|
Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 21:56:23 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 I keep telling her that many students change their major at least once and still do fine. And I remind her that many sophomores are still undecided. I think it means more coming from others than from mom! I sent her links to the undecided major advisors so hopefully she contacts them. It looks like all visits are virtual, which is a lot harder for her. She likes the in person meetings. Other than that she is loving college and making new friends!
|
|
paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,743
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
|
Post by paget on Sept 2, 2021 22:16:53 GMT
I’m going to agree with some others, it actually DOES kind of matter if you don’t know depending on what field you are planning. Dd majored in computer science and going into college she thought she was going to major in engineering. Luckily every class she took first semester worked toward her major since it was the same “umbrella” in the engineering school except one (which ironically was the worst class and the most work and it wasn’t needed except it helped her learn she wanted to change her major). But she had to take an extra class one semester to make up for the engineering class she had taken. Everything was absolutely spelled out for her - no room for discovery unless she wanted to spend longer and increase $$$
My degree was different and matched what many others are saying regarding just taking general classes until you figure it out. I did a lot of looking at degrees and paths with my three dds and me going back for my bachelors abs MSW. In many fields (pretty anything besides liberal arts it seems) you needed more specific “generals.”For instance, a science class but it was very specific which one or even a sequence of classes.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 22:19:29 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. I think I understand what you are saying. My husband was an engineering major and they didn't take many gen ed classes. My middle daughter was a nursing major and they pretty much had certain classes to take and not much room for extras. That's what concerns my daughter, that she is missing out on a semester by not knowing her major. If she goes into a field with not a lot of gen eds, she will be behind. I am having trouble trying to explain myself, so ignore if I make no sense.
Her college does have advisors for undecided students, so I suggested she start there.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 2, 2021 22:21:11 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. This will reassure her, thanks! This makes a lot of sense.
|
|
|
Post by 950nancy on Sept 2, 2021 22:29:20 GMT
I knew in junior high what I wanted to be after my mom kind of crushed my veteranian dreams (thankfully so). I changed the age group I wanted to teach, but everything else was put in place for years prior to college. My son was like me too. He wanted to be an electrical engineer. I have to say almost all of my friends and coworkers changed their majors or weren't sure up until they absolutely had to declare a major. I'd say of you aren't sure, pick a major that pays well so you can pay back your loans!
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 2, 2021 22:40:15 GMT
You're making sense maryland - you named two of the toughest ones for knowing as soon as possible - engineering and nursing - is she actually at all interested in either of those fields? I assume she didn't have to be accepted into engineering at her college? It was one of the things my son wanted to avoid the most - schools that admit by major. There was one school that ticked a ton of his boxes and was a great athletic fit, but you had to be admitted into engineering and he almost didn't apply. I convinced him that worse case, you can start in engineering and bail after a semester or two if you hate it - most of the classes would still be applicable to many stem majors (he's a stem kid so will most likely end up somewhere there) and it's way, way easier to get out of engineering and graduate on time than get into it. I will reiterate that unless she wants engineering or nursing, I really doubt that she needs to stress about first semester. But I think many people really do not grasp just how structured the engineering programs are nor how many requirements. Just to give you some reference. Mechanical Engineering - which my son is considering - requires 8 foundational courses - these are the calculus, diffeq, linear algebra, physics, chemistry requirements before the hard core engineering course start - which there are 20 required sequential courses. Compare that to one of the other majors he's considering - Economics: 5 foundational courses - which are mostly intro econ courses plus 2 math and then 11 classes - most which have multiple options and are not sequential. You have almost twice as many required courses and many of them must be taken in a certain order - it is relatively easy to explore a ton for 2 years and then settle on economics and graduate on time. If you want engineering and are not in Calculus and Chemistry your first semester, it's tough - unless you have ap credit. I guess this was an extremely long winded way to say yes - many, many people change majors, many, many people switch majors. IF and only IF she is at all interested in a major with a ton of requirements like engineering, she might look at the typical 4 year plan and the foundational courses and take the critical ones. I'll also say that looking at 4 year plans was also pretty helpful for my son to realize that a few things he thought might be interesting weren't so hot when looked at the actual classes that made up the major - but then he's an anti-writing kid so pretty easily scared off by too many humanities classes.
