Help my below average son chose a college major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does he need to declare a major now? Ideally he would take a range of classes freshman year, both to fulfill distribution requirements and be exposed to new areas that might spark his interest.

+1. This. Spend year 1 taking a range of courses in areas of interest and see what clicks.

Plus, you’ve told us what he isn’t good in. You haven’t told us what his strengths are. And the strengths piece is the most important. Also, what are his life goals besides “rich”. Yes, every kid in college should have a plan to become self supporting. And yes, wanting to earn a lot of money isn’t unusual. But, there are many paths to get there. And for some, your kids ability to hustle and his personality will determine income. For example sales. Get a communications major and the right job, and he’ll earn a decent living. But he needs a certain personality and natural ability to do so.

Plus, what majors does his college offers. For example, I know a kid who is a self starter and doing well for themselves with a hospitality major out of a VA school. My kid is at WM and even if she wanted that major, it isn’t an option.

I does sound like your kid would be better with a hands on hospitality, communications, etc major over a liberal arts (English, History, etc) major with a goal of grad school, law school etc. Besides that, more info needed.

PS— going to college doesn’t mean he can’t be in the military. Maybe he’s a natural leader and would make a great officer.

[Anonymous]

Geography GIS. It has some stats classes, but not too many.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of his grades, he doesn't need to know his major yet. Half of those people that "know their major" will change anyway.

This, this, this!

Also, the military is still an option after college, and then he could go to officer training and become an officer (almost) immediately versus going in as enlisted.

[Anonymous]

What interests him? What previous activities has he enjoyed?

Approach his career choice like any other child.

(Stop operating from a deficit model. Your child undoubtedly has talents and strengths. You need to remind hm, and yourself, of that fact.)

[Anonymous]

OP, your son is not “below average”. He might not be a stellar scholar but rest assured he has attributes that are above average. We all do. We’re all below average in huge swaths of what’s humanly possible, and above at a very few things. The trick is to find out what he dm excel at and pursue that.

[Anonymous]

What are his strengths? What are his hobbies and interests? How does he spend his free time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about law enforcement? You can get a criminal justice degree, which from what I have heard is not that hard, then go to the police academy. I believe you get paid more if you have a degree.

Or a fire fighter? EMT?

Ooooh, I like these, OP!

Yep, criminal justice is super easy.

Also consider communications and education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of his grades, he doesn't need to know his major yet. Half of those people that "know their major" will change anyway.

This, this, this!

Also, the military is still an option after college, and then he could go to officer training and become an officer (almost) immediately versus going in as enlisted.

Someone with a 900 SAT is not a great candidate for this.

(Don't come at me, you know I don't mean the SAT is required for OCS.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most community college students never make the jump to a 4 yr school.

Most never intend to.

[Anonymous]

Criminal justice
Occupational therapy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regardless of his grades, he doesn't need to know his major yet. Half of those people that "know their major" will change anyway.

This, this, this!

Also, the military is still an option after college, and then he could go to officer training and become an officer (almost) immediately versus going in as enlisted.

Someone with a 900 SAT is not a great candidate for this.

(Don't come at me, you know I don't mean the SAT is required for OCS.)

SAT is just one part of a person. Of course its ok for military. But enlisted life sucks.

[Anonymous]

“. He knows that he wants to be successful (financially).”

“He is a kid that honestly has no motivation or desire”

These are incompatible…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The thing about the military is that it is always there. I enlisted just out of high school and started completely at the bottom. If I had finished even one semester of college, I would have started at a higher rank. Let him do the first term and see how he goes.
I was a terrible student in high school, with very little motivation, but 4 years in the Army gave my brain time to catch up, the Army taught me how to learn and I saw that the people without college degrees were cleaning the toilets while the people who had college degrees were watching us do it.

I got out of the Army, and using credits I'd gotten in the Army, graduated university in 2 years - no more cleaning toilets for me

The flip is you cannot get out or get your education. My enlisted husband couldn't start till his 30s so he got his degree at retirement, which worked out fine but a much harder route than college directly. Plenty of colleges will take this kid and he'll be fine. I was not a great student in HS, with those SAT scores. Getting away from my parents was the key. My parents were negative and hostile like this parent. I got my master's as well.

[Anonymous]

Marketing
Sports ... I don't know what they're called - they go to college to become a sports caster?

These are the easiest majors.

[Anonymous]

My DS who is awful at math is a communications major. He’s a good writer and all of the non-math classes have been easy for him so far in college. He is at a liberal arts school so the first two years are core courses in a lot of different areas so he didn’t need to choose a major until the end of sophomore year. He only needed to take one math course to satisfy that requirement. He took pre-calculus again and that was the end of his dreaded math courses. Look into small, supportive liberal arts schools with a focus on undergraduate teaching. My son went to the tutoring center to get help with that math course.