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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. I had a long, hard talk with DC yesterday. Part of the reason why they don’t want to do STEM is because of their lack of “math confidence.” While they have always worked hard at math in high school, their math and science grades have been variable (B minus to A minus) while their humanities grades in high school and college have always been much higher. When I told them this was because of grade inflation in the humanities (not as much in STEM) and not because they were bad at math and hard sciences, DC wouldn’t believe me. I told them that I think they’d be able to reasonably handle STEM at their school if they just worked really hard, but his math and science confidence is shot.

This makes me so sad. DH (an engineering PhD) tutored this kid nearly every day in math in high school, so all that work has gone to waste now that my kid is in a fluffy major. We also made my kid do Science Olympiad and Robotics Team in high school, and he said that turned him off from STEM in college. This is disappointing, to say the least. Does anyone know how we can rekindle his interest in STEM and boost his confidence? Thanks. [/quote]

Post this again next year like you do every year and you’ll get a better response? [/quote]

“Re-kindle”? Nothing you’ve said suggests your kid ever had any interest in STEM. [/quote]

Yep, OP you have his completely wrong.  Your DC who was prodded through HS math could very likely make it through an engineering degree at some state school with the sort diligence you suggest.  But studying math at Columbia? (or whatever the fiction we're entertaining is), the other students would mop the floor with your DC.  They are passionate and driven, yours would flunk out for sure.  Be glad he's got more sense than to put himself through that.  Not that sociology, (or humanities) are necessarily easier, just those are fields people take up in earnest in college, and are suited to someone who needs a new direction.[/quote]

Wrong. Few kids these days major in what they’re passionate about. Why do you think CS is the most popular major at Harvard? Do you think all those CS majors are passionate about CS? Some are, but most are in it for the career prospects. And they are diligent enough to work through a degree they aren’t all that interested in.

[b]OP, your kid lacks diligence and work ethic. Were they lazy in high school as well? [/b][/quote]

Your first paragraph was fine.

But the bolded... I don’t know what to tell you. *Most* kids cannot handle majoring in computer science. It’s hard. That doesn’t make them lazy. Why is that so shameful to say? [/quote]

Newsflash, there are people passionate about CS and they often turn up at prestige schools.  If you want a CS grunt, there are more to be found at state schools.  But OP's kid is neither.[/quote]

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