Angry at college sophomore for changing to lower paying major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO if you as the parents are paying for school, it’s fine to limit the type of degree program you are willing to pay for.

Do you have children? I ask because that is incredibly harsh and controlling. Setting parameters such as maintaining a certain grade point average as a condition for paying tuition is one thing. But setting a specific major as a condition for paying is a whole other ballgame. That’s not what being a loving and supportive parent is about. It’s a sure route to a fractured relationship, especially pulling it halfway into the kid’s college experience.

Parents work hard, save money every year since their kids were babies and if they see their young adult child spending that hard earned money in a frivolous way, I can see pulling back the funding.

This is not to say that teaching is a "frivolous" profession, not at all. But if she has suddenly switched to teaching, the reasons for her rather abrupt major change should be discussed. Make sure she is doing this for the right reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO if you as the parents are paying for school, it’s fine to limit the type of degree program you are willing to pay for.

Do you have children? I ask because that is incredibly harsh and controlling. Setting parameters such as maintaining a certain grade point average as a condition for paying tuition is one thing. But setting a specific major as a condition for paying is a whole other ballgame. That’s not what being a loving and supportive parent is about. It’s a sure route to a fractured relationship, especially pulling it halfway into the kid’s college experience.

Lots of people disagree with you, including me

Many subjects are fascinating but do not improve employment prospects... There are many books and videos online in those subjects for free.. your degree should be an investment

I almost wish my parents were a bit more controlling about my major

I almost graduated with a major that would have seriously limited my future earning potential before adding another one at the last minute

In my ten years since graduating, I never even talk about my easy major other than once in a while at an interview sometime will say "oh that's an interesting combination"

What was your easy and limiting major? What major were you able to add that improved your job options?

[Anonymous]

Easy major was a social science major that involved reading lots of books and papers but gave me no skills that would help solve anything problems for an employer

Hard major gave me more math and analytical skills

[Anonymous]

Any problems*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy major was a social science major that involved reading lots of books and papers but gave me no skills that would help solve anything problems for an employer

Hard major gave me more math and analytical skills

This says more about you and/or your college than it does about majoring int he social sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy major was a social science major that involved reading lots of books and papers but gave me no skills that would help solve anything problems for an employer

Hard major gave me more math and analytical skills

It's good that you were able to add a hard math major on at the last second like that. That's much easier said than done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a liberal arts degree from an Ivy League school and worked for a few years as a high school teacher. Then I went back and got a PhD in a different liberal arts field. My awesome parents never acted like they were disappointed that I was in my 30s and still making TA wages even though they worked hard to pay for my first degree. Fast forward ten years and I started a tutoring company, make very, very good money, have several employees, set my own schedule, and am able to innovate and experiment with my product. I earn much more than my sister who is an engineer. Have a little faith in your kid. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.

My parents were also awesome about not judging my totally responsible choice to not go into a high paying field. I have been very happy and successful. OP, you don’t have a crystal ball. You have to have a little faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Easy major was a social science major that involved reading lots of books and papers but gave me no skills that would help solve anything problems for an employer

Hard major gave me more math and analytical skills

It's good that you were able to add a hard math major on at the last second like that. That's much easier said than done.

Yeah it involved extra course work outside of the regular semester schedule but was the best decision I ever made in terms of earning potential

If I could go back and do it again, I might have done computer science or computer engineering

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO if you as the parents are paying for school, it’s fine to limit the type of degree program you are willing to pay for.

Do you have children? I ask because that is incredibly harsh and controlling. Setting parameters such as maintaining a certain grade point average as a condition for paying tuition is one thing. But setting a specific major as a condition for paying is a whole other ballgame. That’s not what being a loving and supportive parent is about. It’s a sure route to a fractured relationship, especially pulling it halfway into the kid’s college experience.

Parents work hard, save money every year since their kids were babies and if they see their young adult child spending that hard earned money in a frivolous way, I can see pulling back the funding.

This is not to say that teaching is a "frivolous" profession, not at all. But if she has suddenly switched to teaching, the reasons for her rather abrupt major change should be discussed. Make sure she is doing this for the right reasons.

She has explained why she wants to do it.

What "right reasons" would justify it in your view?

You pulled back on "frivolous," but it is obvious that yes, you think teaching is a lightweight profession, not worthy of an intellectual heavyweight. Just say it.

[Anonymous]

And I wish my parents would have given me more info on career options that come from different degrees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO if you as the parents are paying for school, it’s fine to limit the type of degree program you are willing to pay for.

