<p>Hi all - love to hear opinions as DH and I disagree!</p>
<p>DS is a freshman at a well-respected LAC; he plans to major in either math or physics or perhaps even combine them. He chose a LAC over a "tech" school b/c he has other interests as well - including Latin (!) and theater.</p>
<p>DH is upset and frustrated b/c DS does not know what he wants as a career. He knows he wants to do something with math and/or physics but not yet what. I think he's a freshman and who cares at this point. He is planning to take some computer courses this summer and then do internships the next two summers. I figure he'll sort out his ultimate plans as he has these experiences and moves forward through the curriculum.</p>
<p>What are your career expectations for your college kids??</p>
<p>Siemom, I am with you! Freshman haven’t tried out enough things to know where his interests and aptitudes can lead. I would recommend that he utilize his career center and keep the plan of interships/summer jobs. </p>
<p>My DS thinks he wants to be an optometrist, but is only a hs senior. He is going the LAC route for same reasons as your DS. I have encouraged him to have a big plan (health over engineering was a big decision) so he can get prereqs in. Who knows what the world is going to look like in 4-10 years?</p>
<p>MizzBee has the right idea - a general direction is good enough for a freshman. D1 picked a school that had a particular program and changed her major half way through first semester. She switched to nursing, and we just lucked out that because she moved in from another health major, she only has to take one summer course (nursing chem) to get caught up. Having a general direction saved her from a 5th year. A summer class at the local cc to get caught up is not a major time commitment or a big expense. </p>
<p>However, if a kid truly doesn’t know what he or she wants to do as a freshman, I don’t know how you could force it.</p>
<p>I think it’s VERY common for a student not to have a clear career in mind as a college freshman. As long as the student does well in his/her courses and makes some steps to figure out what s/he wants to do, that’s great progress. </p>
<p>If the student could volunteer/intern/shadow at some things that may be of interest, that would help student figure out what is desirable & what is UNDESIRABLE and give clearer focus moving forward. Our D had a very hard time sorting through the many potential majors and we’re still hoping that when she graduates from her U in the spring, she’ll graduate to a job! She loves her field, so we’re happy about that.</p>
<p>Students who have at least some idea of what they want have an advantage in graduating on time, I think the undecided are financially wise in choosing the LAC type school, the programs there are often structured so that a 5th year isn’t an automatic result of being undecided at the start. </p>
<p>At some big state U’s it is very difficult to transfer into some majors (I’ve been told finance majors in some programs will require a 3.9 gpa to transfer in for example). Some universities seem to be pushing students toward an early choice of major to boost their grad rates and penalize students who do not choose early on with difficult transfer requirements. I would expect this trend to continue as costs continue upward and money keeps refusing to grow on trees, but it is putting the pinch on kids who want time to explore their options during the college years.</p>
<p>My son is now a sophomore and just decided on a major (biochemistry). It’s fine to wait but just know that it can set them back in terms of graduating on time. Event though schools often say there’s no need to declare a major until sophomore year, many programs (business, STEM, etc) require certain major specific pre-reqs and/or you pretty much have to start your sequence of classes in your freshman year or you get behind. Son will have to take 3 summer school classes just to catch up with his newly declared major. He’s had many hs classmates who are now into their 5th year of college because of changing a major or delaying declaring one. You just have to know going in that graduating in 4 years might be a problem.</p>
<p>On the up side, he took classes that he really enjoyed (and they do count toward his general education requirements) and was able to keep his GPA very high and I think that gave him some confidence about picking a more challenging major. He’s had several friends who are also sophomores start out in very difficult majors (STEM) and not be able to maintain a good GPA and have lost steam. One even sat out last semester. Don’t underestimate the value of developing confidence and skills during freshman year. I think for some kids that can be more important than picking a major right off the bat.</p>
<p>^think if we encouraged more exploration in high school, kids would head off to college with at least a general sense of what they wanted to do? CC is full of talk of self-studying APs and doubling up on math courses and which curriculum looks better to adcoms and what should my hs freshman take if he wants to go to medical school . . .</p>
<p>How many parents have a career directly related to their major? Back that up to: how many parents graduated with the major they expressed freshman year? All probably close to zero. A special class, a certain professor, a meaningful internship, a year abroad, all these shape a student’s path as s/he makes her/his way through college. I think too much pressure and narrow focus in the beginning is a major reason so many kids are on the 5 year plan. Best to keep options open and encourage exploration.</p>
<p>Of course, having no interest in anything might signal some time off before starting college. Get a job, volunteer, develop appreciation for a college degree.</p>
<p>Given that he seems to know what he wants to major in already, the concern about delayed graduation due to being undecided does not seem to be much of a concern, since he is presumably taking the courses needed to complete these majors on schedule. It seems that your question has more to do with jobs and careers at graduation, rather than selecting a major.</p>
<p>The common “aspirational” jobs and careers for math and physics majors are research and academic careers, typically after PhD study. However, it can be very competitive to get into such jobs and careers.</p>
<p>Math and physics majors do have somewhat greater choice of “backup” job and career options than many other majors, such as finance, actuarial, computer software, and (for physics) some engineering jobs (however, a math or physics major will be a second choice behind a computer science or engineering major for a computer software or engineering job). Taking some elective courses in these areas may help with the “backup” options.</p>
<p>Of course, he could also end up trying acting or something based on his theater interest.</p>
<p>If it were my DH, I’d have a conversation (without including our kid) about why he feels so anxious that DS have a career goal at the at of 18. What are his concerns? Is it that DS will be unemployable? That he (DH) will have to support him after college? That DS will make a bad choice or make a choice without including him in the discussion? Sometimes the problem isn’t the kid - it’s the way we handle uncertainty and our own demons from the past.</p>
<p>My expectation (well, hope, really) is that in the first year and a half of college DS will find a passion that will make the entire college experience an enriching one. If it leads directly to a career, or graduate school, great. If not, he’ll figure things out. I think that intelligent people can find their own way professionally even if as undergrads they study something ‘impractical.’ Plenty English, philosophy, art history and even Latin majors go on to fulfilling careers after graduating. If I really cared that much about my kid having a “job” at 22, I’d have saved a bundle and sent him to a vocational school.</p>
<p>Most college freshmen enter without a major or change it once they take some classes. I keep stating this on the UW forum when telling students they are admitted to the U as a whole and not a specific major/college/school.</p>
<p>My son started with math and physics and took the Honors sequences in both. He finally settled on the math and declared his major when he had to. He took some comp sci courses and added that major later for job practicality, which paid off as he is working before grad school plans.</p>
<p>At this stage it is more imortant that your son start sequences needed for a major than he has one. My son included courses having nothing to with his major but everything to do with his desire for knowledge in various electives. College is an education, not just job training. One reason they have breadth as well as depth requirements.</p>
<p>btw- it did not matter what we wanted. Son always chose his courses and there was nothing we could do about it- even before he was of the legal age of 18 in college. He figured out his goals- we later found out his strategy with the computer science (he was abstract, not into practical math). Tell your H to back off and trust his son to have a plan. Your son may be unwilling to divulge his plans for fear of interference. Things will work out.</p>