@intparent unfortunately with ROTC the technical degrees (engineering, aerospace, physics) are what is required (or highly recommended) if pursuing a pilot slot. My daughter is more interested in biology (fish and wildlife biologist) or music. So I am not sure ROTC is going to be her pathway. To become an airline pilot a bachelor’s degree is required (any major) and then the pilot ratings would be separate. A lot of pilots do major in aerospace…however, that is putting all of their eggs in one basket. We are encouraging her to get a degree in something else that she would enjoy doing as a career in case the flying does not work out (loss of medical, airline industry takes a dive such as what happened after 9/11, etc). She has started flying lessons and is working toward her private pilot license by the time she graduates. So she really is an incredibly busy and focused young lady. Air Force Academy is on her radar, but she needs a back up plan in case she doesn’t get the nomination or appointment to the Academy. We are waiting to see if she was accepted to their Summer Seminar. I think that will give her a very good idea if Academy life and military life will be a good fit for her and her goals. She is starting a SAT prep course as she needs to get her score up into the 1400 range to be competitive. Her PSAT was 1190 I believe.
No kid was more apathetic than mine. I would try and get a college counselor involved ASAP, but it may come down to you pushing the issue and doing all the heavy work.
Well… it isn’t like bio or music are the most marketable majors (not knocking them, but it is true). Bio majors have a hard time finding jobs without going on to grad school, and even those aren’t always the best paying jobs. Music can be a tough field (I was almost a music major, but thought I might end up as a high school band director, which gave me the willies).
Meteorology is a major they like. Pilots do have a longer commitment after AFROTC than other branches – 10 years, it looks like from the AFROTC website.
My kid was so busy with classes, sports, SAT testing, etc. AND really enjoying school as an upperclassman that what came next just didn’t register. We got the Fiske guide from the library, bUT in the end. I came up with a trip for spring break week - 7 schools in 5 days in one part of the country. I picked ones I thought might fit but that were deliberately different (Union and Bard), some more isolated than others, etc. He relayed what he liked to his CC at school, and she helped him build out a list from there.
If you are interested in this (which I am guessing you are or you wouldn’t be here), I think it’s fine to help get the ball rolling by putting together an initial list and some visit plans.
By the time applications needed to be done, DS totally was running with it. – to the point that I only saw one draft of one essay. Which is also to say that helping build a list isn’t going to mean doing the process from soup to nuts. Just soup!
@gardenstategal agreed! It is so frustrating the lack of time concept. I don’t mind doing some of the busy work, just want her a little more engaged in the process. Its really a tough balance I get that. I have to say though I shared a few comments posted on here with her this morning and she kind of perked up.
@intparent she would love to have her own lesson studio I think. Breaking in a new band director last year cured her of any notions of becoming a music teacher…lol! She also loves being outside and has volunteered for many years at the fish hatchery spawning salmon and really enjoys that sort of thing. Being inside in an office is not her thing according to her.
Few people make decent living with their own lesson studio. Plus, no health insurance. I guess my pint is that her “practical” backup majors aren’t highly practical, either.
We motivated our daughter for a week long tour by offering to let her bring a friend along. Works great if they are similar caliber students.
I just told my kids every time we passed the local trade school (taught hair design, ultrasound tech and mortuary assistant) “just think guys, you can live at home and take the bus to college!”
That got them moving. Nobody was interested in living at home… I have no idea if ultrasound tech would have floated their boat!
Is there some reason why parents feel it’s imperative to even tour the schools? They can certainly get a feel for the school on the websites and then, if interested, tour if planning to apply.
Just seems like such an incredible waste of time, money, and effort to tour for the sake of touring.
We didn’t think taking friends along was a great idea. One because you don’t know what their parents are willing to pay for in a college. And two because I think the friend can influence the visit too much. A kid ought to be able to just go on college visits with a parent for the sake of helping select something that major family resources will be spent on without having a buddy tag along. It isn’t asking too much.
