MAJORS in High School???

[1Prince2Princesses]

I went to a college prep program with my son today, and we were told that starting next school year, all 9th graders will be required to choose a major. I was stunned! These are actual courses of study like college majors. My husband said his high school did this in MD, but here in Florida I think this is new.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Pros and cons?



If anyone wants to check it out (I had to... the curiosity killed me) the website is www.facts.org .

 

[LadyZolt]

I never heard of it. I think it's kind of weird! If it's college prep, I think it should do college prep type stuff: two years of a foreign language, four years of English, at least two of a history (one American history), three/four years of science, at least three of math, etc.

I could see if a child knew he wanted to be a doctor or a computer programmer and then letting that child take the appropriate science and math classes, but many kids have no idea what they want to be -- right up into college! I know many who change their college major after three years. So, I think it's wise to expose them to many things and that a college prep school should be insuring that they take the classes most colleges require.

Today, too, many universities and junior colleges admit high school students into their classes. Those high school kids then have a jump on their college classes, having already completed many before finishing high school. Because this is the case, I don't see any reason for a high school to ask kids to choose a major. I think it puts pressure on them. If they really do know what they want to major in, they can take the right high school classes for their field and also take appropriate college classes at a local college at the same time.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[Mrs. T-i-double-g-er]

As I high school teacher , I have never heard of this in the US. However, in some places in Europe, if the kids aren't going college prep, they can choose a course of study which could include career choices. I'm not sure how it works.

In my opinion, this is a bad idea for the very high achievers. The kids at the top typically put so much pressure on themselves to stay there that I think picking a major would just be one more thing to worry about. If they pick something that turns out not to be right for them, they typically would either force themselves to keep going with it or feel like failures for not completing it. There is so much anxiety at that age.

In fairness to the school, maybe it really isn't all that serious. It could be an exercise to give them career ideas. The school may present it as a "you can change your mind" sort of thing. I would need more info to judge.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

DD13 is in a Performing Arts public school and all of the kids have a Major in their art (ex: dance, strings, band, etc...). The school is from 6th thru 12th grade so it encompasses middle and high school.

 

[jaycns]

I graduated from a public high school in a large city back in 1992. I was an international studies student. We didn't call it majoring...but it was. We also had broadcasting and journalism at my particular high school. Others in the city had differing specialty programs...but they all also had a full normal slate of classes for anyone who didn't want to enter into a program. Nobody was required to sign up.

By being in the international studies program I did not lose the chance to take other classes but rather was in a program that would put me on the track to take courses that otherwise I might be unprepared for and also get me ready for a year abroad.

I also went to a elementary school that had an immersion program. And the international studies middle school.

Almost all high schools had in the city had different offerings of specialty courses. However, you could just chose to be a "plain" student as well. You didn't have to chose. But if you wanted to be in a program, you had to attend the school where it was offered.

I think that by offering specialized classes it gave me a chance to pick and chose what we wanted to do with our lives. I was not committed for life just because I chose that in high school. I throughly enjoyed it. I loved the year abroad. And in high school I also chose a lot of science classes as my electives. Funny thing is, I ended up getting two undergrad degrees and two masters degrees and none of those are in the international relations field.

However, I think I learned a lot.

The whole requiring everyone to chose...that is new to me. I wonder how that works?!

**I wanted to add that I took no more then one class at a time toward the specialty and actually did end up with more science then international stuff!**

 

[nsyncraider17]

In my high school, we had to choose between university prep, community college prep, and career prep (there's a separate career center that several area districts participate in). Within university prep, I think we had to choose either humanities or math and science as a focus... which I believe consisted of just taking about 2 extra classes in that area. It wasn't a big deal at all, and I don't even think it went on transcripts or college applications. I honestly haven't even thought about it since sophomore year when we had to decide.

