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Start by asking what she's actually good at, not just what feels safe. Most "wrong career" fears come from comparing her to a career that existed twenty years ago, not the one that exists now.
It's later, not too late. The plan changes, the panic doesn't have to. We move faster on building his profile and slower on second-guessing.
Ask what they do in the first month, before touching a single application. If the answer is "we start the essay," that's your red flag.
It's rarely about starting late. It's about picking one or two things and going deep, instead of collecting activities for a list.
A gap year can help or hurt, depending entirely on what it's spent doing. The year itself isn't the answer.
There's no magic number. The right list depends on how honestly you build your reach, match, and safety categories.