Math, reading, analyzing. The core skillset for consulting.
There’s other stuff they look for- leadership, particularly peer to peer leadership, presentation skills, initiative. But without a strong math core, and without the ability to read, absorb, and make sense of tons and tons of information, a wannabee consultant will find it hard to get out of the starting gate.
However, as I’ve stated before, I think it is WAY too soon for your son to get preoccupied with majors. Especially since there is no “consulting” major or “problem-solving” major. When I hired for a global consulting firm I hired kids with degrees in geology and history and engineering and urban planning and poli sci.
Read, read, read. And get as strong a foundation in math as he possibly can in HS. He will find himself in college! There are lots of jobs where people are paid to think about and solve problems. A young neighbor of mine is an architect who retrofits large industrial and commercial properties to make them more environmentally friendly- he describes it as combining a love of jigsaw puzzles with a creative approach to out of the box thinking. His wife works for a company which buys old trademarks, brands and intellectual property and figures out how to reconfigure them for contemporary use (so if you see Jordache jeans or Zagnut candy bars in your stores… that kind of thing. Brands that were big, company either went into bankruptcy, or they are now just a trademark on someone’s balance sheet…) She’s got both the creativity thing (do people use cakemixes now the way they used to… and if not, how do we get them excited about flour in a box?) and the analytical thing (the brand was worth $1 billion in global sales 50 years ago… what will it cost to acquire it and then reboot it and if so, how?)
There are lots and lots and lots of very cool jobs out there. What do you do with the tens of thousands of very expensive wheel chairs (many of them custom made and costing thousands of dollars) when the person who sat in them is dead? I met a guy who retrofits used medical equipment. Good for the planet. Good for the families who can’t afford appropriate equipment for an elderly or disabled relative.
I’m not sure why there is even discussion of potential college majors with a kid who won’t be graduating from high school for another year.
I think you need to reassure your son that there is a major out there that will pique his interest by the time he is required to choose a major…which at many schools is start of junior year of college.
Perhaps focus on colleges with a strong core curriculum that will give your son a chance to experience many different disciplines. Somewhere in there, he will likely find a course of study of interest, a mentor who he really likes, etc.
And also keep in mind that the vast majority of college students change majors multiple times before landing where they eventually get their degree.
It’s quite OK not to know what you want to major in at college when you are 16.
I agree with this, but he is very (really, excessively at this point) goal oriented. If he doesn’t have a vision for what the big-picture goal is, it is hard for him to take the next step. He needs a vision of where he is going, even if that end goal shifts over time, to give him energy for starting out. He is not a kid who will just start down the path with the idea that he will see where it will lead & enjoy the trip. He needs to have a plan. And then, if that plan shifts as he goes down the road, he is actually very good at adapting and re-orienting, but he will not start down the path if he doesn’t think he knows where he’s going.
I have tried encouraging him to “just study something that seems interesting to you and trust that by the time you graduate, you will find a job that you like & are qualified for.” But he needs something more specific to aim for. If he likes the idea of management consulting, and I can tell him that almost any major path can lead there, that gives him the emotional freedom to choose something that interests him. I know he might not end up in consulting, and that along the way he might shift his end goal. But for him, he has a destination in mind so he can start on the path and he has a framework for evaluating his choices.
And, all the better that your advice is to read and build math skills. He is very good at both of those things, and would enjoy them except he feels conflicted because he wants a purpose beyond just the enjoyment or personal growth they provide. A specific “here is how these activities build skills that would be useful in a job you would like“ is better for him than a general, nebulous “these activities will build skills and character that will be useful to you in life.”
His goal right now should be to do his personal best in high school so that he will have good options for college applications, and hopefully affordable acceptances.
He doesn’t need a college major right now.
He also needs to know that his career and life are not necessarily defined by his college major.
Can he afford grad school? He could aim for an MBA ultimately, and that frees him to study just about anything.
Interning, volunteering and/or working during college and/or summers can provide a lot of direction, though serious internships tend to be after junior, sometimes sophomore, years.
