How to help your child pick a major

Parents: How to Help Your Child Choose a College Major

Every parent wants their child to succeed, especially when it comes to college admissions. For many parents, the college admissions process is the first time your student will be making major life decisions on their own, and these decisions will probably have huge consequences for your child’s future. One such decision is choosing a college major.

When your student applies to college, they’ll have the option to apply with the intention to take on a specific major at the institution in question. While it is not required that your child has chosen their major by the time they apply to or attend college, you’d be surprised how much simpler the college process becomes if your student has an idea of what major they might want to pursue.

As a parent, why is it important for your child to choose a major early on in the college admissions process? How can you help your child make this important decision? What if, even after your guidance, your child still can’t choose? For the answers to all of these questions and more, read on.

When Should Your Child Be Thinking About Their Major?

Each college/university has a different policy on this, but most students don’t officially declare a major until a year or two into their college career. However, we at CollegeVine strongly recommend that your student narrow down their major well before that, even as they’re forming their college list before they start applying. Why so soon?

Firstly, if your student has an idea early on of what they want to study, they can use their remaining time in high school to build a competitive academic and extracurricular profile for that major. For example, if your student knows they want to study Computer Science, they should enroll in those technical courses, enter some robotics competitions or hackathons, and join computer-science-related extracurriculars. The sooner they decide on what they want to study in college, the more time they have to prepare.

Secondly, if your student knows their major, this could actually help them narrow down their college list and guide their college research. With a major in mind, your child will know to apply to only those colleges that have solid, reputable academic programs for that major. Major specific college searches are much simpler and can often deliver a healthy spread of general academic rankings while maintaining high major ranking throughout.

If your child doesn’t know what major they want to pursue before they apply to college, that’s okay too. However, as a parent, you should encourage them to try and figure it out before the end of their first year. It’s imperative to narrow it down once your student starts college because, until they have decided on a major, they can’t move forward in fulfilling all of the course requirements needed for them to graduate on time. For this reason, the sooner they know what they want to study, the better.

Strategies To Help Your Child Pick A Major

Okay, so picking a major sooner rather than later is important, but how can parents help their child make that important decision? This is tricky because you want to give your student the necessary guidance and direction, but you don’t want to be overbearing to the point of telling your child what they should study.

Thankfully, we at CollegeVine have worked with many parents and students to narrow down a college major. Here are some of our best tips for helping your child choose a major:

Consider Their Current Interests: You and your student should both take a moment to sit down and think about the extracurriculars, hobbies, and academic subjects that your student excels in. You may notice a pattern in these activities that indicates your student’s desire to focus on a particular subject. For example, if your student is involved in Mock Trial, Model UN, Speech and Debate, and tends to like Communications and liberal arts classes, you may have an aspiring Political Science major on your hands. Of course, most students’ academic and extracurricular profiles aren’t that cut and dry, so you’ll need to chat with your student about which activities and classes they seem the most drawn to. That should help you narrow it down at least a little.

Choose Electives that Explore Different Interests: If your child is truly clueless as to what direction they want their college education to take them, you can encourage them to broaden their horizons by trying a bunch of potential subjects that may interest them. This can mean signing up for some unique electives in various subjects or joining various clubs to see which ones they like best. Either way, your child will likely gain a better understanding of what subjects they tend to gravitate towards, and they’ll be rewarded varied and interesting experiences in the process.

Sit In On College Classes: If the goal is to figure out what to study in college, then what better solution than testing the water in a college setting! Indeed, if you and your student have the ability and the time, drive up to your local college campus and have your student sit in on a couple of classes. This will let them get a feel for the kind of concepts that they would be learning and whether their interests would run parallel to those potential futures. Of course, there are pitfalls to this strategy. It may be hard to make it all the way up to a college campus, and it’s even harder to find a schedule of classes to choose from. Your student will also need to look into gaining permission from the professor to sit in on the class in question. Finally, college courses are difficult and often require a lot of study prior to class. Without proper preparation, such an experience could actually throw your student of the scent of their perfect major.

Shadow/Talk To Someone In A Related Profession: If your child has a vague idea of what they might want to study, you can help them narrow it down by getting them in touch with someone in a career related to that field of study. For example, if your child thinks they may want to pursue the sciences, try and get them to shadow a doctor or a lab technician. This will require reaching out to friends and family to establish connections. Your student will need to reach out as well. However, getting that one-on-one time with someone who has gone down the path your child is considering could be critical in helping your child decide if this is the right choice for them.

