STEM careers are on the rise. Is your student prepared?

By Kimberly Walter, Executive Director Huntington Learning Centers

With a sharp rise in STEM careers—projected to grow 10.8% between 2021 and 2031 according to the Department of Labor—students seeking to enter fields such as engineering, medicine or any of the sciences need to succeed in a challenging high school math curriculum that often pushes the limit of their capabilities.

Rote memory for math facts, fact fluency and understanding of advanced math concepts need to be sharp. Students should keep in mind college admissions officers review applicants’ academic records to assess how prepared they are for college-level academics with a scrutiny of math subjects.

Each college has its own set of math course requirements that applicants must complete during high school to meet minimum admission standards, but when students apply to highly selective colleges and programs, or put science-, technology-, engineering-, and math-related majors on their applications, they need to stand out. Did they take the most rigorous math courses available to them?

Based on this fact, we work with a lot of college-bound high schoolers looking to bolster their math proficiency.

Students should take more than their high school’s minimum math requirements. Ideally, that is four years of high school math that includes both precalculus and calculus. However, I counsel families that additional math classes on a student’s high school transcript can strengthen their application only if they perform well in them. That is where we come in. The sooner Huntington Learning Center can intervene with an individualized support plan, the better your child’s chances are for success.

Huntington Learning Center is located at 1510 Golden Gate Plaza in Mayfield Heights, and 8000 Plaza Boulevard, Suite H, in Mentor. Through 1:1 cross-curriculum tutoring for grades K-12, they collaborate with each student’s teaching team at school, first conducting a multifaceted academic evaluation to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Call 1-800-CAN-LEARN, or visit HuntingtonHelps.com for more information.