I’ll offer a contrarian point of view. It’s certainly understandable that many HS graduates don’t know what they want to do later in life and it may even be desirable for some of them to have more breadth than depth in their knowledge and skills. However, it isn’t a good thing from the standpoint of the society as a whole if so many of its educated are generalists. It will lose its competitiveness (I’d argue that it has already happened). The nature ensures there is a diversity in talent among the population and the society functions best if everyone does what s/he is best at.
Late specialization in college also has its cost. It may mean more time in college instead of more productive work, higher cost and potentially more debt. It may also mean less depth in one’s specialty than it would be otherwise.
Agree. It’s interesting to note that in Texas our students actually have to pick an endorsement pathway in 8th grade that they follow in high school. I thought that was a bit early. I expected kids to know by the time they are applying to college why they are going, what they want to study, and what their career plans are- even if they may change. But it was kinda weird to have my kids do this in 8th grade when registering for high school. My son is in a healthcare pathway. He is in 8th grade. They will graduate 12th with an AS or ASN and certified as CNA and PCT. He’s the one who told us he wanted to do this. We wouldn’t have encouraged specialization quite this early. We made sure he understands that the choice he is making now is fine and at the same time it isn’t permanent. He can still major in whatever he wants when he goes to university. Maybe he will stick with healthcare or maybe he will do something else entirely. My daughter is dual arts/humanities and STEM. They made her pick one in 8th and she reluctantly chose arts/humanities. But she ended up doing enough in science/math to qualify for the STEM endorsement too. She wanted to do interdisciplinary which I encouraged especially for high school but the guidance counselor said no, even though it’s on the list as an option. She said it was better to double major than do interdisciplinary. She is a senior in HS now. She had no idea what she wanted to do for a career or select as a major for college when she was a sophmore (or junior) in high school. She has decided to major in Animation, but she only decided that this summer. In college she will learn and explore to figure out if she wants to do forensic, medical, business, or entertainment as an animator. We also made sure to remind her that it’s ok if she wants to change her major. I do think it’s helpful to provide some guidance and tools for exploration and decision making without pressure.
One of my kids works in an industry which did not exist during HS (or even the kid’s college years) at a company which didn’t exist, at a function which didn’t exist.
How the heck do you prepare for that? It is really hard to predict the labor market of the future.
However, early specialization may result in some people going down a specialty that is not optimal for their interests and talents, when later specialization may have allowed them to find a specialty that is a better fit for their interests and talents.
Even kids that major in sociology or history or poli sci or art history or classics, etc. - what are they interested in relative to what opportunities there are in real life?
So even if they chose a major, they still often won’t know what interests them and they’ll end up applying for random jobs through the school or on indeed/linkedin and just get something that they find - and that’s how their life will start…and it will lead them to other things.
I have not read through all the responses, but I’m just going to answer it with ours. What we found is both pursued their own interests which were fully developed in grad school. Fun to watch the process.
Went to a reception for the Colleges That Change Lives group. Speaker said LAC’s get criticized for not being career focused. She then said, “Parents, raise your hand if you wanted to be a Web Designer when you grew up”. Makes a really good point.
Most other countries insist their young people choose a path much earlier than the US does. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the US accounts for so much more than our share of the innovation in the world - we don’t put people in boxes too soon, and it lets them become broad enough to see holistic solutions.
This may be the first time on this site that “holistic” was not followed by “admissions”
I agree. It just depends on where you draw the line on what is too soon? I would draw it by the time they are applying to college- pick a major. But our public school system in Texas draws it in 8th grade when they pick a major for high school. For me this is too soon. Of course they really can still do whatever they want later but I’d rather they didn’t even go there in 8th grade. It seems to narrow their options. Their choice determines the courses they take (and don’t take) in high school. Do other states do this too?
Unless a kid has exposure to a subject, how would they know if they liked it? I think most kids choose a major/career because they have a family member/friend who chose it, or they took a class in a subject and really liked it. But how would most kids know if they wanted to be a geologist, for example? Most high schools don’t have classes in it. I don’t even know what geologist does day to day. My older son loved math classes in high school so chose to major in math. He ended up majoring in applied math with CS emphasis. Turns out he loves CS, but never was exposed to it until college. Problem is most highly competitive colleges expect kids to have ECs related to their major, but I think it is forced.
