Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the answer. Don’t push him to decide on a major right now. Encourage him to think about what interests him and take classes in those areas. I’m guessing he doesn’t need to declare a major until the end of second year. He’s in his first semester of college—he doesn’t need the answer to this question yet!

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This. Freshman year is for feeling overwhelmed and then starting to feel less overwhelmed. Sophomore year is for taking a variety of courses beyond freshman-specific ones and narrowing down/opening up options. I agree DS should enjoy college and recommend trying to take off the pressure to decide until the middle of next year as a way to do that.

– College Professor, with nephew who is now a happy sophomore developing a much clearer sense of what he wants to do after eliminating some things he really didn't like last year.

OP here. Thank you for this. And for all the others who weighed in. He’s just the sort of kid who isn’t asking for help and at the same time doesn’t seem very engaged and I really want this college experience to work for him. I appreciate all the positive feedback.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is the answer. Don’t push him to decide on a major right now. Encourage him to think about what interests him and take classes in those areas. I’m guessing he doesn’t need to declare a major until the end of second year. He’s in his first semester of college—he doesn’t need the answer to this question yet!

.

This. Freshman year is for feeling overwhelmed and then starting to feel less overwhelmed. Sophomore year is for taking a variety of courses beyond freshman-specific ones and narrowing down/opening up options. I agree DS should enjoy college and recommend trying to take off the pressure to decide until the middle of next year as a way to do that.

– College Professor, with nephew who is now a happy sophomore developing a much clearer sense of what he wants to do after eliminating some things he really didn't like last year.

Anonymous wrote:This is the answer. Don’t push him to decide on a major right now. Encourage him to think about what interests him and take classes in those areas. I’m guessing he doesn’t need to declare a major until the end of second year. He’s in his first semester of college—he doesn’t need the answer to this question yet!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus.

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

Come on, that is not true. This will obviously vary by school, so OP/son should check their school's catalog and look up the major requirements as well as any general ed requirements. They may have to take one math class, but it could probably be something like Statistics or Data Analytics, not necessarily Calculus.

For STEM related majors, it is true. For others, some math will be required but may not be Calculus.

Some schools, like UMD, will offer different versions of calculus even within STEM majors. So, Calc Bio major take is different than Calc Engineering majors take. Not saying one is better than the other, just stating the facts.

Name majors at UMD that don’t require calculus. I know there are 2 differ calculus versions (STEM vs. business)… but it is still calculus

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus.

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

Come on, that is not true. This will obviously vary by school, so OP/son should check their school's catalog and look up the major requirements as well as any general ed requirements. They may have to take one math class, but it could probably be something like Statistics or Data Analytics, not necessarily Calculus.

For STEM related majors, it is true. For others, some math will be required but may not be Calculus.

Some schools, like UMD, will offer different versions of calculus even within STEM majors. So, Calc Bio major take is different than Calc Engineering majors take. Not saying one is better than the other, just stating the facts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus.

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

Come on, that is not true. This will obviously vary by school, so OP/son should check their school's catalog and look up the major requirements as well as any general ed requirements. They may have to take one math class, but it could probably be something like Statistics or Data Analytics, not necessarily Calculus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus [b]or statistics[/b].

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

Come on, that is not true. This will obviously vary by school, so OP/son should check their school's catalog and look up the major requirements as well as any general ed requirements. They may have to take one math class, but it could probably be something like Statistics or Data Analytics, not necessarily Calculus.

Okay correction... you think stats is easier than calculus?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus [b]or statistics[/b].

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

Come on, that is not true. This will obviously vary by school, so OP/son should check their school's catalog and look up the major requirements as well as any general ed requirements. They may have to take one math class, but it could probably be something like Statistics or Data Analytics, not necessarily Calculus.

Anonymous wrote:Almost every college major requires calculus.

Have him take it over the summer at the community college and transfer the credits. The grade does not transfer so he can get a c-.

Get a tutor, it's 6 painful weeks but get it over with.

My son is taking 4 classes a semester/5 years to graduate so it's not such a slog.

What about something related to health care? Some require advanced degrees obviously, such as Pharmacy, Physician Assistant Studies, Physical Therapy, etc.