What If Your Student Still Can’t Choose?

If, despite you and your student’s best efforts, they are unable to decide on a major by the time applications roll around, that is okay. They can always apply to and enter college as an undeclared major. All this means is that they will need to spend a few semesters taking diverse introductory classes to try and narrow down what they want to do. While this may not be the most efficient way for them to finish their degree, they will have the time they need to make an educated choice while in college.

Also, it’s important to note that the major your child determines in high school may not represent a static and final choice. Your student will most likely to be able to–and in fact, most college students do–change their major during college. It’s incredibly common. So you can rest assured that there is time before your child will need to make an absolute decision.

Finally, if switching majors isn’t an option, your child can also decide to pursue a double major or a minor in a subject they end up being very passionate about. Most institutions make it so that, with some careful planning and some dedicated study, students who pursue double majors and minors can still graduate in four years.

Thus, while we recommend that your child try to choose a college major as soon as possible, it is not the end of the world if they don’t. In fact, in our experience, many students end up changing their degree plan once they enter college anyway.

For More Information

Does your child need some guidance in choosing their major? Perhaps these blog posts can help:

How To Pick A College As An Undecided Major

Why You Should Check Out A College’s Top Majors

Deciding Between a Liberal Arts and Professional Majors

Choosing A Major For Your College Application

Want access to expert college guidance — for free? When you create your free CollegeVine account, you will find out your real admissions chances, build a best-fit school list, learn how to improve your profile, and get your questions answered by experts and peers—all for free. Sign up for your CollegeVine account today to get a boost on your college journey.

How to Choose a Major When Your Child is Undecided

Updated on September 10th, 2021

When it’s time to choose a major, many teens are at a loss for words. The idea of selecting a subject that will define their future is anxiety-inducing to say the least, and can leave some students paralyzed. In some cases, your child might not have a clue as to what they want to select while others may be torn between two (or more) fields of study.

But, having a difficult time when they have to choose a major isn’t the end of the world.

In fact, it’s actually pretty normal to find the decision hard.

Luckily, there are ways to help your child narrow down what they want to do, regardless of whether they are in high school or have already started college.

To help them along this journey, here are some tips for making the process of easier when they need to choose a major.

Often, high school juniors and seniors actually have some opportunities that can allow them to explore possible majors before they commit to a particular program (or even a specific school).

Here are some of the things they can do to make it easier to choose a major.

Use Electives to Make It Easier to Choose a Major

Most high schools still allow students to choose their electives or select from multiple classes to satisfy a single requirement. That means they could try classes that fit their interests or could apply to a particular college major.

If your child wants to see if an engineering major is the right choice for them, then they may benefit more from a physics class than biology. After taking a physics course and enjoying it, they might be able to choose engineering with confidence when they have to choose a major. And, if they don’t like it, then they know it is better to move on to other opportunities.

True electives can also be enlightening when your child has to choose a major. Students considering a career in certain design fields, even if they are technical in nature, might learn a lot about whether their potential career is a right choice by taking various art classes. If they’re considering a career in software design, then computer electives (especially those that teach programming) can be a safe introduction into the field.

When your child has the power to pick a class, encourage them to select a class that can help them choose a major because the more they learn about their likes and dislikes now, the easier it will be.

Lastly, some high schools are beginning certificate programs where students can focus on a major while in high school to test it out. This is something worth discussing with your child’s school.

Class Auditing

Many colleges and universities will allow others to sit in on classes, a process known as auditing, to help them see what the course is like. Typically, people can attend for free, but won’t receive any credit for being in the class.

If your child can’t settle on a major, see if a nearby school will let them audit a class that takes place outside of your student’s high school schedule. This not only shows them what is required to begin pursuing a particular career but also gives them valuable insight into the college experience.

Job Shadowing

Another option for checking out possible majors is to shadow professionals working in various fields. This allows your child to see what it is like to work in certain jobs or industries, and may make it easier to decide whether a particular major is the right move.

