<p>Memories…this post brings me back 35 years when I was a freshman. Left home hell bent on premed. First quarter (yes we were on quarters not semester) I took chemistry which was the #1 weed out course for premed and engineering. I managed a C. Then calculus and chem II managed another C on both. Then organic chem that was it. I was sooo lost and just not enjoining what I was doing.</p>
<p>Much to my parents disapointment I made a 180 degree change to Agronomy / Ag Business. My parents were so disapointed. I told them not to worry that I would land on my feet.</p>
<p>On my graduation day my sister told me that I would cruise through life and the professional world, because I was such a people person. To make a long story short. I was hired by one the largest companies in my field. I worked with them for 4 years learned much more than in college. Then I went on my own. I have been so blessed making plenty of money. But even better than the financial rewards. I can honestly say that I have not worked a day in my life since graduation. Doing what you love and doing it with passion will always equal success.</p>
<p>I guess my sister was right?</p>
<p>So to all your parents that have just learned that your child has changed his or her major. Welcome the change support your child when they need it most which is NOW.</p>
<p>My daughter switched from engineering during college search when (except for Duke) all college engineering programs she was looking at didn’t give her enough flexibility to take religion, art and other liberal arts classes. So she’s starting as physics major…we’ll see.</p>
<p>My son started out in a double major logic and computation/computer science, and then switched to economics when he realized he could get that plus an accelerated masters in information systems in the same amount of time. I hope it was a good career decision, he seems to be happy and has thought it out. Hard for me to tell, though.</p>
<p>There are students who change majors because they discover a new interest or discover their original interest was less interesting than they thought. No big deal. </p>
<p>But yes, every year I see students leave certain majors for others that are less rigorous. Of course, the progression varies from school to school, but here’s what i’ve seen at the small LAC where i work. Accounting to business to HRM (for those who really overestimated their number skills). Pre-med to sports science to plain HPER. Surprisingly, one of the most difficult majors, music, does not lose more. </p>
<p>Do I see this as negative? Not really. The kid who switches into a more manageable major is a whole lot wiser than the kid who insists on accounting and then can’t pass the CPA exams or the one who stubbornly clings to the idea of med school and then doesn’t know what to do with himself when he doesn’t get in.</p>
<p>However, he should be aware of the long prerequisite chains required by some majors, as the example of the student who switched into engineering late and ended up needing more than seven years to complete the degree because he had none of the math and physics prerequisites when he switched. I.e. if there are several majors that are possibilities, be sure to take courses that allow going into any of them without delaying graduation.</p>
<p>The big issue I see is the hit to the GPA for students who have been a little too adventurous in trying out difficult majors, at least for some of the students. My D tells me that even students who switch majors during sophomore year can find that a few “C”'s in subjects such as math, gen chem, or orgo, from freshman and first semester sophomore year can be enough to sink a GPA for purposes of elite law school applications, for some prestigious fellowships, for med school (but, ironically, not necessarily for grad school in the sciences) and for some employers.</p>
<p>My daughter almost changed her major from engineering to business at the end of her freshman year. She was used to doing well in school. She felt like maybe she wasn’t smart enough to handle engineering; she had a 3.2 gpa, which is the minimum needed to keep her scholarship.</p>
<p>We asked her if she thought business would make her happy and she said she thought it would probably be boring, but she would do better as far as grades were concerned. We told her to choose what she thought would lead to a job she would enjoy. She stayed in engineering. She ended up losing her scholarship because her gpa fell to 3.0, but I know she is happy with her decision.</p>
<p>I know you aren’t saying this, so I’m not arguing with you, but the other end of the continuum (which I find quite sad) is when students weave their way around college for the sake of a GPA and getting perfection on paper, at the big expense of a real education or following their interests or potentials. Sure GPA matters, but no one is actually interested in the student who pursued or avoided courses strictly on the basis of GPA preservation…it’s way too instrumental and anti-intellectual. </p>
<p>And in the big scheme of things, this kind of neuroses is largely unnecessary. So you get a few 2s instead of 3.8s…out of say 32 courses for ones degree. Your GPA goes from 3.8 to 3.64. No one is expecting a 4.0 and show me a transcript with bolstering GPA fluff like Bowling 101 and I couldn’t care less about overall GPA. Simply, one’s life path and success is not down the toilet because he or she had some Cs in their college career early on.</p>
<p>Believe me, my son’s GPA is not stellar! His grades as a business major were not good. He was uninterested and bored, with poor study skills. His grades improved significantly when he switched to engineering, but are still a mixed bag. He does best when he has a full load of challenging courses. But his grades did not hinder his ability to get interviews for internships and he got an offer earlier than most of his peers. He also has significant, relative work experience, which I am sure played a part in it. And he will graduate in December with at least one job offer, although in area that is not where he sees himself heading. I do not know his exact GPA, but if I had to guess, I would say it is just below a 3.0.</p>