|
|
|
Post by crimsoncat05 on Sept 2, 2021 22:44:10 GMT
I'd say of you aren't sure, pick a major that pays well so you can pay back your loans! I know this was meant tongue in cheek, but... it's a lot better if someone figures out what they're interested in, if not what they LOVE to do... otherwise, man- Monday mornings are really difficult when you're faced with going to a job you don't like, just because it pays well and/or has good health benefits. And she doesn't want to be 'a semester behind' ?? She's got the rest of her life to work at her job, whatever it ends up being. I think she could afford to spend an extra semester (or two, even) if it means finding something she loves to do AND something that will help support her monetarily, instead of just something she's 'good' at but not really interested in. (spoken from the viewpoint of seeing my mom going to work every day for years knowing she didn't really like it, but kept the job because she needed to keep the health insurance for us. In retrospect, I feel pretty bad that she worked at a job she hated just because she felt like she had to.)
|
|
artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,034
Jun 26, 2014 1:59:10 GMT
|
Post by artbabe on Sept 2, 2021 23:52:48 GMT
Well, I started as a psych major. Then I switched to French. Then I switched to international business. Then I switched to finance. My senior year we had to take a class outside of our major. I chose a comparative arts class. I immediately knew that I was meant to be an art major. So I called my parents. They said I had to finish the finance degree but I could stay to finish an art degree (about 2 extra years). So I have a BA in Finance and a BFA in Art History. I worked in business for 2 years- hated it. Went back to school for my teaching certificate and a MA in Art Education. I've been teaching art for 28 years. So I'm a really bad person to ask about choosing majors. Edited because I wrote new instead of knew. Total brain fart- I'm appalled.
|
|
|
Post by Basket1lady on Sept 3, 2021 0:11:37 GMT
You're making sense maryland - you named two of the toughest ones for knowing as soon as possible - engineering and nursing - is she actually at all interested in either of those fields? I assume she didn't have to be accepted into engineering at her college? It was one of the things my son wanted to avoid the most - schools that admit by major. There was one school that ticked a ton of his boxes and was a great athletic fit, but you had to be admitted into engineering and he almost didn't apply. I convinced him that worse case, you can start in engineering and bail after a semester or two if you hate it - most of the classes would still be applicable to many stem majors (he's a stem kid so will most likely end up somewhere there) and it's way, way easier to get out of engineering and graduate on time than get into it. I will reiterate that unless she wants engineering or nursing, I really doubt that she needs to stress about first semester. But I think many people really do not grasp just how structured the engineering programs are nor how many requirements. Just to give you some reference. Mechanical Engineering - which my son is considering - requires 8 foundational courses - these are the calculus, diffeq, linear algebra, physics, chemistry requirements before the hard core engineering course start - which there are 20 required sequential courses. Compare that to one of the other majors he's considering - Economics: 5 foundational courses - which are mostly intro econ courses plus 2 math and then 11 classes - most which have multiple options and are not sequential. You have almost twice as many required courses and many of them must be taken in a certain order - it is relatively easy to explore a ton for 2 years and then settle on economics and graduate on time. If you want engineering and are not in Calculus and Chemistry your first semester, it's tough - unless you have ap credit. I guess this was an extremely long winded way to say yes - many, many people change majors, many, many people switch majors. IF and only IF she is at all interested in a major with a ton of requirements like engineering, she might look at the typical 4 year plan and the foundational courses and take the critical ones. I'll also say that looking at 4 year plans was also pretty helpful for my son to realize that a few things he thought might be interesting weren't so hot when looked at the actual classes that made up the major - but then he's an anti-writing kid so pretty easily scared off by too many humanities classes. Yup! These are all excellent points. But if your DD was interested in a STEM major, presumably she is already in both a math and science class? DS (electrical engineering) had a rough time because he did Project Lead the Way in HS and didn’t have to take the 101 level of physics or calculus. He had to petition to skip the 101 levels of those classes. Luckily, he is very skilled in those areas. He would have had a double major in EE and physics if he had been taken physics 101 at college.
