Help my DD pick a major

[Anonymous]

Still in 11th, so there is time. She has always said she wants either Comp Sci or Math as a major. She's a 4th generation math major (I'm #3 lol)- but definitely no pressure there. She is great at math, too. But her passion is reading. Recently she said to me "I wish there was a job where I could read books all day". And I said, "sure, publishing". Her eyes went wide with excitement.

I think she's been so focused on STEM for a career that she hasn't truly thought about what she loves to do.

Any suggestions for advice I can give her?

[Anonymous]

What ECs does she have? What jobs? What research?

How competitive of school is she looking for?

[Anonymous]

Computational Linguistics/Natural Language Processing

Digital Humanities

Publishing with a Technical Focus

Data Science with a Publishing/Media Focus

[Anonymous]

I’ll do the weird answer that gets me in trouble first. Physics/any science. A career in science is 90% reading 10% doing. She’ll also get funding for grad school.

The non-fun answers: History is a major in intensive reading for hours and hours. Philosophy if she’s into reading a line and having to think for 10 minutes as to what it could possibly mean. And, English is a close-reading based degree where you can go into publishing, marketing, advertising, etc as long as she secures internships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What ECs does she have? What jobs? What research?

How competitive of school is she looking for?

She is an athlete (likely recruit), and all jobs related to that. No research.

Probably T100.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What ECs does she have? What jobs? What research?

How competitive of school is she looking for?

She is an athlete (likely recruit), and all jobs related to that. No research.

Probably T100.

I should add- all the college coaches she is speaking with ask what she wants to major in. She always says Comp Sci. I'm just not sure that is her best fit.

[Anonymous]

I would go into college assuming that her major might change. I went to school with a lot of STEM majors who successfully switched to Humanities majors, or things like education or communications. I don't know anyone who successfully switched the other way, because the way STEM majors are structured often means you need to take certain courses up front, and because STEM majors are more likely to be restricted enrollment.

Given that, I'd research options for switching majors at the various colleges, and plan to do distribution requirements in majors she might be interested in early, but enroll as Comp Sci, or math in the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Some good AI advice:

Stronger for Publishing focus, with good CS/Math:

Emerson College (Boston) - Known for their Publishing program and has surprisingly solid tech

NYU - Strong publishing connections due to NYC location, plus solid CS/Math departments

Columbia - Similar NYC advantage, excellent across all relevant fields

Northwestern - Strong journalism/publishing focus plus excellent STEM

Strong in both CS/Math and Humanities:

Brown University - Known for their open curriculum which would let her easily combine these interests

University of Pennsylvania - Their Digital Media Design program could be perfect

Stanford - Excellent in both CS and humanities, with a "CS+X" program that combines CS with other fields

MIT - Despite its tech reputation, actually has an excellent comparative media studies program that includes publishing

Tech-focused but with good publishing/writing programs:

Carnegie Mellon - Top CS/Math but also strong in humanities

Georgia Tech - Has a surprisingly excellent Literature, Media, and Communication program alongside their renowned CS

Some less obvious choices:

University of Michigan - Strong in both areas and has a good Book Arts program

Simon Fraser University (Canada) - Has a specific Publishing program plus strong CS

Oxford/Cambridge (UK) - If she's open to studying abroad, their courses often combine computing with humanities

[Anonymous]

^^^ wow.

[Anonymous]

Information systems minor in English

Technical writing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ wow.

I feel like 90% of people’s questions here can be answered with AI.

[Anonymous]

Can’t she do a double major? Math/CS and then a humanity, and then she will have more doors open!

[Anonymous]

She does NOT need a major!!! What she needs is a large university, not a small college, so that she can explore various pathways before settling into something she likes. She does not need to declare a major in most US institutions as a high school applicant. She will have to choose as a sophomore or junior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She does NOT need a major!!! What she needs is a large university, not a small college, so that she can explore various pathways before settling into something she likes. She does not need to declare a major in most US institutions as a high school applicant. She will have to choose as a sophomore or junior.

she needs a story though....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ wow.

I feel like 90% of people’s questions here can be answered with AI.

Exactly