The kids I know who went into consulting were from Ivies, humanities majors, and left after a year or two to do something else. So I am wondering how many do that long term.
I totally get where your son is coming from but I think it reflects the ways in which college has evolved toward career preparation as well as the legitimate serious financial concerns on kids’ shoulders these days (and their parents!).
The need for a goal is understandable but unfortunately things often don’t work that way and he may need to stay flexible so he doesn’t miss opportunities. But it is a reasonable way to start to envision a specific outcome. Just find internships that match that goal, or volunteer. And switch gears as needed!
I know that, but convincing him is a different matter. Sometimes you have to work with your kids where they are, to help them make healthy, positive decisions with whatever motivation they have, and hope they eventually develop more maturity and insight.
@MAmomto4 I hope you didn’t read my post as not understanding your son’s need for a goal or that you don’t understand the need for flexibility! I totally get it!
At 18, my son wanted to apply to a college because the tour guide had keys. My son loved keys He is 36 now with a great career since college.
That is one of the paths we have talked about. He is possibly/likely going to be an NMSF. If he is, one choice would be to go somewhere for undergrad that would be basically free. Then, if he wanted to get an MBA, or some other graduate degree, later he would have a significant amount of funding for it still.
My younger S loved his Intelligence Analysis major at JMU. It’s not just Jack Ryan type stuff. By pairing it with a minor (it’s required) you can branch out in many ways. It might sound like something he’d be interested in?
Here’s a framework for your son for “cool jobs that involve solving amorphous problems without a lot of structure”.
1- You need to be solid in math. Eventually everything gets boiled down into a series of numbers or a function or a regression which shows a pattern. So the more comfortable you are reading graphs and tables, solving word problems, nailing geometry, etc. the better you will be. Develop a love of statistics- start a competition in your family to see who can find the most illogical or poor use of data in a news article, web story, etc. You will find hundreds every day once you get going (people using the mean when they should have used the median; sub-par sample size for the conclusion being drawn, dirty data, etc.) We are now in an election cycle which means you cannot turn on a TV news story without hearing someone misuse statistics to prove something which the data doesn’t prove. Winner of the week chooses the flavor of ice cream.
2- You need to be able to read-- a lot- and quickly get the gist or see the forest-- and then do a deep dive into the key areas and understand the trees. So read everything. Biography, fiction, non-fiction, Economist, Wall Street Journal. Literary analysis is a great tool to have in your toolbox- if you can describe “The evolution of Jane Austen as a proto-feminist in five of her key works” you’re going to be able parse through 10 years of consumer data to figure out why cans get recycled at a higher rate than plastic bottles (if they do- I’m just making that up. But it sure seems that way waiting in line for the recycling machine!) Connecting dots when you read is a great skill to have.
3- You need to build on your natural curiosity about the world. Why is the average age of a citizen in India so low and why is it so high in Italy? Why can you buy apples all year round but not mandarin oranges, even though they are both seasonal fruits? Why is Barcelona considered the model city when it comes to solid waste and composting and what are all the other dense cities around the world doing now that we have a successful model? Why is China taking down the Arabic inscriptions from its mosques?
Developing these skills will help in college, after college, and will be great building blocks to figuring out an eventual career.
And people are wired differently. I was more than content to spend my college years at a SLAC reading great works of literature, etc.
But my kid is not a mini-me. She is more like OP’s child. She doesn’t like to learn stuff just because it is interesting. She likes to learn stuff so she can DO something with it. I was/am happy to collect a broad mish-mash of knowledge that maybe I can use “someday” like a Jeopardy contestant. She would rather focus on something with more immediate relevance — with everything she dies, not just school/career goals. She put herself on that track. Maybe she got it from sports?
Anyway, I get the “goal” thing. Some kids are more explorers and others need to work toward a known destination.
Sometimes you have to work with your kids where they are, to help them make healthy, positive decisions with whatever motivation they have, and hope they eventually develop more maturity and insight.
He is 36 now with a great career since college.