Choosing a College Major

[Bearvet]

DS17 is not sure how to choose a major for college - do you have any suggestions or books/websites to recommend? He was thinking computer engineering or computer science but is also interested in physical therapy. He's extremely strong in math and science. Most of the colleges he's applying to are large universities, so most majors are available. Is it better to apply "undecided"? Thanks for your help!

 

[lovemygoofy]

I'm sure many people are going to disagree with me but I don't think your son needs to pick a major right now. He could write something down that interests him if that makes him happy but it could change 50 times over by the time he graduates college. The first year or two of college is about discovering yourself and what you want to do in life. He will meet some students who right off know what they want to do with their life including the color of their underwear 20 years, 10 days and 3 hours from this moment and he will meet people that will graduate with a degree in something and have no idea how it ever came to be.

I've taught many college freshman and just let him relax and enjoy going to school. It really is about furthering his education in all aspects of life including professional development but as a person also. The first year or two he can take the basics he needs and pop in a class about computer science and one about engineering. The next year or the summer after the first year he might want to take something about physical therapy and honestly by the end of his college career he may find he wants to be a broadway star My best advice is to just tell him to relax he doesn't need to know what he want right away.

 

[lovemygoofy]

Sorry I went on and on and forgot to give you a link lol http://www.careerexplorer.net/aptitude.asp tell him to take the aptitude tests. It's a nice starting point and then the careers are explained.

 

[salmoneous]

Sheesh - how's a 17 year-old kid supposed to know what he wants to major in. The best situation sends the kids off to college taking a somewhat generic curriculum the first year before nailing down a final major. Most universities are set up to allow this.

The big exception would be if the major were in a separate "school" of the university. Often, if you want to be an engineer, you have to apply to the Engineering school for example. You can't just apply to the school of Arts and Sciences and easily transfer over to Engineering when you make up your mind (it's possible to transfer, just not easy).

If you are just going to State U, you are pretty sure of getting in, and don't want to apply to a specialty school, it doesn't matter a whole lot what you put on your application. You an always change it later.

However, if you are applying to highly selective schools, you want to make yourself stand out from the crowd. You don't want to be undecided, nor do you want to be one of a zillion potential computer science majors. If your application doesn't lock you in (and it won't at almost all school) consider putting down a less popular major - as long as its something you are still well suited for.

 

[Bearvet]

Thanks for your responses. It seems that if he decides on engineering, most schools begin immediately on an engineering track - lots of calculus, physics, Engineering 101 and no foreign language and bare minimums of scocial science and english. He needs to be very sure that he wants engineering because it's a HUGE commitment to schoolwork. He doesn't want to be stuck in a cublicle all his life. Physical Theray is a new interest for him, so we need to look into requirements.

The schools he's looking at are Univ of Maryland, Northeastern Univ, Ohio State (DH and I are alums), Univ of Connecticut, Univ of Mass - Amherst, Villanova and UNC. There are a few more on his list, but these are his top choices. He's done very well in high school - excellent grades in mostly honors/AP courses, NHS, strong SAT scores, lots of extra-curriculars, etc. He plans to apply Early Action (non-binding) to any of these school that accept it - which means applications go out mid-October!!

BTW the HS college guidance counselor is new this year and hasn't been much help to us. Thanks so much for the link - I'll suggest he try it.

 

[monarchsfan16]

I went in undeclared liberal arts last fall. I'm at a state university that is divided into various colleges (liberal arts, health and human services, life sciences and agriculture, engineering, and business). Because I went in undeclared LA, I basically took general education requirements my first semester. Second semester I was able to take an intro class in the school of HHS for a major I was interested in, and I ended up declaring that major. Thankfully it's a major that isn't very intense, so I'm not behind at all. Had I transferred into an engineering major, I would be way behind now, even as a sophomore. I could have applied undeclared to any of the "colleges" here at UNH.
If the schools he's interested in have the divisions like UNH does, he might apply undeclared engineering since that would be the most intense major. It would allow him to sort of dabble in the various types of engineering he might be interested in, as well as maybe take an intro class about PT, to see if that's a real interest. Since he'd be in the engineering college he would stay more or less on track should he decide to stick with that major
If he was looking at any other type of major I'd say to just apply undeclared if undeclared for a certain "college" or division isn't an option, but since he has some interest in engineering I'd recommend that he apply as an engineering major, just because it is so intense. He should have time in his first or second semester to try out a few other classes to see if there's something else he might prefer

 

[DisneyFan06]

I am a Junior at the University Of Central Florida. Most of my friends and people I know are unsure of what they want to do. Therefore, it is not required for you to pick a major until your Junior year because you need to get the core classes done first.

 

[musicotb]

My advice is have him take CORE core in areas that he is interested in. For example, he can take a higher math just in case he wants to do engineering - I think all universities require a math anyway. Also, universities require a science or two with a lab - have him take a biology class b/c that will likely be required for any PT program. His first year can be moderately flexible based on general education requirements of his school.

My advice comes from being someone who started as music education, switched to special education, and ended up majoring in Psychology and still graduated in 4 years. THEN I took a year off, and did leveling coursework in Speech Pathology/Audiology with the intention of doing speech path., but have just recently begun my doctoral work in audiology.

