jjkmom - See if you can get her to explore the Computer Science and Media Arts interdisciplinary road. Might be right in her wheelhouse!
My wife and I grew up in the midst of two recessions and all we, and most of our peers, wanted to do was get jobs. Our kids are all self-motivated to work part-time during the year and during the summer. I try to get them to relax a little and enjoy some of their freedom, but they will have none of it. I wonder if it is because of all the poor economic news from 2008 until present.
Thank you @glido, we will definitely introduce computer science for her consideration. @Booajo , yes, she tutors in an after-school program for K-6 grades once or twice a week and get $8/hr! Basically she is the homework helper, making sure kids do their homework correctly and help them if they have questions. I think itâs a good experience because she has a boss (center director) to deal, kids to teach, parents to handle and had to remember to punch time cardâŠ
My DH also pushes computer science hard in our house. Itâs his field. But he tries to emphasize that there are many different roles and opportunities within the field. This is because after multiple tries, in various coding languages, D18 declared programming and computer things in general ânot for her.â Heâs still trying to get her to come to his office and do a job shadow with some of the women there who have offered and are keen to interest young women in STEM careers. I think she may finally take him up on it this summer, but mostly itâs been the cold shoulder. Probably because itâs âDadâs thing.â But she is an oddly rational teenager so I do think sheâll at least consider the possibilities.
FWIW, DH has worked in computers his entire career, starting as a programmer and for the last 15 years in what they call these days âcybersecurity.â But his degree is not in computer science, he ditched that for a variety of reasons, including that he didnât want to take physics! His degree is instead in a related field, which required him to do a lot of programming as part of his coursework, but is not one that would be immediately noticeable as a computer science related field. I guess the point is there is more than one path to a career in that field than a CS degree and those programs arenât for everyone.
@1822mom, I agree with you that our teenagers turn their shoulders to our suggestions because we are in it. My DH is in IT (but architecture degree), he worked with computer daily. I had engineering degree but now in more administration role. There are lots of fields related with computers like your DHâs cybersecurity (CISSP) and they donât require computer science degree, but whatâs required is the genuine interest in those fields.
To share a personal story, I still remember how my niece argued with me and her dad (PhD in electrical engineering) about her college major, she tried to convince the entire family that Psychology is her passion and she hates engineering since her dad is one. Guess what? She changed her major from Psychology to Computer Science after first semester, took additional math and science classes, delayed her graduation for about a year, always able to found internship and got a job offer before graduation, and is dating an engineer. So it was funny to me when my DD said that she will NEVER date an engineer and engineers and their jobs are so boring, I just smile, cause I heard this 5 years ago! Letâs see if your DD will change her mind âafterâ she started college and realize CS can get job easier.
@rhandco , she took one from the academic center when she was entering 9th grade and it suggests her to choose science related fields, but she doesnât like science, or Math; but she dislikes history even more. I think those tests should be taken every year since our kids change so much, maybe the results will change!
@jjkmom exactly! Sheâs super practical, so Iâm sure sheâll come around to a very practical field and course of study at some point, but right now she want pretty much the opposite of whatever we suggest⊠so Iâve stopped suggesting. Sheâll figure it out. ;
Yes, @1822mom, I think our DC knows whatâs good for them and why we suggested to them, itâs just not cool to listen to their parents and agree with their suggestions. Like my DDâ20, I know she will not enjoy liberal arts majors (she canât just sit and research), or STEM (she consider people who are interested in those areas either boring or just too serious), or medical/nursing (canât deal with blood) or anything related with animals or nature or art. I think she should go into business, just need to watch her grow up more with careful observation.
My current headache is that she is in a very academic focused school (7-12), and e has chance to transfer to another lower ranks but also pretty good school (our home HS where her older sister, my DDâ18 currently attend). I do worry about the pressure and stress later on, but also wanted to see two sisters have different high school experience. I might have her try to take easier classes so she can continue playing her basketball.
