Agreeing with others who say your D has great options at the schools already on the table.
Both of our kids did dramatic major changing in college. One kid based all of her applications on the availability of a particular major, then the summer before leaving for college, she steered in a different direction and re-registered for an entirely different set of classes.
I think HS burn out played a role in her decision, as well as a desire for her freshman year of classes college not looking like a carbon copy of senior year HS (but up a level), but I don’t know that for certain.
@thumper1 I guess it depends on the school. As far as I know many engineering programs require students to take one or two humanities courses freshman year. But based on your comment, I would add that the final school decision should take into account in the freshman schedule and the ease of transferring from engineering to a liberal arts major.
If the OPs daughter would be happy in a smaller school (ex. Lafayette, Bucknell, Lehigh, Union) they may have additional flexibility. I know at Lafayette where my D attended a number of engineers are able to double major in engineering and a liberal arts discipline and graduate in 4 years.
Kid 1 wavered on his major at the end of the summer, and we changed the list in a big way. We added many schools from the “college that change lives” book (also a website available) that allows kid to not declare until the end of sophomore year. This doesn’t work for some majors like engineering, but given the % of kids that switch majors, it makes sense for kid 1 that loves theater, but the practical voice in his head is telling him he needs a major that’s more “employable”. For us, the small size of these schools is a benefit as well.
Your in state LAC (St. Mary’s of Maryland) might be an option.
Some highly competitive drama and creative writing schools are off the table without auditions and writing portfolios, but there are plenty of liberal arts schools where it’s easy to get into any major you want. You can find options even at this late date.
One issue is that both computer engineering and theater/drama have relatively voluminous frosh/soph requirements, so that it may be difficult to keep both options open in terms of course selection for more than the first semester or two. For example:
If she will have significant useful AP credit that can allow skipping some required courses in the course plans, then that can allow her some free elective space in the first semester to keep both majors open. But she still may need to choose a major quickly in order to stay on track to graduate on schedule.
Yes, it’s a little late to be changing the list of schools to apply to and potential major, but your daughter is not alone in doing so.
There are a lot of schools out there that offer exploratory engineering programs freshman year, but if she doesn’t want engineering at all, then there are other schools she can look at. (Although I agree that UMD seems like a good fit even if undeclared.) I remember a friend of my DD’s telling me about Miami University’s “Global Miami Plan” that had her taking a liberal arts-like curriculum her freshman year. Since everyone has to take the same core curricululm, changing majors is easier. The school also has a large range of majors to choose from. I imagine there are other schools like this as well. The biggest issue is that I believe you’d be past the deadline for merit aid at this point.
@NLEPeeps Has she job shadowed anyone in theater yet. Sometimes that helps. There are also theater related engineering jobs such as audio engineering. Has she done a lot of theater in HS?
@thumper1 you wrote this:
“I just want to say…your thinking about these colleges is WAYYYYYYY off. Students enroll, and change majors often…and sometimes multiple times. Pitt, Delaware, Alabama and Maryland offer a HUGE number of majors…HUGE. Your daughter could enroll at any of them and major in any number of things.”
Yes, UMD offers a HUGE number of majors…but any exploring you do is on your own. They don’t really have a dedicated department to exploring…their Letters & Sciences option (for undecided students) just steers you to selecting a major as quickly as possible. Contrasted with, say, a school that has a “first-year experience” where kids can explore without losing time to graduation.
You also said:
“With regard to her GC being out…so what? Students continue to send applications after the first of the year. If your daughter wants to do so, there is someone assigned to the task of assisting the students. It’s not like the counselor on leave is the ONLY one who can do this. Ask at the high school.”
I just meant with her GC out she can’t meet with her to discuss. Yes, I know students continue to send applications and we know how to do that. However, her GC is the one with whom she has the relationship and from whom she can seek advice.
Yes, it is very easy to walk away from the Engineering major at Maryland. But good luck getting back in. I think she would have to keep that as the declared major…and if she does, there is not much room in the schedule to explore other areas. It seems to be an either/or.
You are missing the point about many of us are saying. Even IF UMD-CP wants kids to declare majors ASAP…the reality is that MANY MANY students switch majors even after they declare the first time.
For a LOT of majors, there is a lot,of overlap in the core course requirements (engineering is one that has specific requirements).
What I am trying to say is…your kiddo can switch majors multiple times…even after declaring a major. It happens all the time.
Exploring without losing time to graduation depends on the major. Some majors with long sequences of prerequisites, or large numbers of course requirements (e.g. engineering majors and arts majors) need to be started early to avoid delaying graduation. That is the nature of the specific majors, regardless of whether a college encourages exploring.
@NLEPeeps Worst case scenario she goes to school another year or two. Not a big deal. I switched from marine biology to engineering. You can make big changes. It just might affect your time.
However, the potential or likely extra semesters must be budgeted for.
Also, public universities may have policies discouraging extended time, since each student who takes more than 8 semesters’ worth of courses consumes more than his/her “fair share” of state-subsidized undergraduate education there.
@gearmom She did NOTHING in fine arts! Not artistic at all! Then senior year got a part in the fall musical and really loved it. We were proud of her for trying something new. Shocked she auditioned (which she did without telling us and surprised us when she got the part). So that is interesting!
This student can take whatever courses she chooses to take her freshman year. The flagship Us are not going to force her to take certain courses…except maybe a required freshman English course. If the student wants to “explore” they can do so.
The issue is…and this is for ANY major…the longer you explore, the less likely it will be for you to graduate in four years.
BUT there is no school I know of which forbids students to sign up for whatever they choose to take.
@ucbalumnus Seems affordable for this family who can pay 60k a year. Also summer classes can be taken. I don’t know any state flagship that does not allow the changing of majors. If you were booted out in four years, they’d have a lot of students not graduating.