<p>Thought summer might be a lull period on CC and a good time for a general question-
How do you start the college search for students who dont know what they're looking for? </p>
<p>First time around was easy. S1 knew what he wanted to study, clicked with a school that had a great program in his field of interest, and is now happily attending. </p>
<p>This time is different. S2 is a rising junior, and will start looking into colleges next year. He is stronger in verbal/writing/humanities than math and science, but doesnt have a favorite subject or any idea what career path he'd like to take. Small (not tiny) to mid-size school preferred, but other than that we're up in the air. Does this seem to point towards a liberal arts education?</p>
<p>Sometimes other interests need to lead the way..one child needed club swimming or a capella groups, one a certain distance from home or climate factor. Some kids want to go regionally, some where they know no-one else.</p>
<p>As I pointed out to my undecided child... explore and major in what interests you; and become adaptable, your dad's job didn't exist when he was in college.</p>
<p>Don't stress over it. First have him decide his preference for location--in state, out of state, distance from home, cold, warm, etc. He has plenty of time to decide on a major so let him apply as an Undecided Major. We were in the same situation. S1 knew exactly what he wanted to study while S2 didn't have a clue. S2 applied to colleges (public and private) as Undecided and was accepted to every college. After visiting his top three choices and listening to the various information sessions, he decided on his first choice. We went back for a second visit on accepted student's day and he attended a more thorough information session (included info on majors, internships, job prospects,etc.). It sparked an interest in a major. He came home from the 2nd visit, did a bit more research on the school website about this particular major and decided that this was something that he would like to try. He emailed the admissions office and they changed his major from Undecided to a specific major. Many kids change their majors once or twice and it's fine. Don't stress him about it. How many of us knew what we wanted to do for the rest of our lives at 16 or 17? lol</p>
<p>Visiting colleges during the spring of her junior year helped my D a lot in narrowing down her list of potential schools. The brochures start to look alike after a while but being on campus and seeing the students is really valuable. Perhaps you could plan a few trips for Spring Break or when he has a school holiday. I agree with nysmile in that narrowing down the geographic preferences is a good first step. Then you can go to Boston, for example, and visit a variety of schools to get a better idea of the best fit.</p>
<p>Cast a wide net during the college search and if he truly has little clue as college major give more serious consideration to universities and colleges with a broad range of degree programs.</p>
<p>My first two kids had specific needs that narrowed the choices somewhat. This time around, I was in your predicament. A kid with no really strong interest in anything. He did not care if he went near or far. He did not care large or small. He did not care about weather. He did not care if it was in a city or out in the boonies. He was pretty evenly distributed in interests, though a stronger math student than verbal/writing skills. So, I, Mom put some of my own preferences in the equation at the onset. </p>
<p>We started by looking at nearby colleges, smaller colleges, residential colleges. All of these were MY preferences. As we looked, he started to acquire and state his preferences. Certain patterns and things started coming clear. He liked the Catholic schools which was a bit of a surprise. We visited because there were a couple of them nearby. He did not like suitcase colleges either. He wanted something different from his high school experiences. Because he did not have strong preferences from the onset, I was able to put in my 2 cents worth without the situation getting argumentative. If he doesn't care, why shouldn't my preferences be out there? Especially since I am on his side and looking for the best fit.</p>
<p>Undecided is absolutely the best way to be. That way, the prospective student makes the choice based upon those factors that will continue to be important to him or her. The vast majority of students who make choices based on curricular interests will eventually find themselves "undecided" again during their college career.</p>
<p>It's a little early to begin worrying about a major IMO. A lot changes from the end of 10th grade until the first Early App is submitted. And unless your son elects to major in something obscure, it's unlikely his chosen school will be a problem. As gadad correctly points out, lots of kids change majors in college. Have fun with your campus visits!</p>
<p>He does seem LAC-bound. But it sounds like you have to get on the road. I have a rising senior who is similarly unfocused. We did manage to narrow the field somewhat in the spring by visiting several types of schools--not to get her interested in those schools particularly, but to give her a sense of the various options. In Amherst, MA, we spent time at Hampshire, as an example of a small liberal arts school that required self-direction of its students. Nearby was UMass, so we visited to get the feel of a large state university with a diverse student body. An overnight and some meals and shopping in Amherst help her appreciate what it would be like to live in a small town influenced by a large student population. Similarly, a trip to Boston gave her a look at big city schools both with and without traditional campuses. We also visited a very remotely located college and a traditionally run LAC in a small town. It was a good start for her. She now knows she wants be in a big city or be close enough to get there frequently and prefers a campus. Size doesn't seem to be terribly important to her. Preppy students made her cringe. Little by little, we'll winnow it down. Thinking about the type of people your son spends time with and the kind of activities he enjoys may also help guide him in this process, since it's not only about the academic match</p>
