Daughter's interests & career options

[paintnolish]

Wow...I can't believe the pressure on kids! Yikes! I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I WAS a grown-up! I used to want to be a veterinarian. In high school, I decided I wanted to be an interior designer and started to pursue that. I quit school to be a SAHM. I went back to school, at 30, full-time and will graduate in fall with an education degree in English!
Anyway, I guess I don't have an advice for you... Good luck!

 

[jen0610]

Your daughter is really young. She should be taking classes in many different areas. It really is not uncommon for them to still be undecided when they enter college. Go to a local university and pick up a class listing book. Let her look through it. It will also tell you what classes are needed for each major. Have fun looking. Also try www.collegeboards.com

You realy would think that, but there are some school districts that feel the younger a decision is made the better. We are dealing with this right now.

DS is an 8th grader. Last year, they had to meet with the GC from the high school to go over their 6 year plan. They talked about what their interest were and what they saw themselves doing. We got ZERO INFORMATION from the school that this was going to happen. Fast forward to Jan of this year and they are filling out their class options for next year and he brings home paperwork from that meeting last year, that will help in termining what classes to take. Things are not what they use to be. The kids need to determine if they are just going to go for the general diploma, know as the Core40, or the Core40+, or the High Honors Core40, or the Technical Core40. It's confusing as all get out, determining which one your child is going to be taking classes for. Each one has different elective requirements.

Also, starting next school year, each one of the high schools is going to base the way they teach the advance class applications based on what they are going to focus on. One school is going to base the applications as they would be used in jobs deemed Computer Tech. Another, will be based on Engineering, one on Business, one is Medical, one is International, and the last one Baclorate.

If your kid goes to the school that is going to focus on the application of Medical and they have zero interest in that field, but loves Engineering, you have to apply for your student to be transfered over to the other high school. And if there isn't an opening at the Engineering school, they have to stay put at the school your address feeds into. Now, if they do get a spot, you then have to figure out how to get them to the school, as no transportation will be provided.

Our address feeds into the Engineering school. DS has ZERO clue what he wants to do - which as an 8th grade I don't think he should have a clue, unless there is a definate passion about a profession. But he has stated that really likes his computer class that he takes and he is always messing around with ours. The problem is, the Computer Tech school is all the way on the other side of town - at minimum a 30 hour drive one way. The only way he will be going to that high school, is if I let him live with his 85 and 84 year old grandparents, whose address feeds into that school and he could ride the bus. I don't think so.

If your kid has no clue, yes they will get a decent education, but if there are subjects that they would like to take as electives, the focus of the school will determine if you have that option at your school.

I have yet to talk to any parent of an 8th grader that is happy with the direction our schools are going. And straight from an employee at the administrative office, the only reason they are making these changes is to get federal funding. Not because anyone believes that will be a better educational option for our kids, but it's all about the money. And most of the 7th or 6th grade parents - if they don't have a high schooler or 8th grader, they had no clue what the school district was doing. The administration has not be overly generous with keeping the families of the district informed.

It would be so nice to just let him be a high school kid, without having to make decision that a lot of college aged kids haven't even figured out yet.

 

[Crankyshank]

I would recommend your DD ask her guidance counselor for career aptitude testing to determine where her talents lie.
Meanwhile, the career paths she has indicated an interest in require lots of math (particularly calculus) and science. I would encourage her to take classes in those areas.

 

[clarabelle]

My DD just took the PLAN test (she is in 9th grade)

It is kind of a pre-ACT but it has an career aptitude part as well.
I wonder if something like that is available to her next year?

 

[HM]

My kids had to do the same thing in 8th grade.
DS is now a junior in HS and the DD is a freshman.

Son thought he wanted to be an Orthodontist in 8th grade...this has transitioned to an Internal Medicine Doctor at this point....and I imagine it will continue to change. But we know he's interested in the sciences....so we're helping him choose courses and schools based on this.

DD wants to be a wedding planner. Since that is such a focused area, I am trying to push the idea of event planner or working in the hotel industry in the events department. We think that a degree in business is probably a good place for her to start thinking. This may transition as other ideas come to her over the years.

OP-
Sounds to me like it would be good to push your daughter toward the sciences in her class choices. She may want to do research into how the mind works, since working with patients isn't a choice she likes right now. Keep her thinking in a broad way rather than trying to pin down a specific career right now.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just went to the site you linked, and it is a college discussion site, but almost all of the messages are pharmacy, dating, or sex spam. So OP if you decide to research there, do it without your DD looking over your shoulder until you check it out. Maybe collegeboard.org , princetonreview.com , or collegebound.net would be helpful.

Or the scary site for those ivy leaguers. Granted most of the advice is over the top and needed to be taken with a grain of salt but they it can be helpful in certain areas.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/

OP, my oldest is a freshman in college. She is leaning toward law right now, she is currently in International Business. However she loves Geology. We are going to have a sit down to focus her this summer.

Now my 13yodd loves business & computers and is good at writing & public speaking. Right now she says business degree. So who knows what is going to happen with her.

 

[castleview]

Geez, I'm almost forty, have had a few fulfilling jobs...yet I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Just make sure your daughter takes college track classes and it will eventually come to her.

Right now, my ten year old wants to be a teacher, the 8 year old wants to be an orca trainer, and the five year old wants to be a firefighter in the ARMY who also drives trains on the side.