|
|
psiluvu
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,217
Location: Canada's Capital
Jun 25, 2014 22:52:26 GMT
|
Post by psiluvu on Sept 3, 2021 0:17:18 GMT
I'm not much help but I have a story to share. Neither of my kids knew/know what they want to do.
My dd(21) went to university wanting to get into med school. She was diagnosed as a T1 diabetic at the end of her freshman year. She had apparently been quite tired and not 100% most of first year so she would not have had the marks for Med school unless she studied 24/7. She didn't wan to do that. She graduated in May and has a Bachelors of Science with a minor in psychology and is now deciding if she wants to do her masters in neuropsychology or go back and get a combined Bachelors and Masters in Social Work.
My ds(18) just graduated high school is taking a year of before university because he has no idea what he wants to do.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 3, 2021 3:49:16 GMT
You're making sense maryland - you named two of the toughest ones for knowing as soon as possible - engineering and nursing - is she actually at all interested in either of those fields? I assume she didn't have to be accepted into engineering at her college? It was one of the things my son wanted to avoid the most - schools that admit by major. There was one school that ticked a ton of his boxes and was a great athletic fit, but you had to be admitted into engineering and he almost didn't apply. I convinced him that worse case, you can start in engineering and bail after a semester or two if you hate it - most of the classes would still be applicable to many stem majors (he's a stem kid so will most likely end up somewhere there) and it's way, way easier to get out of engineering and graduate on time than get into it. I will reiterate that unless she wants engineering or nursing, I really doubt that she needs to stress about first semester. But I think many people really do not grasp just how structured the engineering programs are nor how many requirements. Just to give you some reference. Mechanical Engineering - which my son is considering - requires 8 foundational courses - these are the calculus, diffeq, linear algebra, physics, chemistry requirements before the hard core engineering course start - which there are 20 required sequential courses. Compare that to one of the other majors he's considering - Economics: 5 foundational courses - which are mostly intro econ courses plus 2 math and then 11 classes - most which have multiple options and are not sequential. You have almost twice as many required courses and many of them must be taken in a certain order - it is relatively easy to explore a ton for 2 years and then settle on economics and graduate on time. If you want engineering and are not in Calculus and Chemistry your first semester, it's tough - unless you have ap credit. I guess this was an extremely long winded way to say yes - many, many people change majors, many, many people switch majors. IF and only IF she is at all interested in a major with a ton of requirements like engineering, she might look at the typical 4 year plan and the foundational courses and take the critical ones. I'll also say that looking at 4 year plans was also pretty helpful for my son to realize that a few things he thought might be interesting weren't so hot when looked at the actual classes that made up the major - but then he's an anti-writing kid so pretty easily scared off by too many humanities classes. Yup! These are all excellent points. But if your DD was interested in a STEM major, presumably she is already in both a math and science class? DS (electrical engineering) had a rough time because he did Project Lead the Way in HS and didn’t have to take the 101 level of physics or calculus. He had to petition to skip the 101 levels of those classes. Luckily, he is very skilled in those areas. He would have had a double major in EE and physics if he had been taken physics 101 at college.
