We started by eliminating the areas he would not be good at/like to do and selected 2-3 major areas that were possibilities. We then focused on the types of work people do in the fields he showed interest in. We researched and watched videos about “a day in the life”/day-to-day tasks, job descriptions, typical salary, and opportunities for advancement/ability to branch out over the years. He then went to Reddit and did some more of his own research.
For some time he thought about computer science, as he will spend hours troubleshooting stuff and “hacking” (when he was about 10 or 11 he figured out he could create a virtual computer inside a computer and hide it from us to play video games; used to break into our accounts and so on). Then he took bio in HS and loved the connection with sports (he is an athlete) so he started to think about exercise science.
At the end, he decided to go into Business because it is a broad enough area with so many possibilities.
Thanks. She’s tried taking different quizzes and the things it comes up with for her are interesting… garbage collector and other non-college educated careers.
Thanks for all of the suggestions. She does have things she doesn’t want to do: business, computer anything, art (not her gift), among other things. She knows she needs interaction with people (not sitting in a lab all day).
I found with D19 all those types of things suggested things she wasn’t particularly interested in, and so many students change their majors in college anyway. (I guess it’s a bit different with the internet now but when I went to college there were majors I didn’t even know existed until I got there.) I wouldn’t be so fixated on finding the exact right thing - and knowing what she doesn’t want to do is as if not more important anyway. I think undeclared if possible or something that allows her to change easily within the same school is probably just fine at this stage.
How was your son’s visit to St. Olaf? Would love to hear about it.
We had a nice weekend. Friday night was senior night for the band, so each senior and his parents walked onto the field at halftime to be announced. It was a special night and really highlighted how close he is to finishing this season of life.
My husband filled out the CSS yesterday, as it’s due by November 1st for EA at St. Olaf. It took 2 or 3 hours, and he said it lived up to the moniker “financial colonoscopy.” But glad it’s done!
My oldest took one of those quizzes years ago when she was trying to pick a major. The results came back alphabetically and the first one was Aboriginal Religious leader. She didn’t even look at the other results. Sounds like they are still just about as helpful
She was my only one who didn’t know what major/career she wanted as a senior in high school. She just picked a major based on what she liked to do (travel) and if the classes looked interesting (Global Studies). She changed her major her senior year of college and is now studying something completely different, but that would not have been possible without her BA. Some kids have a straight path and some have some interesting twists and turns, but I feel those twists and turns have made her interesting to employers.
If your daughter is interested in nursing she might want to research some of the other healthcare options. I usually recommend people go for nursing because having a BSN opens the door for a wide variety of jobs from patient care to government agencies or even large corporations with their own occupational/employee health department. There’s many other helping fields though like occupational, physical, and speech therapy, radiology tech, respiratory therapy etc. For OT/PT your undergrad degree can be in nearly anything so long as you have the prerequisites. Some schools have direct admission freshmen year with spelled out requirements to stay in the program.
Congrats on senior night! Kiddo had his last week as well - it was a bit more goofy with relay races and such, but it was a great reminder that things are winding down.
St. Olaf was a whirlwind visit! I so wish I could have joined him, but I couldn’t make it work. In hindsight, we should have planned better and made a bigger trip out of it, since I think Carleton and Macalester both had visit days scheduled last week too, but that would have meant missing a chunk of school and they are pretty strict about that.
He really liked it and had a great time. It was over their fall visit day, so he was able to sit in on a class in addition to the usual stuff. Enjoyed the class, thought the campus was beautiful, dorms were fine (he’s not terribly picky). He did not do the info session or official tour, since he was staying with a friend who showed him the ropes (and a bit of Northfield too, although I’d say not enough to really form any sort of solid opinion), but he said the kids he met were great and he could really see himself there. He was worried that it might be too artsy, given its musical reputation, but I think he left feeling like the student body was well-balanced. And he liked that he could have the opportunity to participate in music programming without being a music major. That was a huge plus for him, since music is a significant hobby for him. It sounded like there were plenty of opportunities to find people to jam with. He said the food was good, but he was not happy that there aren’t unlimited swipes. This was also a major strike against Bowdoin when he visited in June, but it didn’t bother him quite as much this time around. I think he just wasn’t keen on Bowdoin to begin with, so the swipe issue was like the final nail in the coffin.
I’d say St. Olaf is tied for 1st spot right now, with his biggest reservation being the travel/distance from home - it’s between 10-12 hours for him to get there door-to-door without any flight delays. We’ve got our weekly check-in with him scheduled for tonight, so hopefully he can shed some light on where things stand with the EA/ED list at this point. So much has changed/shifted since the summer, and the place that he thought he was going to ED too has slipped. I really wish that his other two favorites (both NESCAC schools) offered EA, but alas they don’t.
And thanks for the reminder about the CSS - blech. I think your husband’s description is about how my husband is going to feel about that too.
