Dr. Louis Giamarco had lousy SAT scores in high school, but he didn’t let them get in the way of his college plans or career objectives.
In a free talk that he will give Saturday, Jan. 12, at Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, Giamarco will draw on personal experience to help students focus on their own futures.
He will describe fields where there are plenty of jobs and suggest majors that prepare students to join them.
And for students who, like him, weren’t initially admitted to schools or programs where they wanted to go, Giamarco also has advice.
“You wait to apply, and get in the back door,” he said.
By attending schools with less demanding entrance requirements, students can build up a transcript that will allow them to reapply, when their first choice has vacancies to fill, he said.
Giamarco, 80, worked as an orthodontist in Middleton for many years and started to counsel people about college after talking to several waiters.
“What appalled me was, I began to learn that a lot of kids were taking a no-account major, wasting four years of tuition, and have no job skills,” he said.
Having steered his own children to successful careers, Giamarco starting giving talks at local libraries six years ago and said he is starting to get feedback from students who followed his advice.
“When they go to school without a goal, the motivation is very low,” he said. “But if they know they’re coming out with that big carrot — usually it has a big dollar sign attached to it — that’s the difference between a good student and a bad student.”
