help with advice for son

College Majors
1

<p>My son has so many interests that he is having a hard time deciding on which path to take at college.</p>

<p>Possible majors: computer science, math, and French</p>

<p>Possible minor: Arabic</p>

<p>We know that W&M will only put 2 things on your degree. Double major, or major and minor.</p>

<p>I am advising him so far to make French one of his majors since he enjoys it and is so good at it. Would CS/French, or Math/French double major make any sense at all as far as grad school or job opportunities?</p>

<p>I think he would take Arabic enough to have the minor in any scenario, even if it were not able to be put on his degree, so with either of the above double majors, he would have an unofficial "minor" in Arabic.</p>

<p>What do you guys think?</p>

2

<p>It sounds like he is a typical over-achiever trying to conquer everything. </p>

<p>This isn't high school. </p>

<p>It's not about learning as much as you possibly can just to have a degree for it, or put on an application. </p>

<p>First off, enter W&M as undecided. Take a balanced first semester and see what he likes. Heck, take FOUR balanced semesters and just take classes that are interesting, not to take them. He has until his junior year to declare a major.</p>

<p>As for grad school. ANYTHING is possible, and I emphasize anything. People get funding for everything, even things that have no practical value to them what-so-ever. </p>

<p>As for the combinations, what math does he like? A French major means (in terms of employment) that he is going into a field that requires French. Unfortunately, I don't see French as a multi-use major (like engineering, phsyics, applied math, etc). SO, if he is just taking French because he likes it, make it a minor, like Arabic. As for CS and math, they are two different things. CS, like French, means more than likely he will be entering a field with programming, etc. It really isn't that broad. </p>

<p>Math is a whole other story. What does he like? Teaching? Higher level math? Applied math? Actuarial math? Theoretical math? These are questions that need to be answered. All in all, math is the most broad, and as such, the major with the most possibilities IMO. </p>

<p>-Side note- I am biased towards math so take what I said with a grain of salt. More specification on his interests would help formulate a better suggestion.</p>