Glad he enjoyed his time there! It sounds like a wonderful school. Many thanks for the super detailed report. It’s really helpful, since St. Olaf is probably #2 on the list, despite not visiting yet. The distance is a concern for us, as well.
We missed D25’s Senior Night this past Friday as we were at her State Tennis tournament. She and her partner did as well (better?) than expected and by the end they finished up about 4 spots from their initial seeding. In the end though, it was a bit bittersweet as it is yet another last.
That said, D25 is in a bit of a funk lately and seems disinterested in almost everything and I’m not sure how to approach the situation. Over the next two weeks (by Nov. 1) she has 5 applications due (1 ED and 4 EA). She is mostly finished with all of them, but isn’t really making any progress to concluding them. She has 2 applications in, but still needs to set up the portals and submit some additional info to one (she has the additional info in hand, just hasn’t submitted it).
She had an honors orchestra event she committed to and wants to back out because “its not fun”. She has a district orchestra audition she is dreading and hasn’t practiced for “because its not fun and she doesn’t like the music”. She has Scholars Bowl starting soon but doesn’t want to do it because “its not fun, but doing it to support the teacher / coach because she had the job thrust on her”. She has some math competitions, but is looking for ways to back out because “they aren’t fun”. There are a few other things, but you get the idea.
I’m supportive of her backing out of some things - I want her to enjoy her senior year. But, part of that is being somewhat involved and engaged and not laying around in bed. I fear that this sudden lack of motivation will carry over to next year.
I’m also fairly certain that this sudden lack of motivation and disinterest has a deeper issue / cause than what she is telling me. This concerns me the most. I’m gently probing to get some idea, but not really getting anywhere.
I do want to point out that part of the issue of not knowing what you want to do is that one can’t know what one doesn’t know.
I didn’t know linguistics (my ultimate undergraduate major and grad school field) or even anything like it existed when I started college. Heck, I didn’t know it existed when I essentially accidentally (yes, there’s a whole story there) declared it as my major right before my third (out of five) year of undergrad. It’s less the case now than it was then, but even so, the majority of people who major in my field had never heard of it before college—and linguistics isn’t remotely alone in that.
So let her explore. She’ll find something, and there’s a solid chance that it won’t be anything that trying to figure it out now would uncover anyway.
@Kumihama-Cho,
If you have any specific questions re: St. Olaf, I might be able to help, too. D25 visited a while ago and she just had her interview with them yesterday. I think if their dance program were a little different it would be her top choice. As it is, she’s going to see how she feels in April, as she knows there will be some sort of compromise wherever she attends.
She loved both. Kids seemed friendly–one student was leaving as we were and said “I’m headed your way [to the dance dept]; I’ll walk you over.” Another came up to us before the info session started. “You’re from ____! I’m from [town next door to us] and just wanted to say hi! Let me know if you have any questions.” Kids seemed down to earth, there for academics but those academics absolutely appeared collaborative, and they all seemed to be involved in other things aside from their major(s). Campus is beautiful…and is probably pretty cold for a chunk of the year. My kid didn’t put two and two together that there have an indoor track, an indoor soccer field, etc, but this West Coast girl did. Does that help?
Thanks. I am a nurse, so I know about the vast opportunities that brings. I think that is part of the reason she didn’t want to originally do nursing, because that’s what I did. She is terrified she’s going to choose the wrong thing. Applying for the scholarships is what really brought this to a head. I told her she can change it if she changes her mind and it’s best to start off a nursing major because it’s easier to move out of that than move in.
D25 has submitted a number of applications and is now getting the “We don’t have all your docs” emails. What do colleges do if the high school doesn’t process the transcript in time? We ordered them in early October, and the school send them through snail mail. (seriously?)
Everything else is submitted, the apps, the fees, the test scores. And the vast majority of the schools won’t take unofficial transcripts.
In most cases, though deadlines for supporting documents are a couple weeks later than the initial application. (Some places publicly post the precise dates for both the student application and receiving all supporting documentation at the outset, and they should get full praise for that.) And it’s both fully practical and a win-win: That way there’s time for them to notice something is missing, let the student know, and get the problem fixed.
I’m sorry that your daughter is struggling , it sounds like she is feeling burned out. Tennis, music, Scholars Bowl, math competitions - school, friendships and college applications, that is a lot to manage!
Senior year can be emotionally tough, especially with the prospect of leaving home looming. It’s exciting, but also scary.
Our daughter dropped a major activity senior year - and it was one of the best things she did for herself. It freed up time for her to spend doing what she enjoyed, and it gave her the space to deal with the complicated feelings that emerged throughout the year.
Maybe she just needs to know that letting go is ok…
, it sounds like she is feeling burned out. Tennis, music, Scholars Bowl, math competitions - school, friendships and college applications, that is a lot to manage! 
