<p>I could really use some advice about my son who is currently a senior in high school. Let me just start by saying that I also have a daughter who is only a year older and in first year of college. She has always known what her strengths and weaknesses are and had her career choices narrowed down by about 8th grade. When she was in high school she was highly motivated to visit colleges and make a choice consistent with her goals. My son is a completely different kid! </p>
<p>He had to be pushed to fill out his college apps, and generally acts as if anything related to researching college majors is a chore. I had to make him take tours of various campuses. Yet he is very certain he wants to go to college. We live in an area where he can either stay home and go to a university or community college, or he can go away. He says he 'doesn't know yet.' He 'thinks' he wants to be a singer/actor/director or go into some kind of environmental science program. Now, he's a pretty good singer and has scored very high at the state level solo ensemble type events but he's never been anything other than in the chorus or tiny parts in school productions. I guess my husband and I see this as a hobby rather than a career for him and are leaning more to the science/math type of careers. Financially we can only help him with an undergrad degree, after that he's on his own.</p>
<p>I learned last year that having at least some clue what you want to study is needed to make a good choice regarding which college to go to. My daughter's program for example is only offered at a few colleges, and she needed to start taking courses in her major in her first year. Another issue, is that times have changed and jobs have become more specialized. Back when I went to college in the 80's we were told that any degree was ok since college basically taught us how to think and expand our intellectual horizons. You can do anything with it, we were told. I think all of that is changing and unfortunately we need a degree that is more in line with the career we want. Even the advice I got was bad, as an Interior Design major, I certainly can't do whatever I want with it! </p>
<p>Anyhow, my son basicaly says that since he hasn't actually worked any of these jobs how can he make such an important choice? "I don't know what I'm going to like," he says. </p>
<p>Get a college catalog from a larger university (more major offerings) Sometimes you can print them on-line. Have him look over the different courses in them and their description. Even in some categories you wouldn’t think you’d have any interest.<br>
Sometimes new possibilities of career paths stand out or at least one can maybe see a major which fits your interests.</p>
<p>When D1 was in high school, I had her meet many of our friends in different professions - architect, marketer for high end goods, interior designer, party planner, IBanker, renewable energy expert, business owner of online educational material…They were all happy to spend few hours with D1, some invited her to visit their office and offered internship. D1 ultimately decided that she wanted to into finance, she was advised on what to major in college and internship she needed in college in order to get a job offer after college. </p>
<p>I would suggest for you to do something similar with your son. Have him meet people in different professions to see if any is of interest to him.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t overthink it too much. It’s o.k. that he doesn’t know what he wants to do yet. If he’s interested in environmental science or science in general, look for a school that’s strong in that but has a lot of other choices as well in case he changes his mind (which he probably will). There are almost always programs or opportunities to sing/act/direct in college, especially liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>I think that unless he’s going into something really specific, like law or medicine, or something that requires a certain path of courses, he’ll be fine. He’s only 17 or 18, so he isn’t really expected to know what he wants to do with his life yet - that’s why most colleges wait until Sophomore year to declare a major. Let him explore - he’ll figure it out.</p>
<p>BTW, my son didn’t want to have anything to do with the college process either. I’m convinced it’s a boy thing.</p>
<p>Boys usually mature later than girls. And many colleges have programs designed for students that cannot make up their mind on majors. So the first two years they only have to take GE classes and a sample of Subject courses to allow student to choose what they like, they only have to declare a major when they finished their sophomore.</p>
<p>You and your husband are leaning more toward science/math? Good for you! Now how about listening to your son. So few kids coming out of high school know what they want to do in life, and those who claim to will most likely change their minds one, two, or twelve times. Did you and your husband have your careers locked in at age 18? If so you are in a very small minority. The early years of college are for exploration–finding out what you like and, often more importantly, what you don’t. Trying to force a decision like this is going to stress all of you out more than it obviously already has.</p>
