He seems to have an eclectic mix of interests and abilities. Maybe he would enjoy getting involved in marketing and more on the research side or even consulting. He is kind of doing consulting already with his Kickstarter project.
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Hi! From what you have shared, business seems like it could be a good fit. There are so many different directions to take with a business major so that creates the flexibility to find what matches your interests and skills. I am a first year business student at Northeastern, and although I knew I was going to study business, I did not know which area going into college. Northeastern has been really nice in that the business core classes that are required cover all the major areas to concentrate in from finance or accounting to marketing. So, this year I am focusing on taking those core classes to try to narrow down what I am most passionate about before I take the more area focused classes based on a specific area. Hope this helps!
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Perhaps because he has expressed no particular interest in law enforcement, education, or nonprofit management ( your suggestions) but does show some interest in start-up businesses, business would be a natural fit.
My son started in the Explore program for undecided majors at Northeastern. He was considering engineering but decided against it. I think it can be hard to find a college with an engineering program where you don’t have to be admitted for engineering. The Explore program has good advisors and lets students take classes in different subjects. Students can declare a major up to the end of sophomore year but most declare a major at the end of freshman year. Boston U has a College of General Studies but I don’t know if classes include engineering. Good luck with your search.
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Industrial engineering or operations research would be other majors that could lead to such jobs and careers. Graduates in applied math or statistics will also find what they learned applicable to those jobs and careers.
Another major that may be of interest to a student who want to solve big picture problems and is good at math would be data science, which is using statistics and computer science to make observations and inferences about questions and problems in any field from data collected on the subject (example: how are opinions on certain political subjects changing over time based on the results of elections, polls, and surveys on the subjects over time?).
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Nope, not me. Nice additional options, btw.
I think the kid should just go to college and try a few things out without being on a strict vocational track at all, but the qualities the OP listed seemed very relevant to (and familiar in) my own professional context, so I guess I got a little carried away.
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A student who is undecided on major should consider increasing the weight of the following criteria when choosing a college:
- The range of majors offered includes all of those of possible interest.
- It is not difficult to declare or change into any of those majors (i.e. they are not all pre-filled with direct frosh admits, and/or require a very high college GPA and/or highly competitive secondary admission process to declare or change into).
However, since some majors require starting on the prerequisite courses from the first semester, an undecided student needs to plan the first few semesters of courses carefully to avoid unintentionally losing the possibility of some majors of interest while exploring other majors.
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This can be challenging when a student is interested in engineering and business!
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Union College is one where you don’t have to be admitted for engineering.
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Is he going to look at Olin? That might be a good fit.
In the meantime, looking again, there really do seem to be some issues with focus, and doing academic work in detail or with depth.
He actually is pretty good at writing and fine at historical and literary analysis, but they cause him a lot of stress.
He loves the logic/problem solving aspect of his computer science class, but hates doing the detailed work of the coding.
He hated biology and chemistry, but did well. He likes his AP physics (mechanics) class this year, but prefers to think about things intuitively (and does have a good intuition). He dislikes doing the detailed, precise, step-by-step part of it.
He loves problem-solving, but hates doing the step-by-step, detailed work and engineering really requires precision.
So, he’s pretty indifferent to most (of) his schoolwork.
Your post and description have a lot of positives, of course 
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This was my first thought too; and UMass has a strong program https://mie.umass.edu/undergraduate-students/ieor-program This major is at the intersection of engineering and business, which seems like a good place to start.
He might also enjoy the project-based approach at WPI, which has both business and engineering programs, and an IE major as well https://www.wpi.edu/academics/departments/industrial-engineering
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@MAmomto4 - Thank you for starting this thread
my D24 has a lot of similarities as your S24
- similar SAT scores (near perfect ELA, 720 Math), does lots of reading, great interest in history and literary analysis
- Doesn’t have strong feelings about math, but has the acumen for doing detailed, precise, step-by-step work required in most of her assignments
- Loves Logic, puzzles, problem-solving and strategy type activities and games
- Well grounded but kind of shy/introverted
- Engineering is ruled out according to her based on above
- Thanks for this suggestion. We started looking for such schools in north-east/mid-atlantic region for the exact same reasons you mentioned especially the honors programs at state flagships
A lot of great suggestions from other posters as well. D24 seems to prefer Psych/Neuro programs but not sure if she will have a decision on a major by the time the college apps need to go out. We are certainly the donut hole family chasing merit aid so not sure how the “undecided” major plays into college acceptances.