She really has no idea. She got all A's in high school with several AP and CHS classes. She seemed to like history the most. For STEM she took AP Computer Science, AP Chemistry, AP Biology and CHS (college in high school so college credits) Accounting, Calculus and Statistics for business type classes. She wanted to be a vet, but doesn't like Biology. So it's frustrating for her. And engineering sounds so hard! I think she would get discouraged by low grades and worries about getting in over her head. She is not interested in nursing or health care (for people, animals are fine). I don't know if public health would interest her.
|
|
|
Post by sunnyd on Sept 3, 2021 5:14:33 GMT
My dd knew from the 7th grade on exactly what she wanted to major in. Middle of sophomore year of college she did a 180 and changed it to something TOTALLY different. It all turned out perfectly. Very few college freshman know what you want to do with the rest of your life and it's ok. She must be 2 weeks into her college career at most. I would let her know that she doesn't have to know right now.
|
|
|
Post by Memo on Sept 3, 2021 8:24:46 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 the colleges that our sons attended are structured the same way as peppermintpatty describes. Our 2 oldest attended NAU where they took a combo of classes for their major, as well as gen eds right off the bat. Our oldest was a hospitality major and took intro classes to hotel and restaurant classes, his business math, as well as English and maybe 1-2 gen eds his first semester. Our middle son went into school with a major of mechanical engineering, but wasn't too sure as a freshman until he took his first semester of classes. He took calculus, chemistry, physics, a couple of intro engineering classes and then 2nd semester he was geared more towards mechanical engineering. Our youngest son attends U of AZ and he is a direct admit to the Eller Business program. This is a more standardized program, but they all have to take Econ, Financial/Managerial Acct, a few more general business classes, as well as some gen eds before he can apply to the "meat" of his program. Even though he is a direct admit due to high grades in high school and his ACT score, he still needs to keep a 3.5 GPA to pick his major. Those without this direct admission have to take a 100 question test that covers econ, acct, business concepts, as well as meeting with an interview panel to be accepted into the higher level classes and enter their program. They only have 2 chances with this process and if they don't make it, they have to pick a different major or a different business path, more of a Bachelor of Arts business degree, rather than a Bachelor of Science. That said, you daughter isn't the only one in the same boat. Lots of kids go to college without a true path. Have her go see a career counselor/advisor and like others said, they'll figure out an area of interest and she can go from there. Good luck to her!
|
|
|
Post by Basket1lady on Sept 3, 2021 10:27:39 GMT
Yup! These are all excellent points. But if your DD was interested in a STEM major, presumably she is already in both a math and science class? DS (electrical engineering) had a rough time because he did Project Lead the Way in HS and didn’t have to take the 101 level of physics or calculus. He had to petition to skip the 101 levels of those classes. Luckily, he is very skilled in those areas. He would have had a double major in EE and physics if he had been taken physics 101 at college. She really has no idea. She got all A's in high school with several AP and CHS classes. She seemed to like history the most. For STEM she took AP Computer Science, AP Chemistry, AP Biology and CHS (college in high school so college credits) Accounting, Calculus and Statistics for business type classes. She wanted to be a vet, but doesn't like Biology. So it's frustrating for her. And engineering sounds so hard! I think she would get discouraged by low grades and worries about getting in over her head. She is not interested in nursing or health care (for people, animals are fine). I don't know if public health would interest her. She can major in anything that she wants to go to veterinary school. But she’s going to have to take some biology classes or they won’t admit her. Our DD is in physical therapy school now and majored in psychology. But she still had to take calculus, physics, organic chemistry, statistics, and anatomy. The process is pretty competitive and a student has to show that they can manage that course load.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 3, 2021 12:29:51 GMT
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 the colleges that our sons attended are structured the same way as peppermintpatty describes. Our 2 oldest attended NAU where they took a combo of classes for their major, as well as gen eds right off the bat. Our oldest was a hospitality major and took intro classes to hotel and restaurant classes, his business math, as well as English and maybe 1-2 gen eds his first semester. Our middle son went into school with a major of mechanical engineering, but wasn't too sure as a freshman until he took his first semester of classes. He took calculus, chemistry, physics, a couple of intro engineering classes and then 2nd semester he was geared more towards mechanical engineering. Our youngest son attends U of AZ and he is a direct admit to the Eller Business program. This is a more standardized program, but they all have to take Econ, Financial/Managerial Acct, a few more general business classes, as well as some gen eds before he can apply to the "meat" of his program. Even though he is a direct admit due to high grades in high school and his ACT score, he still needs to keep a 3.5 GPA to pick his major. Those without this direct admission have to take a 100 question test that covers econ, acct, business concepts, as well as meeting with an interview panel to be accepted into the higher level classes and enter their program. They only have 2 chances with this process and if they don't make it, they have to pick a different major or a different business path, more of a Bachelor of Arts business degree, rather than a Bachelor of Science. That said, you daughter isn't the only one in the same boat. Lots of kids go to college without a true path. Have her go see a career counselor/advisor and like others said, they'll figure out an area of interest and she can go from there. Good luck to her! Yes, I think that if she doesn't start engineering classes now, than she can't do engineering. They do have a very structered program. I don't know if the classes have to start in the fall for the program? Meaning if she decides later this semester to do engineering, then she is in college 5 yrs. (and just starts next year). I am not an engineer, so I don't understand their coursework, but my husband is, and said he had only a couple electives, the school had structured classes for him from freshman year.
