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<p>Officers in the US military are supposed to have bachelor’s degrees.</p>
<p>Are you aware that people go to college to study something so they can get a job in the field that makes them happy? </p>
<p>The old adage is “do something you love and you’ll never have a work a day”. Whats the point if he’s going to be a mommy’s boy who only is doing something that his mommy wants? What happens when he wants to move to Philadelphia, but mommy won’t let him live there? </p>
<p>I personally switched from a Chemistry major to a Business Major. Chemistry, unless you have a Ph.D or go on to professional school is a field of science and math, but with just a BS it is SINKING. Go on indeed.com and type in entry level chemist and look for requirements with a BS and less that 2 years experience. 12 bucks an hour working as a lab tech for someone. FUN!</p>
<p>Entry Level Business</p>
<p>Look at the results! </p>
<p>This is based on where I live, and I am not dissing chemistry as I already have a minor in it, but let your damn kid do what he wants.</p>
<p>What is your child interested in? Usually, most academic interests can be turned into lucrative careers, and f he’s not good at math, and more importantly not interested, it doesn’t matter how lucrative it is. He will not survive in that field because there are too many people ho have a genuine talent and interest in these things. Forcing him into a major he doesn’t want will be wasting your money and will be a waste of time. What about something like journalism or psychology or business. Find something he wants to do, or else the lucrative career wont come. Oh yeah and happiness, that’s kinda important too but apparently not your main focus.</p>
<p>Actually switching to STEM, mathematics personally after an AA & BA in Accounting. But I know that it’s what I want to study and a profitable field. It is my decision; and my mother does think it is nuts that I may be throwing away years of accounting training. You can guide in the decision-making process certainly and give input but your son should decide based off of his talents. Usually interest and the area with the highest grades can indicate success in a major. To be successful in Engineering there has to be strong math and calculus for engineers sequence. I had an ex-boyfriend who could not make it through chemistry and calc., quit engineering to study to become a social worker. Not to put down any profession, but if the student cannot pass the gatekeeper classes than they will defect to another major. Subject proficiencies are important to deciding what major to choose. </p>
<p>There are worthwhile accounting/business administration and IT fields. I have a couple of friends who choose non-STEM and non-business majors for bachelors and are either masters in accounting or MBA. Originally, When I entered college I thought I would study electronic music composition as a major and complete a business minor but left the 4 year state school after 1 semester, got a business AA (accounting), and went back to complete a BA in Accounting later. Before finishing the general ed requirements, not everyone knows what they want to do with 100% certainty. Liberal Arts majors, some are hard, I took AP Music Theory in high school, which I did not use later in life but it proved that music majors do not have it easy. </p>
<p>Another thing as a parent is remembering to be patient. I probably drove my mother nuts at least once in intermediate accounting theory wanting to quit my major, but I continued because of wanting to get the CPA later. I am now CPA eligible and many of my peers are not. I have the confidence that I can excel if I apply myself. When students are in weed-out courses that define our major - rite of passage courses, the student has to have the desire to continue. There are many well-paying, practical fields, and the MBA is practical if they choose the wrong one, at least it can go on a business card and resume.</p>
<p>Okay, I don’t want to be mean, but this is my view Look, I know that it is difficult for you see things the way we do because you come from another generation, and it’s good that you know that science/math degrees are good right now, but you need to understand your son’s needs, too. If he is not good at those topics, he could fail out of college, or worse, get a career that makes him unhappy. You can’t take care of your son forever or tell him what to do as an adult, but you’re his mother and you need to support his decisions that will make him happy. And if he does fail, you need to be there for him. My parents are too poor to help me pay for college at all, but I think if you have the funds to do it, you should help him because if you really love him, you will help him follow his dreams.</p>
<p>Just want to offer my 2 cents…
While math and science and engineering fields are booming, others are too. There needs to be a balance. If every kid decided to be science majors, they would run out of science jobs. Money isn’t everything. It’s important, yes, but not everything. When your son finds his passion and pursues a degree in that field, he’ll find happiness. He’ll be eager to go to work. That’s what is ideal, not making insane amounts of money but not enjoying yourself. I understand how you feel though. My brother is going to school to be a teacher and my dads skeptical. My dad didn’t go to college so his biggest concern for his kids is our financial security. But I genuinely believe that as long as you’re happy and can pay your bills, who needs to be super rich? Let him go into the field he wants or he’s probably going to resent you. He’s going to want your support or that could really strain your relationship. Maybe make a deal with him. He can go to school now for the major he wants and if it doesn’t work out and he decides to go back to school, he’ll have to get a job and pay some or all of the cost.</p>
