Why a college aptitude test really helps you get ahead

Anyone who has to choose a major at the start of or during their career faces a major challenge. After all, how do you know if a degree program is really the right fit for you? And how do you avoid making the wrong choice? This happens quite often. A good college major assessment test offers a solution and helps you make a better choice that aligns with your personality, intelligence, and motivations.

Why take a college major selection test?

Choosing a degree program is an exciting and important moment. For high school students, this usually happens during or at the end of high school. But even during their careers, people are increasingly choosing to pursue a degree to change direction or to seek further depth and specialization. Many employers facilitate this to encourage employee development or, for example, to enhance long-term employability . A college selection test helps with making a career choice or selecting a specific (advanced) degree program. This is by no means a luxury, as recent research shows that many people would like better guidance in making this decision. As many as 1 in 5 students feel they did not receive sufficient guidance in this regard. As a result, as many as one-quarter have at some point started a program of study without completing it. In practice, career guidance in schools often proves to be too limited. In higher professional education (HBO) and university education, the dropout rate is even higher (50.9 percent!), mainly due to choosing the wrong program. As a result, 31 percent drop out as early as the first year because the program does not meet their expectations, according to the Dutch Education Inspectorate. Students primarily indicate that their course selection could be improved through a college selection test and, for example, assistance from a professional college selection advisor or a conversation with someone who has just graduated.

Different Types of Tests

Anyone who wants to make a well-informed choice of study program that suits their personality, intelligence, and motivations can take a college selection test. These tests come in various forms. The free online tests are rather superficial, so you shouldn’t expect too much from them. If you want to take a well-structured test, you can easily take a good general career choice test for a small fee. At hrmforce, you also have the option to expand this assessment with a deeper focus on your personality, intelligence, and motivation. This can also include online feedback for additional explanation. This can be extremely valuable when making such a choice, especially since it can have a major impact on your life and career. What’s more, what makes hrmforce’s career choice test unique is that it-finally-objectively maps out all Dutch degree programs in this field. Not only are a participant’s interests assessed, but their answers are also compared to a normative group. This provides particularly valuable insights.

Benefits of College Choice Tests

Taking a well-researched college selection test offers several benefits. First and foremost, it helps you make a well-considered career choice or select a degree program or further education. This reduces the likelihood of dropping out or feeling dissatisfied with the choice you’ve made. The test can also help identify programs or careers that someone had not previously considered or was unaware of. Even in cases of doubt or uncertainty, it provides a better understanding of the requirements and potential future career demands. In addition to providing insight into academic programs and careers, a good college selection test also enhances self-awareness-for example, by clarifying one’s own interests, skills, and strengths. This helps in choosing a program of study or even developing a personal career plan. In this way, students are also better prepared for their future careers.

A Challenge for Academic Advisors

In addition to good career choice assessments, there is another important consideration that can help people make better educational choices. Research from Utrecht University and Leiden University shows that academic advisors can also play a greater role in this regard. This is especially true because, contrary to popular belief, a good choice of study program isn’t made in a single moment. It’s a process, but one that often lacks a clear endpoint, according to the researchers. Even after a study choice has been made, it can still change-and this can actually be very helpful. However, there needs to be room for that flexibility, which is often lacking. The researchers therefore recommend that academic advisors continue to guide high school seniors, even after they’ve already chosen a program. They observed that people sometimes become fixated on a degree choice they’ve made for themselves. In doing so, they tend to ignore conflicting information. For example, if it turns out that the “chosen” degree program doesn’t actually align well with an interest that’s important to them. As a result, people sometimes close themselves off from the realization that a different program might be a better fit for them. It also appears that high school students, in particular, sometimes cling to a “choice” because people close to them (such as parents) believe that the earlier choice suits them better. In addition to providing longer-term, process-oriented guidance, the researchers suggest that academic advisors should also be aware that a student may be clinging to a study choice for the wrong reasons-even against their better judgment. Study advisors should therefore continue to reflect, together with prospective students, on a person’s interests and the programs that align with them. It should also be made clearer that it is not “strange” to change one’s choice of study program. By drawing attention to this, there is a growing awareness that changing one’s choice of study program can also lead to a better choice and better outcomes.

Tip: Forget about the “perfect” choice of study program

Finally, here’s a tip for anyone facing this decision themselves. First and foremost, back up your choice of major with reasons. A decision is made based on feelings, reason, and intuition. A good college major selection test can help with this. To also support the rational side of the decision, it helps to substantiate and justify your choice with arguments. These questions can help:

• How do I know this program is right for me?
• Why am I choosing this program? Or why am I considering it?

Here’s another important insight to consider. Prepare thoroughly for your college major decision-a college major assessment and a college advisor can be very helpful in this process. But don’t strive for the “perfect” choice either. After all, a program that perfectly matches who you are and what you want probably doesn’t exist. Many degree programs include courses, theory, or projects that aren’t a great fit for you. This doesn’t necessarily mean the program isn’t right for you. So focus on finding a program that’s “good enough” for you, according to a strategy from Studiekeuzemaken.nl. “Because if you strive for perfection, your doubts will never end.”