The Case of Ellie

Case study Week 10
The Case of Ellie
Introduction
Ellie is a second semester senior who has a fairly high GPA and good scores on her SAT and ACT. She was accepted to the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Iowa. She is quite excited but is not sure what to do next. Ellie experienced a significant hearing loss when she was a young child. As a result, she has a speech impediment that she is very self-conscious about.
First Meeting with Ellie
When you first meet with Ellie, she tells you that she doesn�t know how to decide where to go to school. She was pleased to tell you, however, that she has selected a major. When you ask her how she went about making that decision, she says that she based her decision on the �fact� that occupations related to her chosen major don’t need to work intensively with others and don’t need to do any public speaking. She selected the major of Information Systems within a Business School. She thinks she would enjoy it and feel comfortable doing the work. When you ask her if she has had work experiences or taken a class that led her to that conclusion, she says she has had some experience at her father�s office and her uncle has a job like that and he thinks she would be good at it.
Ellie also alludes to two other concerns. Ellie has worked with the Special Education Department in her high school for the past four years and has gotten the accommodations she needed to succeed. Her parents are worried about how she will succeed without that support once she gets to college. She knows that will be difficult for her.
She also knows that she needs to make a decision soon about where she will go to school. People keep telling her where she should go. Her Dad is an Alum from Pittsburgh. Her sister goes to the University of Minnesota and promises to support her, help her find the accommodations she needs, and show her around. Yet, she heard that Iowa has a great Business School and it would be kind of nice to be the first in her family to go there. She really liked the description of Iowa City. It didn’t seem as overwhelming as Minneapolis or Pittsburgh.
Question Set #1:
Now that you have read a brief bio of Ellie, how would you work with her? Where would you begin? What would your goals be? Summarize the important issues. Is there a theory that would provide direction? If so, describe the theory and why you think it will be useful during your work with Ellie. If not, what will you use as your �road map�?
Second Meeting with Ellie
The second time that you meet with Ellie she talks about the work she has been doing at her father�s business. He is a dentist and she has been working in the office bringing his technology up-to-date. She has revamped their bookkeeping procedures, set up systems so he can purchase all the equipment he needs online, and established a database of his patients. She reports that one day the receptionist called in sick and she had to work at the front desk greeting patients. She generally avoids talking to strangers but much to her surprise, she really enjoyed doing that kind of work too.
Ellie brings her Interest Profiler results to the second meeting. All sophomores take the Interest Profiler in her high school. Her Holland code in the Interests section is AS You went to the O*NET web site with her Holland code and entered it into the system. Teachers, counselors, childcare workers, recreation workers, announcers, music directors, and clergy were some of the occupations on the list.
Question Set #2:
Given these results and what you already know about Ellie, where will you go from here?