research tools to further explore your major and career options. You will use these tools between your second and third session to narrow your list, so that when you return for your third appointment, you will have five or fewer careers or majors that you want to focus on. In the next post, we will discuss what happens in that third appointment.

Session 1

 

We thought we would spend this first week of blog life sharing with you the career counseling process we use at Baylor.  We have found this three session model to be useful and effective in helping students discern options for their future paths in life.  The entire process takes about a month to complete, so it might be helpful to keep that in mind when scheduling your appointments.

The first session involves meeting with your career counselor for the first time and discussing YOU!  Your counselor will ask you a variety of questions about a variety of things, from your interests to information about previous work experiences.  Now, don’t worry about having all of the answers during that first session.  You will receive an email prior to your first appointment that lists the questions you are likely to be asked in your first session, so you can prepare ahead of time.  Even if you can’t remember or think of an answer during your session, it’s okay.  The questions you are asked are things that will be helpful for you to continue to process as you go throughout your day.  Who knows, you may have a revelation when you are out walking your dog or ordering your favorite coffee drink at Common Grounds!

You never know when inspiration will strike, so it is our hope that you will continue to mull over some of these questions to get to the heart of who you are and what you want out of life, so you can make sure your career and major options fit with those goals and dreams.  It’s also helpful to talk to family, friends, and anyone that you feel has good insight into who you are to gain more ideas.  Once you uncover this info about yourself, you may have an easier time narrowing down the types of classes and types of work you feel will be right for you.  It’s also okay if you feel lost or confused about which path to step on next.  That’s what we are here for – to help guide you on your journey – and it is a journey.  If it were a simple process, we would have bowls of fortune cookies all over our offices that you could choose from—maybe even some of those chocolate dipped ones with sprinkles!  It’s a journey, but it is a worthy one.  We look forward to helping you each step of the way.

Welcome!

Welcome to the official Baylor Career Counseling blog.  We’re glad you have stopped by and hope that, over time, you will find resources and useful information that will help guide you on your path at Baylor and beyond.  Our hope for this blog is to share information about different majors we offer on campus as well as details about a wide variety of careers.  If you have any specific requests for information regarding a particular major or career, please leave a comment and we will try to give information on requested majors and careers first.  We also will try to give current information about events happening at Baylor that may be particularly pertinent to major and career exploration.

This week, we will begin by detailing what the office of Career Counseling does and who we serve.  We use an individualized, three-session process to help students discover majors and career paths.  The students who are most helped by attending career counseling sessions are those who are unsure of their major; considering changing their major; sure of their major, but unsure about career options with their chosen major; and those who would like a bit more confirmation regarding their current path.  We also can help students who are interested in exploring graduate school subject options.  I hope you find your time you spend reading the blog well spent.  Thanks again for stopping by!