 

[pigletz]

I was just reading an article about this today, but they mentioned some schools having students choose majors in middle school. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I teach eighth grade and I know most of my students aren't ready to pick a career. Why should they be? Our high school is divided into small schools which I like better than the major idea. They choose a school such as the school of health and human services and then their classes are geared towards those types of careers. They are exposed to many different careers in those fields. Their core classes like English then focus on the skills that they would need (more science related reading for example).

The article that I was reading did scare me a little though. It mentioned that 8th grade is the new 10th grade. More and more middle schools are offering high school classes in the 8th grade. It also mentioned that if students aren't ready for college by eighth grade, they'll never be. My inner city eighth graders aren't even close to being ready but I have to believe that there is still some hope for them.

 

[barkley]

i don't think any of the schools around here are doing this. the only thing similar to it that i'm aware of is a program the local university operates with a few schools wherein students that express an interest in a particular major the college specializes in can take a couple of courses (on the hs campus) wherein they are given the same subject matter as a college student would receive in that major. the classes are they type that would be taken early in the major and are very much overviews of the career. funny thing is when the program was started it was thought it might appeal to some students that had never considered the major, and bring more kids into applying for it down the line. in reality, kids who had long planned on the major found it was nothing like what they thought and few went on to major in it.

i have mixed feelings about declaring a major at this age-i think it's a rare student who realy knows in highschool what they want to major in, and if they do they often change their minds once they've been exposed to other college classes. the university i went to saw an issue with so many students changing majors (and many multiple times) such that they changed their programs to address it. while you could declare a major upon entry as a freshman, you were very limited up until your jr. year on how many classes you could take that were directly in your major. you could take all the gen ed. classes that were required as pre-reqs, and take the more advanced gen ed classes a major would require-but beyond that there were very limited offerings of the core classes until you achieved jr. status. the idea was that this 'forced' the students to take classes in areas they had'nt been previously exposed to (and would'nt have had the opportunity to take because the majors in the programs ate up all the seats). it was interesting to see students who would have never considered a certain career path become incredibly interested in it by virtue of taking a couple of classes that pertained to it vs. what they 'thought' they wanted to pursue.

 

[maciec]

My husband said his high school did this in MD, but here in Florida I think this is new.

I live in Maryland and graduated in 1990 and I didn't have to do this. When did he graduate? Maybe it was a county thing .... Howard county didn't have this, but then at that time I guess most of the guys would have been majoring in Monster Truck Driving.

 

[annegal]

Very bad idea.

My DS didn't really discover his artistic abilities until he took an art course, Sophomore year. I encouraged him to take the course yearly, then he majored in Product Design, a brand new major, in college.
When he started High School, although there were courses in Product Design at the University, it wasn't formally a major & no way at 14 would he know what he wanted do pursue as a career.

 

[Wonderlandmom]

I don't have time to get into it, but we were told "majors" is really a poor choice of words for what it really is. I do know it is really aimed at kids who will not go on to college, gives them some sense of a plan. The "major" can be changed every year and is not something colleges look at. The still want to see the college prep courses and kids going to college will still take the same classes. It is really just "electives".

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Jaycns......my kids would kill for that.
I wish we had a choice.
My youngest wants to be a writer and my oldest interests are foreign language & science.

 

[dcgrumpy]

I graduated from HS in NY in 1983. I could have sworn we had to pick a "major" back then. Maybe I'm just old and crazy .

 

[mickeysgal]

I remember when my DS was in 8th grade they gave him an assessment test of sorts that "predicted' what job he would most likely fit as an adult. Then the HS used this to plot his high school career. They pegged him as needed to follow a route that was non-college prep specifically a work/study program. We changed that pretty quick back to a general college prep plan. Good grief! 8th grade?? His high hopes at the time was aspiring to work at the local video store and to play Nintendo. He didn't see anything beyond that nor were we going to push him! How in the world could kids possibly know what they want to be when they grow up in 8th grade? We're putting too much pressure on kids at younger and younger ages. Let them be...let them explore ALL the avenues out there and don't pigeon hole them at such an early age!

