<p>Who knew that after that many years of reading CC we would have this problem ;-)
Yet we do. I am at a complete loss as how to advise DS who is absolutely undecided as to his major. His interests are from math/science through psychology/business all the way to moviemaking!<br>
So please share with me your strategy if your family has been there before - how to pick schools for a kid completely undecided about his major. A very strong student definitely looking at a grad school down the road.
Thanks!</p>
<p>I would definitely go for a liberal arts school. Lots of attention and ability to develop interests.</p>
<p>Does he have a preference regarding location? Size of student body? Urban or rural? Strong fraternity presence/No fraternities/Doesn’t matter? Any sports or other extracurricular activities he hopes to continue doing (this one may give respondents here more of a feel for schools that would be a good fit for him as this thread evolves)?</p>
<p>What kind of schools do you like? (look at Deborah’s list)</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>What are your test scores and GPA?</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>However, many of what are called “liberal arts colleges” are small, and may be limited in a significant portion of the subjects offered (or not offers some subjects at all), which may not be a good thing for an undecided student (if s/he decides on a subject that is limited at the school, then s/he may have to transfer). The “liberal arts colleges” do typically have advantages in terms of attention to undergraduates and small faculty led classes at the lower division level, but breadth and depth of majors and courses is not typically an advantage.</p>
<p>Reasonable degree programs in a wide range of subjects should be a consideration when an undecided student is selecting a college. But the student should note that some subjects (e.g. physics) have long prerequisite sequences and/or lots of requirements, so getting on track for those subjects early is necessarily to avoid closing the door on them before one has really decided.</p>
<p>Has he done any school visits yet? Does he know yet whether he tends to like the feel of a university, LAC, or tech school? If he has very high stats then his reaches (reaches for almost anyone due to a certain amount of crap shoot factor) will probably be very high and have plenty to offer. In developing the rest of his list (which is to include at least a safety or two that he loves, right? 
), he’ll probably want to delve into what research opportunities and internships or co-ops these schools have to offer.</p>
<p>I would definitely go to a medium size research university. :)</p>
<p>Really it’s all in what you like. When my youngest started out looking at colleges we had no idea what he was looking for. I took him to Vassar and Bard to look at LACs and compare rural with small city) then Tufts and Brandeis (to look at more urban/suburban locations and slightly larger schools with grad schools). Final visit - which occurred after International Relations began to look like a good idea were American, Georgetown and GW - all medium size research universities with a range of campus types. He hated GW, loved American, and was iffy about Georgetown’s definite Catholic vibe. Through the process he figured out he wanted city or suburb, but with a defined campus and Vassar was the outer limit of how small he was willing to go. All the schools, except possibly American, that he applied to were strong enough overall that if he didn’t do IR he’d be fine, but we did cull the original list based on IR strength at least to some extent.</p>
<p>Add to Deborah’s list: What size classes does he want?</p>
<p>Ucbalumnus: that is just not true. It’s possible that Swarthmore is an anomaly but our honors program allows undergraduates to study a subject in such depth that many honors theses are considered graduate work. The honors exams require an oral defense with scholars who fly in from around the world. I wouldn’t be so quick to bash small schools.</p>
<p>OT, why wouldn’t the professors at Swarthmore be appropriate to act as the senior thesis committee, but instead require folks based elsewhere?</p>
<p>For someone who was undecided about major, I would look at medium sized universities, where the profs are particularly engaging & without TAs teaching sections.
He needs to consider that if he plans on math/science major at all, he will want to start taking those classes freshmen year.
Many schools will have science & math distribution requirements for all graduates, so if he doesn’t go for a stem degree in the long run, those classes will still be useful.</p>
<p>Re: #9</p>
<p>Swarthmore may be somewhat unusual.</p>
<p>Some other LACs, like Amherst, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, and Sarah Lawrence, have very limited selections of junior and senior level math courses, for example. A student who might want to major in math should be careful to check that each school under consideration has sufficient offerings in math. The same goes for any other subject that the student might want to major in.</p>
<p>To answer some of the questions:
- excellent student, I do not really think that exact stats matter in answering this question
- we are in a flyover state, population less than 3M
- we need financial aid but are unlikely to get a lot (aren’t we all in the same boat) so will be casting a very wide net
- definitely likes big cities over rural areas
- size of school does not matter so much
- would like to continue crew if time permits
- as to greek life/fraternities - no idea</p>
<p>Schools on the list so far : state flagship where he is likely to get a full ride to an honors college, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Columbia (loved prof. Greene), Caltech , Stanford (didn’t like so much when visited), probably University of Chicago, maybe Harvey Mudd (hated the campus), USC.
