<p>Would any of you whose kid(s) are finished with college be willing to describe the journey of how they discovered/honed in on the major/career direction they wanted to pursue?</p>
<p>I'm focusing on the bright, high-achieving kid who goes off to LAC "undecided" or "undeclared" or "multiple-interest" (as Lawrence now calls them ... I love it!).</p>
<p>How did your kid identify/recognize what he wanted to do? Was it a single experience/class/mentor? Was it a gradual evolution? Did it sort of happen without his really struggling with choices/sacrifices? In hindsight, are there things you wish you had done or not done by way of helping/supporting?</p>
<p>My daughter is just finishing Jr year in HS so I know she has several years to make these kinds of decisions, but with strong interests/abilities in 3-4 disparate areas, I'm wondering what her process might be like and hoping to learn from others' experience.</p>
<p>At our kids’ HS, they strongly encourage kids with an aptitude for math and science to at least TRY engineering. S was pretty good at everything but did enter as an undeclared engineer and is now graduating in EE, where he’ll be starting as a project manager for the federal government, as soon as they finish paperwork & processing.</p>
<p>We were supportive of wahtever S wanted to try and did encourage him to consider at least starting in engineering. He did find the field to be of interest to him and stuck with it. H admitted that he had always wanted to major in engineering himself but couldn’t hack the math or physics. We wouldn’t have done anything different for S.</p>
<p>My niece floundered greatly and went from field to field, endlessly. I am still not positive what major she settled on, whether it was history of some sort of science when she graduates next month, but she has just gotten into all the podiatry schools she has applied to WITH merit funding and will be attending that in the fall. She shadowed a neighbor who is a podiatrist, who convinced her what a great quality of life he has in his field. Her parents just kept an open mind and encouraged her to find and follow her passions wherever they led. They encouraged her to chat with different folks who had different professions to figure out which appealed most to her.</p>
<p>D started out as undecided English major who did not want to teach [scary]. To help her pay her way,she took on a residence life job, and although she did not enjoy the job, she was really pretty good at it. When her employment group was questioned by a new dean of students what projects would improve the university,D told her of a safety concern that the former dean seemed to be stonewalling into oblivion. The new dean was impressed with her ideas and upgraded her work study for senior year. That led to D going to grad school in higher ed administration,and the dean’s recommendation led to an assistantship.
I guess the lesson is to put yourself out there and it might be one chance you take can open a door to your future.</p>
<p>“Huh, I like to make money, but the business college at my school is so full, I wouldn’t get to declare business until Senior year. I do like International Studies, and I like helping people. Making decent money + Helping people + Working anywhere? Oh yeah, medicine.”</p>
<p>Nursing, especially if you’re interested in doing temp work, you can travel and work wherever you would like to live. They have boards that are honored throughout the nation unlike MD boards that need to be taken in each state (at least that’s what I’ve been told). Sometning to consider, if you have the interest & aptitude.</p>
<p>S applied as undecided, with an interest in environmental studies. Attended top 10 university where he soon switched to English, then he was exposed to an amazing professor in sociology and he was hooked. Focused on urban sociology, graduated, worked in real estate, got laid off, went to work at DC think tank in urban policy, now in a joint degree program - law school and urban planning and is pointing toward a career combining both and supporting his commitment to affordable housing. Full and very expansive circle…</p>
<p>One graduated in 07 in equine studies. Loved her college, loved her major but at present unemployed and still trying to figure out what to do about career (not many equine jobs out there). Recently became certified as web designer and building her photography portfolio (was photo major for a couple years).</p>
<p>One will graduate in May. Psych major. Started out as premed, changed his mind about future of medicine. Now considering dental school or perhaps trying to work for a couple years then MBA.</p>
<p>Oldest graduated in 04 in business/finance. From the time he was in 4th grade, he said he wanted to work with investing. He stayed with this interest all the way through and is financial planner.</p>
<p>To update, S2 applied as undecided, but was thinking philosophy. Switched to anthropology, did field work in Uzbekistan and decided an academic/field career wasn’t for him. Had a great 4 years at college, is now working in the entertainment industry as a receptionist…trying on a field. Still no real direction as to what the future holds, but he is employed.</p>
<p>There is a fascinating discussion of how one neuroscientist arrived at his decision. He was the sort who liked everything. It’s in the book Developing Talent in Young People by Dr. Benjamin Bloom.</p>
<p>Thanks! These posts are very helpful. Especially appreciate the Bloom book recommendation.</p>
<p>In case it sparks any thoughts…my daughter’s a strong musician (vocal performance-soprano-classical…VERY competitive field, and she’s pretty sure she would not like the unpredictable/insecure/always-auditioning lifestyle).</p>
<p>Also very strong in music theory. Loves literature, excellent writer. Loves French (will be 4th yr honors next year), and would love to learn other languages (sings in Latin, Ital, German, French)…voice teachers always comment on her unusual ability to pick up excellent pronunciation almost immediately.</p>
<p>An “academic sort,” she’s known for several years that, whatever field she goes into, she wants to attain her PhD. Maybe teach? Maybe at the college level?</p>
<p>Mine isn’t quite at the end of the line but went into college as undeclared, then said anthropology, then geology, then English. We figured his advisor had whiplash from him. Sophomore year on a Tuesday an English prof told him he should think about law school and Thursday (he had taken a business law class to fulfill a gened) that prof told him he should consider law school. Divine intervention, two profs in week telling my son the same thing. He’s now an English/Business declared double major and will most likely go to law school after next year.</p>
<p>One of my sisters went to Barnard totally undeclared, ended up majoring in philosophy, and by the end of junior year was casting around looking for something to do. My mother, who was then on the admissions committee of a local medical school, encouraged her to finish the premed requirements so she could apply. My sister did so, basically on a whim and because she didn’t have any better plan. She was admitted to some safeties and, not surprisingly, the school where my mother was an application reader (and also a graduate, making my sister a legacy).</p>
<p>My sister, admitted with that heavy boost, shot to the top of her med school class, graduated with stellar grades far better than my mother’s had been, got the best residency in the country in her specialty, and was asked to join the faculty at their elite medical school, where she is currently a clinical professor. Go figure.</p>
<p>Another of my sisters went off to Brown strongly interested in theater, and as a freshman, didn’t get into any of the theater classes that she wanted. She loved the academic freedom of Brown and chose an interdisciplinary major, so she ended up doing women’s studies. That got her more and more interested in social justice and political action. As a senior, she applied to law school so that she could do direct legal services for the poor. In law school, she started doing this work in the clinic and was extremely good at it and passionate about it. She got the top post-graduate fellowship in that field and is still working in it today.</p>
<p>My son went to Swarthmore (class of 2008) and decided on Econ sophomore year. After a year, he realized he did not want to work as an economist or in finance although he liked the subject. He had taken a wide variety of courses in the Humanities as well as some science, math (although not so much science/math as humanities) and stuck to his Econ major. But he also minored in Media studies after taking a course in it. His significant internships during the summer were in small and large media companies. Some of the internships got him a lot of interesting contacts in the business. Upon graduation, he got an internship at a media company that led to a job. The job did not last for long (2 months, the company ran out of money to keep him around) but the interest did. At his second job, he took advantage of all he had learned in the media world to help setup a business. </p>
<p>He is doing a funded MA in Media Studies this Fall and very excited about the opportunities it opens for him. He went to the open house weekend and is very excited now! Don’t know if this will prepare him to be an enterpreneur or go for a PhD and become a professor but both options are open.</p>