<p>I know I am jumping the gun a bit. However, my son, a HS soph. is talking about wanting to major in exercise physiology in college. All well and good, except that he hates to excerise and we have to twist his arm to do so (he generally does so for his VERY exercise oriented dad). I don't see this happening and I know he is rethinking this notion.</p>
<p>So, here is my question... My son's passions, and what he is REALLY good at are music, comedy, and acting/writing. However, he is reticent to major in English, music, or theatre recognizing that opportunities are limited and competition is great.</p>
<p>Hence, I am trying to think of some majors that can help him reach his goal. He would be a fantastic comedy writer or song writer, for instance - something creative. I thought maybe advertising. He has great grades - moreso in math/science and writing than critical reading, although he did well on the psat. </p>
<p>I teach at a Jesuit university and my kids can go to any Jesuit school for free (pending some minor exchange agreements, from what I understand). But most other schools are pretty much out of the picture unless he gets some great scholarship money.</p>
<p>Any ideas or suggestions? They will have to choose classes for Jr. yr soon and he can really gear high school in any direction to prepare for his potential major (large school, many choices). He's been taking acting and choir and will continue in those. We had planned to emphasize science for the exercise science major, but now I think maybe English and writing classes might be better choices.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles might be a good choice.</p>
<p>A boy at my S’s HS is a finalist as a Presidential Scholar in the YoungArts program in writing. He went to Kenyon College 2 summers ago and participated in the Kenyon Review Young Writer’s Workshop.</p>
<p>You already have said you are jumping the gun, so I hope you don’t mind if I say that I don’t think your son needs to think about his future career, or college major, at this point, at least not in this contrived way. He can take the classes he is interested in, and get involved in activities that he is drawn to, and just let things evolve. If you are there to support him, and provide any enrichment, that’s great, but follow his lead at this point. I hope he can relax and enjoy.</p>
<p>^^
I strongly concur with compmom. Keep in mind that many high school graduates with a mix of skills not unlike your son declare “undecided” when they enter college.</p>
<p>He probably will have a hard time marketing himself as a sports coach or personal trainer (at least at the entry level of such a career) if he himself does not exercise.</p>
<p>In any case, it may be a bit early to think about college majors, although it is definitely worthwhile to consider the longer term career goals, since graduates with non-specific bachelor’s degrees will face a tough time in the job market because there are large numbers of them to compete with for a relatively small number of jobs.</p>
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<p>If he likes math and is good at it, note that majors that involve a lot of math tend to have the best specific job and career opportunities for new graduates (though that may be in relative terms – if he happens to get unlucky enough to graduate in a down economy, it will still be hard to find a job). In that case, he may be able to study what he likes and have a better chance of a good job at graduation. Note that some such majors like math, statistics, and economics typically have enough schedule space open to take out of major courses, or a minor, or even a second major in some other unrelated subject.</p>
<p>With respect to high school courses, best practice would be to take the most advanced courses in all subjects (English, math, science, history, foreign language, etc.) in order to have as strong a preparation as possible for university level work in any subject. AP or IB courses, if available, are typically stronger preparation than regular high school courses, although many are not fully accepted by universities in place of entry level courses in those subjects.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I cannot help but obssess and research. It is my nature.
