<p>@ucbalumnus, Thank you. You make some good points. </p>
<p>I had the impression from reading cc that taking courses after high school could endanger freshman status. I have an in-law who is insisting to my son that I’m incorrect, but he hasn’t provided any links to schools who claim to have that policy so I’m working on the assumption that he’s mistaken.</p>
<p>Why Hartwick? I think my son was attracted to the programming parts of the curriculum. My background is in television so I don’t know enough about the computer industry to be able to accurately compare programs yet, but we did go through the course offerings to see what was available. Hartwick’s program does have classes that sound like they cover a variety of important topics: robotics, web development, system design, computer architecture, artificial intelligence, and networking. They also have some digital media and design courses my son is interested in. I liked the location because I know it fairly well. </p>
<p>Hartwick wasn’t part of the original plan, though. My husband and I had always been assuming he would attend our local community college and/or our local SUNY because both have computer science and broadcast majors (both of which my son has expressed an interest in), but Hartwick’s size appealed to us so we encouraged our son to apply there too. I think that was one of the few schools he applied to as a CS major; most of the others (including 4 SUNYs) he applied to for broadcasting. My industry is heavily digital and I thought it might provide a good mix of the technical and creative that he likes, and I know many of the courses our local schools offer do appeal to him. I had suggested he try it as a major and take CS courses as some of his electives to see how he liked it, but as acceptances started to roll in my son started mentioning CS more often. When we were getting down to the wire for deposits but no decision was being made, he admitted that the reason he was having a tough time deciding was because he felt like he should want CS because it’s practical, but he wants to do something creative and not be stuck in a cubicle all day. He doesn’t know enough about computer industry careers to know if CS could lead him to a job that has some creative elements to it. He did say he felt that options at Hartwick would be limited and the size is actually smaller than he wants. He ended up declining all his offers and will be starting the application process over when he has a clearer idea of what he actually wants.</p>
<p>I think he needs time and the freedom to explore different career paths without committing to something that will limit his options later on. That’s why I’d like him to keep his freshman status. I’m just not sure what to suggest he do to help him pinpoint what career path he might like. I don’t know what kind of options are available for creative people in the computer industry; I thought perhaps software design because he seems to like coding, but I don’t really know what else exists. Right now he’s looking at MOOCs he might like to try, but is open to other ideas too. </p>