 

[Pigeon]

My husband is a public school teacher, as are many of my family members. I've never even heard of a "major" in high school. That's just insane. Most college kids change their majors at least once.

 

[auntie]

Exploring and having fun with different interests is one thing...Yet making career choices seems like an awful lot of pressure to place on a 13 year old.
I mean she's not even in high school yet.
Slow down..you've got time, and so does she. You won't get this time back.

 

[auntie]

My husband is a public school teacher, as are many of my family members. I've never even heard of a "major" in high school. That's just insane. Most college kids change their majors at least once.

My son is a graduating senior this year...he didn't have a "major" in high school either.

 

[minkydog]

Your daughter is really young. She should be taking classes in many different areas. It really is not uncommon for them to still be undecided when they enter college.

I'd bet that 98% of people don't know what they want to be at your child's age. Heck, lots of people in their 30s don't know what they want to do when they grow up!

I agree with both these statements. I was graduated HS before I even applied to a college. And I had no idea what I wanted to do, let alone major in. After about a year or so, I got interested in nursing and that's what I've done for 32+ years.

My sister was a brainiac, so she was directed into pre-med. She could do all that math and science without breaking a sweat. However, she worked one summer in the hospital lab and found out that there are SICK PEOPLE there That was the end of pre-med. She switched her major to music and has been happily teaching kids to sing and play music for 25 years.

Give your daughter time. I remember when DD16 wanted to be a rancher and have 7 babies which I would come over and rock on Wednesday while the spaghetti was cooking. Now she wants to be a film-making/theater major. Go figure.

 

[pigletgirl]

Wow she's super young to be so indecisive! Most college students change their major 3 or 4 times as an undergrad. She has plenty of time!

 

[MrsPete]

DD was sure she wanted to go into CSI so for her senior project in high school, she did a job shadow with them. That's when she discovered that while she found it interesting and learned a lot, it wasn't QUITE as exciting as it is on tv.

A huge number of my students want to "do what they do on CSI" for a living. Not very realistic if they don't even know the name of the job.

 

[MrsPete]

Unfortunately, many schools are now asking kids to pick a major before entering high school.

Our schools just call them "pathways", and they aren't at all specific. My daughter is in the "College Prep pathway". Other students are in "Tech Prep", which pretty much means they're headed for community college. Others are in the "Vocational Pathway" or the "Military Pathway". Seems like there may be 1-2 other options.

 

[Sparx]

Wow she's super young to be so indecisive! Most college students change their major 3 or 4 times as an undergrad. She has plenty of time!

this.

i'll bet dollars to donuts that she'll change her mind a thousand times before she graduates.

its good to be thinking about things she likes and dislikes, but there is no reason to be pushing her to decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

and her sudden loss of interest in mathematics is actually very normal. across the board, most girls lose interest in math/science around age 12/13, and start to dislike it.

 

[Anne34]

Our schools just call them "pathways", and they aren't at all specific. My daughter is in the "College Prep pathway". Other students are in "Tech Prep", which pretty much means they're headed for community college. Others are in the "Vocational Pathway" or the "Military Pathway". Seems like there may be 1-2 other options.

I thank God our high schools are all general classes. My daughter loves math & science and has taken honors classes in those areas, but she has used some of her electives for Foods, Ceramics, etc.....I think it's important for kids to be well rounded. Too many times people change their minds after being in high school or college for a while and thinking "this isn't what I thought it would be". I know I don't use my business degree at all any more --- I work with ESL children in a middle school.

 

[SydSim]

I feel that all high schoolers should take all basic prep classes. Then, while they're trying to decide what they would like to do with their lives, they should take special electives to try them out. Since we all know that different kids have different strengths and weaknesses, everyone should take their maths and sciences, but depending on your performance (and interest), the types of math and science classes would be different.

A 13 year old eighth grader may not even want to think about going to college, so may say that they'll go the vocational route. What happens when they're a senior and change their mind - they may be missing out on core classes needed for college entrance.

If everyone took 3 or 4 years of everything, they can still go to a 4 year college, a 2 year college or start working instead. Personally, allowing an eighth grader to say "I want to be a hair stylist", and planning a high school curriculum around that seems a little premature. Can't you still be a hair stylist after having taken all of your academic core classes? If you take Chemistry or American Literature, does that mean you can't go to beauty school after graduation?

I certainly realize that not everyone desire to attend college, but should that be decided at 13? Heck, my 8th grader can't decide that she wants to brush her teeth on the weekends most of the time

 

[Barbossa]

Engineering school is very math intensive. When I was in college the engineering majors took more difficult math classes than the math majors. If your DD does well in math and is interested in engineering, it's a great career.

 

[tommya60]

Our Dd is in high school She had similar questions when in 8th grade. I'd suggest a career apptitude test, just to look at options. Then take the highest level classes she can manage---just to keep all the options open. Check out the entrance requirements for your state university system, so YOU know what's required and what's recommended. If there is a "dream school" in your house, go online and check those requirements, too. Most of the schools list both the recommended and required classes (ie 3 years of foreign language, 3 lab science---whatever). And you can usually find information on the most recent freshman class (gpa, sat scores, etc). You do need some of this information now so you can make rational elective choices for high school. This is not the same thing as choosing a set in stone career path.

 

[declansdad]

How about letting her just be a kid.

If you take a room full of adults and ask what they wanted to be when they were 18 and what they are doing now, over 90% will not be doing what they wanted to do at 18.

Let her enjoy being a kid.