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Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 15:22:02 GMT
My daughter just called (college freshman) frustrated with the fact that she doesn't have a major picked. She is "undecided" and is trying to figure out what she wants to major in. She says all her new friends have picked majors and she is worried that she will get behind.
If your student had this issue, any advice of what to do to figure out a career interest? I think being online most of the past year made it worse, and with no in person accepted student day, she feels like she really missed out on possible help.
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keithurbanlovinpea
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Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Sept 2, 2021 15:25:00 GMT
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Post by katlady on Sept 2, 2021 15:27:56 GMT
Until she decides, tell her to take her general Ed courses. She doesn’t have to rush! I changed my major from what I declared as a freshman. Many students change majors. It is hard for many freshman to know what you want to do after college.
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Post by katiescarlett on Sept 2, 2021 15:32:08 GMT
My daughter is a high school senior and changes her mind on what she thinks she wants to major in every other day. We've gone on many college visits and all the tour guides tell us that is normal and the average college student changes their major 2 times. It's hard deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life!
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paigepea
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Post by paigepea on Sept 2, 2021 15:34:41 GMT
Awww. She’ll figure it out. Better to be undecided rather than waste time on the wrong path. As long as she has some type of focus / area of study she’s moving in the right direction.
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Post by MorellisCupcake on Sept 2, 2021 15:41:07 GMT
It's hard to know what you want to do for the rest of your life when you're that young. Hell, I'm not even sure NOW! DD went through the same thing.. she started as a math major, then went to civil engineering, and finally switched to actuary before her junior year. She was in math all along so it worked out. She's got a great job and her boyfriend of 5 years is also an actuary, so they're fine. DS #1 was undecided for a while, and finally transferred colleges to get a degree in film studies (which I admit I was a little iffy on, but it's always been his passion so I'm happy for him.) He works for a lighting and grip company now. My youngest kid, who is starting his junior year, started in business, dropped that in freshman year to be undeclared, then went to personal finance, and now just informed me he wants a different accounting degree. By this point, my attitude is "whatever, just graduate and get yourself off my payroll". Does she have a campus advisor she could speak to? That might help. Good luck! I know it's stressful but it generally works out.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 2, 2021 15:46:39 GMT
just because all of her new friends have chosen majors doesn't mean they will actually *KEEP* those majors. Seriously, she has plenty of time! Didn't the fall semester barely just start?!?
There ARE a number of classes everyone has to take, no matter what their major is- she can certainly get a few of those out of the way. And I would think taking those classes will help her decide what she wants to focus on more in the future.
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kelly8875
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Post by kelly8875 on Sept 2, 2021 15:50:38 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet.
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peppermintpatty
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Post by peppermintpatty on Sept 2, 2021 15:57:26 GMT
Well considering most of her friends will change their major at least once in the next 4 years, she is already ahead of the curve.
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peppermintpatty
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Post by peppermintpatty on Sept 2, 2021 16:01:32 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet. That isn't exactly true. My son is in engineering (material science) and while he is taking one gen ed class, the rest are all geared towards his degree. It may be different for engineering students. They generally have every class selected for them for all 4 years. He is taking the first engineering course plus one for just material science majors. My dd did biomedical engineering and with the exception of her minor classes, all of her classes were selected for her all 4 years. Even the gen ed classes.
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Post by katlady on Sept 2, 2021 16:10:39 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet. At my college, they had math and science classes geared towards specific majors. There were different introductory physics classes for life science majors vs physics majors. The same for math classes. So, if you take the wrong class too early, you may have to retake the correct one. And it was a requirement to take one science class.
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Post by Basket1lady on Sept 2, 2021 16:21:27 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet. That isn't exactly true. My son is in engineering (material science) and while he is taking one gen ed class, the rest are all geared towards his degree. It may be different for engineering students. They generally have every class selected for them for all 4 years. He is taking the first engineering course plus one for just material science majors. My dd did biomedical engineering and with the exception of her minor classes, all of her classes were selected for her all 4 years. Even the gen ed classes. Both of my kids had their classes planned out before they ever set foot in a classroom. This is really important if your student wants to do a study abroad or is a certain class is only offered in the fall or spring. But in the plan, they had things like “300 level major class” or “English class” so it wasn’t entirely written in stone and had some flexibility for new course offerings. It just put a placeholder in for a class to get all the requirements in and to make sure that a student didn’t have 4 math classes or 4 classes with a lot of papers due every week. maryland, she’s just getting to know people. Of course they have a pat answer for what they will major in—everyone has been asked this question for months! But the reality is that a large percentage of students change their majors once they start taking classes and exploring their interests. And the ones who are undecided aren’t talking because it’s scary to admit that they don’t have a plan. For example, DD went in as a biology major. She planned to go to physical therapy school and knew she would need to take a lot of science classes. So Bio just made sense. But once she got there, she found that she just didn’t like the advanced bio classes. She was mentored by her freshman symposium professor, who was a psychology prof. She fell in love with Psych and majored in that. But she still took those physics and anatomy classes for PT. It took a plan and she was able to sub in psych classes for bio classes. She also too Spanish for 3 summers at the local community college so that she didn’t have to overload during the school year. And she took calculus one summer so it it didn’t ruin an entire semester. As for DS, he wanted to be an engineer from the time he know what that was. And he did! I would just encourage your DD to take a broad range of classes this semester and next. I suspect that she will find something that sets off a spark in her. But also let it be known how many semesters you will pay for college. Both of my kids had large scholarships, but those ran out after 8 semesters/4 years. They knew that we willing to pay for a 5th year at a private school.
