<p>Both of my children have posted using my sign on. </p>
<p>He’s interested in some very competitive schools where ED would definitely be a big advantage. And at these schools, the other kids are also very good and trust me, he’s not as quantitative as some even with his good standardized test scores.</p>
<p>Case is on our list but it wouldn’t be a top choice. But I’d like a school like that which has business and where you can change majors, yes.</p>
<p>Gouf - the only reason he likes the schools he likes more than the schools I like are because they have big time sports, he thinks they’re more prestigious, and in better places - not because of his interests. If anything, I’m thinking about curriculum and his interests. </p>
<p>He’s not arguing about the business major. He’s just willing to major in something else to go to a school with big-10 sports for example.</p>
<p>"His top choices either don’t have business or it’s very competitive entry. He wants to apply ED to one of them. I looked at their programs and there wouldn’t be a good major for him. He likes those schools because they’re prestigious, have good sports and are in attractive locations. "</p>
<p>If they are prestigious, then what makes you think that they won’t have good career placement? My suspicion (not having read all the posts) is that you’re newer to the country and think that only business majors get jobs in business. That’s not true.</p>
<p>Well, I can understand that impulse. He’s a teenage boy! :)</p>
<p>My inner Solomon says that he gives up the ED option, and you in return allow him to make the decision about where he enrolls based on all his RD acceptances, direct-entry program or not. Forcing him to have more time to consider his options/change his mind is a defensible parental perogative, but forcing him to enroll in a specific school or program isn’t, even with the best of motivations.</p>
<p>Do tell him up front that you are paying for no more than four years. If he does you proud, you can always change your mind. </p>
<p>I see that one parent is an MBA, and the daughter is a business grad. It can be disconcerting when one’s child wants to follow a different path than the one that led us to our own successes. My interests and desired career were somewhat esoteric and very different than my parents’. They had a family friend working in my desired field, and they closely interrogated that friend: could their child actually make a living and find a job? As a high school student, I thought they were being ridiculous. As a parent, I now get why they were worried. But thank heavens that my parents let me (and my siblings) go our own way.</p>
<p>OP, I’m not sure why you would want your son to major in marketing or management instead of economics (from an employability perspective). There have been several articles in the national news lately about how generic business majors with middling GPAs are a dime a dozen and not very employable. The exceptions are accounting and finance majors, the “quant” areas you think your son will not be good at. Marketing and management aren’t going to be better career bets than an economics major at a decent school, and probably worse.</p>
<p>But he doesn’t have another desired career path! That would be fine! </p>
<p>I’m not an immigrant. I’ve had this argument so many times here and in “real life”. There are people who major in history and get good jobs in business. I believe, and many people have tried to convince me otherwise, that they have connections or are extremely brilliant kids who go to tippy top schools. The last person who told me that it’s not what you major in it’s your internships - her son’s internship and job were with her husband’s company.</p>
<p>I think my family is on the same page about career paths. I’m not taking Picasso and trying to make him into Mitt Romney!</p>
<p>I like a “business” program which will have accounting, finance, econ, marketing and management. He can see if he likes finance. I have discussed it with him and he also thinks that business would be more interesting than econ as a major.</p>
<p>I do understand your unease. It is hard. You do have the right to put conditions on what you will pay for. But none of us can make our kids something they are not, and none of us can predict the future. If you feel that college will be a waste of money unless your child gets a job at the end of it, why not encourage your son to go to an affordable instate public so that he can develop and clarify his interests without causing you to lose sleep over the expense?</p>
<p>Even if all you say is exactly how it is (it’s probably not, there are always two sides to the story), at the very least, you are taking away his ability to learn how to think and choose and prioritize on his own. Just set a limit for the money and let him make his own life. Have you ever thought that he would rather make a wrong choice and then correct it on his own than constantly having choice made for him?</p>
