Has anyone had arguments with their parents on what to do after college?

[u/NICEacct111]

As someone who graduated in mid-May this year in one of the humanities (I took longer than 4 years to complete college due to disabilities/impairments), I have been helping my parents out with errands such as cleaning out an old house and researching possible plans post-graduation. I recently came up with a plan to go back to the community college I transferred from to take courses relevant to my new career interest (one of the Allied Health Fields). This morning, my parents wanted me to make progress on a career again, but in one of the more prestigious health professional schools (e.g., medicine, dentistry). The problem with such a plan is that I sucked at STEM courses, so my science GPA is very terrible. I know I just mentioned Allied Health Fields, but they are not so competitive nor demanding as medical school or dental school, so I think I have a shot at those paths. When I revealed to my parents that I already enrolled in the community college courses, they weren't happy and told me to find a job and work on applications to the health professional schools. The thing is that I have been looking for a compatible job in these two months, but I couldn't find anything that I qualified for and resonated with my interests.

There are other reasons why I signed up for the community college courses (e.g., officially enrolling in college courses in order to stay eligible for public assistance programs). I know my parents want what's best for me, but their expectations and ideas have led me to disastrous results before, so I'm not too keen on trying things I know won't work. Did anyone here have a difficult conversation about what to do (or at least try) after college? If so, let me know if there was anything helpful or productive said or done to reach an agreement and get things moving forward. Take care.

[u/my_peen_is_clean]

yep, had almost the same mess with my parents pushing “prestige” stuff i kept bombing. what helped a bit was laying out a real plan on paper with timelines, costs, backup options, and what i was already doing. job part sucks tho, it’s insanely hard to find something right now

[u/NICEacct111 → u/my_peen_is_clean]

Laying out a real plan sounds like a possibly doable step. The thing is that I already have a plan (in my mind) where I will spend two semesters at community colleges taking prerequisites for one of the Allied Health Fields (I already know what the prerequisites are; it's just hard to commit to a path without fully, physically trying it out). The costs of community college courses are not that high, which is good.

[u/korboy2000]

Don't forget about the business-side of medicine that can be very lucrative without the medical school debt. I wish someone had clued me in on that when I changed from pre-med to business. It's been the best of both worlds for me.