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Post by Basket1lady on Sept 2, 2021 16:23:50 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet. At my college, they had math and science classes geared towards specific majors. There were different introductory physics classes for life science majors vs physics majors. The same for math classes. So, if you take the wrong class too early, you may have to retake the correct one. And it was a requirement to take one science class. Yes! DS was an electrical engineering major and took English classes aimed towards STEM majors. Readings were about robots, cars, and science-y stuff. They also focused more on improv their writing vs making authors out of the STEM students. He said it was the first time he’d ever enjoyed an English class.
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anniebeth24
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Post by anniebeth24 on Sept 2, 2021 16:27:48 GMT
I'd recommend an appointment with the academic advising office or career center. They would be able to help direct her.
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Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 2, 2021 16:28:37 GMT
I guess this situation is one where I'm glad that I went to community college. Classes were cheap enough that if I had to take a more specialized one when I transferred to a 4-yr school, it didn't cause a huge financial hit. I also took an extra year to complete my degree, too, which didn't bother me, because I didn't feel any huge push from my parents or peers to 'get it done' in a certain timeframe.
(and yeah- I'm 52 years old, and I still don't know 'what I want to be when I grow up' lol.)
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Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 16:30:01 GMT
Sorry, I didn't explain well. She is worried that she won't graduate on time. That's what I meant by get behind.
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Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 16:31:12 GMT
My daughter is a high school senior and changes her mind on what she thinks she wants to major in every other day. We've gone on many college visits and all the tour guides tell us that is normal and the average college student changes their major 2 times. It's hard deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life! So true! We went to accepted student days with my oldest and they all said that. I will remind my daughter! Thanks!
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keithurbanlovinpea
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Post by keithurbanlovinpea on Sept 2, 2021 16:33:10 GMT
Sorry, I didn't explain well. She is worried that she won't graduate on time. That's what I meant by get behind. Better to take 5 years and get a solid understanding of what she wants to study, than push thru 4 years and miss the opportunity to make the right choices for her.
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Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 16:33:25 GMT
just because all of her new friends have chosen majors doesn't mean they will actually *KEEP* those majors. Seriously, she has plenty of time! Didn't the fall semester barely just start?!? There ARE a number of classes everyone has to take, no matter what their major is- she can certainly get a few of those out of the way. And I would think taking those classes will help her decide what she wants to focus on more in the future. Yes, you are right! A lot of my oldest daughter's friends changed majors. Thank you!
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Post by Linda on Sept 2, 2021 16:56:18 GMT
she's not behind. One of the purposes of the Gen Ed requirements is to expose them to fields that they might not have considered. She probably doesn't have to 'officially' pick a major until she's choosing courses for Junior year (there are a few exceptions like engineering) because traditionally the first 2 years are Gen Ed and the 2nd two are the major/minor courses. If she entered with college credits - that time may come a bit sooner depending on how many credits she has and whether she wants to graduate early or take the full 4 years.
And as many have said - majors change.
I went from Computer Science to French to History to a dual History-Government and ended up graduating as Government (History had all but the capstone). I graduated late but there were life circumstances involved and because I switched fairly early on (freshman and sophomore years), I could have graduated on time despite the switch.
DD21 started as English - Creative Writing and switched to Religion and Cultural Studies...she IS going to have to do a super-senior year because she made the switch so late and had already taken so many English major classes.
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Post by deekaye on Sept 2, 2021 17:02:13 GMT
My oldest DD knew what she wanted to major in since she was 12. My youngest DD changed majors twice, and didn't make her final decision until her Junior year of college. Both are successful, just took different paths to get there.
It is such a stressful thing when you think that EVERYONE knows what they want to do with their lives except you (I had more than one weepy phone call from college from youngest DD when she was trying to decide!). Tell her not to worry about graduating "on time". It's not unusual to have to take an extra quarter or two to get done.
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Post by MichyM on Sept 2, 2021 17:03:17 GMT
Sorry, I didn't explain well. She is worried that she won't graduate on time. That's what I meant by get behind. She is a new freshman and is already worried that she won't graduate on time? Sounds to me that she needs some help with anxiety, poor thing. Is there a student group or therapist she could see? And OMG on "What Color is Your Parachute!" I read that book back in the 80's and had no idea it was still around. Within a year or two of reading it, I quit my career of 10 years, got a PT job, and got a degree in an unrelated field that i loved
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Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 2, 2021 17:03:49 GMT
So first she really needs to understand the requirement of HER particular college. This varies TREMENDOUSLY - I really can't emphasize this enough as unfortunately you've already received some bad advice here as some equate expect all colleges to operate somewhat the same so their child's experience is relevant. It is absolutely NOT TRUE! This was extremely important to my son, so we spent a ton of time looking at general ed requirement for various colleges he was interested in. It varied so, so much! Now does she have any areas of interest or even majors that are potentially interesting? She should spend some time just looking at the typical 4 year plan for different majors to get a sense on how they lay out their schedules.
