Does there need to be a common theme for STEM triple major?

So that’s all great- but what is the goal, his underlying thinking? Is this a competitive thing? does he think it will give him an advantage in grad school apps? (almost certainly not). Are these three subjects the only things he wants to do in college? Whatelse is he going to do in college?

More practically, how is going to do summer REUs/equivalent (which will matter way more for grad school) if he is doing summer school for his humanities? Is he going to have time to take grad level classes in his ‘core’ major (again, will matter way more for grad school)?

Tbh, though, parent to parent, I would wait and see what the advisor says. IME they often will hear things from a teacher or advisor that they won’t from a parent!

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Honestly, I think it’s far too soon as a high school student to start thinking about triple majoring in college. Being interested in multiple subject, yes, that’s great.

He’ll go to college, find he likes some things, loves others and maybe go deeper in multiple areas of interest or just focus on one. In any case, it’s rare to triple major without spending more than 4 years. Many colleges will also not allow it ( for good reason).

I was a person who had many interests and wove them together. There is no need to have a triple major on any resume. He could demonstrate his interests via the courses he takes and the ultimate degree he receives.

Depending on the school it might also be a challenge to get the class offerings and times to all work. I would rather focus on taking the classes I want than trying to craft a schedule to fit 3 majors. D20 with one current major has a hard enough time getting a schedule to work of classes she wants that she can get in, etc. They aren’t all offered each semester or year.

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@Htas the student is in their first year at college.

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Like @collegemom3717 mentioned, how is your son planning on getting any work experience in the summer? Does your child want to go into the workplace after college or into grad school and a doctoral program?

Also, does your child have any other interests besides these three majors? College is a time when you can explore different areas even though you don’t intend to major in it or do anything professionally. Maybe there’s classes on a particular part of the world, or a foreign language he always wanted to pick up, or a theater class, or just find out who the most beloved profs are and take a class with them just to get that experience. It is highly unlikely that your son will ever have the opportunity to have mini academic adventures with a group of similarly-minded peers in an array of subjects. In the future it will just be in his areas of specialization, or maybe a monthly book group, or taking a class online or at a local college while working full-time, or just studying a subject on his own, none of which, I have found, were as interesting as some of the fun electives I took.

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It’s not a competition thing for him at all. He really loves learning math and physics and feels a well rounded full CS background would be useful to him in whatever field he ends up in. This is his idea not ours, we are telling him that if he stops enjoying any of these subjects he should reconsider taking additional classes or if he ever wants to focus on one subject or picks up a new interest he can adjust his goals. Right now these are the subjects he wants to study in college. Perhaps he may veer towards another subject or interest along the way, and we do encourage him to try new things, but for now these are what he wants to focus on learning in a formal setting.

He is signing up for 1 humanities and 1 soc science this summer while he is too young in his college career to participate in formal research. He would then ‘need’ to fit in only 2 more distribution requirements before he graduates. He plans to be involved in research at his school starting in the fall and apply for formal summer REU research position after his sophomore year. He is also eligible to stay at school for a free 5th year and do intensive research and take additional grad level courses to get an MA if he chooses before graduate school.

I am not sure I fully like his plan, but feel it is is more his future advisors place to tell him no or redirect him than mine. I had just been concerned since at the moment his math and physics interests are not clearly, at least to me, related and he is soon having to pick upper level courses for his sophomore year without formal major advisors.