He has done some visits but is not interested in doing any more.
I have no idea how to advise him since he really has very wide interests. The only thing I said so far was that for someone undecided physics is a much better choice than movie directing, in my opinion. I would like him to keep his options open for grad school.
He is also very much interested in investment banking ;-)</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is only appropriate if he is certain to want to major in a STEM subject. Although the college requires substantial course work in humanities and social studies, and the consortium allows for a greater choice of such courses than a small college by itself could offer, majoring in such a subject is not even available.</p>
<p>Caltech offers only a few humanities and social studies subjects to major in; it is not really a good fit for a student who is not STEM-focused.</p>
<p>MIT has a significantly greater selection of humanities and social studies subjects to major in, though perhaps not as much as some general universities have. It can be a decent fit for an undecided student who is willing to take substantial courses in math and science even if not majoring in such a subject, though the STEM majors are generally considered stronger.</p>
<p>Investment banking employment tends to be rather conscious of the prestige of one’s school. Some combination of math, statistics, and economics/finance as a major may be helpful for such a goal.</p>
<p>I would pick a place with a strong but varied core course requirement do that this student will get to take lots of courses in lots of areas. I would also choose a school with a good variety of majors from which to choose.</p>
<p>Northeastern is a good idea -Boston is great and the co-ops actually help undecideds figure out what to do with their lives. Also, it is large enough to house every major imaginable but small enough to allow students to take classes from all of their schools.</p>
<p>You haven’t really given the details about your kid, but I have read about him someplace on here. He is an exceptional student, very advanced in math with effortlessly perfect test scores. He has what I believe are interesting ECs in which he seems legitimately interested, not particularly interested in doing things just for the sake of his resume. He would stand a good chance of getting in most anywhere he applies. Probably as good as anybody. I’m sure you know that. I’m sure you also know that virtually nobody has a lock on Harvard or places like it.</p>
<p>He should obviously apply for some of the very top schools - unis and LACs. And since he makes movies some places where he can do that. I don’t know where those are, but many people on here do.
.<br>
I guess what I’m saying is you need to tell people a little more about him so they don’t have to search it out.</p>
<p>PS - Don’t think I’m a creepy stalker. I read about your son on another thread and he sounded like an interesting kid. But mainly I remember because I looked up your screen name and found out it was a lake in Canada or something. I tend to look up and remember strange things like that. :)</p>
<p>PS2 - Exact stats always matter at least somewhat. Particularly for a safety school. Even though they are both very good scores, I suspect the range of recommendations will be different for someone with a 36 ACT than for someone with a 31.</p>
<p>If business is an interest the LAC’s I’d suggest are Bard and Skidmore. Skidmore has had a strong business program for along time; Bard requires a liberal arts major with business. They say their goal is to have business able people to preserve the liberal arts. I believe them.</p>
<p>They also offer everything on the list.</p>
<p>If your S can shadow some professions to get a feel for whether he’d really LIKE doing them, that might help him narrow the field a bit. Some HSs offer this as a option. He could volunteer at a place that does what he thinks he might like to do, perhaps. If your kid can get into the honors program at your in-state flagship with good merit money, that might be a very good option to evaluate, to leave more resources for grad/professional schooling.</p>
<p>Getting significant merit money for undergrad education is always a great idea, freeing up resources for future options, including studying abroad, grad/professional school.</p>
<p>If the U is large enough, there will be space for your student to discover his interests and pursue them. Schools like USoCal encourage double-majors of widely different subjects and have many faculty who are renaissance scholars; they are also very generous with merit aid if they want to attract a particular student. USC’s engineering and cinema schools are both highly acclaimed, as is its business school.</p>
<p>What about Cornell? Or is that too far from a major city? Georgetown is another idea.</p>