<p>Please, help.
My daughter is a very good student with exceptional work ethics.
Received very good grades on SAT-2200 and ACT-33. She is in top 10% of her HS class.
She loves literature and writing and want to study journalism in college, but I am absolutely against it(my older daughter after English major couldn't find a job for one year).
Please, help-I am wondering what professions would be in demand in the future.If its not an English major, she really doesn't care what to major in-she is equally good in science, finances and so on</p>
<p>Good writing is great for absolutely everything, keep serving my own D… all thru Medical School.
No matter what you D. decided to tackle, she will always have this advantage.
One note though on trying to “help” kids decided on their future. I had bad personal experience and absolutely had to switch in my 30s. Went back to school after working for 11 years in the field that I hated. It will not work, if they hate something. I went back to my initial plan and after over 30 years I am very very happy that I did.
However, I pushed my own kid (very carefully and back in middle school, HS would be too late) and she seems to be happy. The same exact situation, her initail goal of Marine Bio does not have any job opportunities. But is took many years, not sure how one can do it in a short time. The outcome may be more negative than positive.<br>
I do not see how the demand for any medically related fields will go away. And as I said, writing skills will serve her very well in absolutely everything that she pursue. BTW, my D. had exactly the same ACT=33.</p>
<p>She is to sensitive to be a doctor-she will cry with each and very sick patient. BTW, I am a pharmacist and Pharmacy experts predict 20% unemployment of new Pharm Grad by 2018</p>
<p>Could she find a college where she could double-major in journalism or communications and something else?</p>
<p>The something else would give her something to fall back on if she can’t find a communications job. But it also might help her find a communications job. Having an area of expertise is a plus.</p>
<p>Economics might be an interesting choice, if she doesn’t mind the math it requires. </p>
<p>If you don’t know a professional path (premed/vet/etc) you want to be on and she doesn’t want to do engineering, our mantra has been when in doubt, major in business. If she has the math skills she can focus on the higher ends of finance or accounting. At least she also learns practical skills for life. Many schools have international aspects or world business programs which are pretty interesting. Funny you mention the sensitive thing, I think we have kindred spirits in our girls. Mine thought she we be a vet till a couple years ago (been around animals her whole life) but now thinks it would be too painful for her. Scored a 36 in English on ACT, has crazy good writing skills, which agree, great writing skills are a huge plus. She is heading to engineering, though I question the choice, but she will figure it out.</p>
<p>Another option we discussed with her is doing something she finds really interesting like history or political science as long as she commits to doing law school. Alone they are terrible for job prospects but as a precursor to law they would be ok. Good luck!</p>
<p>From what I understand, Med. School “rough” them up in any aspects, so sensitivitiy is not an issue, just an initial state of mind, various sensitivities go away, environment just too rough and way too demandig.
However, it is a personal choice and there are other proffessions connected to medicine, as you point out, pharm is one of them (I heard from several young adults though that it also may require certain personality, not for everybody). Well, that is why many HS’ers are having those ECs to try out how they feel in different environments and actually college students continue with them. It is an open door that may be investigated before decision is finale.
BTW, any combo of major(s) / minor(s) is OK and most pre-meds around my D. including my D. had several. D. had Zoology major / Music Composition minor / Neuroscience minor, her friend had an Art minor, the other friend graduated with Zoology/Spanish/Latin Study triple majors, all currently are 4th year Med. students.<br>
I had known people in various departments that I have worked who were actually working in a field of their minor and they were very successful.<br>
Also, one may continue with education while working full time, many companies are paying, I got both my BS and MBA this way. There are many options, stay flexible for a bid, decide later.</p>
<p>I’d advise parents to encourage their kids to start working/volunteering, in middle or at latest high school.
They will gain a valuable perspective as well as contacts with people who can write recommendations for future work &/ or college applications.
There is always a demand for good writers/ editors and tech writers.
My own daughter majored in biology, was a tech writer for a while and is now an editor for a tech company.
Since our kids will likely be working in fields in 20 years that we can’t even imagine now, I say go with your strenghts & interests.</p>
<p>1) The jobs she will have in the future do not exist today. (The one I have now didn’t exist when I was in college.) The more flexible the degree she gets, the better off she will be. Engineers are hot right now, but that won’t necessarily continue - in the 1970’s and 80’s, engineering was “dead”, with thousands of engineers losing their jobs.</p>
<p>2) Even those kids going into college dead set on their majors, absolutely certain what they want to do, change their minds once they get into college. They have no idea what jobs/careers are out there, given how narrowly focused their education has been to this point. Do not even try to set her major now. It’s a losing battle.</p>
<p>With these things in mind, I suggest choosing a college or university with a lot of breadth, that allows kids to switch majors easily, even going between schools in a large university. That way, once she finds out what she wants to do, she won’t have to worry about transferring to a school that has that major.</p>
<p>Agree about the volunteer stuff, my D has been volunteering year round in hospital all 4 years of high school, enough to know that she doesn’t want to pursue health field as she thought she might. Better to know that now than after going to college for it and getting a job she didn’t like. Don’t just fill your volunteer list with mindless activities just to fill the list, help them identify some that seem to fit the directions your S may take or has shown interest in.</p>
<p>OP, my son is a journalism major. He decided on journalism because he wants to write. The seed was planted by his mother who has held executive positions and is now a consultant to some huge companies. She said journalism majors can provide value in the field of marketing with demand needed for those who can provide internet content.</p>
<p>Nephew was an English major with a masters in journalism from Northwestern. He worked for a newspaper for a while, then went to website design, and now works for a company providing services to an online school. I’m sure his writing skills have been very useful and he doesn’t regret his path.</p>
<p>Lovefreedom, is your older daughter happy and able to support herself with the job she got as an English major?</p>
<p>Digital media production is the new trend in journalism - combining writing skills with photography, video, graphics, computer skills and social media. All those screens that everyone is plugged into need content, and it’s going to be people with journalism/storytelling skills who put the content there. Let her follow her passion.</p>
<p>No one knows exactly what job skills will pay well in the future. However, having the ability to articulate clearly through the written word is a lifelong skill she can attach to any profession.</p>
<p>My husband graduated with an English degree, spent a year in law school, dropped out for an almost minimum wage job. Worked hard, showed creativity and ability to write and think outside the box. Got hired at a young company and worked his way up to EVP. He was hired at this company by a former engineer who needed someone to see the big picture and be able to articulate and execute a vision in a new media. A liberal arts degree was his ticket to success. </p>