For the past 20 years, Beth and Greg Langston have been helping school students with college preparation. While Beth’s career has been in education, Greg’s is in business. Through College Flight Plan, they’ve combined their expertise to help teenagers prepare for college. Greg and Beth can guide students in a variety of ways that include the following.
- Choosing a college major.
- Helping teens decide on a career path that aligns with their strengths and values.
- Creating a career plan (whether the student attends college or not.)
- Guidance with college applications.
- Help with the college admissions process.
Ultimately, the Langstons help teenagers figure out their life’s purpose and what they want to do with their life.
Teenagers considering the college route can save thousands, if not tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, by going through the College Flight Plan course before starting college. Watch the video or listen to the podcast episode further down this page to learn how to helping your teen prepare for college can save your family money.
Career and College Preparation with Greg & Beth Langston
Video & Podcast Interview Below
While Beth and Greg graduated from Purdue University, they pursued different career paths. Through College Flight Plan, they fused their careers and now help teenagers prepare for college and plan their careers.
While many students choose a college major, some create plans that lead directly to a career path. Regardless of a student’s decision while in the College Flight Plan Course, Beth and Greg help students make intelligent decisions that lead them toward a purpose-driven career and life.
Beth graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s in Education. As a result, she has helped hundreds of high school students worldwide navigate the dreaded college application essay process with tremendous success.
Greg graduated from Purdue’s Krannert School of Business and pursued an international business career. His career allowed him to mentor hundreds of young professionals while leading businesses with over one billion dollars in revenue. Greg has led hundreds of young professionals in business and worked with people in over 65 countries.
What Does College Flight Plan Do?
Through College Flight Plan, Beth and Greg help teenagers choose a major that allows them to graduate in four years and have a fulfilling career.
The Langstons help high-school students with career and college preparation.
High school students will do the following in the College Flight Plan course.
- Figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are.
- Pinpoint what they’re passionate about.
- Recognize what they are naturally gifted to do.
Helping Teenagers Prepare for College and Career: Interview with Beth & Greg Langston
Career Preparation for Teens Who Choose Not to Go to College
Some teenagers might decide that college isn’t the right choice for them, and that’s okay. While College Flight Plan aims to help students design a college path that will lead them toward life and career success, some students realize they want a career that doesn’t require a college degree.
When a teen decides that college isn’t the right choice for them, the Langstons continue to help the student. Rather than mapping out a college plan, the student uses the information they learn about themselves to map out a career plan that helps them pursue their life’s purpose.
Whether a teenager proceeds directly into college or begins their career, a student’s work in the College Flight Plan course is valuable. Some teens may want to take a gap year or go into a different profession that doesn’t require a college degree. The knowledge and confidence students develop in the program are incredibly valuable as they move into young adulthood.
Video Interview with Beth & Greg Langston
Click Here to Learn More About College Flight Plan.
International Travel & Homeschooling
By the time Greg and Beth’s kids were 13, they had been to 12 schools, homeschooled, and lived in five countries. They all learned foreign languages and gained an appreciation for other cultures. In our HomeSchool ThinkTank Parenting Podcast interview, Beth mentioned that the Singapore American School had 72 nationalities represented in K through 12.
Their kids went to school in Mexico, but their evenings were filled with translating homework from Spanish to English. Throughout their travels, the Langston’s occasionally homeschooled their children too. For example, when they moved to Australia, the school year was different than in the United States, so they homeschooled there.
As the Langstons teens entered their teenage years, they felt the need to return to the United States.
Why?
To start preparing for college.
Returning to the United States and Preparing for College
In our interview, Beth shared,
“We thought we needed to get back to the states to start preparing for the college application process. We thought we needed to be there by freshman year. But when we came back, we were very disappointed that nobody in their schools was helping them discover their strengths, weaknesses, giving opportunities to explore different occupations and things. Find their purpose and goals and so forth.”
Beth Langsont. Paraphrased slightly for readability.
As an executive, Greg was running corporations and he was provided with hours of this great executive training that helped him gain skills and gave him assessments that improved who he was as a person, his performance as a leader, and as a team player. Greg repeatedly said to Beth, “Why have I had to wait 20 years to learn this?”
They wondered, “Why aren’t we teaching these things to our kids right now? This is when they need to know what they’re good at and what their goals are. So that’s when we started on our own children as our guinea pigs.”
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College Flight Plan Saves Time & Money
While the College Flight Plan course does cost money, in the long run, this is an investment in your child’s future. During our interview, Greg shared some interesting statistics.