<p>Just checking in - thanks all, am looking forward to sitting down here and going through your comments carefully later tonight. I certainly don't expect him to know his future plans by junior year, but we do want to plan some visits. Another weed-out factor, for better or worse, will be the standardized tests (SAT, ACT, or both). We'll see...</p>
<p>I would sign him up for a speech class for this fall. Change his schedule around if you have to.<br>
Since he is more verbal, this way you find out if he is argumentative or good at explaining his position, etc., which would more suggest considering law or teaching as careers.<br>
That debate class ... I have to sigh over the consequences. My quiet d bloomed into an arguer. Still, it gave her confidence and discovering that she liked to debate was a surprise for us all. It still reaps rewards whenever she has to talk in class or in a social situation.</p>
<p>My daughter is a classic Undecided. So instead of starting from, "What do you want to major in?", we started from, "What kind of classes are you interested in trying?" and "What kind of place would you like to live for four years?"</p>
<p>She knows she wants to take some art classes, and would prefer that the school offer some digital art options as well as the traditional fine arts. That helps. She knows she wants to continue studying Japanese, and do an off-campus study in Japan. That helps too. </p>
<p>She likes interesting cities; she knows she wants a smaller school where most people live on-campus; she's leery of overtly conservative or overtly religious colleges; she's more curious about trying the west and east coasts than about the middle of the country or the south. </p>
<p>So we put schools through all those filters and see what shakes out!</p>
<p>Have read all these posts over - thanks again everyone.</p>
<p>Even aside from college, it's just hard to tell what he likes, period.
Like cptofthehouse said, a kid with no really strong interest in anything. He is a late bloomer in many ways. This year we saw him start to take his school work a bit more seriously, which was nice. Hopefully what will follow will be an indication of things that interest him because they are actually of interest to him, rather than that they seem cool. Vague, but maybe some other parents out there will understand...! </p>
<p>He actually likes his brother's school very much, but chances are it might be too much of a stretch. He did express an interest in Colby College recently. It's a hike, but we'll add it to the list.</p>
<p>I like the sound of an LAC education, but just hope they do actually get enough taste of different subjects to find ones that might click. Smaller class size and the opportunity for actual interaction with professors would definitely be a plus.</p>
<p>There's a lot of good advice in here. Keep it coming. I just finished up the college search with S1 but he was looking to play a sport and I had my own opinions about what size of school would be best for him. S2 is a rising high school junior but doesn't seem enthused about anything (no particular interest in any academic subjects, no particular sport, . . . ) I like the "what kind of place would you like to live?" idea. I really have not been sure how to approach it with him (although I swear I don't want to hear the word "college" for another year--unless this one begs, I think we'll hold off the search until his senior year).</p>
<p>When our kids had trouble figuring out what they might like to study or what they wanted in a school, we would go from the opposite direction. We'd ask them to tell us what they didn't want. It was often much easier for them to identify majors, professions and school characteristics that they had no interest in pursuing and gave us a starting point.</p>
<p>When my oldest son, who had no idea what he wanted to study, was being recruited for an athletic scholarship, he would meet with the academic counselors at various schools. The best advice one gave him was to buy a school catalogue with the classes/ class descriptions listed. (Yes, they are online, but you need the actual book for this) Then she told him to keep it around the house (this was when he was beginning his junior year of HS) and just browse through the classes once in a while, circling the things that sounded interesting and crossing out the types of classes he would hate without regard to majors or whether he was picking six different departments. This was very helpful in a number of ways. Later, I made it a point to get the catalogue for every school my younger son was interested in and had him do the same thing. Doing that totally influenced my younger son's college decision in a very surprising way. For an undecided kid (and so few KNOW what they really want), the act of choosing potential classes helps them see if a school has the kinds of classes he wants and how many of them are available. This was a very practical, low stress way for my kids to think about different schools and how they would fit in there academically. I just kept the catalogues and a marker near where they tended to sit around when they were bored and they just picked it up whenever they felt like it.</p>