The one child who absolutely knew he was going to major in physics ended up NOT majoring in physics (took all of two weeks to realize that although he was hot stuff at his HS, the playing field was completely different in college). Fortunately, he was the eldest so we knew in later years that even the most committed HS kid is JUST a HS kid… and can’t possibly know what every single discipline out there is like.
We would have been just as happy to pay for a rigorous major in Renaissance Studies or history as engineering or econ. So it wasn’t about how “practical” it was… I’ve had a solid corporate career as a former Classics major; the most talented CEO I ever worked for (a successful Fortune 50 company) was a Renaissance Studies major- and quite the renaissance man himself. A towering intellect in addition to some other fantastic and wonderful qualities including leadership, kindness, empathy and integrity.