|
|
|
Post by smasonnc on Sept 3, 2021 13:26:54 GMT
She has the background to succeed in a STEM field so she should at least head in that direction. Not everyone can hack those fields so her prospects would be better after graduation.
Yeah, engineering is hard, but if were easy everyone would do it. Engineers usually have jobs by Christmas of their senior year, but we only know 1 out of probably 20 who actually works in Sports Marketing and her dad got her the job. Kids who major in “easy” majors have a tougher road after graduation.
Her career might not have been invented yet, so a STEM field will enable her to take advantage of opportunities that will exist in 10 years. I have 2 kids whose fields didn’t exist when they graduated. (Fintech and cloud collaboration software). She should see her counselor to lay out a plan and visit the career center to see some options. She might also talk to some women in tech if there is a group in your area.
I would highly recommend making a plan so she can study abroad. Our kids couldn’t get it into their schedules but three of them ended up living overseas. Best education ever.[/quote]
|
|
|
Post by auntkelly on Sept 3, 2021 13:54:56 GMT
At the university my son attended (Notre Dame) everyone took the same general courses Freshman year. No one declared a major until sophomore year.
Everyone took math Freshman year. However, they strongly suggested that if you were considering majoring in engineering, you take the math course geared for engineers. (My son graduated in 2015, I assume they still do it this way).
My son ended up majoring in chemical engineering and managed to graduate in four years, as did the vast majority of his classmates. I thought it was great that he didn't have the pressure of trying decide on a major before he ever set foot in college.
After my son graduated, he chose to work in finance for two years, before going to law school. His plan was to become a patent lawyer, but he ended up in the litigation department instead. His engineering background is very helpful in many different areas of litigation, but especially in environmental and oil and gas cases. (The firm he works at does a lot of these types of cases).
Some people take a very straight path to reach their ultimate career goals and other people take a very curvy path to get where they are going. It's probably a whole lot cheaper (and much easier on parents) if the child takes the straight path, but the kids who take the curvy path certainly learn a lot about themselves during the process and can end up every bit as successful and happy as the kids who took the straight path.
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Sept 3, 2021 14:03:33 GMT
So I'm going to get up on my soap box for a second. A boy that has taken your daughter's high school course load with success would be encouraged to pursue STEM especially if she wanted to be a vet. Did she really not like Biology, or could there be teacher, Covid - virtual learning or other issues. Frankly for vet school, she'll take more Chemistry than biology, but she needs to like animal science, anatomy etc.
If she's passionate about history and wants to pursue that - wonderful! But I HATE, HATE, HATE that we tell bright capable girls - but engineering seems so hard. Yes engineering is hard. Yes most people in engineering don't get straight As - that's okay - you don't need a 4.0 to be an engineer. And no, I'm not suggesting everyone should do engineering. There are many, many paths to a successful, happy life. But we as a society CONSISTENTLY discourage girls from going into "hard" majors and careers.
