Don’t disagree with any of your points. Some people wait until college or beyond to hone their interests and make choices. It’s in keeping with the brain developing and other experiences informing them and extremely common.
However, our family functions a bit differently. I knew at about age 14 what I wanted to study in school, had interests that dovetailed with it. Only applied to 1.5 schools and had the grades to get into the program I wanted. Did the program, did internships, had a great experience. Professionally, worked in my degree’s field, but earned more money with “trade” skills from a hobby I first started learning at about age 4. So, had a clear and happy direction, went with it, then expanded work-wise after school as opportunities knocked.
My kid also knows what their true interests currently are - math, working with their hands, sport, among other things. From these interests my kid can hopefully find experiences that allow them to choose a path forward. Without experiences, though, my kid would just be guessing at their true interests (or things they thought they might enjoy in theory, but not in practice).
Some kids think they want to be a surgeon - then discover that they can’t stomach the sight of blood. A theoretical ideal dashed by lived experience.
So, getting back on topic, the goal of this thread is brainstorming STEM experiences for students that aren’t pursing some of the standard ones. What happens to them in college is another interesting discussion but not what was the intended focus here.