My S is very physically fit and would do well telling someone else what to do. :o)</p>
<p>He takes all AP classes. Insists he does NOT enjoy math. My husband is a biostatistician, so S just has the genes that make it come easy. </p>
<p>I really was just looking for some other possible major ideas to discuss with S and look into that might incorporate some of his current passions. I recognize they may change over time, but I do feel I have a good sense of his nature.</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my post. I appreciate all the feedback - including the “chill out” feedback. I do try to keep myself in check! :o)</p>
<p>Most 16-year old boys have very high metabolisms that keep the body fat off, with or without explicit exercise. However, those who do little exercise tend to gain fat later. </p>
<p>If he is lucky enough to be a rare natural mesomorph (gains muscle with little effort, does not gain fat as easily), then that is great – but a sports coach or personal trainer will not have as much credibility if s/he does not do the exercises that s/he is coaching. For example, sports coaches may say “you should feel these muscles work when you do this exercise”, “these muscles will probably be sore the next day after you do these exercises”, and “make this adjustment to your technique to perform better”.</p>
<p>1) Majors don’t necessarily lead perfectly to careers. Many positions leave the major area of study open for applicants. I have friends who were English and history majors that are now working for top firms (or at least, were before the recession - I haven’t talked to many of them since college, so I don’t know if they were still working there. But these were top firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers). A lot of people take a college degree as evidence of a willingness and ability to learn, and most of the job training will be on the job.</p>
<p>2) I’m almost 3 years out of college, and I kind of wish I hadn’t majored in psychology. Although I’m currently in graduate school for it, I’m burned out and I wish I had picked a major that didn’t require graduate school. And honestly, our job market is hungry for the sciences, so I can see your son’s forethought in thinking about majoring in something practical. If I had to go back and do it all over again, I might’ve majored in mathematics or engineering and minored in psychology. Even if I had still come to a PhD program, I at least could branch into the very in-demand fields of organizational psychology or engineering/human factors psychology, or into epidemiology or biostatistics (I’m currently in a hybrid public health and psychology program). My math background is a big plus in understanding the statistics and quantitative analysis that I’ve done, and I wish I had not dropped the math minor I began with.</p>
<p>So honestly, I don’t blame your son for looking at employability when it comes to picking a major. Physical science majors, engineering majors and to a certain extent natural science majors have more flexibility when it comes to jobs AND there are a lot of scholarships that are open exclusively for those pursuing those fields.</p>
<p>When I was in college, I took a very well-rounded schedule - calculus and calculus-based physics right alongside AP English and history courses. First of all, I just loved everything - I loved calculus almost as much as I loved the English classes. But more importantly, I had no idea what I wanted to do and I didn’t want to rule anything out. I was ahead of many of the engineering and some of the math majors in my math and science sequence when I entered college (I would’ve started from calculus II; I knew some math majors that were starting with precal).</p>
<p>So my advice would be to keep a well-rounded schedule - take upper-level math classes and English/social science classes.</p>
<p>Just making sure you and he have covered The Basics in terms of making his junior year hs course selections. Since the two possible majors it appears might be for him are quite different - one quantitative/science-y and one artsy/writing oriented…</p>
<p>I would suggest he look at a couple of colleges which interest him and check the specific required/recommended hs preparation for each major. Make sure he will have covered all the bases for both possible directions.</p>
<p>He can think about what majors interest him, if he wants… but I wouldn’t imagine it should be the primary criterion for selecting his hs courses.</p>
<p>Momom, I applaud you for wanting to do some career exploration with your son. This does not mean that he has to make a decision right now, but that he knows some possibilities that are out there. He might start by asking his GC or school librarian whether an interest and aptitude test is available to him - there are some computer based ones that are sometimes loaded on school library computers.
If you and he are thinking that he could have “fallback” career possibilities - something that he could do for a living while he also tries his hand at comedy, writing, or acting, that is also very practical thinking.
Exercise physiologists: I know some right now that are unemployed. I know some that I would consider underemployed - doing personal training and getting paid the same amount as people with an associate’s degree or certificate in personal training. And I know some who are employed in cardiac rehab, research (low pay) or as consultants to teams (very hard to get these jobs).
Is it the “physiology” part that attracts your son? If so, perhaps you can arrange for him to visit a physiology lab to see what goes on there (often animal experimentation, so he has to be OK with that). Is it the “helping people rehabilitate” part? If so, he might explore athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, or nursing. (For the last three, he would probably gain an admission advantage as a male. And, some of them are graduate programs).
