Help my below average son chose a college major

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he good with people? Can he sell ice to eskimos? Walk up to a foyine girl and talk to her like he's known her forever? If so, he should consider a non-math business major, something like marketing. He'll crush it and end up making more money than most of his "academic" classmates.

DD majored in marketing at UMD and still needed calculus and accounting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he good with people? Can he sell ice to eskimos? Walk up to a foyine girl and talk to her like he's known her forever? If so, he should consider a non-math business major, something like marketing. He'll crush it and end up making more money than most of his "academic" classmates.

DD majored in marketing at UMD and still needed calculus and accounting.

yes, business majors need to take business calc, accounting, finance and stats.

[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?

Firefighters in big cities make a lot of money.

There are lots of firefighters in the DMV who finish their careers making 150k-200k a year with some overtime. You eventually need a bachelor’s degree at the higher ranks, but can definitely get hired without one. They’ll also train you to be a paramedic, which gives you a bonus on top of your base salary. It has some similarities to a military environment and, if your son likes science and can follow orders, he would probably fare well going the paramedic/firefighter route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find kids like this often grow up to be the most empathetic and effective school-based counselors.

Yeah that's just who you want advising and counseling your kid, someone who has failed at life due to lack of motivation and ability to succeed.

Um, school counselors have master's degrees and work incredibly hard. I'm sure that OP and many of the rest of us here would be proud to have their kids pursue something this meaningful. And OP's kid can hardly be said to be falling short professionally: he hasn't even started college yet! Type B personalities aren't failures or lazy. They just don't crave competition. And Type A personalities find that totally mystifying and belittle them for it - because doing so is another form of the competition that A's need for fulfillment! OP's kid will be just fine on his own.

They are losers who got a "check the box" masters at a sh*t tier institution.

All school counselors? Interesting. Because that degree is harder to get than many other masters degrees out there. Individual people may have had negative experiences with individual counselors, but the profession asks a lot of people.

[Anonymous]

And no, I'm not a school counselor and don't work for MCPS, Central Office, or any school system, public or private.

[Anonymous]

If your son likes science and is a hands-on learner, check out community college programs like occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy assistant, and other allied health professions. He’ll take a few pre-requisites but then get into more hands-on, interesting classes pretty quickly. Plus, in most cases, he’ll make more money with a two-year allied health degree than with a liberal of arts bachelor’s degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sociology, English, Marketing, Media Studies, Communications

I'd also consider that a college with 8 week terms might be better for him than the traditional 16 weeks. Then he will be focused on 2 classes at a time (including summer session, he can still graduate in four years).

No way. Parent described child who struggles in school. The kids who were not academically inclined all did finance, business (not Econ that had higher level math), and communications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a below average student. His SAT score was a 900. He was a B/C student all throughout school. His greatest weakness and where he struggled the most was with Math. He is going off to college. I am thrilled that he is going to college. We all thought about the military or college and he landed on college. However, we are having a difficult time figuring out a major. He knows that he wants to be successful (financially). He knows that he does not want to be a teacher. He knows he does not want to take a lot of classes in Math. Could anyone help point us in the right direction with careers/majors? We and he knows where he stands academically and what he is capable of. I fear that he will choose a degree in which he will not be successful in and it will be defeating for him.

Ethnic or Women Studies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your son likes science and is a hands-on learner, check out community college programs like occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy assistant, and other allied health professions. He’ll take a few pre-requisites but then get into more hands-on, interesting classes pretty quickly. Plus, in most cases, he’ll make more money with a two-year allied health degree than with a liberal of arts bachelor’s degree.

Would not recommend OTA, PTA or any career that requires him to work under ‘supervision’ of someone else; limited to no autonomy. Plus the pay is low for a family, unless you do a lot of overtime and little to no progression unless go back to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is a below average student. His SAT score was a 900. He was a B/C student all throughout school. His greatest weakness and where he struggled the most was with Math. He is going off to college. I am thrilled that he is going to college. We all thought about the military or college and he landed on college. However, we are having a difficult time figuring out a major. He knows that he wants to be successful (financially). He knows that he does not want to be a teacher. He knows he does not want to take a lot of classes in Math. Could anyone help point us in the right direction with careers/majors? We and he knows where he stands academically and what he is capable of. I fear that he will choose a degree in which he will not be successful in and it will be defeating for him.

What does your DS enjoy? Is there a subject, hobby, or interest? Is your DS a decent writer? I think college really falls apart for students who struggle with writing, far more than it does with math...but writing is highly skills based. It can be taught-- my own DS18 is living proof.

There are a lot of things that your DS can do-- the criminal justice suggestion was great as was firefighter. Your DS sounds like a nice kid and the firefighters I've known were solid people.

Also, I get that you believe you know/ and he knows his capabilities- but I have seen some objectively average high school students blossom in college. I work at a small university with a lot of first generation college students or students coming from economically depressed backgrounds. We have a really nice tutoring center- the school is committed to helping students succeed. I recommend looking for a place with strong supports and a commitment to helping all of their students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

So much is about work ethic and attitude. Ironically, my partners last two heads of sales (at companies with 1500+ people, have NOT had their college degrees. Both started, and never finished. Both highly successful people who make $600K+/year. One has been with them thru sale of Two companies---so is worth $15M+ from just those. Have known the one for 20+ years and literally had not clue they didnt' complete college degree. And it doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

How about the Homeland and Prepareness BA from VCU. No heavy math or science and the classes seem pretty cool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Criminal justice
Occupational therapy

Family member is an OT. 4 year bachelor degree & required calculus. Not a math person by any means but managed to squeak out a passing grade.

OT is NOT an easy degree, or easy to get into without excellent grades and the prerequisites are science intensive (Biology/Chem/A&P)---not easy courses if not math inclined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP! Thanks for posting so I could read all of the responses. Like you, I have kid that's a senior with terrible grades and a SAT score in the 900s. As a person, super sweet, pleasant, easy going. I feel like we are all alone when reading the questions about college typically in this forum. I am just hoping my kid can get in somewhere and then I'm hoping they can actually be successful there. I haven't been thinking too much about a major, but maybe I should be!

OP here. Thank you to all, I am writing down all of the majors mentioned to run it by him. Also will reassure him and myself that there is no rush. I just want to say thank you to this poster because yes, it feels very alone. My son is so sweet and a good kid but he just doesn’t seem like the kids on here and that scared me a bit. My son has many positives. Looking back, I see how my post mentioned only his weaknesses. He is respectful, he plays sports for fun, he likes to work out, he likes to keep his room in order/clean, plays video games, good with his much younger siblings and likes science the most. I honestly could see him being a health or PE teacher!

FOr me, the key thing would be to send him to a school where his stats are 40-50%, where they school works hard to ensure success. You don't want him at a school where the 50% is 1200 and 3.8UW+, as that would be setting him up to fail. Find your state school or private (if you can afford it) where he is "normal" and will be surrounded by similar students.

That will greatly increase his chances for success

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+1

So much is about work ethic and attitude. Ironically, my partners last two heads of sales (at companies with 1500+ people, have NOT had their college degrees. Both started, and never finished. Both highly successful people who make $600K+/year. One has been with them thru sale of Two companies---so is worth $15M+ from just those. Have known the one for 20+ years and literally had not clue they didnt' complete college degree. And it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter, because they started 20 years ago. This is the era of hyper credentialization, and you need the degree for success in these type of careers.