Were you supportive of their decision?
What do they plan doing? (career wise?)
Any advice before choosing a major? Thanks
One of mine was a music performance major. Yes, we supported that major decision. He is a professional musician.
The other was an engineering major. We supported that decision too. That student is returning to school in the fall, NOT in engineering. Never intends to be an engineer.
My advice…remember your kiddo is in college, not you. And many careers have nothing to do with the college major.
In addition, most students switch majors multiple times.
My oldest is an chem engineering major. Totally support. My youngest starts next fall with plans to major in biology with the hopes of going to Vet school.
And yes they are going to college - not me. But I’m paying for it. I do have some say in what they major in — I want them to be able to join the workforce after college or post graduate studies.
My son started as a sociology major and ended up majoring in music industry. He now works for a major music company and loves it.
We were supportive of anything he wanted to major in. We have our degrees, it was his turn.
My advice would be to figure out what you want to do and then go with the best major. If you don’t know what you want to do, pick something you are passionate about.
My kids’ majors were their decision, not my husband’s or mine.
Our son chose computer science. He now has a master’s degree in that subject, and he works as a software engineer. This is what he always wanted, from the time when he was about 14.
Our daughter majored in economics. She then worked for a specialized consulting firm for three years but is now back in school getting an MBA. When she finishes her graduate program, she hopes to get another job in business, but not in consulting this time.
I have very practical offspring. But even if they were not so practical, their majors would have been their choice.
I never needed to advise my kids about their majors because they both knew exactly what they were doing. But in general, I would advise that if a student is unsure about what to major in, start in the field with the most structured requirements. It’s easier to switch out of a structured major than into one. For example, if you’re unsure whether you want engineering or economics, start with engineering, which is the more structured major. You can switch from engineering to economics quite late and still graduate on time. But it would be difficult to switch from economics to engineering without paying for extra semesters.
My oldest son is a junior in college. He is majoring in criminal justice/ sociology. Unfortunately, he is still unsure about a career. When he first started he was interested in law enforcement (FBI). However, now he is starting to really enjoy his sociology classes. He loves everything that he is learning in all of his classes. However, he does not know how that will affect future employment. I’m really concerned that he will have difficulty finding a job after graduation.
My son that graduates in 2016 wants to major in art with an emphasis on graphic design.He is very passionate about that major. However, I’m concerned about job prospects. He is amazing with computers so I have suggested that he has a double major or minor in computer related option.
Child is a theatre major - support it 100%. She would like to do tv/film.
My older daughter had a concentration, self-designed, rather than a major; she focused on writing, art, and social change. She works as a waitress, is nearly 100% self-supporting in an expensive city, and writes and paints on the side. Her goal is to become famous. My younger daughter is a senior with a double major in economics and math and has a job lined up post-graduation with one of the federal reserve banks. For now, she’s planning to apply to graduate school in economics after finishing the position at the FRB. I fully support both daughters in their major choices and job choices. Basically, the only advice I gave was that they should not major in things they weren’t interested in.
S1: audio arts & acoustics --> sound engineer for live performance for artists you would have heard of and others you wouldn’t, does occasional tech work on the side. Living a contented life and has been self supporting since graduation.
D2: double major literature and photography --> photo researcher at a major magazine, freelance photographer, looking for publisher for book manuscript based on her senior thesis. Living an overpriced bot generally contented life in the big city, self supporting since graduation, considering grad school but concerned about job prospects
D3: classical music performance major --> in first year of master’s program and considering a range of career options relating to arts management and education in addition to performance. Works two part time jobs but not yet self supporting (but that’s ok because we offered to cover her expenses for a master’s degree after she accepted a full ride for her undergrad degree). Living a stressed but mostly contented life in a really exciting location.
It’s not their choice of majors that baffles me; what I want to know is how did all three kids from a non-cat home end up with kitties?
Older son was a comp sci major - he knew he’d do comp sci starting in elementary school. Of course we supported him.
He was required to have a minor and chose physics.
Younger son was undecided when he applied to college, but during the process of looking at colleges he got interested in international relations. He still put undecided when asked about majors - since he had no IR type activities except playing with origami in high school - he didn’t think it would be helpful to list IR. That said his list ended up being organized by finding schools that were good for IR, but where he’d be happy to major in something else if it turned out he didn’t like IR.
I majored in Visual and Environmental Studies a combination of studio art, architectural history, design courses, film and art theory. So I didn’t feel I had a leg to stand on when it came to practical majors.
DD1- Pharmacy
DD2 -Athletic Training; Physical therapy
DD3- Athletic Training: Physical Therapy
DS- Accounting- but we expect that may change.
Supported their choices, but would not have wanted DD1 to do pharmacy if she was just starting out today.
^^^^ specifically why? for DD1? My son always was interested and will be persuing a PharmD in the Fall. We are very supportive. Am I missing something? Are we wrong ? or was it just not the “right” fit for your daughter?
S1 majored in Natural Resources Management. He also had a NROTC scholarship. He’s been in the Navy almost 6 years. He’ll be in the Navy at least two or three more years. Don’t know what he’ll do when he leaves the Navy.
He has wanted to be in the military since middle school. We supported him in his choice.
S2 majored in Criminal Justice. By the time he was a senior, he decided he didn’t want to work in law enforcement. He’s now working for a company that works the in nuclear power generation industry. His job doesn’t require a college degree but it pays very well (more than he would have made as a cop) and he seems content for now. Even though he’s not working in his major, we don’t regret him getting his degree.
D1 majored in physics and applied math —> medical school
D2 majored in neuroscience and applied math —> medical school
@micheli - when I was younger I always thought of becoming a pharmacist also, but the more I researched - it seemed the pharmacy field is oversaturated. Way wayy to many new grads and not enough job openings and it seems to be everywhere that is having this problem. Plus being in 100k+ of debt with might having a chance of not finding a job doesn’t help either
DS - BA in geography, minor in political science. Had a couple of internships but so far unable to find a full time position in his preferred field of urban planning (most employers seem to want Master’s degree). He does have a good position at a major retailer where he’s worked since HS.
DD - entering a five-year combined BS/MS program in occupational therapy in the fall.
Both of our children chose their majors and career fields and chose their colleges and we have supported them 100 percent.
My niece recently graduated with a pharmacy degree ( her undergrad was chem)
She didn’t have a problem finding good job, in a cooperative health care system.
However, she did * very* well in her IB high school, attended a top private college, and a very strong program in a public university.
Son is a Physics major, graduating in June. Decided to put off grad school, accepted a job in investment management.
@micheli- It’s the job outlook that is highly concerning at this point in time. Projections of unemployment rates of 20% by 2018 are common. Too many schools have opened up in the last 10 years and there is no end in sight. New hires are not being guaranteed full time hours, and of course with saturation comes declining salaries. When 80 pharmacists apply for 1 job in Chicago, you know there are problems. Of course, people retire and jobs do become available, so yes, some students will get jobs, but it is certainly not the rosy picture that the pharmacy schools would lead you to believe. And if the student ends up going to a school that requires a BS first and then 4 years of pharmacy school, plus a year of residency to work in a hospital, that is a long road and possibly a lot of debt for no guarantee of the great salaries of the past.
S majored in Political Science and minored in History. Graduating in May and accepted into a multinational company’s executive management training program. Will likely go back for an MBA in the future while still working.