You can learn more about the statistics in our interview with Greg and Beth Langston.
The Cost of College
- In-State Public College: $40,000 per year on the low end.
- Ivy League College: $80,000 per year on the low end.
Percentage of Students Who Drop Out of College
Here are some statistics from the Education Data Initiative.
- 32.9% of undergraduates don’t complete their degree program.
- 24.1% of first-time undergraduates drop out within 12 months.
Percentage of Students Who Graduate from College
Here are some statistics from the Education Data Initiative.
- 23.5% of bachelor’s students take more than four years to complete their program.
- 31.6% of students at two-year institutions graduate.
- 46.2% of combined students from two-year and four-year institutions graduate.
- 63.8% of college students who enroll in bachelor’s programs at age 18 or younger graduate within five years.
How Long Does College Usually Takes for Students Who Graduate?
Greg Langston shared these statistics in our interview.
- Only 40% of all college students seeking a bachelor’s degree graduate in four years.
- 60% of all college students seeking a bachelor’s degree graduate in six years.
Why Does It Take Most Students Six Years to Graduate From College?
It takes the majority of college students six years to graduate because they change their majors three times.
The Real Cost of College for Most Students
When you examine the real cost of changing your major three times, there are many costs to consider. Let’s consider this more deeply.
Two extra years of college.
- In-State Tuition: $40,000/year x 2 years = $80,000
- Ivy League School: $80,000/year x 2 years = $160,000
Two extra years of student loan debt.
- In-State Tuition: $80,000 (2 years tuition) x interest rate over ? years = ???
- Ivy League School: $160,000 (2 years tuition) x interest rate over ? years =???
Two years of lost earning potential.
- Two Years of Income: Salary per year x two years = ???
Two years of lost investment potential.
Two Years of Investing: 10% of income invested at ? interest rate, compounded over a lifetime.
Two Years of Time
What’s this worth? If your young adult (child) is loving college life, maybe it’s great. However, it’s likely that by year five or six of college, both you and your college student are more than ready to move forward in life.
Click here to learn more about College Flight Plan.
How Much Money Does Two Extra Years of College Cost?
If your teenager is considering college, we suggest doing the math before they enroll.
The cost of not being clear on your strengths and weaknesses, and not having a purpose in life is high.
Depending on your child’s future earning potential, the real cost of college will probably total half a million to one million dollars (or more) over the course of a lifetime.
That’s a lot of money to leave on the table due to a lack of clarity.
Greg and Beth Langston can help your child create a plan for their future through College Flight Plan.
Purpose & Meaning for Teenagers & Young Adults
According to Greg Langston, another interesting data point shows that 87% of teenagers and young adults have no purpose or meaning in life. This means teenagers don’t know what they want out of life or where they are going.
In our interview, Greg says, “Compound that with others who tell kids, ‘You can’t do that,’ and you just throw more gas on that fire.”
Greg continues, “That’s why it’s so important for students and the parents of those students, whether they’re homeschooling or not, to help the kids figure out what they’re good at.”
Career & College Prep and Choosing a Major
Greg and Beth believe that teenagers are capable of figuring out what’s important to them and what they’re passionate about. They suggest parents help their kids explore career and major options before college.
One example Beth shared is that her son thought he wanted to enter medicine. During her son’s teenage years, Beth helped her son find the opportunity to work with a couple of different surgeons. After going to work with surgeons, Beth’s son realized that he didn’t want to be a surgeon.
Beth says, “Thankfully, he didn’t waste his time and money going to school all those years only to find out that this [surgery] is not what he wanted to study.'” Instead, he went into the world of finance.
How You Can Help Your Teenager Find Their Purpose, Choose a Major, and Choose a Career
The Langstons have some excellent suggestions that parents can do with their teens to help them find their purpose in life. The first suggestion is to help your child create a survey.
After your teenager has created the survey, he or she can ask other people who know them well to complete the survey.
Questions to Include In Your Teenager’s Career Questionnaire
- Please list three things that I do well.
- List three things I do poorly that you think I need to improve upon.
- How do I add value to other people?
- What majors or professions do you think I should study?
- You and your child can brainstorm other questions they would find helpful in this survey.
Eight People Who Know Your Child Well
Identify eight people who are vested in your teenager. Your child should trust these individuals, and they should be people who will give strong, honest, feedback.
Give each individual the career survey and ask them to complete it anonymously. It is important that your child doesn’t know who made a statement because this can skew their perception of the feedback.
