So, students should only pursue something in college if they already studied it in high school? That makes no sense, especially since a lot of high schools only offer the basic curriculum and not a lot of specialized courses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. Our hs has limited course offerings in stem.

So what? Khan academy, MIT OCW, textbooks all exist. If your kids balk at the idea of independently studying their intended major, that's a sign they might enjoy the idea of the major more than the major itself.

100%. Stated vs revealed preferences.

Anonymous wrote:Literature is an excellent prep for law school.

Law schools don't care about your major as long as it isn't ridiculous. Don't pick a major for law school admissions.

I do question young people who claim they want to be a writer, musician, artist, programmer, etc, and they don't create on their own. They don't necessarily have to self study, but should be doing things that reflect their interest.

My sister had a HS and then college boyfriend who said he was going to be a novelist, but he never wrote anything. Now 15 years later, in his mid-30s and long post-college, he still hasn't written anything. I'm far from surprised. I'd expect a writer to at least journal or write long letters to people, etc.

The same for music. If the person only plays assigned pieces I'm suspicious they aren't really cut out to be a musicians. Those I know who stick with music play because it's something they want and need to do for themselves. Formal practice may be a necessity, but playing is part of who they are.

Here’s an idea: make suggestions, sure, but let your kid figure it out themselves. Only they can control what the outcome will be, at least to the extent it can be controlled.

My major is not what I’m doing today, but I “fixed” that with grad school. It was still a worthwhile pursuit and I’m happy I did it.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree. Our hs has limited course offerings in stem.

So what? Khan academy, MIT OCW, textbooks all exist. If your kids balk at the idea of independently studying their intended major, that's a sign they might enjoy the idea of the major more than the major itself.

Anonymous wrote:Teenagers can and should change their minds. Perhaps they take an intro class as part of distribution requirements and have a particularly great professor who makes them fall in love with the subject?

That early doesn't rebut to what OP said.

Anonymous wrote:Game design. Creative writing. Heck, literature at all. There are some majors where all the pieces are out there and available to everyone for self-study, and if your kid hasn’t taken advantage of any of that before college then doing it for a major is a waste of time and money. Most computer science degrees are also in this category.

💯

Anonymous wrote:Game design. Creative writing. Heck, literature at all. There are some majors where all the pieces are out there and available to everyone for self-study, and if your kid hasn’t taken advantage of any of that before college then doing it for a major is a waste of time and money. Most computer science degrees are also in this category.

not true at all. We know many successful major-changers including a transfer into Engineering, and a new CS major, neither with anything other that top rigor courses in HS in all areas, but interests and EC were not STEM until they took college classes

Anonymous wrote:Literature is an excellent prep for law school.

multiple Harvard law admits were literature or similar majors from kid's T10

Literature is an excellent prep for law school.

Teenagers can and should change their minds. Perhaps they take an intro class as part of distribution requirements and have a particularly great professor who makes them fall in love with the subject?

Disagree. Our hs has limited course offerings in stem.

Disagree. Seems like you never took a literature class in college. I do think things like stem are more conducive to self study. My kids read a lot and write fairly well, but would benefit tremendously from being in a college level seminar. Older kid is now in AP lit.. it is not easy.

Game design. Creative writing. Heck, literature at all. There are some majors where all the pieces are out there and available to everyone for self-study, and if your kid hasn’t taken advantage of any of that before college then doing it for a major is a waste of time and money. Most computer science degrees are also in this category.