This is way way more important for engineering than probably any other major as they absolutely need some classes freshman year to graduate on time as course sequencing is brutal in engineering. So my son who is undecided, but considering engineering - is taking Calculus as it's a prereq for everything so if doesn't take it - it will absolutely impact his graduation timeline. He'd also need it for several of the other majors he's considering.
I'd also see if your daughter's college has advisors specifically for undecided majors. They can be extremely helpful in developing a schedule that let's her explore some of her interests, but stay on track to graduate on time.
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Post by littlemama on Sept 2, 2021 17:06:40 GMT
She isnt expected to declare a major for 2 more years. This is her time to take gen ed classes - she should pick classes that satisfy the gen ed requirement and interest her. If she has room in her schedule, she should take some classes that she thinks will be of interest to her.
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Post by voltagain on Sept 2, 2021 17:16:16 GMT
My daughter just called (college freshman) frustrated with the fact that she doesn't have a major picked. She is "undecided" and is trying to figure out what she wants to major in. She says all her new friends have picked majors and she is worried that she will get behind.
If your student had this issue, any advice of what to do to figure out a career interest? I think being online most of the past year made it worse, and with no in person accepted student day, she feels like she really missed out on possible help.
Most campuses have a career center where she can do some interest/skills testing to see what areas are the best fit for her innate abilities and interests. Her academic advisor can help her locate the right office if she can't find it on the school website. While she may feel being online has diminished her available help it has not. ALL of our faculty and staff have been available for zoom discussions and even email discussions about these topics. Whether on line or in person she will have to take the initiative. No one is going to approach her, even in person, she has to speak up and let her faculity/advisory staff know she is looking for help.
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Post by monklady123 on Sept 2, 2021 17:47:08 GMT
Yes, advise her to take the basic courses that everyone has to take anyway, and worry about a major later. I changed my major TWICE in college, then ended up in grad school for something unrelated to my actual undergrad major. lol Dd knew right away what she wanted to major in, and is now working at a job she likes but that has nothing much to do with her major. Dh majored in history, then taught biology in a high school in his home town, and now work for the State Department doing a job that has nothing to do with general history or biology.
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Post by Bridget in MD on Sept 2, 2021 18:05:31 GMT
Most of her new friends probably don't have an exact major picked. Or, they have a direction picked. Generic like "business" or "education" or "design". They're all taking the gen eds anyway, no one as a freshman is taking actual "major" classes yet. That isn't exactly true. My son is in engineering (material science) and while he is taking one gen ed class, the rest are all geared towards his degree. It may be different for engineering students. They generally have every class selected for them for all 4 years. He is taking the first engineering course plus one for just material science majors. My dd did biomedical engineering and with the exception of her minor classes, all of her classes were selected for her all 4 years. Even the gen ed classes. This is kind of my experience too - kids test out of a lot of gen ed classes and then find themselves in classes geared towards a major as a freshman. My DD is basically a sophomore with all her AP scores, and called me freaking out (she's at UMD too) bc the Chinese classes she was enrolled in are way over her head. In her case, she didn't get college credit for those Chinese classes - if she had I am not sure if she would have been able to drop down? She is in the Honors program for International Studies - I think it's under govt and politics? It really sucks that kids are told "you don't need to have a major picked" BUT they kind of need some sort of idea. I don't feel like college is for exploring so much these days. Or, well, you can, but you gonna pay for that time if the classes do not end up counting towards your field of study.
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Post by Eddie-n-Harley on Sept 2, 2021 18:32:18 GMT
Until she decides, tell her to take her general Ed courses. She doesn’t have to rush! I changed my major from what I declared as a freshman. Many students change majors. It is hard for many freshman to know what you want to do after college. Basically this. However, if she even remotely has a clue about what she might like to do, I'd recommend confirming the requirements for the particular degree type. For instance, my degree is BS. At my college, that meant I needed at least two science classes WITH LABs (my AP bio credits didn't count for that because of the labs). If I had pursued a BA, I'd have needed to make sure I had 4 foreign language classes.
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peabay
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Post by peabay on Sept 2, 2021 20:49:17 GMT
The average college student changes their major 7 times. Those kids who are so sure what they want to do will likely not be on the same path a year from now. I would (I HAVE) advise my child to take a broad range of classes and start to figure out where their more specific interests lie. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I got to college until I picked up my roommate's psychology textbook and read it all in one night - I was hooked.
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Post by myboysnme on Sept 2, 2021 21:34:28 GMT
I changed my major at least 3 times and I finally fell into one I had never considered so that I could graduate.
My oldest son changed majors 3 times at least. He ended up needing a job so he got a job as a teacher assistant to get insurance and decided to go ahead and be a teacher. He never intended to be a teacher but now he is in a master's program for school administrators.
I feel like there are so many options in life, why not try out a bunch of things? How do you know until you explore it?
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