Anyoneâs DD or DS taking APWH or PreCalc this year? Are you planning for them to take AP test or Math II subject test? When should we watch out for these dates? My DDâ18 is my oldest and she still has no clue about what she wants to major in college or even what tests she should take as sophomore, her friends seem to be more aware of whatâs going on. Iâm worried that she will miss the important dates to register but I also donât want to be the only one cares and keep doing the research or reminding her. I rarely get information from her counselor, maybe 3 emails so far about career center activities (college visits), but other than that, I donât know if our JS counselor will remind us to register for tests.
Sâ18 is in pre-calc. Itâs worth taking the Math II subject test at the end of this year to get it out of the way before they launch into Calc. You may want to consider taking a second or third subject test if they are taking an AP test in the same subject area (World History, US History, Bio, etc.). Theyâll never be more ready than after studying for the AP test.
The students register through the schools for AP exams and our schools requires a ridiculously early registration usually in January or February and if you are late the registration goes from $90 to $175 per exam!
Dâs school is IB so no APs here, but she is in Pre-Calc and sheâll be taking Math II in June. Iâd love to have her take a 2nd at the same time but not sure which subject since she doesnât have AP. Itâs something weâll be looking at in the next few months to figure out.
Honestly I donât even know at this point if any schools sheâll want to apply to will even need these tests, but what I told her was itâs better to take them now when you know the material, and not need them, then need them later and have to re-study older material to take them.
Thatâs sort of how I handle the âiâm the one who cares/doing the researchâ thing @jjkmom I am the researcher at this point. Without my research, we wouldnât even know she should take Math II at the end of this year. At this point in the process, she cares, but she does not feel urgency, if thatâs the right word, and thatâs ok. Sheâs got plenty on her plate with school and activities. Iâm her research assistant in this process. If thereâs something she needs to know, like when to take these tests, I let her know and we talk about it. The decision is hers, but I donât mind helping her with the administrative stuff. She also knows that Iâm doing a ton of research âbehind the scenesâ but I donât bug her about it. She can come talk to me or ask me questions whenever sheâs ready. And periodically, she does!
I doubt that S18 will be applying to schools that require SAT2âs either but some schools accept the Math II in place of their math placement exam which could be helpful. D16 complained that it was a waste of time to only take one SAT2 because they make you sit there the whole time period anyway. S18 is very good in physics so he might as well take the Physics exam.
Thank you all for sharing with me. I did some research in collegeboard website and found out the test dates. Another question, should my DDâ18 take Math I first then Math II? Also she is in Chem Honor and Ap WH, but she is not doing really well (lower B), I donât know if she should take the AP test for World History, or SAT chem subject test, I am worried th once you take them those records stuck with you. Also, when creating the account for college board, did you create with your DC together? @1822mom, I was thinking the same way, Iâm doing so much research on many things, exploring CC blogs, schools, majors that I think it will be beneficial to her. But she needs to care more⊠She changed her mind so frequently, couple months ago she told me she wants to stay at West coast or CA due to weather, but she just told me that she doesnât mind to go East coast, her life will be too boring if she stays in one state. I need to add those removed schools back to her list.
DDâ18 is taking Pre-Calc. this year - was thinking of waiting until after junior year to take the SAT2 Math II. Guess we should look into it. Thanks for the heads up.
From what Iâve heard itâs best to skip Math 1 because itâs much easier so making a few careless mistakes will really bring you down. D16 refused to even open the SAT2 math prep book I got her because she insisted that was the same math as on the SAT1 which it isnât. She came out of the test saying that she had totally bombed it to the point she wanted us to cancel the score. Some of the problems she didnât even try to answers! Much to our disbelief she scored a 770 (which was good enough for our purpose) the only reason she scored so high was because of the curve. I donât recall how many she missed but it was A LOT, by far the worst raw score of any test sheâd ever taken.
S18 has learned form her mistakes and will look at the prep book. She told him to prep and said if sheâd just spent a couple of hours prepping she would have gotten an 800.