I understand that you have to work very hard to get into the better colleges, trade schools, etc. but they're not going to turn into scum of the earth if they don't have a profession picked out by the time they hit high school!!

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

In fairness to the school, maybe it really isn't all that serious. It could be an exercise to give them career ideas. The school may present it as a "you can change your mind" sort of thing. I would need more info to judge.

They can change their mind if they want. There is nothing set in stone.

The whole requiring everyone to chose...that is new to me. I wonder how that works?!

They work with a counselor in 8th grade, and choose a career path. Then in addition to their regular required classes, they have a program of electives that will help them acheive their goal.

I was just reading an article about this today, but they mentioned some schools having students choose majors in middle school. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I teach eighth grade and I know most of my students aren't ready to pick a career. Why should they be?

I agree. They actually make the choice in 8th grade so they can schedule their 9th grade high school classes accordingly.

I live in Maryland and graduated in 1990 and I didn't have to do this. When did he graduate? Maybe it was a county thing .... Howard county didn't have this, but then at that time I guess most of the guys would have been majoring in Monster Truck Driving.

He went to Broadneck High and graduated in 92.

I don't have time to get into it, but we were told "majors" is really a poor choice of words for what it really is. I do know it is really aimed at kids who will not go on to college, gives them some sense of a plan. The "major" can be changed every year and is not something colleges look at. The still want to see the college prep courses and kids going to college will still take the same classes. It is really just "electives".

This is true. It is just electives. And I agree that "majors" is a bad choice of wording. However, that's what they picked.

Thanks, everyone for your input. It's good to know I'm the only one who is a little confused and troubled by this.

 

[disneyjunkie]

If it's college prep, I think it should do college prep type stuff: two years of a foreign language, four years of English, at least two of a history (one American history), three/four years of science, at least three of math, etc.

These are pretty much basic graduation requirements here. College prep/honors/AP students will usually go above and beyond this.

NYC has several hundred public high schools. Kids tend to apply to high schools that match their career goals. (Nursing, performance arts, education, technology, sociology, math, science, law...)

There are high schools where after four years, students graduate with a high school diploma and an AA degree. Parents tend to love these schools because they only have to pay for two years of college.

There's a high school for nursing here in Brooklyn where students graduate with a nursing certificate or license.(not sure about the terminology)

The high school I graduated from(1986) allowed students to pick a major. My son and I attended an open house there last year and students still have the same options. You can take the normal track or AP track. You also have the option of picking a major in drama, music, dance, art, biology, chemistry, marine biology, physics ...

I don't know of any "normal" high schools that force students to pick a major.

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

I don't think it's normal either. It's not just the school he will be attending, though. It's a Florida thing, now. I have yet to figure out who we have to thank for this... maybe our new Governor.

We also still have the standard graduation requirements.... 4 English, 3 Math, 3 History, 3 Science, 1/2 PE, 1/2 Health... so the other stuff is in addition to the basics.

 

[jaycns]

Jaycns......my kids would kill for that.
I wish we had a choice.
My youngest wants to be a writer and my oldest interests are foreign language & science.

I think it gave me a huge leg up in life (the travel) and without a program like that, I wouldn't have seen it as an option. I think that schools offering choices is wonderful.

I would love to be a writer! Alas...I had kids instead!

Good luck to your kids!!

Has your oldest found the Rosetta Stone Language Programs? I love languages so much I go through these for fun (yep, geek I am). www.rosettastone.com

As far as the science stuff, check the local colleges and see if they offer science classes in the summers. That would apply for the others as well too.

Not as easy as it being offered in the schools and time is hard to come by when you have so many studies anyways...but...just a few suggestions...

 

[Planogirl]

I wasn't even sure what I wanted to be when I started college much less earlier!

However, I don't really have a problem with this if it's fairly easy for kids to switch majors. It's so hard to know what to major in.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

You mean like a vocational high school? Or a regular high school? I went to a vocational h.s. and majored in business.