Regarding touring, here are a few thoughts:
- Certainly no one should tour a school without checking out the website and other online/book resources to see if it seems like a fit, and probably running the net price calculator as well.
- Schools feel different on the ground than they do online. A student who does no visiting before deciding on their application list runs the risk of having NO choices they really want to attend in the spring even though they get some acceptances.
- If you can afford it, you should do it before you apply. The window after acceptances, especially at schools that don’t release decisions until March, is short. Lots of students then have to drop schools that might have been very good for them because the logistics and cost of trying to visit all at once in the month of April is just overwhelming.
- Sometimes it is a good idea to start with a few types of schools close to home (state flagship, liberal arts college, STEM school for STEM majors, etc) to see what feels right to the student. That can help inform the search to find other schools.
Well we looked at some schools in fall of senior year ( but began in April junior year). It worked out. Then again my kids wrote essays at the last minute because they were busy living their lives- and that worked out fine too. There are many approaches that can work, but I do think it is important that the kid “owns” the process.
Touring is important to get the type of school down. My son figured out quickly that large college towns (Burlington VT) were acceptable; anything smaller was off the table. But really figured out he wanted to be in a city. With that in hand and know what he wanted to study we were able create a list. He visited some but certainly not all he applied to. I suspect the same will go for youngest son (HS junior) who sees no reason to look beyond his first two choices. 
Visiting can help to hone a student’s tastes, but it’s not essential.
Our older kid never wanted to tour any college before applying. So he didn’t. He had visited numerous colleges (one of which he applied to) in connection with being a h.s. debater. But he was too busy to do a lot of visiting, and thought visiting would be boring. Of the 6 colleges he applied to (from a list that we – his parents – composed), 5 of which he was admitted to, he had visited just 2 before filing his applications. He visited the college he ultimately attended – UChicago – only on “admitted students day,” and he decided then, after an overnight, to accept the offer.
Our younger kid was also reluctant to visit colleges until it was almost too late. In June after 11th grade we planned a grand driving tour taking her and a classmate to visit 12 colleges in 11 days, covering 1800 miles round trip. She declined to visit our state flagships. She was mainly focused on stand-alone art colleges, and did not interview at most of the colleges that her classmate interviewed at on that tour (Oberlin, Colby, and others). But based on that tour she did build a list – to which we added 2 colleges she never visited but learned about at portfolio days and in summer art programs. She applied to 7 colleges and was admitted to all, and she attended RISD, which she had visited. RISD passed the key test (other than being an excellent art school): it was located in a “real city” (and not far from some interesting metropolises).
@laralei I think touring helps make college “real”…otherwise it is a theoretical future thing, or concepts in a book, not a real tangible thing.
With limited finances, it wasn’t about fit or type or comfort or anything other than a college we could afford that offered the major; it became a make it work moment or nothing.
I can see where you all are coming from with the desire to do so if you can afford it, but I still don’t think we would have even if we had money for that type of thing; I hate touring colleges.
@laralei - I totally get the limited finances. This was one reason we had our pups only apply to full needs-met schools.
We were fortunate that we were in a position to tour most of the schools they applied to, some multiple times. Visiting over HS spring break, or a long weekend, when DH could take a day off of work, meant we could enjoy a ride and see a beautiful campus - DH often said a spring tour of a college campus is better than a day in the office.
My kids applied to a maximum of 4 schools (one applied to only 2). They visited and honed the list down which made everything easier and saved fees for applications. Nowadays kids apply to so many schools that visiting beforehand seems to be done less. I honestly am grateful my kids had such short lists, less stress overall, but we did visit every school on their list before application.
Quick thing on a few comments on music major as impractical. Go over to the music forum and read the thread on this topic. Music majors do all sorts of things after college. A BA in music is a liberal arts degree, not a performance degree, but even the BM’s have many options inside and outside of music, including grad and professional schools, and any career that wants a bachelor’s. Music majors are known for their discipline and hard work.