<p>i was in this chinese restaurant yesterday, and some asian boy was yelling at his mom because she wouldn't let him apply to colleges as "undeclared." apparently she wanted him to declare electrical engineering and to go to USC.</p>
<p>i know i shouldn't judge them, but i am really glad i live in a family where i can major in whatever i want without my parents being mad at me. my parents are asian but pretty americanized and well-off financially. although there would probably be hell to pay if i majored in communications or something.</p>
<p>I feel pretty bad for kids with parents like this. </p>
<p>My friend’s mom wanted her to go to med school from when she was little but after she kept expressing she didnt want that, her parents were set on her going to dental school. My friend wants to do pharmacy now, though, and it took more than a year to get them to be fine with it. But this is the extent of it among anyone I know.</p>
<p>My parents are okay with whatever I major in. The extent of their advice on my career path is that they know that I want to help the poor and suggest that I go into a field where I could do so on a large scale. I mean, my dad has mentioned law school, and my mom has mentioned being a research scientist or doctor, but both know my current plans and both are totally okay with whatever I choose.</p>
<p>I’m dual-enrolled, and when I placed second in my state college’s Brain Bowl (single-handedly carrying my “team”…), a woman asked me what my major was. The look of horror that descended upon her face when I said History… “But you have such a great mind for science!!” Really? Because I’m pretty sure this is the first time you’ve met me and all you’ve seen is me in what is basically a random academic facts contest.</p>
<p>Every once in a while, people will say I should major in something more practical, or go to law school, or whatever. My parents are supportive and just urge me to keep an open mind to whatever field might present itself, which I am doing.</p>
<p>my parents are cool with whatever i do…so long as whatever i do doesn’t lead me to live in a cardboard box </p>
<p>but yeah, i can’t imagine living in a house where parents would make their kids major in something that they aren’t interested in. suggestions are cool, but outright directing your kid to major in a specific thing…yeah, that wouldn’t fly with me</p>
<p>My parents and my grandparents are like that. Dad majored in MechE and now works in computer security, and mom majored in business with a focus in accounting and now is a CPA. Both Asians. Yup.</p>
<p>But they gave up after my first year here in college (and we haven’t said anything to the grandparents). It helped when I told them I can technically apply to law school with any major whatsoever and that I would keep my GPA high enough just in case, even though I don’t intend to ever apply to law school. I still get a bit of lip about it whenever I go home, though, and the lack of any emotional support whatsoever is very apparent. (“It’s your business now. You do whatever you want. It’s your life.”) The passive-aggressive remarks and the disappointment both get tiresome after a while, I’ll just say.</p>
<p>What makes it worse is that I know they would be fine if I majored in math, which is at least as worthless as my current major if not more so (since high-level proof-based math is very rarely used in most jobs), but apparently that point simply isn’t valid.</p>
<p>I’m lucky that I’m actually interested in CS and like math… If I didn’t, my parents would probably expect me to go doctor/lawyer/other type of engineer. @_@ Asian parents.</p>
<p>Of course, if it turns out I really like linguistics or psychology or something after a course with some amazing professor in college, I’ll be screwed.</p>
<p>Computational linguistics, my friend. A few of the linguists I know are currently employed in computer jobs, actually, so it’s not actually a dead-end field. ;)</p>
<p>Being in the arts, I know a lot of kids’ parents who don’t support them going into a career in an arts-related field, and it’s very sad. Their kids’ ambitions are no less valuable than a child who wants to be an engineer or doctor. Thankfully, my parents support my chosen path completely.</p>
<p>I guess I’m pretty fortunate. I have Asian parents and they are okay with me becoming whatever I want. But they always emphasize that financial security is really important (I agree) and that I should pursue a career that has a lot of jobs ready. They have never told me to become a dentist/engineer/doctor like a lot of Asian parents do.</p>
<p>My parents are exactly the same. I was basically forced into pharmacy school and my mom “supports” me to switch but she’ll always bring up how pharmacy makes such good money and how all jobs are the same. I feel your pain.</p>
<p>My parents just want to me to find a job that I enjoy and make a good amount of money while I’m at it. Sure I’m Asian and want to become an Aerospace Engineer, but that was because I have been fascinated with planes ever since I was a kid.</p>
<p>Asian parents totally okay with whatever I major in as long as I finish school. I get crap from my uncles though to be a doctor, nurse, or an engineer. I did want to be an engineer for a while until I realized how much I hated math and science.</p>