Majors for a non-math kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a freshman at a Jesuit school. He thought he might want to pursue business but he is a terrible math student (I was too). He would have to take calculus and stats and maybe a few other math courses and he's scared that he won't pass (he barely passed pre-calc as a senior). He doesn't have to declare a major until next year but his adviser told him to try out some courses in business. He's taking microeconomics now and barely passing. BTW- he is an excellent writer (thanks Catholic school!) so any ideas on majors that might involve writing and are not math heavy?

Please let your kid pick his own major.

It sounds like OPs kid is struggling and they just want to help. They aren't planning on picking his major, just offering some suggestions.

+1

Kid seems to be struggling. College is not cheap. Parents just want to help their kid find their best path so they can graduate in 4 years or 4.5 years. Many cannot just afford to let their kid take 5-6 years to graduate undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a freshman at a Jesuit school. He thought he might want to pursue business but he is a terrible math student (I was too). He would have to take calculus and stats and maybe a few other math courses and he's scared that he won't pass (he barely passed pre-calc as a senior). He doesn't have to declare a major until next year but his adviser told him to try out some courses in business. He's taking microeconomics now and barely passing. BTW- he is an excellent writer (thanks Catholic school!) so any ideas on majors that might involve writing and are not math heavy?

You do not have to be very good at math to get a business degree. Tell him not to be dissuaded, if he wants to major in business. I bet he could find some tutoring at the school to get him through calculus and statistics. I'm actually surprised that he is required to take calculus for a business degree.

My kid was a finance/business major at a Jesuit university. Required to take Calc 1, Statistics, Econ 1&2, Accounting 1&2, Finance 301 and Info Systems 301. All math intensive classes. Would have needed those courses for ALL business degrees, even marketing. So yes, good undergrad business programs do REQUIRE several math focused classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I appreciate all of the replies. My son has never talked much about school but when he came home for fall break, he was very nervous and unsure about what classes he should register for next semester. I guess the mention of calculus made him worry and doubt himself. Years and years of struggle with math will do that. For now, I just told him to put off calculus and take many of the other core classes which is his plan. I have never been a helicopter parent about school because he rarely talks about school (except for his math woes). I might have him ask about possibly taking calculus somewhere else this summer where it will be cheaper. But thanks so much for all of the ideas. Keep them coming!

Actually, I'd recommend he take calculus sooner, rather than later, as well as the Econ and accounting courses. Better to figure out sooner if he can survive the business degree intro courses or if he is downright miserable. For my kid, the calculus course was much easier than accounting 1&2.

[Anonymous]

Can he take Calculus, Statistics and Econ over the summer at the community college? Might be less stress. Just make sure it will transfer back.

[Anonymous]

I'd have him take Calculus/stats/econ etc at your local community college online and transfer those credits because you transfer the credits and not the grades.

Also, if you want to go into business you don't need a business degree do English.

They could do hospitality or communications.

[Anonymous]

Several multi-millionares I know got Cs in math toward finance degrees. All he has to do is pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several multi-millionares I know got Cs in math toward finance degrees. All he has to do is pass.

OP here. That's what I told him. I'll see how many classes he can take at community college. I'm assuming calculus at CC would be a bit easier but I don't know. Has anyone's kid done this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several multi-millionares I know got Cs in math toward finance degrees. All he has to do is pass.

Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Don't give up on business degree just bc of a calculus requirement. Find some resources and tutoring. He won't actually need to do calculus when he graduates and starts working. (Cue the inevitable DCUM posters saying they use their college calculus all the time in the business world.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a freshman at a Jesuit school. He thought he might want to pursue business but he is a terrible math student (I was too). He would have to take calculus and stats and maybe a few other math courses and he's scared that he won't pass (he barely passed pre-calc as a senior). He doesn't have to declare a major until next year but his adviser told him to try out some courses in business. He's taking microeconomics now and barely passing. BTW- he is an excellent writer (thanks Catholic school!) so any ideas on majors that might involve writing and are not math heavy?

Is he taking Precalc or other math in college now? Start there. College math isn't harder than high school math. All the math kids are taking different courses. Your son's classmates will be Mon math kids like him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a freshman at a Jesuit school. He thought he might want to pursue business but he is a terrible math student (I was too). He would have to take calculus and stats and maybe a few other math courses and he's scared that he won't pass (he barely passed pre-calc as a senior). He doesn't have to declare a major until next year but his adviser told him to try out some courses in business. He's taking microeconomics now and barely passing. BTW- he is an excellent writer (thanks Catholic school!) so any ideas on majors that might involve writing and are not math heavy?

Please let your kid pick his own major.

Not if the ROI is not there. My DD would of end up doing ART in college. I encourage her to do STEM, with tons of push back but she listened while revolting. A year out of college she's earning 100k, and just got her TSI SCI last week. She thanks me everyday (not literally), loves her job and loves the purchasing power of her salary.

You mean would “have” not would “of.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several multi-millionares I know got Cs in math toward finance degrees. All he has to do is pass.

OP here. That's what I told him. I'll see how many classes he can take at community college. I'm assuming calculus at CC would be a bit easier but I don't know. Has anyone's kid done this?

Ah.. no, there’s a reason why they call MC Harvard on the Pike. Don’t underestimate some of the CCs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS is a freshman at a Jesuit school. He thought he might want to pursue business but he is a terrible math student (I was too). He would have to take calculus and stats and maybe a few other math courses and he's scared that he won't pass (he barely passed pre-calc as a senior). He doesn't have to declare a major until next year but his adviser told him to try out some courses in business. He's taking microeconomics now and barely passing. BTW- he is an excellent writer (thanks Catholic school!) so any ideas on majors that might involve writing and are not math heavy?

Please let your kid pick his own major.

Not if the ROI is not there. My DD would of end up doing ART in college. I encourage her to do STEM, with tons of push back but she listened while revolting. A year out of college she's earning 100k, and just got her TSI SCI last week. She thanks me everyday (not literally), loves her job and loves the purchasing power of her salary.

You mean would “have” not would “of.”

Yes, lol..

[Anonymous]

And actually she’s out of college going on two years and 18 months employed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Public Policy
Political science
International Relations
English, History or Philosophy then Law School.

Agree with all but philosophy. Philosophy requires a mathematical mind. It's all logic, like math, but the logic is applied to language and ideas in search of reason and proof. It is also closely aligned with aspects of computer science. I was a math major who switched to a double major in CS and Phil. and explored the crossovers in my thesis.

NP, to add, law school also involves logic.

For OP, if there are undergrad business majors that appeal to him, there is probably a basic calc course that counts for the business program and/or he could look into whether the university would accept a summer CC course for that requirement (which in some cases might be easier than taking at his university, if he's at a more selective one). It sounds like he's already having to deal with micro.

Most social science and humanities majors involve heavy reading and writing. While it is beneficial to have quantitative skills even in those fields, he can certainly get through a degree with minimal quantitative effort.

Note that most degrees have a statistics requirement, though difficulty of the intro course is not likely to be significant in some of those majors.

Math skills are basically irrelevant to law school. Lots of people who know little more than arithmetic do fine in law school.