Do you have children? I ask because that is incredibly harsh and controlling. Setting parameters such as maintaining a certain grade point average as a condition for paying tuition is one thing. But setting a specific major as a condition for paying is a whole other ballgame. That’s not what being a loving and supportive parent is about. It’s a sure route to a fractured relationship, especially pulling it halfway into the kid’s college experience.

Parents work hard, save money every year since their kids were babies and if they see their young adult child spending that hard earned money in a frivolous way, I can see pulling back the funding.

This is not to say that teaching is a "frivolous" profession, not at all. But if she has suddenly switched to teaching, the reasons for her rather abrupt major change should be discussed. Make sure she is doing this for the right reasons.

She has explained why she wants to do it.

What "right reasons" would justify it in your view?

You pulled back on "frivolous," but it is obvious that yes, you think teaching is a lightweight profession, not worthy of an intellectual heavyweight. Just say it.

No, I think that teaching is an honorable profession that requires a different sort of talent than, say, Accounting does. Switching from Accounting to Education because the course load in Accounting is killing you is not a good reason to go into teaching. Passing education courses is not what is going to make a person a great teacher. You have to like and want to work with kids. If you don't like working with kids you are going to hate life as a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO if you as the parents are paying for school, it’s fine to limit the type of degree program you are willing to pay for.

Do you have children? I ask because that is incredibly harsh and controlling. Setting parameters such as maintaining a certain grade point average as a condition for paying tuition is one thing. But setting a specific major as a condition for paying is a whole other ballgame. That’s not what being a loving and supportive parent is about. It’s a sure route to a fractured relationship, especially pulling it halfway into the kid’s college experience.

Parents work hard, save money every year since their kids were babies and if they see their young adult child spending that hard earned money in a frivolous way, I can see pulling back the funding.

This is not to say that teaching is a "frivolous" profession, not at all. But if she has suddenly switched to teaching, the reasons for her rather abrupt major change should be discussed. Make sure she is doing this for the right reasons.

She has explained why she wants to do it.

What "right reasons" would justify it in your view?

You pulled back on "frivolous," but it is obvious that yes, you think teaching is a lightweight profession, not worthy of an intellectual heavyweight. Just say it.

Not PP (I'm the last min hard major poster)

teaching is definitely not lightweight profession!!

However, early childhood education is most certainly a lightweight major that will seriously limit her life options if she decides she wants to do anything but teaching

Majoring in math would be a much better option

And to those who are saying she can just turn around and get an MBA (as if everyone just has an extra $80k sitting around).. who are those programs more likely to accept and give scholarships to.. the early childhood education major or math major?

Finally, when she is in the school system, who is more likely to eventually get to teach BC calculus if she decides she prefers high school over 5th grade? Early childhood education or math?

Come on people. No reason to close doors in life when you are 16 years old

I recently learned of an MIT engineering graduate who works at Wheaton high school and I thought good for you! As a parent I'd much rather have him teach my kids than someone with a lightweight degree

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And I wish my parents would have given me more info on career options that come from different degrees

I'd guess lots of parents have no idea of the career options that come from different degrees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll not join in the piling on

In my opinion, OP is correct

It's very important for her DD to not close doors at this stage in her life

If she majored in math and econ she could teach 5th grade math

The reverse will not be true if she picks the easy major

Really try to help her understand the concept that you don't always understand the value of your studies until later in life when you realize how many doors it opens

Exactly.

To teach at, say, a good private school you need a good education. Private school teachers rarely have ‘education degrees’ they have masters and PhD’s in subjects like math, science, history, etc, then they have work experience in that field and then they teach. Please explain to DD.

Perhaps she is just reaching for something more meaningful then just ‘earning money’ now, which you don’t seem capable of understanding. Now is the time to try so that you can help her broaden her options for her future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll not join in the piling on

In my opinion, OP is correct

It's very important for her DD to not close doors at this stage in her life

If she majored in math and econ she could teach 5th grade math

The reverse will not be true if she picks the easy major

Really try to help her understand the concept that you don't always understand the value of your studies until later in life when you realize how many doors it opens

Exactly.

To teach at, say, a good private school you need a good education. Private school teachers rarely have ‘education degrees’ they have masters and PhD’s in subjects like math, science, history, etc, then they have work experience in that field and then they teach. Please explain to DD.

Perhaps she is just reaching for something more meaningful then just ‘earning money’ now, which you don’t seem capable of understanding. Now is the time to try so that you can help her broaden her options for her future.

You are not going to get a job teaching elementary school with "just" a math/English/Science degree. You need to take the early childhood education courses to teach elementary school.