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Do you think he might like Special Ed? What I love about my job is “problem solving”. Everyone can learn, but I have to figure out how to make it possible. His personality seems like a fit for high school students with special needs.
I think he could be very good at it, but it might be a little “too close to home.” With 2 brothers with significant special needs (one has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and the other has severe non-verbal autism) he has spent a lot of his life helping them learn and grow. He is very good at it! But I think he might want to have a little space from that in his career.
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It sounds like your son would both enjoy and excel at Design Thinking
- Empathize: Research users’ needs
- Definition: Define the correct problem, per user research
- Ideation: Spitball all manner of solutions
- Prototype: Create solution models, quickly and cost-effectively
- Test and Launch: Confirm users’ needs are met and initiate
Many of the design thinking programs are post grad certifications that one can apply to their current career. If he does a deep dive, perhaps he can target careers that utilize Design Thinking. Design Thinking Roles: A Guide to the Best Career Paths | Growth Tribe
There are some online courses that he could explore to see if it’s his thing. Dartmouth has a summer course for high school students. Creativity, Innovation, and Design – Online summer courses for high school students.
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As S24 finishes up his junior year, he has been feeling a lot of stress about what he will do beyond college. Despite our assurances he doesn’t have to know yet, he has been really upset because he can’t see himself doing any job he knows about. Until this evening.
I saw this post by @Catcherinthetoast and thought the interview question described sounded like the type of thinking S24 likes to do (figuring out what is going on, asking exploring questions, thinking of creative solutions). After reading it, he was amazed. There are jobs where people are paid to think about and solve that kind of problem?! 
But now I’m not sure how to help guide him. I’m thrilled for him that he is finally excited about a job possibility, but think maybe actually getting that type of job is as rare as winning the lottery. Any advice for him as he finishes his junior year if that is the path he is interested in? Alternative career paths that are similar but not as challenging to get into?
First and foremost get on it asap. Recruitment season for rising seniors is already in full swing for both I banking and Management Consulting.
I would have him look up companies like McKinsey, Bain or Boston Consulting. These are management consulting firms. He can try and get his arms around what they do, opportunities and how they approach the interview process. Please note these are some of the most competitive roles (and most remunerative) out there. Not trying to dissuade you but be realistic in what you are up against.
Wall Street firms typically use case study approach as a “weed out” while consulting firms put in practice case study analysis in real life.
For what’s it’s worth many MBA programs use case study and small collaborative study groups as the basis upon which they instruct so down the road your kid might be interested and enjoy pursuing an MBA.
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He is a rising high school senior so he has a few years. 
He is just ahead of his time stressing about post-college, when what he has coming up is post-high school.
Also, thank you for the info on the difference between Wall Street firms & consultants. It sounds like the consulting is more up his alley.
Sorry read it as 24 for college😀. Plenty of time to figure out his thing.
Only advice is pursue areas of intellectual interest. Employers that I mentioned seek kids that can think creatively, have writing (and communication) skills, and have the ability to think strategically by deciphering a fact pattern juxtaposed against a dynamic set of possibilities.
This is best developed by pursuing areas of interest that a student is passionate about. The employers can teach you techniques for problem solving they can’t teach you to think.
Good luck and enjoy the ride.
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Has the student tried the Strong interest inventory? Or does the high school use Naviance?
Or see this tool from Dept of Labor, to assess interests
“ My Next Move - Get started on a new career
My Next Move helps new job seekers, students, and other career explorers investigate over 900 occupations. The interactive web-based tool contains easy ways to search careers. The O*NET Interest Profiler is an online test which matches the user’s interests and level of work experience to matching careers.”
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