SO, unless he feels he HAS to choose and never switch, allow him the freedom to change. I think that the best choice would be to choose a mojor, but one that is moderately flexible and would allow him to take classes in which he's interested outside his major so that, should he change his mind, he isn't way behind.

 

[sharbear]

My S is a Freshman engineering student. He really wanted to be an engineer. One thing that was very helpful for him were engineering or college open houses.

I know that one of the schools that your S is interested in is Ohio State. I don't know very much about the other schools that he is looking at but I would think that they would offer the same type of programs.

This is a link for preview days at OSU engineering http://www.eng.ohio-state.edu/futurestudents/infoevents.php

This is a link for a Health Sciences Fair which Physical Therapy is part of http://medicine.osu.edu/sitetool/sites/pdfs/samppublic/Health_Sciences_Career_Fair_2005.pdf

We attended an Explore Enginneering Day. I want to say something about Ohio State. My S and I visited quite a few schools (I think about 8, I'm not sure) and Ohio State does the best job of anywhere we went of selling kids on OSU. The presentations and tours were top notch. Engineering Day was very well planned and we learned so much. It would be very helpful for someone who's not sure of what he wanted to do, although I wonder if a Math and Science Day would be better for someone who is not set on engineering.

Ohio State has rolling admissions. One thing that we found out. My S wanted to get a jump on his applications, so he downloaded the app and started to work on the short answers. Unfortunately, he downloaded the questions from the year before! OSU is on the quarter system and school doesn't start until the middle of Sept. Don't download the app before then or you may have to answer questions twice!

One other thing, my DH is an engineer and he has never been in a cubicle, all engineers are not like Dilbert. An engineering day would answer many of those questions, we found that talking to students and they talked about the co-ops or internships that they had and the tasks that they did, were so very helpful.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If those are his choices then he really has to decide. If he does not then you are looking at paying for an extra year for the most part and frankly getting into the PT program will be harder than engineering. Probably double the committment.

If he has not been exploring this degree then he needs to start as I am sure deadlines to get into these programs are a IMMEDIATE CONCERN!

I was reading the Northeastern site...here it is and WOWEE!!! Much, much, more required than engineering. It is a 6 year degree!
http://physicaltherapy.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=physicaltherapy&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.northeastern.edu%2F

So good luck...my dd is a sophmore and we are just exploring now. Your son sounds like a great student and I am sure he will figure it out. Just make sure you get deadlines NOW!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

If the college he will be attending has a career center, they may also help assess what may be good for him to do.

If by chance he is undecided at the start, he can get the most basic of general education credits out of the way while trying to figure things out.

But I agree, better if he can zone in on his desired major before he starts so that in case the requirements are more strict, he won't waste gen ed credits on "easy" stuff that would not count towards his major (unless he wants to take that to brush up on skills--like if he wanted to major in engineering and wanted to brush up on some advanced math skills before tackling Calculus).

 

[Uuaww]

just be happy he doesn't go to my school, you have to declare your major here before you go and its a ***** to change it.

 

[momrek06]

Thanks for your responses. It seems that if he decides on engineering, most schools begin immediately on an engineering track - lots of calculus, physics, Engineering 101 and no foreign language and bare minimums of scocial science and english. He needs to be very sure that he wants engineering because it's a HUGE commitment to schoolwork. He doesn't want to be stuck in a cublicle all his life. Physical Theray is a new interest for him, so we need to look into requirements.

The schools he's looking at are Univ of Maryland, Northeastern Univ, Ohio State (DH and I are alums), Univ of Connecticut, Univ of Mass - Amherst, Villanova and UNC. There are a few more on his list, but these are his top choices. He's done very well in high school - excellent grades in mostly honors/AP courses, NHS, strong SAT scores, lots of extra-curriculars, etc. He plans to apply Early Action (non-binding) to any of these school that accept it - which means applications go out mid-October!!

BTW the HS college guidance counselor is new this year and hasn't been much help to us. Thanks so much for the link - I'll suggest he try it.

Ahhh... The University of Connecticut. My DH is a graduate engineer from UCONN. He says to this day it was grueling. When he started there were 100's in his engineering class and by graduation more than 1/2 had changed their major. Actually, DH's roommate was an engineer major with DH and found it so hard he transfered to Medicine. Friend graduated and went on to Dartmouth College and received his PHD in medical research. DH's roomie found medicine EASIER than engineering.

WE own our own engineering and land surveying company. I will tell you there is FABULOUS money in the engineering field. But it is so funny, DH is licensed as a PE and PLS in many many states and will tell you so much of the courses he took while at UCONN he never even uses. ! As far as the land surveying portion of the engineering major, he said he barely had one semester. AND what he uses 24/7 is AUTOCADD another course that is barely touched on in college.