Your survey results will help provide a clear picture from people who care about your child.
Helping Teens with Self Discovery Assessments and Quizzes
While working as an executive in the C-suite, Greg did various surveys and 360 self-assessments. As a result, he believes that people shouldn’t wait until mid-life to intentionally learn about themselves at a deeper level.
The benefits of the self-knowledge gained through the College Flight Plan course can impact your child’s entire life.
Throughout the course, Greg and Beth guide students through a self-discovery process that helps them identify their own core values and what is important to them.
Self-Discovery for Teens: Identify Core Values
Greg shares one example of how he and Beth help students identify their core values.
Envision the cross-section of a tree. Each part of the tree represents important attributes that the student is clarifying for themselves.
- Root System: Symbolizes values.
- Tree Trunk: Symbolizes your purpose.
- Branches: Symbolize your objectives and goals.
As you can see from this example, your purpose, objectives, and goals all stem from the strength of your values.
“That’s why we believe it’s very important that values are chosen by the student – to see what values they won’t negotiate on. That they will answer questions based upon those values when they’re not with their parents or with their guardians – and we’ll make the decisions accordingly, and that will support their purpose and their objectives following that.”
Greg continues with the following.
“In order to really get clear on what your purpose is, you need to have that 360 assessment in terms of your strengths and weaknesses. You then take the Kolbe Assessment, which is an assessment that identifies how you instinctively problem solve.”
Greg Langston
The Kolbe Assessment
Greg mentions that he’s taken the Kolbe Assessment three times over a 25-year period and that his score has not changed by a single point. Greg states that your conation, naturally taking action and solving problems, does not change. While your IQ and the way you interact with other people, socially, cognitively, and effectively can change as you mature, the way you instinctively problem-solve remains the same.
Understanding Your Distinct Natural Abilities Helps Teens with Career and College Preparation
Through their career and college prep program, the Langstons help teenagers identify their Distinct Natural Abilities, abbreviated as DNA.
Greg & Beth help students identify their values and what they do well during this self-discovery process. As a result, students can put their best foot forward by pursuing a college major, career, and life that aligns with their strengths and values.
In addition to understanding their strengths, students in the College Flight Plan program also identify their shortcomings. As a result, they can intentionally improve weaknesses.
By discovering their Distinct Natural Abilities, teenagers are better equipped to make intelligent and thoughtful choices that will help them choose a college major and career that leads to a purpose-filled life.
Accountability
Another key component of the College Flight Plan program is accountability. As the student goes through this program, they choose an accountability partner who will help keep them on track. It’s rare that students choose a friend. Students usually choose someone such as a parent, relative, or respected leader to hold them accountable.
The Langstons help the students understand the importance of choosing an accountability partner who will give them the unvarnished truth. They want teenagers to choose someone who will tell them what they do well and what they don’t do well.
Greg shares that when someone is not held accountable by others, the chance of them succeeding is in the single digits. However, when you share a goal with your friends and the whole ecosystem, the success rate soars to 95%.
Accountability Partner Statistics
According to Greg, there is a stark difference in success rates as a person is held accountable. Greg shared these success rate statistics for achieving a goal in our interview.
- 5% if you do it yourself.
- 65% if you share with others.
- 95% if you designate an accountability partner and allow them to hold you accountable.
The staggering difference in success rates between those with an accountability partner and those without is why the Langstons insist that students have an accountability partner.
Greg also stresses that the partner needs to be someone who personally knows the student. This positive social pressure can help students succeed.
What Is a Purpose Statement
A purpose statement declares what a person wants to do that’s bigger than themselves and that they are passionate about.
As a result of identifying their core values and distinct natural abilities, students are better equipped to craft a purpose statement. This exercise will help your teenager choose a major and design a purpose-filled career.
Students in the College Flight Plan program aren’t just pulling a statement out of the air. The deep self-discovery process enables teenagers to establish aspirational goals for four success elements.
Success Elements
- Health.
- Wealth.
- Wisdom.
- Relationships.
Greg notes that while a student is in school, the success element of wealth is an educational accomplishment. During the college years, educational accomplishment is a student’s job. In the future, wealth will be a measure of job performance.
Parents, Teens, & the College Flight Plan Program
When asked how to get a reluctant teen to join their program, here is what the Langstons shared.
The first meeting is for the parents and the student. During that meeting, the student is assured that the program is about them. It’s not about their parents or somebody else. He tells the student, “We’re going to uncover and peel back the onion as to what you do really, really well.”
