<p>^I was wondering about that too, bovertine. Is it an error or is CC her 2nd job? :D</p>
<p>Try to get your son to do internships. </p>
<p>That will increase his employability.</p>
<p>Also, have him talk with career counselors and start making post-graduation plans together.</p>
<p>Let me add what my DH says. In his business they would rather hire math majors than computer science majors to do CS related work (analysis). They know the math majors can THINK, whereas the CS majors may only know plug-and-chug. :)</p>
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<p>You must recruit from some pretty crappy schools.</p>
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<p>What would be the reasons academic advisors not encourage students in such a field to double-major in math when applicable? Or they do encourage such a double-majoring where they can.</p>
<p>Time.</p>
<p>You have a lot of difficult or time-consuming courses that you typically fill in with GEDs. If you do a dual major, you have to take more major courses which also fulfill GED requirements.</p>
<p>There is also less room for schedule flexibility. CS majors often have a one year project sequence in their senior year and not all specialties are offered every year. </p>
<p>Son loves math, physics and CS but picked CS and graduated early. He is more of a theory guy and CS is a theory major, purely speaking. There are lots of software engineering majors that call themselves CS though.</p>
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<p>You think graduating earlier is better than double-majoring?</p>
<p>He would have had to decide on a double-major earlier on. We kept his options open as long as we could but there were restrictions on getting the courses at the right time that made it quite difficult.</p>
<p>At any rate, one you have had a few years of theory courses, you should be able to learn this stuff on your own. Professors routinely teach new courses by being Almaty or two ahead of the students. </p>
<p>It is even easier today with things like OCW and Coursera.</p>
<p>Some comments. Son went to a public flagship which is top 15th in grad schools for math (or 16th depending on the year). Just because a school is private and elite (fancy schmancy) does not mean its Math dept is better than several public U’s depts. Son got to take several grad level math classes as an undergrad. He also favors pure math. There is intense competition from all over the world for math grad studies (one reason your college kid may have a TA with a foreign accent).</p>
<p>College freshmen often change majors. Math actually has more job possibilities than Physics. Actuarial Science is a totally different major in the Business School- requires some math but those majors fear the math courses beyond calculus with the math majors. Teaching requires a degree (or at least classes) in education, not just a major in the field to be taught. Statistics is also a different major (and department in many top schools). Choosing between applied and pure math is no big deal, especially for a freshman.</p>
<p>Math has many options in many different fields. Your son may end up adding courses in Comp Sci like mine did to broaden his marketability if he doesn’t go to grad school directly (and some of the public flagships have much better Comp Sci depts than places like Harvard). My son went from the rigors of Physics and Math Honors courses- comparable to those available at the most elite colleges- to deciding his major.</p>
<p>I also thought you would be complaining about so called useless classes. A gifted kid like mine (started college when still 16) often chooses to enrich him/herself. Intermediate Philosophy courses, Linguistics courses, History of Science for the fun of it. btw- son refused to even visit Yale when he was on his HS east coast trip, nor Harvard when in Boston. You will note some of the top professors in various fields of mathematics did not go to fancy undergrad schools- they often went where they and their parents could afford to or by regional preferences.</p>
<p>Your son is at his elite school to get an education, not just job skills. Freshmen experiment with all sorts of lifestyles, regardless of the college they attend. You should be proud he has a great gpa, especially since his course load will include courses not in his major or strengths as he gets breadth requirements out of the way. He will likely mature out of the drinking phase, especially if you do not pressure him about his academic choices.</p>
<p>BCEeagle–I say MAY.</p>
<p>As a college freshman myself, I can see where your son is coming from. A 3.6 is actually a really good GPA for his first semester. I know so many kids who got a 2.0 or below due to the culture change in college. Partying is everywhere. Professors don’t care if you skip class. There’s nobody who cares if you do well or not. Your son has to do that for himself. I know you only want what is best for him… That’s what makes you a great parent! As another poster said, you’ve laid the foundation. He’ll run with that and he WILL succeed. And by the looks of it, he already has! His GPA is going to be different than it was in high school because college is different. As long as he is being responsible about his drinking, he shouldn’t have a problem. Although it may not be the best way to let off steam, he’s just having fun. This is the last time he’s going to get to be a little crazy before he has to face the real world. As for the seemingly useless classes, college makes you take electives. They’re going to count towards his degree and some may even be required! For example, as an English major I had to take calculus! There are specific requirements for every major and chances are he’ll end up having to take the more practical classes anyway in order to graduate. He’s still just a freshman. This is the year where his classes are going to be the most spread out and a little random. A lot are required intro classes that may be prerequisites. Trust him. He’ll do the right thing. He knows the job market is difficult; we all do. By nagging him about it, you’re stressing him out. He’s getting negative thoughts from everywhere, he should be able to look to you for support. He’s in college now. You have to set him free a bit. He’ll come back and he’ll come back a success from that “fancy schmancy” college of his. Have faith 
and give him your
support.</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>OMG, please let him go. There are times that you have to let him go.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with a math major interested in philosophy.</p>
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<p>How do you get through algorithms, discrete structures, compilers and foundations without knowing how to think?</p>
<p>I suppose that you could dumb the courses down or just remove them from graduation requirements. I know of some schools that have done that.</p>
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<p>Found it! The fallacy is right there. That’s where you went wrong. </p>
<p>There aren’t enough jobs for every idiot who studies math to get a great job. But there are plenty for those who are actually good. If he’s good, he’ll be fine.</p>
<p>It is so hard to be a parent and learning to let go is part of our education. Your son sounds like he is giving you flippant answers but truly, he is going to be ok, he is a smart (obviously!) kid, taking the courses that sound like a waste are actually a wonderful way to learn how to use both sides of his brain, and as for the drinking, he is doing what college students have done for years. I have a feeling that is he sat down with you and had a serious conversation about his future, you would feel much better. College is the time to learn, and not just about his core but about the world around him.</p>
<p>avita01 post #91 is excellent. Hope the OP has read enough opinions by now to cease worrying about the son. Let him enjoy his winter break, he deserves the vacation from studying and thinking about the future. Things will fall into place, be patient.</p>