Don’t disagree with any of your points. Some people wait until college or beyond to hone their interests and make choices. It’s in keeping with the brain developing and other experiences informing them and extremely common.
However, our family functions a bit differently. I knew at about age 14 what I wanted to study in school, had interests that dovetailed with it. Only applied to 1.5 schools and had the grades to get into the program I wanted. Did the program, did internships, had a great experience. Professionally, worked in my degree’s field, but earned more money with “trade” skills from a hobby I first started learning at about age 4. So, had a clear and happy direction, went with it, then expanded work-wise after school as opportunities knocked.
My kid also knows what their true interests currently are - math, working with their hands, sport, among other things. From these interests my kid can hopefully find experiences that allow them to choose a path forward. Without experiences, though, my kid would just be guessing at their true interests (or things they thought they might enjoy in theory, but not in practice).
Some kids think they want to be a surgeon - then discover that they can’t stomach the sight of blood. A theoretical ideal dashed by lived experience.
So, getting back on topic, the goal of this thread is brainstorming STEM experiences for students that aren’t pursing some of the standard ones. What happens to them in college is another interesting discussion but not what was the intended focus here.
The AEOP REAP my daughter was in was summer 2020 and 2021. Covid required the program to be Zoom/online for both summers. It was M-Thurs for 2 hours for 10 weeks. While not optimal, it was still educational, and the mentoring helped my daughter and her friend specifically have more confidence in picking a male dominated major.
Also of note. An unexpected consequence of the program participation, is that my daughter received 18.5K in renewable engineering scholarships from the uni, stacked with the admission merit: it covers full cost of attendance for all 4 years.
Edit: she was also high stats
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This is exactly the kind of experience and feedback that can make a difference for an “unconventional” engineering student. What a great outcome for your daughter - built confidence, knowledge, and saved your family money! Appreciate you sharing your story.
Thank you and best of luck to your son!
Thank you! (I actually have an URM daughter but don’t like mentioning that much here to maintain a bit of privacy. Her sex/race has no bearing on her interests, which are inherent to her and it shouldn’t matter when discussing future majors and careers.) All good things to you and yours…
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It’s important to add that for some colleges ‘fit to major’ is critical….I get the sense that’s maybe what you were also asking about.
I’m talking about the schools that require applying to a major and/or have a supplemental essay requiring the student write about why they want that major (and having experiences that track with that major is a must). Some schools like this are UIUC, UT Austin, some schools at Cornell, U Washington, and more.
I think you are smart to be thinking about this now. Of course a student can apply undecided/undeclared at these schools and/or avoid schools like this, but the idea is to keep as many doors open as long as possible.
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Precisely, @Mwfan1921. It doesn’t have to be binary for a student: Olympiads & robotics experience or nothing at all. Decades ago students were getting into STEM schools without these line items - in fact, they still do. But it’s the how and why that can make the difference.
Why should kids who approach STEM from a different accessibility point not have their own legitimate experiences? Especially since high schools widely differ in what they offer students.
This “why they want that major (and having experiences that track with that major is a must)” conundrum can be avoided. There are some excellent STEM experiences to be had in college, but many students don’t have the knowledge and resources to prepare a little and reach for them.
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I’ll also throw out that my D had some college interviews with ad coms who wanted to do the deep dive of “why engineering.” Lehigh’s ad com asked her how she would describe engineering to a 5 year old. I’m not sure she would have been able to answer if she hadn’t some exposure in HS.
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For students interested in Natural Resource Management (forestry, recreation, wildlife, environmental science, archeology, GIS, etc), most universities, state governments, and federal land management agencies offer programs for young people to explore these interests. A quick google search using keywords “ youth, natural resource management, environment programs” will give you lots of hits for opportunities. Entering specific Organizations like the NPS, USFS, USFWS, EPA, etc. can be useful.
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Our kid didn’t think he wanted to do an engineering major until he started school this year (senior year). He has always enjoyed science and math, but doesn’t have any experience with robotics classes at school or obvious engineering ECs. In order to learn more about the different engineering specialties before he locks himself into a major somewhere, he is taking a freshman intro to engineering class at a local university (a survey class with lectures, discussing different majors and career paths).
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If someone is interested in engineering, my bet is they could shadow an engineer during a school vacation.
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