<p>If you have influence in your school district, try to encourage your local community college to invest in bridge/interest courses. At our high school (one of the first in the nation) students can segue into careers from welding, auto technology, health care, computer engineering, to engineering. Our local community college built a building specifically for several county schools to send their students to.</p>
<p>Since the discussion is about engineering, an example is Project Lead the Way. Students can take a year long course where they model what an engineer does. They visit engineering facilities, solve engineering problems, and hang out with students throughout the county’s school systems that are interested in the same things they are. This hopefully eliminates changing of majors once the student gets to college.</p>
<p>This model has almost eliminated Advanced Placement. We still offer AP, but taking advanced classes that are guaranteed to transfer to a Big Ten, Big Twelve, or Missouri Valley Conference school is much more appealing. (We’ve had students transfer 25 credits.) Also, students are taking advanced courses with students from 6 different schools. Usually high school AP courses are taken with the same students over the years. When young people go to college they encounter a new mix that can make things harder.</p>
<p>This program helps the student who can’t afford anything beyond high school to the student that wants to get on the fast track toward a Phd. This program took about 6 years to get off the ground.</p>
<p>At the age of 17-18, we have students that are CISCO certified & ready to work in industry. Most don’t do this. They instead transfer and are able to pick up $20 an hour while attending a Big 10/12 University!</p>
<p>That’s what I keeping telling my ‘don’t know what I want to major in’ son. I feel bad because I feel like in some respects we are pressuring him (actually the Dean of the Honors College happens to be his adviser and is also telling him he needs to pick a major) but on the other hand, this notion that you don’t need to decide until the end of sophomore year isn’t always a good one. At many larger schools, there are multiple versions of classes - all geared toward specific majors. The Business school requires business calculus and business micro and macro econ. A science based major requires a different version of calculus and econ. So, you can end wasting a lot of time taking the wrong versions of even standard classes until you have made a final decision.</p>
<p>In a perfect world, I would like to see colleges require freshman to take a course that introduces them to different majors their 1st semester. A different major every class perhaps or every week. What the requirements are, what the job opportunities are, what a ‘day in the life’ looks like, Perhaps some job shadowing. I know that students who know what they want to major in would consider that a waste of time but the number of students who change their majors is generally pretty high - I think I’ve heard 70%. IMHO, we drop the ball in this area. Students who are barely adults are required to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives with not much formalized guidance or information. No wonder so many adults say they wished they had picked a different career path.</p>
<p>However, typically the business major accepts the more rigorous calculus for math/physics/engineering majors in place of calculus for business majors.</p>
<p>I know my D was not the only one that applied to engineering school despite having several possible careers she was interested in. Her thought process was she could try engineering, and if she liked it she could stay. If she didn’t like it she could transfer out. But they way universities are set up, there is no way to try engineering without being an engineering major. She did end up transferring out of engineering because it just wasn’t as interesting to her as her psychology classes. (And yes, she had a job when she graduated anyway.)</p>
<p>Fishymom, the irony is your son’s change in major probably worked greatly to his benefit: having both business courses and finishing with engineering, and work experience, I’m sure has helped a lot. </p>
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<p>Momlive, I entirely agree with you here. I’ve thought so much about this too. We do drop the ball. Though I also struggle to think about how to give students a truly realistic job preview, since there are often many different jobs (or unpredictable ones) from one major, and ‘seeing’ the job from the outside as a shadow is so not necessarily what makes the job great (especially if its a job that requires your mind-- its how you think/decide/the puzzles you solve, not where you stand or the paper you move). Sometimes you have to just ‘get in there’ to really know if its for you or not. </p>
<p>I think this problem is so much worse when a year of college is now so very expensive. It’s one reason our kids (and us parents) finally opted for them to stay in Canada for undergrad. We are very fortunate to be able to afford full pay to US schools, but the amount of money $$ saved if they stay in Canada means they can readily switch majors, do study abroad, take an internship, slow down or reverse course, take an extra year or two as needed (more time and flexibility for experimentation and mistakes). I fully expect our oldest at least to be a major changer!</p>
<p>I was an art education major and during my freshman year I assisted the teacher in a high school humanities class. I was very lucky to find out early that I did not have what it takes to be a teacher, and that I didn’t care for other peoples children! I switched to civil engineering which was much easier for me. I have a whole lot of respect for teachers now. And yes, I did have to go an extra semester on my own dime (or rather, loan). I didn’t consider it an “upgrade”. I just was better suited for engineering than for teaching.</p>
<p>I’d like to use “change” instead of “downgrade” too. Isn’t college where students go find what they truly enjoy? I do think that we could and should figure that out, at least in the ballpark, long before college time though.</p>
<p>Yes. Accounting drove me into history. I was pretty good at it. Went to graduate school and learned how to research and write, but alas I wasn’t as good as other students. But the skills learned stayed with me and served as the basis of my career.</p>