Well, I think they could bring up the idea in class and discuss it, though I have found that usually people don't really listen to advice about an issue until they experience the issue first-hand.

I never did internships. I worked in a university lab every summer. Lab work is good, but professors should strongly encourage students to get internships. Not only will it make the job search immensely easier, but I think it would help with the transition a little bit by giving some experience in a less scary situation (internships have an end-date). Honestly, I think there should be some sort of apprenticeship type course. We did a lot of labs in school, but I guess I went to work for a slightly out-of-field job (I'm the queen of going out of field). What helped me when I finally gained confidence at work was realizing that everyone is human and no one has all the answers. Also, the realization that the smartest people tend to be the ones to ask the most questions was very helpful. It made me less afraid to just ask questions. I never felt fully comfortable, though, even after a year and a half. The residual discomfort was probably just the fact that I don't find chemistry particularly intuitive.

Also, I found a similar thing happened when I transitioned from high school to college. I have been revisiting this experience lately, because my younger cousin has just started college in an out-of-state university. She was a top student in high school, like me, and she is really struggling with the fact that in college, you can't just get perfect scores on everything. Engineering is hard, Chemistry is hard, and most professors write exams with an expected average of 40%. This is shocking to students who have cultivated a habit of perfectionism. I believe if someone were to explain all of this to students at the beginning of college, it would help retain more engineers.

Also, it doesn't help that the Arts and Sciences students are still able to perform as well as in high school. It makes the engineers feel stupid, until they realize there is a fundamental difference in the curriculum.

One thing I forgot to add was how important it is to make class assignments as similar to real life as possible. I don't remember things I was required to read or highly-structured assignments. And if I do, it is stored in a different compartment of my brain, and I don't even think to use that knowledge when I am actually doing something. This can be embarrassing and frustrating when working with others or in interviews. The more self-generated learning, the better. (like the gravity video, or some of our Systems projects)

No, I agree. From what I've learned about the public school systems, though, it is pretty impossible to make changes to it. So I suggest a "No one is perfect" seminar as a compromise :)