<p>I am more in the camp of it doesn’t hurt to start thinking ahead, like OP. Four years go by very fast in college. The job market is becoming more specialized, more and more employers are looking for relevant major (or courses). Even though I agree, to some extent, that college is a time to explore, I think students need to be more focused now and at the same time take courses outside of one’s major in order to have more options.</p>
<p>This is no different than the college process now. Back when we were in high school, very few students thought about ECs, work experience, leadership. Most of us only applied a handful of schools and we all managed to get into a school. Today, kids start thinking about college as early middle school, they spend 20+ hours on a major EC or going abroad to do volunteer work in order to make themselves stand out.</p>
<p>The world has changed and it has become more competitive, and it is prudent to think about life after college.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your advice. The decision right now is that auditions need to be set up at the colleges that he was accepted at if he wants to pursue the singing/acting. It’s also complicated by the fact that the school that have the BA singing/acting program are not the same schools that have the good environmental science programs. I forgot to mention that he also likes Marketing & Advertising, so he was looking at doing that as a possible minor for either degree. </p>
<p>I found one smaller state college that offers a communications degree with ‘concentrations’ where you can then specialize in theatre, electronic media, etc. and many of the courses seem like they would line up nicely with business courses. They claim that this degree is geared towards severall things including advertising, sales, etc. He could also double minor in voice performance and marketing. He also needs to take natural sciences courses as general eds both semesters during the first year so he still would have his foot in the door in case he changed his mind about the science thing. This school has a decent science program though they don’t specialize in environmental science. </p>
<p>I have also thought about just advising him to go to the biggest school he can get into that has the most options. </p>
<p>I know some of the schools have the “undeclared major” program, including my daughter’s school. This might be useful however it does limit what you can get into. My daughter’s program for example requires that she take very specific gen eds plus prerequisite classes for her program which doesn’t officially start until 3rd year. </p>
<p>I love the idea of having him sit down with some of our friends in various professions. I am definately going to ask him to do that. :)</p>
<p>“You and your husband are leaning more toward science/math? Good for you! Now how about listening to your son” </p>
<p>(sorry don’t know how to quote)</p>
<p>We are listening to our son, and he’s the one saying ‘I don’t know.’ If we had followed his lead, we wouldn’t have visited any colleges or filled out any apps. My husband and I are promoting the math/science path simply because this is where his academic strength is. This is his natural talent. We also have several family members in show biz. My uncle was a very successful, famous producter/director who worked with the Beatles, Abba and Sony & Cher. My cousin in a TV host and my husband’s cousin is a fairly successful musical theater performer. So we know the lifestyle and also know that you don’t need a degree to do those things, it’s a certain type of personality and drive that is required that we just don’t think our son has (haven’t told him that of course). </p>
<p>My husband took a year off between hs and college and I switched majors and schools at the beginning of junior year and none of it transferred except about 3 classes, so I basically had to start all over again.</p>
<p>D1 also had a dream of becoming a ballerina. Her teacher of 10+ years told her she had the potential of dance in a company. I asked her to do some research to see if it was the kind of life she wanted. She did end up dancing in college by being very involved with her school’s dance club, which comprised of many dancers of D1’s calibre. D1 did go to a large university which offered many programs.</p>
<p>However, some majors have long chains of prerequisites or long lists of requirements that need to be started early; deciding to do such a major in spring of sophomore year after not taking any courses for it would likely delay graduation. The student needs to consider all of the majors that s/he might declare in order to avoid accidentally shutting them out by not taking the needed courses.</p>
<p>Music and environmental science are two majors which commonly have a lot of requirements that need to be started early.</p>
<p>Of course, a student who attends community college is under much less financial and institutional pressure to decide quickly, since community college costs less and does not require a decision until one applies to transfer to a four year school to complete a bachelor’s degree. However, not all community colleges have transferable courses for all possible majors; check articulation agreements with four year schools (usually state universities).</p>