<p>Marian - you get it! Why would he? He agrees that business is a major that coincides with his interests and abilities it’s just that some of the schools that he loves - because his friends who want to be engineers for example want to go there or because they have great sports - may not have a business major. So he will spend 4 years taking classes that he doesn’t really like and then have to go to grad school because they have a great football team?</p>
<p>What about a gap year to work in an actual business? A lot of people think finance is boring- but people who work in finance usually find it absorbing and intellectually stimulating. If your S is picking a college based on the sports team he may really benefit from a year punching a clock…</p>
<p>However, and I know you don’t believe me-- there are tens of thousands of people working in large corporations who did not major in business and did not get their jobs through “connections”. I have colleagues who lead recruiting for companies in diverse industries- insurance, banking, consumer products, entertainment, in addition to large foundations and other non-profits. We recently spent an entire networking lunch complaining about how hard it is to hire people who can write. Speeches, annual reports, press releases, technology manuals, even stupid things like how to access your online benefits account.</p>
<p>So you don’t want to hear facts— but there are companies recruiting on campuses every year who are looking for history majors or philosophy majors or linguistics majors, etc.</p>
<p>And I don’t get the dissing of econ. At most colleges it is a much more “prestigious” major than business (since prestige seems to be part of the dialogue in your family), attracts much stronger students, and besides a CPA track (i.e. going to a public accounting firm to get your hours so you can become certified) I don’t know anyone who would not hire an econ major because they were lacking in a marketing class or hadn’t taken organizational behavior.</p>
<p>For crying out loud! You are afraid that a kid who gets into Northwestern is not going to be capable of finding a major that interests him and getting a job afterwards? Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds? And same thing with Michigan/Ross. If you don’t think he’s going to be competitive to get into the business school there, then you ought to be changing your philosophy entirely.</p>
<p>You are looking for a guarantee. There aren’t any guarantees. Or maybe there are, but what’s guaranteed is of negligible value. Northwestern or Michigan may have some risk, but there’s real reward there, too.</p>
<p>How little regard do you have for your child?</p>
<p>I agree with blossom. My husband’s firm just hired a young woman for a career track position in finance. She has only an undergraduate degree, has a little bit of work experience, is very personable, but what impressed the person who was to be her boss was her economics degree from Berkeley.</p>
<p>Is it possible that your son has agreed to business because he doesn’t see other options? You want him in a pre-professional program, and this is one that fits his interests and talents. But what if there are talents that have not been identified or explored? What if those are his interests because they are what he has been exposed to? I had a friend who grew up in a household where the only music that was played was classical, and he was an amazing classical pianist. He went away to a conservatory, and ended up discovering other styles of music, which he loved even more.</p>
<p>If you want him in a pre-professional program, focus on the “pre” part. Do the schools he is considering offer the classes he would need to get into the professional program of his choice? If yes, and it’s a good school, stop worrying. If he plans to get an MBA, perhaps his BA/BS should focus on the industry he would like to work in. That would make him far more valuable to any company in that industry.</p>
<p>If he is looking at prestigious schools, chances are he will make those connections you so covet. Many in a position to hire him attended those big football schools, and are more likely to give another graduate a chance.</p>
<p>What college doesn’t have a business major??? It’s a pretty standard major at most colleges. I think the parents have an issue with “prestige” vs doing what is right for their child. For a child with a vague idea of what he wants to do after college I say let him go to the school he wants. If you force him to go to the school YOU want, he WILL fail. Just pay the bills and shut up-_NO WAY–give him a budget and let HIM figure out how to make it work, but shut up after that. Our kids know exactly how much we will give them for college and have to figure out a way to pay for the rest-scholarships, etc. </p>
<p>I would give him maybe a 10% chance of actually majoring in business when all is said and done.</p>
<p>I’m actually a believer in the LAC and figuring out what interests you once you are there. It is much less about the actual major and more about learning to think and write well.</p>
But thank heavens that my parents let me (and my siblings) go our own way.</p>