Kid has no idea what to major in

[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.

MIT PhD here. Glad you weren’t advising me when I was in high school.

Got MIT PhD in English LOL, but you are right, bad advising.

Communications is even worse than English.

I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Sorry that should have said a classic humanities not liberal arts.

[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.

MIT PhD here. Glad you weren’t advising me when I was in high school.

Got MIT PhD in English LOL, but you are right, bad advising.

Communications is even worse than English.

I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

[Anonymous]

If you don't want this to extend his time in college, then choose a school with fewer graduation requirements (i.e with a sparse/flexible list of required courses). Some, like Hamilton, are very open. Others, quite rigid.

Juniata lets you construct your own major (of courses that hang together in a way that needs approval from two faculty I think), they are called programs of emphasis:

https://www.juniata.edu/academics/areas-of-study.php

(Being a liberal arts college though, it does have a good number of graduation requirements. All kids, for example, must take several writing intensive courses. My non-humanities minded kid chose "Science and Society" for example, and the "History of Food.")

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

MIT PhD here. Glad you weren’t advising me when I was in high school.

Got MIT PhD in English LOL, but you are right, bad advising.

Communications is even worse than English.

I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

[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.

lol Nobody just randomly majors in CS or physics. And CS has become the new "pre-med." Where every other insecure pretentious overconfident high school senior and college freshman brags that's what they're majoring in. Right up until they take their first one or two weed out courses.

My kids first computer science class was overbooked and the classroom was full for the first week.
After a month the classroom was half empty.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

This is beautiful, thank you for sharing your wisdom. The tunnel vision and narrow fixation on STEM is so depressing, and not even helpful. I would wish for my child to have your experience and worldview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

This is beautiful, thank you for sharing your wisdom. The tunnel vision and narrow fixation on STEM is so depressing, and not even helpful. I would wish for my child to have your experience and worldview.

Major in psychology history anthropology philosophy communications, and come back in 4 years.

[Anonymous]

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.

Perfectly normal. An intellectual and intelligent kid wouldn’t be tied to any major or track until his sophomore year. This is the reason most top colleges don’t require you to pick a major in freshman year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

Econ is good especially when paired with CS, DS, math, or statistics minor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

This is beautiful, thank you for sharing your wisdom. The tunnel vision and narrow fixation on STEM is so depressing, and not even helpful. I would wish for my child to have your experience and worldview.

Major in psychology history anthropology philosophy communications, and come back in 4 years.

On the plus side, the person who does that will at least be able to use punctuation effectively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

This is beautiful, thank you for sharing your wisdom. The tunnel vision and narrow fixation on STEM is so depressing, and not even helpful. I would wish for my child to have your experience and worldview.

Major in psychology history anthropology philosophy communications, and come back in 4 years.

On the plus side, the person who does that will at least be able to use punctuation effectively.

LOL couldn't find any spelling error?

[Anonymous]

I loved a big state university because it allowed me to try out different majors. You learn your strengths. Changed majors 4 times and yet pretty much graduated on time (one summer extra).

[Anonymous]

As the parent of a junior at a liberal arts college who declared his major last spring, I would advise your child to be open and explore, but at the same time to be strategic about what classes to take. As the person above discussing majoring in econ mentioned, some classes serve as prerequisites for other classes. Also, scheduling and getting the classes you want, particularly as a first year student, is not always easy and at a small school in particular may present challenges. So if your DC is even considering any kind of STEM major, for example, they should lay down the foundational math or intro classes -- that will serve both the help them decide their talents/interests and also move them along towards some options for a major. It would be a good idea for your child to pick maybe 3-4 majors they are considering, check out the required classes (and especially the foundational ones) and then pick classes that put them on the path to at least a couple majors. They can always adjust later, but it is good to do some planning, and then can explore beyond that. If you just pick a bunch of random classes, it will may make it more difficult down the line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I know you think you are funny. But those of us who have achieved highly in stem (especially in research) have dual undergrad degrees in a stem field and a classic liberal arts. The Vice President of research at Stanford has a bachelors in English Lit and Physics.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-benefit-cost-analysis/article/private-and-social-benefits-of-double-majors/CD1696DBF93DEFE3C2D3A759D6F0895B

OP - your kid who may not know what s/he wants to do as a high school senior is bound for greatness

Yes, double major with stem or at least minor.
Good advice.

So seriously the trend is 'interdisciplinary'.You often encounter this word on college applications for good schools.
Double majoring is great but with a STEM program, it's almost impossible to double major and graduate in 4 years.  

My best advice is to major in something serious, i.e. STEM, then get a supplemental minor in like psychology, philosophy, english, design, art, music, etc.whatever interests you.  
If you major in liberal arts, try to get a minor in STEM like CS, Data science, etc.if you are capable of.
Some universities actually offer interdisciplinary or combined majors these days.

Okay, you people all need to learn what liberal arts means before you continue to bash on it. Liberal arts includes the physical and life sciences as well as information theory/CS. What you are really intending to bash on is the humanities and social sciences (though it seems many "liberal arts"-haters think that econ is okay).

As someone with a STEM PhD, this push toward STEM as being the only useful thing is destroying society and our civic life. English, design, art, etc are all "serious" disciplines. They may be less lucrative in today's job market, but that's not the same thing as unserious. Ideally, people have a strong foundation in all of the liberal arts and more in-depth specialization in a couple of fields. We have so degraded higher education (and education in general) in this country, though, that we've lost all sense of the value of education for anything beyond what jobs a degree enables a person to get. So many liberal arts schools (especially universities) are full of students who view their distribution requirements as something to "get over with" instead of an opportunity to get a well-rounded education.

I work in a very lucrative area of STEM that many of you all would love for your kids to go into, I'm sure. The poor communicators and those that lack a broader understanding of anything beyond their narrow area of study are deeply limited in their careers. They are also, IMHO, less good at the technical work since they don't understand the context in which it will be used. The bigger issue though, is that they are less likely to understand the unintended consequences of their work which harms us all (e.g. quantitative traders destroying the world's economy, narcissists like Musk pushing for AGI when we still haven't even figured out how to manage nuclear weapons, etc).

Econ is good especially when paired with CS, DS, math, or statistics minor

Agreed