If he is interested in sports media/sports management have him start exploring that in HS. He could be a reporter for the HS teams in the school newspaper. He could be a manager for one of the teams. He could assist the Athletic trainer. He could take the stats at the baseball games. He could be the announcer at the football games.
For hospitality management maybe he could join the student council and help plan events.
Having a college-prep base curriculum covering the usual range of high school subjects means that the student will be academically ready for any college major (or other directions that do not involve going to college immediately after high school, such as enlisted military service), rather than having closed off some of them starting in 8th or 10th grade or whatever.
Of course, specialty high school courses in a particular subject that may be of interest may be added in addition to a college-prep base curriculum. These can include such things as PLTW introduction to engineering, JROTC, shop courses that introduce the skilled trades, etc., and can be useful in allowing the student to see how interested they are in those subjects.
Another undercurrent that may be found in Texas would be class rank implications of tracks chosen while in 8th grade. If some tracks offer greater opportunities to choose courses that are weighted for GPA for class rank, that may advantage students in those tracks for getting better class rank for admission to Texas public universities.
Good point. The endorsements are add-on. It doesn’t actually limit them. Like I mentionned they still can do whatever they want after high school. Their endorsement doesn’t limit their college opportunities. I think it more psychologically potentially limits them in having decided STEM vs liberal arts in 8th grade planning for high school rather than in junior/senior year planning for college. But I guess the goal is STEM in high school, engineering in college (for example) increasing likelihood they have a more defined goal and plan for career/college and complete college/enter workforce in a timely manner. I just thought it was interesting since so many people in this thread are talking about students starting college undecided or interdisciplinary when they wouldn’t let my 8th grader register for 9th grade undecided or multidisciplinary. I was surprised by the process. (I’m not from here and it’s pretty new anyway.) Good or bad? Certainly debatable. I guess going back to the OP’s question and concern, that is the goal of this approach is to help students plan and set goals. Which I think most would agree is a good thing-planning and goal setting. The question is about the timing of the planning and the goals. I had an expectation it would be junior/senior year. Sounds like some others on here think it’s something they figure out once in college. So I was surprised to find myself sitting in a room with my 8th grader registering for high school and the guidance counselor showing us these endorsements and asking her to pick one when she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do.
From the TEA:
“Goal: At least 60% of Texans ages 25-34 will have
a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2030.
Texas students have a wealth of choices for their plans after high school. The careers highlighted above” (they have a list of in demand careers on the document)" point out just a few of the many occupations that are high-wage, high-skill and in-demand in the state of Texas. The foundation high school program and endorsements help students focus their interest, select their coursework, and better plan for their postsecondary training and education."
Source:
I will offer a contrarian view. It is important to select a college major early on in high school so the student can organize his/her extracurricular activities and enrichment programs around that major. Competitive colleges want to see a spike in a particular area as reflected in course work, APs, and ECs. Your essays must also provide evidence of interest in a particular topic or major. If your kid is all over the place, then s/he would not stand out. Being well-rounded doesn’t work for top-notch colleges. If interested in STEM, then courses, APs, ECs, must demonstrate STEM interests over time and progress in STEM over the four years and summers. If interested in humanities or social sciences, same thing. Taking a bit of this and a bit of that does not present a compelling case for admissions at top tier schools.
My son is taking this route (unless he changes his mind.) My daughter is more “well rounded” because she just wasn’t ready to make the decision earlier, which I’m ok with and she has auto admission at the schools she is interested in so it works out for her. She just asked me the other day if colleges like well rounded students and I said well some do and some prefer students with a niche and deep interest in something. But that’s fine she can develop that niche now during undergrad.
No where did the OP mention top tier schools or making a compelling case for admissions.
Why do you think there is such a large number of students that drop out of engineering or physics for example, if they know what they want, have developed their interests and cultivated their passions and made their extracurriculars nice and pointy all through high school? An idea of whether a student enjoys math and science more than humanities is always helpful but curating one’s teen life and not allowing for intellectual exploration at a crucial time for brain development is a mistake in my opinion. There are kids that are born to do one thing only in life. We all see them and marvel at them. But they are the minority.