Finding a job shadowing opportunity does take some legwork, as they may need to contact businesses to see if such an arrangement can be achieved. However, the learning experience can be incredibly eye-opening, so it is worth putting in the effort.

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Lastly, understand is that they can choose a major that lists them as “undeclared. ” This just means your child knows they want to get a degree, but they haven’t completely narrowed down exactly what they want to study.

For example, the University of California, Davis, offers six courses of study with an undeclared major. These options focus on larger categories, like life sciences or fine arts, and allow students to begin the foundation of their education (often their first year) while exploring different opportunities within each larger field.

As your child continues their coursework, they may find a specialty that speaks to them. When that happens, they can simply choose a major from there and adjust their graduation plan accordingly.

While this approach isn’t necessary for many students, understanding that it is an option your child can exercise may take some pressure off. And that, by itself, can help them move forward.

The Challenge of Choosing Undeclared with Scholarships

One challenge with choosing “undeclared” as a major is with scholarships. Often, scholarship committees want to see that students have an idea of what they want to do. While we all know many students change their minds once they get to college, it is still best to try to pick one career path that they can talk about in their applications. Again, committees understand it can change! Still, it’s better to choose something and own it for the time being than to simply state they are unsure.

If you and your child need some help finding scholarships to apply to, join me for my next free online training, 6 Steps to Quickly Secures Scholarships for College (and Avoid Student Loan Debt). Click here or go to https://thescholarshipsystem.com/freewebinar.

Some students enter college still questioning their major. Whether they enroll as undeclared or choose a major without being certain, there are still things they can do.

One thing your child should keep in mind is, even when you do choose a major, that decision doesn’t have to be forever. If your student selects a field and becomes unhappy with their decision, they can change their major!

If your child isn’t fully settled on a subject, encourage them to select a major that broadly meets their needs. For example, many students know if they prefer science over history, math, and English. If so, have them choose a science-oriented major and institute an exploratory approach when they start classes. Choosing a general ‘college’ within the university and sticking to it will help avoid them losing credits as the requirements should be similar between majors within one specific college.

An Exploratory Approach to Their Freshman Year

Often, college graduation plans have some level of flexibility. Sure, there are mandatory classes, but there are also electives and the option to choose from a list of courses that meet degree requirements.

If your child isn’t sure about their major, encourage them to take advantage of their freshman year by doing some exploring. Recommend they select at least a couple of classes specific to their major, but to branch out into other areas of interest that can still help them get their degree.

Many students focus on the general educational requirements (like English, math, and history) of their program during their freshman year. While getting these handled is a great idea, they shouldn’t clog up their entire schedule with these if they don’t have their major figured out just yet.

See if your child can figure out a mix of general education classes, major specific courses, and opportunities to explore other topics of interest. That way, they can make solid forward progress while still having the flexibility to choose a major that better suits them if their original selection turns out to be a poor match.

Don’t Be Afraid of Changing Majors

Did you know that some schools offer a staggering 250+ majors? With so many options, it’s no wonder that choosing a major is a challenge.

Then, once a major is selected, approximately 50 to 70 percent of them will change their mind and end up pursuing another degree plan. Some college students even change their major multiple times along the way.

With that many students deciding to change directions, it’s apparent that shifting the original plan is common and doesn’t indicate a larger problem; it just shows how much learning and growing young people do during their late teens and early 20s.

High schoolers and college students are still discovering a lot about who they are and who they want to be, so what they originally thought was right for them might not fit the bill over the long-term.

If your child is considering changing their major, neither you nor they should be afraid to make that decision. It is always better to correct the course and choose a major that will make them happier throughout their career than stick with something that leaves them dissatisfied.

In the end, the goal is for your child to live a happy and productive life and, if taking some extra time to get their major right is part of that journey, that’s perfectly okay.

Did you find this helpful? If so, share it with your friends and family so they don’t forget anything either

tips on how to choose a profession for a child, tests

1. Explore the range of interests

Sit down with your child and remember everything that was good for him or is given, as well as what you once wanted to be realized in. Someone will be able to outline at least approximate areas of potential professional activity, but often teenagers have no idea what their soul lies in, and this makes it difficult to choose a future profession. Then move on to the next item.

2. Try everything

The task of a parent is to give maximum information about existing professions. Tell what you know yourself and take your child to master classes, seminars, workshops and open days at enterprises.