If she was my daughter, I'd encourage her to take some math and science classes - see how she likes them in college. In addition to other areas which may be interesting.
|
|
used2scrap
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,034
Jan 29, 2016 3:02:55 GMT
|
Post by used2scrap on Sept 3, 2021 14:12:28 GMT
Well my wildlife conservation and biology major dd thinks she wants to be a tattoo artist. So I’ve got nothing right now but stay the course, it’s quite common for multiple major changes...
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 3, 2021 14:16:51 GMT
At the university my son attended (Notre Dame) everyone took the same general courses Freshman year. No one declared a major until sophomore year. Everyone took math Freshman year. However, they strongly suggested that if you were considering majoring in engineering, you take the math course geared for engineers. (My son graduated in 2015, I assume they still do it this way). My son ended up majoring in chemical engineering and managed to graduate in four years, as did the vast majority of his classmates. I thought it was great that he didn't have the pressure of trying decide on a major before he ever set foot in college. After my son graduated, he chose to work in finance for two years, before going to law school. His plan was to become a patent lawyer, but he ended up in the litigation department instead. His engineering background is very helpful in many different areas of litigation, but especially in environmental and oil and gas cases. (The firm he works at does a lot of these types of cases). Some people take a very straight path to reach their ultimate career goals and other people take a very curvy path to get where they are going. It's probably a whole lot cheaper (and much easier on parents) if the child takes the straight path, but the kids who take the curvy path certainly learn a lot about themselves during the process and can end up every bit as successful and happy as the kids who took the straight path. I love that! That probably takes pressure off the students their freshman year.
|
|
|
Post by maryland on Sept 3, 2021 14:24:12 GMT
So I'm going to get up on my soap box for a second. A boy that has taken your daughter's high school course load with success would be encouraged to pursue STEM especially if she wanted to be a vet. Did she really not like Biology, or could there be teacher, Covid - virtual learning or other issues. Frankly for vet school, she'll take more Chemistry than biology, but she needs to like animal science, anatomy etc. If she's passionate about history and wants to pursue that - wonderful! But I HATE, HATE, HATE that we tell bright capable girls - but engineering seems so hard. Yes engineering is hard. Yes most people in engineering don't get straight As - that's okay - you don't need a 4.0 to be an engineer. And no, I'm not suggesting everyone should do engineering. There are many, many paths to a successful, happy life. But we as a society CONSISTENTLY discourage girls from going into "hard" majors and careers. If she was my daughter, I'd encourage her to take some math and science classes - see how she likes them in college. In addition to other areas which may be interesting. Yes, it could have been the virtual learning and teacher for AP Biology. Her university does have an Animal Science program and her dorm is very close to the campus farm!
Good point about engineers not having the best grades. My husband is an electrical engineer and his grades were not the best. But he has had a great career! I will have to remind her of that. And I just remembered that my sister in laws nephew got a mechanical engineering degree from the same university (7 yrs. ago) so she could talk to him about it. Thanks for your tips! I will tell her that if that's a career she would like to pursue (engineering, veterinary medicine), to go for it. If she ends up not liking it, the classes for both would likely be helpful to another major or career. I appreciate your advice!
