College major and career advice

This is just one of the times when what you think and what is reality don’t necessarily align.

One of the best things about third level education in the US is that (with a few specific exceptions, none of which apply in this situation) students make their final choice of major as late as second semester of college- ie, more than 4 years from now for your daughter. She is gearing up for the fastest rate of change in her brain since she was a toddler, and in 4 years will have matured dramatically. Because you genuinely can get into. T14 law school with any major, if that’s what she still wants it won’t matter what major she has: her grades, LSAT and experience will be what matters.

You are going to help her thinking more by open ended questions than trying to get her to make choices now. Ask her about what she finds interesting in the work she is doing, ask her how older friends who are now in college are finding their experience (the good/the bad/the unexpected). Listento her answers not looking to make a point but to learn more about how she sees things.

True story: Collegekid1 was on the hunt for colleges from grade 9- completely self-motivated. Spring of grade 11 she had a perfectly curated list, cleared with her GC, including an ED choice she had visited several times. The actual list of colleges she applied to that autumn had only 1 college from the original list - & it was not the ED one! Her summer experience led to a whole re-think of what she wanted from her college experience.

Remember that a lot of who you are as an adult is formed in HS, and HS is not just about what college you get into. Read this:

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