<p>Just want to offer my 2 cents…
While math and science and engineering fields are booming, others are too. There needs to be a balance. If every kid decided to be science majors, they would run out of science jobs. Money isn’t everything. It’s important, yes, but not everything. When your son finds his passion and pursues a degree in that field, he’ll find happiness. He’ll be eager to go to work. That’s what is ideal, not making insane amounts of money but not enjoying yourself. I understand how you feel though. My brother is going to school to be a teacher and my dads skeptical. My dad didn’t go to college so his biggest concern for his kids is our financial security. But I genuinely believe that as long as you’re happy and can pay your bills, who needs to be super rich? Let him go into the field he wants or he’s probably going to resent you. He’s going to want your support or that could really strain your relationship. Maybe make a deal with him. He can go to school now for the major he wants and if it doesn’t work out and he decides to go back to school, he’ll have to get a job and pay some or all of the cost.</p>
<p>Actually, why don’t you and your son compromise? He could double major in the subject he wants and a science/math major. I want to do that. I like journalism but I know it can be risky and low paying. I like the idea of also being pre-physical therapy because 1 I like it, and 2 it’s a safety net!</p>
<p>The world is not a socioeconomic phenomenon, ma’am. Even if he didn’t make enough money to break even in his life, and ending up even wasting a few grand on an education, well… I wouldn’t call it a waste. College is about so much more than financial gain. 70% of students in a study said that the only reason they went to college was to make more money. Frankly, that repulses me, and until people learn to be less myopic it will continue.</p>
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<p>Well, when there is such emphasis on going to college, during a recession no less, is it really surprising that young adults are thinking, “how much more money will I make?”</p>
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<p>If your son isn’t good at math, and isn’t that interested in STEM fields…pushing him into it is not going to help him. </p>
<p>Yes…math tutors can help, as you mentioned earlier in the thread. But people that go into math heavy majors typically need to have at least some kind of a natural aptitude for math. I don’t know how far he has gone in math so far…but I can assure you that it is only going to get harder as he goes along. Engineering degrees require a pretty extensive mathematical education, and a lot of physics. These are not easy fields…and if it’s not a field that one is passionate about, they aren’t going to excel in it.</p>
<p>Many engineering schools have pretty strict requirements for acceptance. Usually around a 3.5 GPA…that GPA then has to be maintained in order to stay in said engineering school. If one doesn’t have a natural aptitude for it, it’s going to be a struggle to stay in it.</p>
<p>I can empathize with wanting the best for your child…but I would encourage you to reconsider " If you aren’t in a math or science based major then the sad truth is that you don’t belong in college." I started my academic career as a “Recreation” major…thankfully my parents urged me to attend a liberal arts college, where I switched my major to “Retailing” and eventually ended up with an Honors degree in <em>ECONOMICS</em>. I went on to get my MBA and spent 25+ years in high tech (as another writer noted…way back then, there weren’t even computer classes…or electric typewriters in typing classes). There are plenty of options today for kids to figure out their best path. Why not consider a community college option which will let your son economically address a range of liberal arts topics while fulfilling core requirements that can be transferred to a BA/BS program down the road ? You may find the next great English or Music teacher in your midst !</p>
<p>IDMom that is one of the most idiotic and repulsive comments I’ve ever heard. If you aren’t in a science or math based major you don’t belong in college? That is completely absurd. I graduated with a liberal arts degree, an area studies degree, during the height of the financial crisis and even then I found a job at a top boutique consulting firm that found those skills desirable. Many of my colleagues were science or math majors while smart had no clue how to do analysis outside of quantitative factors. Many times I had to cover for them and because of that my firm did not only promote me, but they are paying for my MBA at Stanford. Yes an East Asian Studies major can be smarter than a science or math major and be more productive in the real world. The funny thing is IDMom its people like you that give the politicians fuel to gut our universities and turn them into nothing more than Soviet Era math mills where people aren’t taught to think but to just plug away numbers.</p>
