<p>As we talk about colleges, my middle child said.. "It doesn't matter. I'll just go wherever ___( oldest) goes."</p>
<p>UGGH.. My oldest is a math/science kid. He is a history/literature kid. Who says they will be a match??? UGGH..</p>
<p>Just wait.</p>
<p>If your oldest ends up at a technical school, kid #2 won’t follow him – and that will be a decision you won’t have to get involved in.</p>
<p>But if your oldest ends up at a university, especially if it’s a top-tier one, it may not matter if #2 follows him. The top universities have undergraduate programs that are at least adequate in practically every major they offer. That’s part of why they’re top schools.</p>
<p>How big an age difference is there between these 2? What grade are they in now? I agree with Marian. This will be a non-issue.</p>
<p>There are two years between them (9th and 11th). Oldest is looking at Baylor or TCU right now, though I have UT Dallas and Louisiana Tech that I am having him apply to as well.</p>
<p>A 9th grader will change his mind a bunch of times. Heck, an 11th grader will too!!</p>
<p>Grin… you don’t know my 11th grader who is the most focused individual on the planet. Now my absent minded professor 9th grader probably will IF I can get him to express his own opinion about anything… GRR </p>
<p>When they were in ps, my oldest won an award for reading the most AR books and got to take a friend out to pizza. He took his brother. They have done everything together. Even more so now that they are homeschooled…</p>
<p>To me, that sounds like wonderful admiration and love between two brothers. Once the older is out of the house, you’ll have clear field to work with the younger one’s unique needs, personality and college interests as they develop.</p>
<p>My kids are three grades apart and the younger one said to my husband, “I’ll go wherever you think it’s best for me.” This from our most contrary daughter and based on my husband being so distraught about our older daughter turning down Yale for Northwestern. As a current Senior, it’s a whole different story! Don’t worry, too much is still unknown on everyone’s part.</p>
<p>My s’s are very close buddies, which I adore. Younger one went to visit older s when younger was looking at colleges. He came back saying “no way- you have to work too hard there!”.</p>
<p>My younger two boys are very close (S2 & S3). We just ‘launched’ S2 this past fall and S3 has already made up his mind he’s headed to the same university in three years (never a good thing). I smile and nod. It’s an excellent university and I’d be happy to have him attend, that’s not the issue. It will be a reach and I don’t want him disappointed. Quietly I am trying to open his eyes to other possibilities. Talking about other schools he may like, visiting a few over his spring break. It will be my job to help make sure he has a good list of match and safety schools, in case the reaches don’t work out. A lot can change in three years. My hope is that when it’s his turn to choose he has several options he can see that he’d be happy at.</p>
<p>My younger son says that he also wants to attend the same school as his older brother. It is a great OOS school, but his older brother has a full tuition scholarship (along with other goodies). Don’t know if the younger son will earn the same. Don’t know if the school’s the right one for him, either. So, like blueiguana, we are introducing him to other schools. Saw one during his freshman year, and he really liked it. Plan to tour a couple more this summer. A lot can change over the course of a few years.</p>
<p>At this point there is nothing you can you about his opinion. From the choices you have already shared, I am guessing you are TX residents?? Is UT or A & M on the radar at all? Math, science and engineering programs at UT are very strong and Liberal Arts Honors and Plan II are extremely strong programs on the “Liberal Arts” side of the equation. Don’t be afraid of the size of either. They have a relative “small” feel but “large” opportunities.</p>
<p>Your boys sound delightfully close. That is to be treasured. Even at TCU and Bayor, the youngest could find his home there. At this point all you can do is sit back and get your first son through the process, enjoy his first year at college and then figure it all out.</p>
<p>Think back to when he was 5, what did he want to be when he grew up? Is that the same today? I wouldn’t worry about it too much until this time during his junior year.</p>
<p>Once your oldest goes away to college do be sure to cut any apron strings. Then there won’t be the continuity of the younger son just marching in his brother’s footsteps. I imagine with homeschooling there is a lot of togetherness. Try to be sure the second son has a different path he can follow and not just the same one his older brother does. Work on having your sons gain independence from home and family, as well as each other. Separate activities as much as possible.</p>
<p>Think back to when he was 5, what did he want to be when he grew up? Is that the same today? I wouldn’t worry about it too much until this time during his junior year. </p>
<p>Actually oldest yes. He was working on our computer at 2. He has always loved sports and computers. Middle one has never wanted to be anything. Seriously…he has absolutely no idea. Never, ever has. If oldest was putting together legos, he was beside him playing with the lego people since he couldn’t build anything.</p>
<p>It seems like there is just WAY to much pressure here to decide everything in their lives by the age of 15. You want the 9th grader to decide his major and pick out schools by sometime in 10th grade. I get the parental anxiety, but I really think you need to back off a little here.</p>
<p>I know two sisters (only children in the family) who went to the same university, 3 years apart, attended the same medical school and now the younger sister will be an intern in the same department where her older sister is going to be chief resident. They come from a very close family.</p>
<p>My older S went off to college last year. Now my younger S is looking at schools and I would absolutely love it if he went with his brother… older brother is also trying to convince him to attend if he gets in. They are very close and it would be a dream come true. If the school were a bad fit, then I would have to reconsider though.</p>
<p>S1 chose to go to DH’s alma mater. S1 loved every minute. S2 would have loved to go too but did not have the grades/stats for admittance there. He never said it but I knew it bothered him that he couldn’t carry on the tradition. Consequently, he didn’t really get excited about the schools that he could get in. He’d make disparaging remarks like “anybody can get in that school”. I bought him a t-shirt from my college (which he got in) and he wouldn’t even wear it but still wore t-shirts from DH and S1’s school. </p>
<p>We were finally able to go on an official visit/tour in Feb. of S2’s senior year. That visit made all the difference…totally changed his attitude. Then he found out some other kids he knew were going there too…great. We paid the deposit and never looked back. S2 was esp. thrilled to witness his school beat DH and S1’s school in football a couple of years a go. S2 is a senior at that univ. now and has never worn the t-shirt from S1’s school again.</p>
<p>This will solve itself. DD1 and 2 were best friends through HS (2 years apart). When it came to colleges they had exact opposite tastes. DD2 visited 1’s school - didn’t like it. They both visited Kenyon, DD1 asked to leave early because she would NEVER attend there, it was on DD2’s short list, DD1 loved Reed, DD2 hated it…</p>