Greg and Beth explain that this is a step-by-step process. The videos are all short two-and-a-half-minute segments they can do on their phone. Afterward, they’ll go to their workbook, which is also mobile-optimized.
The College Flight Plan program helps a teenager figure out what they’re uniquely capable of doing.
Greg says, in the first meeting, students are like, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Then the second meeting, it’s like, “Oh, this is kind of interesting.” Then they get their feedback from the eight trusted advisors, and they’re saying, “Oh, this is what I’m doing really well. Oh man, they think I’m good at this. I think I’m good at this.” This is when teenagers start internalizing the College Flight Plan process.
Click here to learn more about College Flight Plan.
Teenage Students Choose a College Major & Career with Clarity
At this point, students begin to have a transformation. At the end of the process, the student presents what they’ve learned about themselves to their parents.
Beth Shares…
“It is so cool to be in that room with them or on a Zoom call, because you can see the transformation, not only in the student, but in the relationship between the student and the parent.
The student has so much more clarity and knowing their values and their strengths and their weaknesses and their purpose and their major. The parents are like, “Wow.”
Then the parents see the student’s competence in clearly understanding and articulating what makes them unique. Kids need that when they start to go through the application process and writing those essays. The student feels they have a little bit more control over their lives because they have actionable plans and goals.
The parents are sometimes in tears at that point saying, ‘I’ve known you for 16 years. And I didn’t know this about you. This is so great.’
College Flight Plan helps lessen the tension of deciding what to do next in life.“
*Some changes were made for readability.
Click here to learn more about College Flight Plan.
Greg Continues With…
“We need to allow our kids to have that freedom to be themselves. For example, we have some families where there’s a history of lawyers in the family, the father’s a lawyer, the mom’s a lawyer, the uncle’s a lawyer. And so it’s like, Emma has to be a lawyer.
And Emma goes through our process and says, ‘Listen, I’m smart, I’m capable. But I would suck at being a lawyer. I don’t want to be a lawyer. I want to be an architect. Here are the reasons why I want to be an architect. I can make a very good living and I can be passionate about it. Part of my purpose is to be an architect.’
And that is very freeing for both sides of the of the coin, because the parents are terrified that the student’s not going to do well and is going to come home. You know, as we say, we want College Flight Plan to fly out of the home and flying into college and then fly into a career.
We don’t want them to fly back into our basement. We want our kids to flourish and to grow and to provide for themselves and to create a legacy that makes you and them proud.
Going through the self discovery, regardless of what you do, is extremely important.
*Some changes were made for readability.
Click help your teen with career and college preparation.
Don’t Wait for Teachers & School Counselors to Help with Career and College Preparation
If your child is in school rather than homeschooling, don’t wait for school counselors, teachers, and other leaders to help your teenager with career and college preparation. They simply don’t have time.
At the time of this interview, Greg shared that there are an average of 424 students in U.S. high schools per high school counselor. The recommendation is 200 students per counselor. In California, where the Langston’s reside, there are 900 students per high school counselor.
With these numbers, it’s clear that students are not going to get the help they need in school. Ultimately, it’s up to parents to help their children with career and college preparation. If you want help, Beth and Greg can expertly help your teenager with career and college preparation.
Click here to learn more about College Flight Plan.
Start Keeping Records in Eighth Grade
It’s a good idea to start keeping records when your child is in the eighth grade. If you wait until your child’s senior year, gathering the necessary information will be more difficult.
Get a head start and be prepared for the college admissions process.
- Academic courses and grades
- Advanced placement courses and exams
- College level classes
- College entrance exams
- Community service
- Extracurricular activities
- Foreign languages
- Leadership roles
- Letters of recommendation
- Part-time jobs
- Standardized test scores
- Summer programs
- Test scores
- Volunteer work
How to Help Your Teenager Clarify Their Values & Purpose
By taking action on the steps the Langstons shared in this interview, you can help your teenager step into their future with more clarity. Help your teen choose a college major that leads to a fulfilling career.
This program is an investment in your child that could ultimately save your family substantial money.
Register for College Flight Plan.
More Articles & Podcast Episodes for You
- Create a vision for your life and family.
- Discover fun quizzes for teens and kids.
- Learn about fun math games.
- Roadschooling with your family.
- As mentioned in the College Flight Plan interview, you can see Jackie’s vision board here.
2018-2022+. HomeSchool ThinkTank, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2018-2023+. HomeSchool ThinkTank, LLC. All Rights Reserved.