Engage your circle of acquaintances in a variety of specialties. Ask your friends to tell your child what and how they do at work to help him choose an activity he likes.

Another way is to invite the child to try himself as a volunteer at career guidance events. This will allow you to immerse yourself in different branches of professions and look at the kitchen from the inside, as well as listen to the speeches of successful professionals.

Allow your child to try new circles, sections, clubs. The more he tries, the more meaningful the choice of profession will be.

How to find your dream profession: a navigator from the Foxford Home School curators →

3. Don't run after money

A common adult mistake is to push a child to a profession that is considered the most promising at the moment. For example, a Chinese language specialist (after all, China is the future!) or a programmer (what money is in IT).

But a career of convenience, and not of love, will not bring proper pleasure to a teenager. Teach your child not to look at what the masses are doing, but to find their own way. A good specialist will be in demand in any field. The main thing is to do what makes the fire in the eyes, and not turn money into an end in itself.

4. Offer a career guidance test

Career guidance is a whole system of measures designed to help you choose a profession. A tests is one of the most convenient diagnostic methods. They are aimed at identifying various psychological characteristics of a student: temperament, thinking characteristics, communication skills, inclinations and professional interests.

At Foxford Online Home School you can get a diagnostic developed by Skillfolio especially for our students. It aims to identify the abilities, skills and professional roles of the child. Among the interesting and useful skills that Skillfolio analyzes are communication, network literacy, the ability to think systematically, and the level of critical thinking.

5. Do not press

The child must choose a profession on his own. You can advise, give recommendations and express an opinion. But do not insist on your choice - let the child decide for himself what to do.

It is also not recommended to force a child to enter a university for the sake of a crust: if possible, it is better to spend a couple of years on self-determination, and then find the ideal profession by entering the university consciously. But in the case of boys, the prospect, alas, is complicated by the army.

Be a supportive and understanding parent. Remember that the life of a son or daughter does not belong to you, you cannot control absolutely everything. Let the children make their own choices.

Resume

If you are concerned about how to help your child choose a future profession, follow our recommendations. Decide on the interests of your son or daughter, introduce your child to different specialties, teach them not to follow the crowd and take a career guidance test and sign up for a consultation with a tutor. This will help to identify the type of personality and tell you which area of development to choose. Leave the final opinion to the teenager - let him decide for himself.

8 tips for parents on how to help their child choose a profession

February 27, 2017Education

Not all schoolchildren are able to read the compulsory literature program, and we want them to choose a profession for life. Parents need to tell the graduate where to go to study, while not ruining his future.

Free higher education in Russia is given only once. Entrusting the choice of a profession to schoolchildren, when many graduates are not even 18 years old, is a dangerous decision. According to Rosstat, only about 40% of the population work in our specialty. The numbers are not just hinting, they scream that more than half of the graduates have wasted several years on unnecessary study.

It is normal for parents to help their child make a choice. The only question is how to do it.

1. Cultivate independence in a child

Unfortunately, it is too late to do this a year or two before graduation, an independent child had to be raised from birth, but it is better to start at least sometime. The main rule in career guidance is simple:

The child must choose a profession on his own.

Only the person himself knows what he needs. And only in this way the child will not blame the parents if something goes wrong, or think that he missed his chance.

I wanted to study acting. But dad said that all the actors remain in the regional theater, earn little and drink too much. An engineer is another matter. I was obedient and entered the radio department. It was fun at the Polytechnic University, for 6 years I participated in the student spring, but there is zero knowledge in my head, as well as the desire to work as an engineer, even though I have a master's degree. Because of this, all my life I have been haunted by a feeling of unfulfillment and the thought that everything could have turned out somehow differently. Although I understand that dad is right and the work of the actors is bestial. I don’t blame my parents, I blame myself for not doing what I dreamed of.

Maria

editor

2. Find out what professions are in demand

Only they are really in demand, not “prestigious”. To understand this, you do not need to read the selections and ratings. It is necessary to open the sites of employment centers and sites that help in finding a job, and carefully look at the vacancies.

Grandfather advised me to choose something related to foreign languages, because it is in demand. I tried it, got carried away, so it was easy to follow his advice. Demand faded into the background, because it became interesting. Now I'm at my favorite job in the IT field. Grandpa will not advise bad!

