@roycroftmom Yes, I did, but I wouldn’t have had to go to grad school if I hadn’t decided I needed a professional degree. Many of my friends did not go on to grad school, some got a one year masters. Some worked for a bit then went to Business School. A surprising number went to seminaries. I don’t think most 17 years do know what they want to be when they grow up. If they are tinkerers who are good at math and science, it may be a good idea to start with an engineering program because they are set up at most schools in such a way that if you don’t take the right courses as a freshman you won’t be able to graduate in time, but for most students they can take courses freshman year that are things they might be interested in, many of which aren’t offered in the average high school. A potential CS student takes the appropriate level CS course, along with some other things that they also like.
The computer sci dept at UT Austin has an admission rate below 5%, direct admit. It is not possible to minor in that subject there. Courses for non majors are severely limited. The business school for undergrads allows a few internal transfers, but not many. So yes, there are thousands of students who commit to a major there upon entrance. While I, and everyone in my family, enjoyed a professional degree, the current estimated cost of a top tier MBA ranges from $151k (Yale) to $168k (Columbia). So I don’t think it may be feasible to count on waiting til grad school for everyone.
We’re in the same boat financially. That is our exact list with the addition of University of North Texas and Stephen F. Austin as financial safeties. Also, the University of Houston has a Tier One scholarship that is full-tuition plus 2 years room and board. It is competitive, and a minimum SAT score of 1400 is suggested. So you may want to look at that one, too.
Anyway, I am also concerned about the idea of ds being locked into a particular school once admitted. I like the idea of starting with a math/engineering major as it gives flexibility for his other areas of interest. That still wouldn’t work at UT or A&M, but might be a good place to start at other schools.
The quiz linked in an earlier post did not give me an option I would enjoy. I like many things and answered accordingly but no way would I have wanted their single suggestion. I do not recommend that Loyola quiz. Good students will be able to answer that they do well to too many diverse questions. There are other tests available that would be much more useful.
A HS student is still exploring and changing. So is a college student. After that we get into a job/career and need to work so do not make the changes we may have earlier. There are many options and not all paths can be followed in the real world.
Currently more schools want an incoming freshman to have goals and list a major. UW-Madison changed in recent years but changes there can be easily made. When son entered college he was definitely STM (not E) and took classes for both math and physics majors before choosing math. He then added the rest of the CS major and works in that. If he had thoughts of engineering his first year would have added the intro to it course.
It seems that in today’s world any desire for engineering should be the focus as it is easy to change out of it but may not be feasible to get into later. The freshman courses taken will be science/math ones that can be used for other majors or breadth requirements. Engineering is a desired field and competitive. However, there are math science people out there- son and I are two- who have no interest in engineering. For example, chemistry and chemical engineering have some commonm ground but are also very different- no way did I want engineering but like being in chemistry. I went on to being a physician, unlike my chemistry college friends however.
Also mentioned above- broad fields. By now your son likely has already made some useful decisions. The social sciences/humanities versus STEM one is huge. Your son should never feel locked into his major/career. This means accepting detours along the way. Those extra physics classes for my son. btw- he also had several philosophy classes, all people are multifaceted and should indulge in nonmajor related interests, especially in the college setting where they can get academically great experiences.
Apply to colleges that have strong programs across the board.