<p>Our friend’s son switched from business to Forest Ranger after his freshman year, and had to switch colleges and now will need an extra semester or year to graduate. I guess that’s not the end of the world but it certainly does add to the cost and time.</p>
<p>I think your daughter is much more unique than your son.</p>
<p>I entirely disagree that being more specialized is the way to go anyways. That is a set up for going too narrow and finding the world changes and you have few options when that narrow specialization is no longer relevant. The reality is most students will still end up working in occupations unrelated to their major, and the vast majority of students will end up in several careers in their life time. </p>
<p>I also think its unlikely that most highschool kids can know which career they will enjoy and excel at. And I think its silly for us to suddenly think the whole world is now different for a lifetime now that we just happen to be in a recession.</p>
<p>That’s a good question ADad. My answer is that this has been an issue over the years and he needs a lot of outside structure. He’s really laid-back and also has ADHD (unmedicated), and he didn’t make too much effort at school until junior year. He’s much improved this year and is getting good grades with minimal structure from us. But overall it’s still not great in the sense that he doesn’t think very far ahead, though this year he is studying for tests and getting his long-term projects done.</p>
<p>Starbright- so how do you recommend that these kids pick a college? I was always under the impression that you based your choice on the programs. If you are going into sciences you go to one that is known for sciences, fine arts might be a different choice and so on. I’d be fine with him not knowing exactly what degree he wanted but that he’s know enough to make a good choice of schools.</p>
<p>This is not the first time we are in a recession. H and I graduated in a major recession and we were both able to get jobs, H with a history major. I do think the world is not the same, and I don’t particular think I am silly.</p>
<p>Yeah, my husband is a partner in an engineering firm and they are looking for college graduates who have knowledge of specific programs, have done internships, and are already quite accomplished coming out of school. My father also used to own an engineering firm and I know he had some engineers who didn’t have degrees, one was an art major, and several were computer science grads. My husband says that this just isn’t common these days. </p>
<p>My two best friends also have fine arts degrees and all three of us aren’t really qualified to do much outside of our degree areas, even prior to the recession. Two of us have thought about going into healthcare but that would require new degrees, the fact that I have an Interior Design degree and my friend has her’s in Fashion Design doesn’t really qualify us to even change a bedpan. </p>
<p>I’m OK with my son not knowing what he wants to major in exactly but I’m not OK with him thinking that he can major in whatever and still do anything for a living, like it doesn’t really matter what the degree is in.</p>
<p>In today’s world kids have to position themselves very strategically keeping in mind their strengths, weaknesses and the requirements/demands of the workplace.</p>
<p>I would not expect an 18 year old to have any idea of what they want to major in, but they should look at schools that have wide arrays of offerings, few barriers to switching, and if there are general requirements, then those should be taken later rather than earlier. I know most kids tend to do the reverse, and very often find themselves finishing their sophomore year, not having experienced the array of possibilities out there, and therefore still not being closer to “an interest”.</p>
<p>Good points Chocoholic. I have had a few of my friends say that he should just go and start taking the general eds and then he’ll have a better idea of what he wants to do. But I really doubt that taking Comp. 1, US diversity, global awareness and other courses are really going to put you closer to figuring out a career path. I’ve often thought that interning, job shadowing, summer jobs and such would be more helpful.</p>
<p>So he is getting better at the kind of thinking required to make the interrelated choice of college and major. Still, I would guess that he won’t come to a definite conclusion about his major or career before the application deadlines. If you agree with that, what is/are the most pressing immediate concern(s)? What else (if anything) needs to be done for his college applications?</p>
<p>ADad, if we make those assumptions, then I think I would advise him to go ahead with the auditions this winter, see where he gets accepted based on those and then pick a school that has the most options based on his current interests. At least that way he isn’t closing any doors.</p>
<p>Thanks, I think I just figured out what my advice to him will be. This, along with having him talk to some of our friends in various professions.</p>