Angelina

translator

Viewing vacancies helps to assess the popularity of the profession, possible salary and requirements for applicants. It may turn out that one higher education is not enough for a dream job: in parallel, you need to learn languages and attend some courses.

3. Show professions from the inside

Adults have a large circle of acquaintances with a variety of specialties. Ask your friends to tell your child what and how they do at work. It is important to hear about the most ordinary daily activities. For example, about how you have to write letters, how you work with drawings in real conditions, how you need to come exactly at eight in the morning, how to fill out reports and drink tea with accounting.

Many companies hold open days. At such events, you need to ask the right questions: not about high performance and a great goal, but about the routine, the arrangement of jobs.

My parents are teachers. They conjured not to go to pedagogy, so I didn’t go.

Lida

advertising specialist

We have a vague idea of many professions. It is better to get to know the work better than to spend several years and face a conflict of expectation and reality.

It is also important that health should correspond to working conditions. To understand whether a child will pull or not is possible only in combat conditions, or at least during a frank conversation with a representative of the profession.

4. Find study options in other cities and countries

Often we do not even suspect where and with whom we can work, we have no idea what specialties are available in universities even in neighboring cities, not to mention universities on the other side of the country. And completely in vain.

When it came time to choose who to be, I was only 15 years old. In my city it was impossible to study in the specialty that I dreamed of, and the school had a different profile. In order to enter, it was necessary to transfer to another school, study according to a special program, ride several hundred kilometers to another city and submit documents. I couldn’t do it, and my parents weren’t puzzled, as a result I chose a profession from those that were available nearby. I'm almost 30, I still regret it.

Nastya

copywriter

Of course, moving a child to another city is not a pleasure walk in the park, it is more difficult to keep a student at a distance. But it's worth it if it's a profession for life.

5. Forget about career guidance tests

Especially those that are scattered on the Internet. They are based on banal questions and do not take into account a huge number of professions. Choosing the future based on average testing is a hopelessness when you don’t know what to do at all.

6. Do not confuse your favorite lesson at school and your profession

Standard logic: if you are good at mathematics, go to study as a “computer engineer”, if you are good at literature, become a philologist, if you don’t like anything, then go to a manager, then take the Unified State Examination in social studies.

This knowledge needs to be adjusted to the goal, and not to choose a job based on knowledge.

It is necessary to choose a profession in which the child will earn money, and not a favorite subject. Maybe the child likes the teacher, a comfortable classroom and beautiful visual materials, but there will be nothing like that in the profession.

7. Don't force him to go to university

If the child has not yet decided who to be, give him time and the opportunity to think about who to become. Nothing (except for the guys' fear of the army) prevents them from working for a couple of years after school, getting to know real life, devoting time to educational courses and finding oneself. If you can't imagine not studying after high school, try college. There, the exams are simpler, the cost of education is lower, and the finished profession will turn out faster.

My mother made me go to a technical college (I didn't have the right to vote at 15), which I was not very happy about, so I tried with all my might to get me expelled. Did not work out. After college, I myself have already chosen a university and a specialty. Now I don't regret it. After college, I was sent to practice at AvtoVAZ. At the age of 18, I already had a normal position and salary.

Maria

manager

The craze for higher education does not lead to anything good. Often a diploma is just a piece of paper, behind which there is not a single gram of knowledge and skills. But there are several dead years and spent hundreds of thousands.

8. Don't force them to complete their studies

In the period from 18 to 23 years old, a person grows up sharply, this is the age of formation. Sometimes the eyes open and the student realizes that he is not doing his job: he finds a more interesting specialty, realizes what his goal is. As a rule, this is already a more conscious choice than the decision of yesterday's schoolboy, such a turn will bring more benefits than a dull graduation, because "once you start, finish it."

After the ninth grade, the class teacher advised my mother to send me to a technical school. My parents didn’t really choose, but sent me to a construction school, because all my mother’s colleagues graduated from it. I was told that the main thing is to get a diploma. I humbly agreed. Was exhausted for four years. After that, he independently decided to receive higher education in another specialty. Parents agreed, although they said: “Is it really in vain that you have been unlearned for four years?”

Anton

designer

A diploma of education and several years of study is not a contract for life. Everything can be changed at any moment.