<p>(she appears to be quoting someone else…and that actually is antithetical to her own position)</p>
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<p>I didn’t know that Bio and Chem majors had better job prospects than Accounting majors!</p>
<p>This thread is almost 2 years old, and the OP was bashed countless times over the last 11 pages. The thread really just needs to go away…to each their own; some value only math and science, while others value art and philosophy. I feel bad for kids who get stuck with one extreme or the other, but want to go in the opposite direction. They are left to find their own way. It is very difficult to change someone’s mind once they are that dedicated to their position.</p>
<p>Oh please, you want your son to study a math or science related major even if he doesn’t like it or isn’t good at it. It seems to me that you don’t care about your son’s feelings, wants and goals in life. The business major I am in right now has nothing to do with science and has just a little math. Do you think business people are unsuccessful? What about English or history teachers? Some of my friends never studied math or science and they both make good money. Majors like marketing or business don’t even need many math or science classes. College graduates who are actually skilled at math or science are much more employable in those majors. Plus employers love graduates who are driven and passionate about their major. If your son doesn’t like either of those subjects, why would you want him to suffer the rest of his life with a career dealing in those fields? People who love their careers are far more healthier and happier than those who don’t and why would adults careers with math and science be more successful people than those who don’t. Do they really make more money than other adults. Engineering is a different story. If you son can’t keep up with math and science major related classes in college, and ends up getting bad grades because he does not enjoy either of those subjects, then it will just be harder for him to succeed in a career from it. He should be in a major that he enjoys and motivates him and at the same time is useful, and a parent who does not motivate him and care what he wants is just going to bring him down more.</p>
<p>By the way, employers hire people with the rights skills and enjoyment for the career, and since your son does not have those (not saying he can’t get them in college, yes he can), how would you except him to be the perfect candidate for the major if he does not want that career. I am not trying to be mean but am just being honest. It is also very hard to become successful and make a lot of money right out of college unless you have the right connections and go a a really prestigious school. Also, an engineering major will be much much more difficult and time consuming than one in math or science. That major will be too hard on him unless he knows he wants to do it. I don’t know you or him so maybe he can do it. What is wrong with your sons major? I don’t know it. If it is an undemanding and un useful one, maybe he can change his major to something else he likes but it doesn’t have to be engineering yada yada. You can’t expect to be sucessful right out of college. Be realistic. Uour son should enjoy his major and his life. People who enjor their majors and their careers are far more likely to be very skilled at them too.</p>
<p>As the spouse of a professor in a STEM discipline, I can say it breaks his heart every year to see kids fall apart when they are forced by their parents to take classes for which they are just not suited. For the longest time it was “pre-med” (not even a real major at most schools) - parents would refuse to pay for school if their child wasn’t going to become a doctor. Now, with the rising costs and diminishing payback of medical school, it’s all about engineering. These kids try to please their parents, but end up a mess (even to the point of a nervous breakdown) trying to succeed in classes that don’t work with their academic strengths. Better to focus on how to pay for college while amassing the least debt, and let the student explore and find a major that suits them. Many folks end up working in fields completely different from their majors anyway (I have a degree in Math, but work in Web Marketing. Some of the best computer programmers I know have degrees in Music).</p>
<p>Yes, you are too harsh. A “fake and worthless” degree is one with a major in something you can’t do well and get a low GPA, or on in a field you would be miserable working in for the rest of your life. I’m old enough that I’ve “been there done that” with jobs I hated, and it’s why Im going to college this late in life, to break that vicious cycle.</p>
<p>Give him another alternative - tell him, if you are paying, then he can go with liberal arts BUT if he does he has to double major so he has more options available to him when he graduates, reducing some of the risk that worries you. But forcing him into something he’s not good at and doesn’t like is actually the best way to throw your money away.</p>
<p>By the way, in response to your comment, I am not a math or science major and I DO belong in college… My GPA is high and I am thriving. Who are you to judge people and say they don’t belong in college? And last I checked, you weren’t paying my tuition.</p>