|
|
|
Post by Memo on Sept 3, 2021 19:56:51 GMT
Both of the colleges that our sons attended are structured the same way as peppermintpatty describes. Our 2 oldest attended NAU where they took a combo of classes for their major, as well as gen eds right off the bat. Our oldest was a hospitality major and took intro classes to hotel and restaurant classes, his business math, as well as English and maybe 1-2 gen eds his first semester. Our middle son went into school with a major of mechanical engineering, but wasn't too sure as a freshman until he took his first semester of classes. He took calculus, chemistry, physics, a couple of intro engineering classes and then 2nd semester he was geared more towards mechanical engineering. Our youngest son attends U of AZ and he is a direct admit to the Eller Business program. This is a more standardized program, but they all have to take Econ, Financial/Managerial Acct, a few more general business classes, as well as some gen eds before he can apply to the "meat" of his program. Even though he is a direct admit due to high grades in high school and his ACT score, he still needs to keep a 3.5 GPA to pick his major. Those without this direct admission have to take a 100 question test that covers econ, acct, business concepts, as well as meeting with an interview panel to be accepted into the higher level classes and enter their program. They only have 2 chances with this process and if they don't make it, they have to pick a different major or a different business path, more of a Bachelor of Arts business degree, rather than a Bachelor of Science. That said, you daughter isn't the only one in the same boat. Lots of kids go to college without a true path. Have her go see a career counselor/advisor and like others said, they'll figure out an area of interest and she can go from there. Good luck to her! Yes, I think that if she doesn't start engineering classes now, than she can't do engineering. They do have a very structered program. I don't know if the classes have to start in the fall for the program? Meaning if she decides later this semester to do engineering, then she is in college 5 yrs. (and just starts next year). I am not an engineer, so I don't understand their coursework, but my husband is, and said he had only a couple electives, the school had structured classes for him from freshman year. Honestly, maryland, I don't think it's too late. At NAU, there is some wiggle room to take some courses out of sequence, but of course there are some pre-reqs they need before taking certain courses (you'd have to take chem and the lab to move onto physics and its lab; you would also have to follow the math sequence in order, calc 1, calc 2, diff eq, etc.) If she's interested in engineering, have her talk to her adviser and see if she can take any classes to start an engineering degree. There are always going to be winter and summer sessions that she could "catch up" if she wanted to. Even if she's in school for 5 years, that could give her a chance to get a minor. A lot of the engineering students at NAU will double up on some math classes and end up getting their math minors.
|
|
|
Post by SallyPA on Sept 3, 2021 20:42:16 GMT
My freshman daughter has expressed the same feeling. And that her classes are “so boring” compared to theirs. There is a career counseling office on campus. They utilize several tools and programs to help kids figure out a career path that is good for their interests, strengths and weaknesses, and personality. She is getting plugged in there, but they don’t start their counseling until October (no clue why). So I am just trying to encourage her, most freshman are taking the same similar classes, etc.
|
|
|
Post by kraft4fun on Sept 3, 2021 22:32:37 GMT
Oldest, wanted to be an English teacher, graduated with Bachelors in Archeology and minor in History. Now has her own business doing quite well with woodburning and is married with a newborn, LOVES IT.
My middle went to college planning on forensics/criminal justice, graduated family counseling and early childhood education. Worked in daycare a couple years, got married, had kids and joined the Coast Guard and LOVES IT!!!
Youngest started early childhood education, ended with Bachelors in Hospitality Management and works in Event Planning, again LOVES IT!!! Also married with a 1.5 yo.
More often than not major's change a few times and easiest thing to do is just get gen ed classes out of the way, they are the same for most.
|
|
|
Post by smasonnc on Sept 5, 2021 13:35:04 GMT
At the university my son attended (Notre Dame) everyone took the same general courses Freshman year. No one declared a major until sophomore year. Some people take a very straight path to reach their ultimate career goals and other people take a very curvy path to get where they are going. My daughter, also a Notre Dame grad, wants to go to med school. Their $#*t counseling department is making that path much more “curvy” than it needs to be. They insisted that she absolutely had to take 21 hours her first semester and she worked so hard she was sick most of her freshman year. Her grades suffered and she spent the next four years trying to bring up her GPA and dealing with the anxiety that she might not get in. After graduation she got her EMT license and she works in an ER to get experience while she applies. OP, the moral of this story is don’t let your daughter, or her school, get so caught up in graduating “on time.” In a few years, she won’t even remember the kids who have their majors picked already so she shouldn’t let them influence her path.
|
|