Fortunately, CSUs admit by major, so if the student gets into the desired major, he just needs to maintain good academic standing (pass courses with C grades). However, changing major may be difficult if the new major is more popular than its capacity (impacted). Changing major may also require taking catch up courses if it is done later.
I hate to be a debbie downer but getting B’s in Trig/pre-calc is not a promising sign for civil engineering even if your son loves physics and doesn’t want a desk job.
You and your son have an awful lot of opinions- air quality, strippers, weather, too much partying, starting at a CC, snow, etc. none of which have anything to do with the appropriateness of the actual academic programs.
If it were me- I’d be focused on figuring out the right academic and intellectual fit for a kid like this. Your son clearly does not know enough about a wide range of careers to pick a college major just yet and that’s fine. Before you get caught up in “should he major in civil engineering” your son needs to do a whole lot of exploration about what civil engineers do all day. And believe me (I’m married to one), for tens of thousands of them, it is the ULTIMATE desk job. For every day you spend on a bridge or construction site, there are 200 days you spend sitting in front of a computer doing complex algorithms and mathematical computations.
WUE is very competitive at Wyoming and very few are accepted, but there is Rocky Mtn Scholars, available to any OOS student, and can be the same cost (highest award is 150% of instate tuition). There are also extra scholarships for engineering.
My daughter (not the one at Wyoming) is in civil engineering. She was a solid student in high school but only had a few AP classes; I think she took AP Chem, didn’t take Calc, didn’t take AP Physics. She works hard and does fine. Her boyfriend graduated in Construction Management (from the dept of engineering but not an engineer) and his job is mostly a desk job. My niece is in construction scheduling, and her job is mostly a desk job. My BIL is a civil engineer (out of Wyoming) and he works at a mine, but even though he’s on site, his work is mostly from a desk (he runs their surface facilities, like the parking lots, roads out of the mine, access points).
My daughter who is at Wyoming will tell you the snow is not the issue, but it’s the wind and cold that will kill you. She loves it. A few of the times I’ve been up there to pick her up it has been a little nippy, but even if the temp is around 20 degrees the sun is shining and there are kids walking around in shorts (SHORTS), riding bikes with snow on the ground, traveling from classes or the library or gym in sweatshirts. They have people who shovel the snow, so the kids just continue on with their days. CU closed several times in the last few years when Wyoming stayed open and the conditions were much worse in Laramie than Boulder. Hearty stock in Wyoming.
I’ll throw this one in for fun…Central Washington University’s BS in Craft Brewing. It’s a WUE school, your S would be admissible, the program involves lots of science and leads to jobs that are definitely not desk-oriented. It’s a growing field with decent salaries. He’ll be the envy of all his friends.
@blossom – Uh oh, son’s two Bs are a B+ in Physics and a B in Honors Precalc/Trig, which he says was the single hardest math class he’s ever taken (because they moved so fast). He does have an A in AP Calc AB, and the Physics teacher got fired after one year because, as my son tells it, he taught it like a college physics class and it was too hard for everyone. He’s taking AP Physics next year and is sailing though Chem this year with a very high A with no studying effort. Hopefully he’s good enough for civil eng.
And, hopefully that boat they are on isn’t sinking! This is good to really think and discuss because application season opens up for 2018 in August! Appreciate everyones input!
The brewing career is interesting, I didn’t really know they had a degree for that. My son- The Brew Master! Any one else have any insights about careers that aren’t too desky and are decent pay and in a growing field? I am still wondering about the geo science and environmental science and what that potential has beyond government positions.
I have a friend who majored in Golf Course Management, and he does indeed run a golf course. It was in the department of agriculture and a lot harder than it sounds. Lots of classmates were ‘Mud’ majors, Water and Soil. Most found it best to add two or three extra classes and get 4 degrees, Water, Soil, Bio and Chem. Most of them work in forestry or in agriculture. My brother was a Sports Management major and runs a youth lacrosse league. There is a lot of computer work scheduling games and practices, but there is a lot of time on the phone signing up coaches, renting fields, ordering uniforms and just talking to parents. Outside work includes painting fields, setting up nets, hauling equipment. He sets everything up and then it will rain or snow so he scrambles to reassign things. Another brother (with about 150 college credits but never finished a degree) is a ski patroler in the winter, works construction in the summer. He is a certified EMT because of all his training as a patroler and could make more money doing that, but he likes the balance he has.
If you can find a Building Construction program, it might fit the bill quite nicely. Fair number of students who didn’t get into Civil E went with this as their 2nd choice. This is NOT Construction Engineering, nor is it in the engineering college. This is more post construction management of buildings. Some math required, but not as much as engineering and it starts out a little lower key. There are probably only a few programs like this - check out the one at Virginia Tech http://www.bc.vt.edu (not trying to push VT for him, but it will give you an idea of the program). In their program, they boast 100% job placement and alumnae are heavily involved in the program. Word is alum totally funded the BC building, Can be a commercial real estate aspect to this as well.
Son’s roommate started out in geoscience and changed to ME - which he’s finding a bit easier (NOT easy though) and more employment options. It’s very heavy science. I know my son took 1 geo as an elective and was sick of rocks at the end lol. The environmental science kids I know who graduated this year are not having an easy time finding jobs at this point. So much is dependent on govt funding and that’s just not happening right now. Maybe in another year or so there will be a clearer picture of the short term future for environmental science but right now the field seems to be in flux.
^ Président Macron discussed green tech/clean Tech strictly in terms of research/development/job creation, and there’ll be news from the US in the coming week which may be good for environmental science majors.
Food science and agribusiness are fields with good professional outcomes.
JustGraduate- interesting and counterintuitive that your son found ME easier than geoscience, because I heard others on this site state engineering in general as more difficult than a degree in the sciences. I am not surprised that environmental science grads are struggling for employment. This confirms my apprehension. However, I did read on the job projections that “geoscience” will be in demand. I have that link somewhere. It also says that "wind turbine technicians " will be highly sought after. Do you think ME involves a lot of sitting? I can’t imagine its as much as software engineering.
This is a first that I have heard of the BC program. I know people that are licensed contractors. But never heard of what you mentioned.
MYOS1634- yes I would think that those ag business that travel in between the Salinas area in the Winter to Yuma in the Summer for example would sort of employ grads with environmental science degrees. But, when I read college websites regarding jobs with that degree, I don’t see it mentioned. They mention gov’t type jobs and such, which I would never pin my hopes on.
JustGraduate -How is the ME major going so far and I 'm curious to know which school? My son seems to have decided on ME now and I have some confidence in him since he passed his AP physics exam with a 4.