And of course you can then always switch tracks to any major where the total credits, sequencing of classes, and so on makes a later start more feasible.
This is sort of a variation on the idea of starting in a specialty school with the option of switching to Arts & Sciences, even if you are not sure what path you want. The idea being is it easier to change that direction than the other direction, so might as well start that way.
As a PhD, I agree with this. Itâs not viable as a vague ambition. I mean, I have no regrets but that is because I did have a real passion for the subject and that was why I did it and was able to complete it. But for any practical-minded person, it was really a bad decision: I do not use my PhD at all (I work in a totally different field in a position that does not require an advanced degree), and spent eight years not earning an income and advancing in a career during prime career advancement years. But I loved it. And if I ever won the lottery, Iâd do another (I have another field I am passionate about). For me it was solely a labor of love.
As your child has not yet found his passion, this is clearly not his situation. So what is the point? It could greatly set his career back by several years, and for what?
Unless he does in fact have a specific field and career ambition and a concrete career goal based on that ambition, which doesnât sound like the case at all.
Which is all to sayâŠDonât worry about it. As I said in my previous post: just enjoy the ride for now. Discover new stuff and see where your interests take you. You donât need a specific destination just yet, so no need to cloud your thinking with one that has been contrived by some kind of preconceived notions of âsuccessâ or expectations for yourself.
And, as I indicated above, I myself have multiple areas of special interest. I did a PhD in one field which I loved, now work in another field which I also love, and - lottery windfall pending - have another academic area that I love and would eagerly explore further. Throughout my life Iâve also worked in other areas which Iâve enjoyed. Who says you need just one passion? And who says you must stay passionate about the same thing throughout your whole life? You can be interested, engaged, and curious about many things and pursue the one(s) that offer you the lifestyle you want for yourself.
And college is the perfect time to start discovering that with eyes and mind wide open.
I agree with this - I work in academia and people are LEAVING given the current issues. I think a Masters tends to provide more expertise without being âoverly qualifiedâ in many fields.
This!
My kid got a PhD in one area and works in another. Would love to study another if, as @worriedtoomuch said, they won the lottery.
The most valid reason to do a doctorate is the love of learning, not the career outcome!
True but lots of schools (especially our state schools) want you to declare for a major when you apply and you are admitted into that major.
Precisely. They have a passion to learn, but when applying to our local state schools they need to nominate a major they are admitted into and itâs getting harder to change majors.
Thatâs what I was thinking as well. But their interest is in STEM and hard sciences. What SLACs have hard science focus.
I forgot to mention our state schools require selecting a major and itâs difficult to change from that major.
Yes, my D26 is up against this as well. She has a wide range of interests across the full range of sciences, engineering, and the arts. Because sheâs potentially interested in engineering majors, at the vast majority of schools she will need to apply to a specific engineering major.
Itâs going to be okay, though. At most schools there is flexibility after being admitted. She plans to apply to a major where her first year will include a mix of classes that would be applicable to most majors that sheâs interested in. Then she can figure it out as she goes.
Harvey Mudd comes to mind. Swarthmore has an ABET accredited Engineering major. i believe most SLACs are strong enough in STEM that student-prof research is viable and should not deter most students unless they have such a niche research interest that only a select few researchers are in that field (in which case the student should apply to those institutions)
I guess no clear path/passion is not the end of the world. You just need time to find it.
But sometimes if you do, it helps to reduce the waste/cost for course selection/changes, especially significant changes.
How many CC users stressed a lot about the affordability of school choices is very important and yet may seem to disregard the cost (money and time) associated with the career path change. Imagine a kid in business major first and want to medical school later. It costs extra money and time to take the prerequisite courses.
Most schools you can change from the major. Maybe not one you want like into engineering.
Choose the hardest to transfer into that they have an interest in.
If they are interested in business and psych, as examples, start in business.
Or engineering and history, choose engineering.
Really smart and ambitious but without a clear passion? Sounds like your kid is ready for college!
