Kid has no idea what to major in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

Don't do English or History.
Do Computer Science orPhysics.

Problem solved.

So if they have no interest in Computer Science and are terrible at Physics you say do it anyway? Not everyone can do the same major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

Don't do English or History.
Do Computer Science orPhysics.

Problem solved.

So if they have no interest in Computer Science and are terrible at Physics you say do it anyway? Not everyone can do the same major

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

Disagree (and I have a STEM PhD). She will have to take STEM classes her first year, most likely, to meet the recs. But she might change her mind. Since STEM is on her list, I'm assuming she'll be fine taking some math and science classes her freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

Disagree (and I have a STEM PhD). She will have to take STEM classes her first year, most likely, to meet the recs. But she might change her mind. Since STEM is on her list, I'm assuming she'll be fine taking some math and science classes her freshman year.

We're you even in sciences freshman year? It's an entirely different vourse list. NO, communications majors, biz majors, etc were not in my classes.
We had totally different freshman years.

[Anonymous]

I double majored in Chemistry and English Lit. A good friend double majored in Mat Sci and Music. You don't have to 100% decide right away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

Disagree (and I have a STEM PhD). She will have to take STEM classes her first year, most likely, to meet the recs. But she might change her mind. Since STEM is on her list, I'm assuming she'll be fine taking some math and science classes her freshman year.

We're you even in sciences freshman year? It's an entirely different vourse list. NO, communications majors, biz majors, etc were not in my classes.
We had totally different freshman years.

Some humanities courses might have benefited your reading comprehension, since I clearly said that she'd have to take some STEM classes her first year. But if CS or physics are on her list, she probably likes STEM enough that she'd be willing to take those classes to keep her options open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

What? Are you serious? I was an English major and my husband was a History major. We pull in a combined income of over $2.5 million. Lawyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

Disagree (and I have a STEM PhD). She will have to take STEM classes her first year, most likely, to meet the recs. But she might change her mind. Since STEM is on her list, I'm assuming she'll be fine taking some math and science classes her freshman year.

We're you even in sciences freshman year? It's an entirely different vourse list. NO, communications majors, biz majors, etc were not in my classes.
We had totally different freshman years.

Some humanities courses might have benefited your reading comprehension, since I clearly said that she'd have to take some STEM classes her first year. But if CS or physics are on her list, she probably likes STEM enough that she'd be willing to take those classes to keep her options open.

If she's interested in Physics, she'll take Diff Eq. That's a pretty good weed out class for Math/Chem/Physics. A not insignificant number of people just hit a wall at Diff Eq. But if you do well, then you can progress on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

Disagree (and I have a STEM PhD). She will have to take STEM classes her first year, most likely, to meet the recs. But she might change her mind. Since STEM is on her list, I'm assuming she'll be fine taking some math and science classes her freshman year.

We're you even in sciences freshman year? It's an entirely different vourse list. NO, communications majors, biz majors, etc were not in my classes.
We had totally different freshman years.

You obviously didn’t go to a liberal arts college where communications and business majors aren’t a thing, and there are often distributive requirements across all disciplines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

What? Are you serious? I was an English major and my husband was a History major. We pull in a combined income of over $2.5 million. Lawyers.

Moral of this post is that if you major in history or english, make sure to go to a law school.
Don't think you are going to get a lucrative job right after history or english degree.

Even from Harvard you only start making this much, $49,644
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University&fos_code=5401&fos_credential=3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

I think if a child was a STEM type, they'd know by senior year. So I'd cross science off the list.

History and english sound useless.

I'd suggest a business major like finance or marketing. Or could do communications.

What? Are you serious? I was an English major and my husband was a History major. We pull in a combined income of over $2.5 million. Lawyers.

Communications is as useless as history or english.

[Anonymous]

A lot of responses here seem focused on steering your daughter toward whatever will make the most money. If that's your/her goal, you're rolling the dice with regard to her happiness. Finding a passion is much more important. Anyone who's smart, works hard, plays nicely with others and has a passion for what they're doing will find success and happiness regardless of the field.

Suggest to her that she do careful research before registering for her first and second-year classes, focusing on taking courses taught by the best professors the school has to offer, as recommended by students who have gone before her. At least one of these teachers will ignite her passion for study in a specific field, and then her future will unfold naturally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of responses here seem focused on steering your daughter toward whatever will make the most money. If that's your/her goal, you're rolling the dice with regard to her happiness. Finding a passion is much more important. Anyone who's smart, works hard, plays nicely with others and has a passion for what they're doing will find success and happiness regardless of the field.

Suggest to her that she do careful research before registering for her first and second-year classes, focusing on taking courses taught by the best professors the school has to offer, as recommended by students who have gone before her. At least one of these teachers will ignite her passion for study in a specific field, and then her future will unfold naturally.

Roll the dice and become a statistc for this problem
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-crisis

This is a huge national problem in the US.
Google student debt crisis and look around.
People need to be aware of what they are getting into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Does it matter for purposes of college applications, in terms of selling oneself as an applicant?

It is easier to create a narrative/package oneself if you know what you want to major in and you have aligned classes and ECs with your intended field.

17 year-olds, in my view, shouldn’t need to package themselves (or commodify themselves). These years are a time for exploration (for most). Two-thirds of college students change their majors, and more then 1/3 transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How normal is it for a high school senior to know what they want to major in? I hear people say their kids are a computer science major or pre-med. Amy kid has no idea. Could be absolutely anything from English to history to computer science to physics. Or anything else their college offers. Literally anything.

Don't do English or History.
Do Computer Science orPhysics.

Problem solved.

Wrong. One of my kids has an English BA, the other History. Both are successful adults who had/have zero interest in computer science or physics. You do you.
NP