My son is currently a junior in a very competitive High School and is struggling with some of the Engineering classes. We feel that Engineering is just not his forte. Which online career tests have you or your child used that you felt were really good at pinpointing their strengths. / or weaknesses ?
What subjects does he like, and what types of academic assignments does he prefer doing?
However, non-engineering majors are less likely to be impacted and less likely to have long prerequisite sequences (sciences often do, however), reducing the pressure to know a major when applying to colleges as a high school senior.
Why does he need to know now? I’ve never met a vocational test that had any validity at all. One told my CS kid to be a weatherman, and my international relations major got told to be a truck driver. (He swears he answered honestly.) Many eons ago, I was told I could do anything except be a secretary, which was fine with me. Most college won’t expect him to choose a major until sophomore year. If he likes math and science just not engineering, he should keep taking those courses in high school. A mathy kid might also like economics. My younger son applied as “undecided” except at Georgetown where he applied specifically to the school of Foreign Service. Older son wasn’t asked to declare a major at any school except Carnegie Mellon which has a stand alone school for Computer Science.
LOL! My mother confessed that when she took an aptitude test way back in the 50s, she was told to become a nun. For purely personal reasons, I’m glad she decided not to.
Engineering is not a required high school course in the United States, although some high schools do offer some engineering classes as electives.
Does your child go to a specialized high school that focuses on engineering? Or to a school in another country?
@Marian, My son attends a Charter school that basically has only a few Career Paths for the kids to go into. They are: Engineering, Biology, Drama or Marine Biology. My son decided to take what his friends were taking( Engineering) and has discovered that those classes are really hard . His grades have really fallen, and my husband and myself are worried that he is in over his head. I’m not opposed to him going to Community College after he graduates from High School. I just feel that he hasn’t found his career path and don’t want him to take unnecessary classes.
Did he try biology?
What does he like? Do that.
Does the charter school have sufficient baseline college-prep academics:
4 years of English
math through precalculus or calculus
enough history and social studies to take 3-4 years
at least one foreign language to level 3 (4 or higher often preferred)
science including biology, chemistry, and physics
visual and performing arts
?
Seems like it has to have the math, science, and art courses given its emphases. If it has sufficient English, history and social studies, and foreign language, then he should be able to prepare for college in any major, not just engineering, biology, or drama. Indeed, a well rounded college-prep high school curriculum like the courses listed above should leave him ready for any major in college (of course, he can add any additional electives of interest). Even if he does want to do engineering, biology, or drama, he will want to complete a well rounded college-prep high school curriculum anyway (plus electives in whichever of those subjects are of interest and are offered).
What about the regular HS?
Couple things come to mind: 1) Has he looked into computer electronics or engineering technology? Those majors have less design and more hands-on applications. 2) Could it be a bad teacher? My kid had a really bad engineering teacher his sophomore year.
TXRooster, thanks for the ideas about other venues. You’re correct about the bad teacher, but the other problem is that my son feels overwhelmed by the immense homework and how hard the courses are.He currently is taking AP Calc( ab) and AP Chem. Currently the Calc grade is a low B, but AP Chem is a D. We have a tutor for him for Chem, but he is really struggling with the class.
Some thoughts:
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Go to your college’s career center (when the student gets there) or the guidance office and talk to them. They may have tests/tools that help you figure out what career (and therefore major) is best for you)
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Read this article: What problem do you want to solve?
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pulse/20140804104444-17000124-let-s-kill-the-college-major -
Take an online quiz…there are many
http://www.luc.edu/undergrad/academiclife/whatsmymajorquiz/
http://www.slu.edu/beabilliken/quiz-college-majors -
Talk to the professor/teacher in your favorite class and see what they think
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Pre-med/sociology/public health/psychology are majors where you want to help people directly.
Business/engineering/comp sci are majors where you want to solve technical/organizational problems.
Which is more appealing to you? -
What were your favorite classes in HS?
Ditto on talking to the guidance counselor at his HS. Kids are often drawn to being with their current friends even if their own interests and aptitudes do not match. I can understand disliking engineering- I was a college Chemistry major and there is no way I want to major in chemical engineering! If your son has a science bent there are many other STEM possibilities. If he prefers social science/liberal arts classes that’s okay, too. With his final year of HS approaching you and he may have decided changing schools is not a good option. The HS GC should be able to salvage his final year schedule to better reflect his interests (and abilities) despite the Charter.
A lesson learned about life for him. Better now than after college planned on a STEM field. It might take pressure off of him if he realizes he is not doomed to be in engineering despite his HS experiences. Without pressure perhaps he can focus on learning the material for its own sake and not for career reasons. Relax and discover chemistry for the fun of it. Problem solving is a huge part of chemistry, basic step A to B to C… to get results. Figuring out this logic and applying it to different types of problems is a key to doing the work.
Is this charter school really the best fit for him? Would he be better off some place less math and science heavy? If he’s working hard and getting C’s and D’s he’s probably in the wrong classes. Maybe even at the wrong school.
@ucbalumnus , My son’s charter school has these graduation requirements: 4 years English, 3 years History, 3 years(4 years reccomended) Math, 3 years lab science, 3 years Foreign Language, 2 years Visual Arts, 3 years Leadership, 30 hours per year of Community Service and Proficiency in Technology. His school was awarded 4th Best Public High School in the state of California,( #55 in the nation). We’ve asked him if he wants to leave his school and go to the neighborhood High School and he said “no”. We also made an appointment with GC at his school.
@NASA2014 , Yes, he tried Biology. He liked some aspects of it , but hated dissection of animals and animal body parts. He told us that he would not want to go into the Medical field.
Given that, it looks like he will meet or exceed the UC/CSU admission requirements, which should be good preparation for most other universities as well. Within that context, he should be able to prepare for college study in just about any major (including humanities, social studies, or arts) if he uses just a little care in course selection (e.g. math should include precalculus or calculus, science should include all three of biology, chemistry, and physics, foreign language to a reasonably high level, and a reasonable selection of history and arts).
Seems like, within this basic college prep curriculum, he can choose other electives according to what is interesting to him (which does not necessarily mean that he has to choose them for his college major).
As noted above, not looking into engineering means that he is less likely to encounter impacted or selective majors that must be applied to as frosh, or majors with long prerequisite sequences. However, the impacted or selective major issue needs to be checked at each college of interest.
I have never taken an engineering class in my life and I promise you that I have had a fulfilling, interesting, and lucrative career.
Not sure why being at a top rated HS is worth the stress your son seems to be experiencing.
The other thing is that the imagined need to decide on a college major while a junior in high school seems to be adding unnecessary stress.