They do not have âfour months to find a passion.â They have years, decades, who knows? I am curious about the Ph.D. thing, though. Without a passion, a Ph.D. is just a status symbol â and a time-consuming, expensive, anxiety-provoking one at that (full disclosure: I have a Ph.D., and I donât regret it, and in fact my career depends on it, but I took several years and an alternative career route after college before deciding to commit to it â and it cost me years of career and salary advancement with no guarantees that it would work out in the end). So why is a Ph.D. a goal if your kid hasnât discovered their passion? They might, in the end, find themselves drawn to a path that doesnât lead to a Ph.D. So leave that component out of their plans for the future for now.
It sounds like your kid might be cut out for a LAC, where you donât apply to a specific major (true of a lot of universities, too), where any general studies requirements will encourage exploration but also expose your kid to new areas of study and professors who might really inspire them. It should be a school that supports various kinds of experiential learning: lab and field work, internships, community partnerships, student research, and so on. You never know what a student will latch onto (case in point: my daughter took one class in Roman history on a lark, and all of a sudden she was declaring a Classics major and signing up for intro Latin class, which was definitely not the plan).
Your kid is exactly where they should be. As to the potential for college: they donât know what they donât know. Theyâll sort it out as long as they are in a school that supports exploration.
Just because LACs are more likely to have a well-rounded focus, this doesnât mean they canât excel in sciences. Youâre less likely to find comprehensive engineering programs at LACs (although even this is starting to change), but Chem/Bio/Physics? Yes, those offerings will be robust at most LACs, and students are often to join faculty research projects because there arenât grad students to take those places.
It seems that your student does have an interest, but perhaps they have not yet figured out what career path their interest will lead to. Thatâs ok!
Your student may change their mind multiple times over the next few years as they meet people, take classes, embrace new experiences etc.
I would take a deep breath and watch it unfold. They donât need to have it figured out in HS (some do, many do not). âPassionsâ changeâŠ.even in college and beyond.
Maybe a few majors are difficult to switch into, such as engineering and computer science. By and large, colleges expect students to declare a major in their sophomore year and generally, it is easy to switch majors. Which state and which colleges do you refer to?
Just reinforcing some things.
I like to call LACs âliberal arts and sciences collegesâ, because almost all of them have plenty of natural sciences, math, and these days CS. Engineering is the one major STEM area they might lack, but some even have that.
In terms of state collegesâI believe you are in California, based on prior posts. You can check this for each college, but randomly here is UCLA:
As they explain there:
Declaring a Major
Regulations and procedures for declaring a major vary for the College and each school. Students in the College of Letters and Science do not need to declare a major in their first year, and can attend with an undeclared major until the end of their sophomore year. Certain schools require students to choose a major when applying for admission, or require early declaration. Check specific policies for declaration with the school or department adviser.
This is very typical in my experience with most such publics. The specialty schools might work differently, but usually whatever they call their Arts and Sciences divisionâLetters and Science at UCLA, apparently AKA âthe Collegeââis on an exploratory model.
And that includes a wide variety of major options:
Again, plenty of science and math in Letters and Science, just not Engineering.
OK, so this was what we were referencing before. Say you were going to UCLA. If you were interested in various sciences, not so much Engineering, then greatâyou can just go to Letters and Science and start exploring.
If you were interested in Engineering as a possibility, though, then you might want to start in Engineering. If you change your mind, you can then transfer to Letters and Science:
https://caac.ucla.edu/petitions-forms/switching-to-the-college/
Note you need to meet with an advisor, and you need a plan to still complete a degree on time. But usually this is not so hard, as long as you do it early enough at least.
So that is how you could navigate all this at UCLA. And then you can figure it out for each public college in California as relevant.
The State school process is tough, imo and agree it makes it hard for kids (especially in STEM) to take 1-2 years to explore vs having to declare a major.
Not sure if this would be helpful for your child and thinking they could search course catalogs and also look at different major requirements and see if anything sparks?
@Guy_Rien while responding above, I was concerned that you might be in California! Apologies! I try to qualify the suggestion of applying un-declared by saying at âmostâ colleges that is okay but I did have CA in mind. Any chance he can apply to a school(s) that donât require declaring a major with the application?
Or more specifically, one that doesnât lock you into the major youâve declared. It sounds like this is more the issue?