Is mine the only one?

[Anonymous]

I have a rising HS senior. She really has no idea what she wants to do and feels very pressured to choose a college and a major. I feel like she is flying blind. I know some will suggest a gap year. She's a reluctant student. If she does a gap year, she will never go to college (we have already talked about it). She wants to go and get her degree but has no idea what she wants to major in.

[Anonymous]

It’s only the rare kid who knows their major. Most kids don’t declare a major until later and most kids change major.

Sounds like your daughter might want a liberal arts curriculum (either at a SLAC or a bigger university). It’s wonderful not to know. Who knows, maybe your reluctant student will finally be able to have some space to figure out what she likes once she’s released from a lot of regiment!

University of Vermont. Marist College. Santa Clara University in California. These are highly regarded colleges with enough space to grow.

[Anonymous]

She’ll figure it out. Help her pick a school that’s a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Few know what they want to do or study and half of those that think they know change their minds.

[Anonymous]

youscience.com — best $29 we’ve ever spent.

[Anonymous]

This is exactly the kind of kid for whom community colleges are great. My son had no idea what he wanted to do either and cc was great for him to take his general education classes at a reasonable price while doing more exploration.

[Anonymous]

That's totally okay! She doesn't have to decide now! And, she can change her mind even after she's decided. My cousin changed her major like four times. My family friend changed colleges. She can just do liberal arts until she decides. No big deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the kind of kid for whom community colleges are great. My son had no idea what he wanted to do either and cc was great for him to take his general education classes at a reasonable price while doing more exploration.

Not for her. She will see that at high school 2.0. She is dyslexic and already feels like a second class citizen. That would feed into her internal narrative that she is not good enough. She needs the whole 4 (or 5) year experience.

[Anonymous]

Does she have a favorite subject?

[Anonymous]

My rising college sophomore is still undecided. Her college advisor’s absolutely fine with it. The consensus from multiple colleges we visited is that most, if not majority of 18 year olds will be uncertain of what career path they’ll take. One college counselor even said he changed his major 3x in 2 weeks period.

OP, she’ll eventually find her niche. My DD is still exploring and we are ok with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a rising HS senior. She really has no idea what she wants to do and feels very pressured to choose a college and a major. I feel like she is flying blind. I know some will suggest a gap year. She's a reluctant student. If she does a gap year, she will never go to college (we have already talked about it). She wants to go and get her degree but has no idea what she wants to major in.

It’s normal. Send her to a school where it’s easy to change majors and track or better if you don’t have to commit freshman year, she’ll figure it out by sophomore year. Don’t do a directionless gap year. She may get sidetracked and never go back to college.

[Anonymous]

Just let her take gen Ed classes freshman year and get that out of the way while exploring classes she’ll like or develop interests eventually.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the encouragement! It has all felt very directionless. No idea why she wants or where she wants to go (although some ideas about where she does not want to go, so that at least helps).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is exactly the kind of kid for whom community colleges are great. My son had no idea what he wanted to do either and cc was great for him to take his general education classes at a reasonable price while doing more exploration.

WTF? This does not mean community college. OP the issue is that many schools are asking for a major as a part of applications. Some will not consider a totally undecided candidate (like VT)

[Anonymous]

My DD is currently at University of Pittsburgh- enrolled undecided. All the other colleges she applied and got accepted Gannon, Seton, etc… all accepted undecided freshman.