In any event allot of colleges offer a major called "UNDECLARED" in which for two years you take a "pretty intense" course load and by Junior year you select YOUR major and then easily slid into that major without having MISSED anything. My son chose History as a major. His roomie was a computer major and my son noted that he thought he wanted to switch to computers and would need to take his whole Freshmen year over....NOPE, I said NOT on my nickel. Graduate with your History degree and then if you want to start over, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I made the mistake of declaring a major when I first started college and I wish I hadn't. I should have just waited until I fulfilled my gen-ed requirements and then decided. I am now *almost* a junior and have settled on communications with a concentration in public relations. But to any incoming freshman, unless they are 100% positive they know what they want to do, I would go undeclared until you've been in school at least a year or so. Then you will most likely have a better idea of what you want your career to be in and therefore what you want to major in.

Good luck to your son!

 

[Caradana]

Hey there,

I have an undergraduate engineering degree from Princeton, and I work in investment banking, so rest assured that there are indeed engineers who don't agonize over formulas and labor in cubicles! My advice would be to start off in the engineering track; if he decides to switch, it's a heck of a lot easier to switch OUT than to switch IN and be immediately behind in terms of coursework. All the best to your son; I found that engineering was a hugely respected major in the job hunt.

D

 

[tar heel]

He probably knows this already, but he won't be majoring in engineering at UNC -- it's not offered. Physical therapy is top notch but extremely difficult to get in b/c it's a small program. You don't get into PT as a freshman either -- your college record gets you in. I am assuming you mean UNC-Chapel Hill rather than one of the other colleges in the UNC system, of course.

 

[Lynn CC]

I agree with lovemygoofy on this one. Do some reasearch on each of those colleges your son is applying to and find their least attended major that they are trying to enise students for and put that down for his major.
I know it sounds like cheating, but it is tough to get into colleges of your choice these days.
DS is a sophomore in college this year. He didn't get into any of his first choices, got some waitlists but in the end chose his safety. It has worked out well for him (he loves it). He is studying a major that his safety just so happened to be trying to get running full force...thus with DS's great grades & AP's in High school... led him to full tuition scholarship in college!

It does sound deceptive, but I wish we had thought of it when DS was applying! By the way they have place him in classes in surrounding schools this fall for his major at MIT/Harvard... because they want him to get the best of the best Scholars teaching. I'm sure Northeastern, and UMass Amherst does this too!
Good Luck to your DS
A great website to visit is www.collegeconfidential.com
It's a forum like the DIS, but for college!

 

[bballmom56]

Our DS is not completely sure of his intended major either. However, he is looking at smaller LAC's so we are making sure we find a good fit that offers other majors in which he might be interested if he decides to change from his first choice. So far, so good!

DS's girlfriend is looking at PT programs at LAC's also. What we have found is that most of those programs require a certain number of hours of observation in a PT or OT setting. It varies from 10-40 hours required. You may want to have your son do some hours like that so he can see what it is all about and if he truly wants to go in that direction.

 

[golfgal]

Very few students start and finish with the same major. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[Bearvet]

WOW! Thanks for all of your suggestions. It's funny though, reading through these responses, it's almost a split as to whether to choose a major or enter "undecided"!

Tar Heel - That's interesting about UNC (yes, Chapel Hill) - it's the only school we haven't visited (due to distance) yet he's very interested in it. We obviously haven't researched it well enough to know what majors are offered - looks like tonight's project. UNC accepts such a small percentage of out-of-state students that it's unlikely he'll get accepted there. I suggested he apply and if he is accepted, then we'll go visit.

Lynn CC - How do you find out what the least attended major is at a college? What if it doesn't interest him? It's an interesting approach. We have been on the college confidential forum - it has some good information, but so much of it is geared to kids applying to the Ivies and other top universities (which DS is not interested in). It's chock full of kids with perfect SAT scores, GPAs, etc., so sometimes it's hard to find info that applies to DS.

Sharbear - DS had been seriously considering engineering until we went to Northeastern University's engineering program info session and tour. After they described the program, he eliminated many areas of engineering that didn't interest him (mechanical, civil) and made him rethink his choice. He has take some Engineering/Technology classes in HS, which he loved, and that coupled with his strong math skills suggested an engineering field to him.
Unfortunately, I don't know if we'll be able to get to an engineering open house at Ohio State due to distance, but he has received recruiting calls from OSU based on his SAT scores.

Mystery - Northeastern is a co-op based program, so all degrees are a minimum of 5 years, so 6 years doesn't seem terrible. He really likes this school, although it doesn't have the big sports programs of the bigger universities. The co-op program and living right in Boston might make up for that though! He has a friend starting there this year, so I'm hoping DS can go visit him sometime to get a real feel for the school.

Momrek06 - UConn is interesting - DS loves the school, but dislikes the rural environment, so it's not a top contender for him. He'll probably apply there anyway just to keep his options open; we actually went for a 2nd visit there recently since it was the first school we looked at.

golfgal - I understand that most students change their major, but he has to fill out the section on the application "intended major" and it usually gives 2 choices. So my big question is: does writing "undecided" hurt his chances, especially if he does decide on engineering?

His 2 safety school are UMass-Amherst and Ohio State - these are both academic and financial safeties. I think he'd like to find one more safety to apply to. He goes to HS in Amherst, so UMass, while it's a good school, is really not a top choice for him since it's in our backyard.

It's going to be an interesting few months....