Or, is he interested in designing prostheses or exercise equipment as an engineer? Or, being on the business or management end of the fitness industry?
Would he be interested in being a science writer?
These are just some things to think about and explore.
And I agree with the other posters that a challenging, broad based academic curriculum in high school is best. Good luck!</p>
<p>Don’t worry, he has plenty of time. Most college freshmen will change their major, if they even have one when they start. Just make sure he meets or exceeds the reqs for colleges he is likely to apply to. Often college foreign language reqs can be met in HS- 4 years of one HS languague is good for that, or just to be competitive for admissions.</p>
<p>Exercise Physiology is more about how the body works than it is about specific exercises, much as Nutritional Biochemistry is more about how the body deals with individual amino acids than it is about whether eggs are a good breakfast food. Your son doesn’t have to be an athlete in order to consider this major interesting.</p>
<p>One of my sisters has an undergrad degree in Biology and an M.S. in Exercise Physiology. She works in Cardiac Rehab. at a hospital now. Her job responsibilities include supervising the folks in Rehab. while they complete the exercise programs prescribed for their recovery, and leading smoking cessation groups. She is in good health, but no one would ever mistake her for one of the life coaches from “The Biggest Loser”.</p>
<p>Just want to add that I think it is really helpful to encourage not only extracurricular school activities, but activities and learning experiences in the wider community, for a kid with many interests and talents. For my kids, (subtly) guiding them (or even just driving them!) to these experiences was more important than course selections in many ways (though they chose carefully, decisions were entirely their own and I did not really get involved.)</p>
<p>This could be volunteering at a local hospital, a tv station, with animals, with the elderly, taking music, art or dance classes, writing for the local paper, coaching sports, volunteering in a PT department, doing stand up comedy at a local club, etc. etc.</p>
<p>I confess to being a researcher also. My kids hate it! It was helpful when they were younger, but I had to get better and better at hiding the research while still giving them guidance, as invisibly as I could. Those are my kids, and your son may be different, but just a taste of a possible future for you!</p>
<p>In order to get a job in comedy writing, music, and acting, an individual needs to have massive confidence in his ability to make it in those fields. Since there is no degree required, no college that gives a leg up, no special certificate or internship to make it in those creative careers, it is all about the luck, talent, experience and perseverance of the individual. That said, your son’s natural interests and abilities will lead him to participate in HS theatre, improv groups, write for the comedy/literary magazine, etc. which are the perfect preparation for a future in the arts. Those experiences over the next two years will either gain momentum with him or not. </p>
<p>In other words, he should select a strong academic courseload for next year (as he is a strong student who will thrive), keep up his creative ECs and electives, and see how it goes. </p>
<p>Should he decide to follow the creative path, he can major in anything he chooses. Some study film, theatre, or creative writing. But if his nature prefers a defined career path, a hope for steady employment, a need to make a living, and less risk/more stability–so be it. There are a lot of talented, hilarious dentists and engineers who just didn’t want the high anxiety of a life in the arts.</p>
<p>If he grows to realize he will only be happy having a creative career, he will have to become comfortable with a less predictable (but perhaps more satisfying) life. There’s time to find himself and select majors down this road.</p>
<p>I have some specific advice regarding exercise physiology, as my daughter was previously interested in that as a major. She is a dancer and interested in the underlying mechanics of dance and movement. Her thought was that a career such as physical therapist might combine her interests well. After talking to some people in the field, we found out that she is better off majoring in biology than exercise physiology. Biology will give her a lot more options (and she loves biology anyway) for her future career choices. So if your son is looking at exercise physiology from a practical career standpoint, he might want to think about biology instead.</p>
<p>Having said that, I’d encourage him to pursue his passions rather than try to be practical at this stage. As long as he has strong college-oriented classes, it’s not as if they aren’t going to allow him to major in field X just because he didn’t take tons of classes in X in high school. For his interests, one area that would be worth looking into is film studies.</p>