my high school senior/prep for college

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-13-2007
my high school senior/prep for college
15
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 6:01pm

I have an 18 year old son who has been accepted to Ohio State University in the fall.
He has declared engineering as his major
When asked about why he chose engineering as his major he says feels like it's his best option
He really doesn't know what he wants to do for sure
My concern is that he doesn't have the vision for his future that he will need to sustain him through the hard work.
I was wondering is anyone could advise me as to how to best prepare him for his future plans.

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Avatar for suzyk2118
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-1997
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 7:12pm

I guess I'm not clear on the issue. I could use more insight to your concerns. What is your concern, that he can't handle 'engineering' or that his goals are undefined, or...? Thanks.

Sue (I double majored in math and physics, which I found quite challenging. I then switched to EE for a masters because of a specific field I wanted to pursue - I found that MUCH easier than math or physics.)

Avatar for ivillage_sista
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 7:58pm

My daughter is in her 2nd year of college. She started off wanting to major in Accounting and just NOW decided to chage to go into criminal justice (lol).

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Tue, 03-13-2007 - 11:45pm

Our DS23 went to U of M and majored in Civil Engineering. We weren't sure what to recommend to him, as he was good in both humanities and math/science. We just told him that it's hard to go back and pick up on the math/sci if one starts out in humanities, and because he knew he wanted to earn big bucks (don't they all?), he chose engineering.

The coursework WAS rigorous, and civil is known to be one of the easier fields of engineering. He did his share of partying, too, and ended up with a 3.0 and a good job. He's happy now, although he does occasionally talk about going for his master's.

DS17, is definitely math and science, and NOT humanities. He's always been curious about the human body and his favorite subjects are biology and chemistry. He says he wants to be a pharmacist, but we know that it is tough getting into a school of pharmacy and he may end up changing to some other branch of health science, or who knows?....Maybe something totally different!

Your DS will find out once he starts college if engineering is right for him. Did he ever job shadow? Our kids did that for some class in HS and DS17 dedided that he DEFINITELY could never be an accountant--way too boring. (Never mind that acct/finance was my career for about 8 years.) It might be worth skipping a 1/2 day of school to job shadow an engineer if your DS has never done it. DS23 considered marketing, and with his personality he'd be good at it. Now in civil engineering, he just might end up selling the firm's services and he'll get the best of both worlds. The opportunities in engineering are quite varied.

Good luck to your DS at Ohio State!

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-20-2005
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 11:42am

I teach at community college and most of our students do not know their majors so we encourage them to take a variety of electives so they can see what they are interested in. Unless he feels that this is the path he wants to pursue, I would recommend that he just take general education courses and some electives during his freshmen year. He should also talk with an advisor and explain to them he's not sure but he's interested in this area. They deal with this all the time and should be able to work with him but ultimately he's going to have to sit down and think about this. Our high school has different technology paths students can choose to study. they get to shadow various workers and do 6 week internships in their fields. This was a tremendous help for DD. It's probably too late for you son to get into this program but if they have technology courses, he might want to talk to the various instructors at his high school and seek adivce as well.

Good Luck to your son!

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-1999
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 2:48pm

I don't know many people who are 100% certain what they want to do with their lives at 18, and it's ok because most people tend not to stay in the same career nowadays.

Most of the people in my family are engineers, except me--I'm a lawyer. I double majored in Italian & Sociology (started just w/ Italian, then I realized I probably would never get a job as a translator given the number of natives who could speak it better). I thought I might be a social worker, but then I decided that the law would also give me the ability to solve people's problems, but in a diff. way.

My cousin & her husband both started out as Industrial Engineers. They met after graduation when they both worked for the same co., then they both decided to get their MBAs (she from Harvard and he from MIT). He worked in some kind of computer related business that was bought out and I guess he ended up w/a good chunk of money, which gave him some time to stay home w/ their kids. Both of them had been working jobs where they travelled a lot and they had to get a nanny, etc. Then he started working w/ the volunteer fire dept. and decided to become an EMT and then a paramedic, which is what he's doing now. It's a drastic change and he's making way less money, but he likes it. And obviously this is a very smart guy who probably whizzed through all his classes in college. So you never know.

My DH has this same kind of attitude about my DD, who's going into nursing. HE keeps saying that she's not going to like it, she has never taken care of sick people, etc. Of course, he was a nurse for only a few years, then got his master's in marine biology, never apparently used that educaton, installed & refinished hardwood floors for about 20 yrs. until he hurt his shoulder and now sells paint in a hardware store. Oh yeah, before he started in flooring, he managed some paint stores too. So he should not be one to talk. I think the only way your son will know if he likes engineering is to try it. If he's not motivated enough and/or doesn't like the courses, then it's probably not for him.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 5:01pm

Mine are clueless but I think it's better to have an idea, even if its not a sure one

DS2 went in undeclared but, when they actually chose classes, they insisted he choose something. It mattered what you said in terms of doing the foreign language slant or the arts slant for general education. He is still officially undeclared

DS1 started in computer engineering, could not handle the math, and is now looking to business.

DS2's best friend changed colleges at semester to do prelaw, then took aviation classes, and now criminal justice(and hes just a freshman)

I think its very common and even more so for boys

Ive pretty much resolved myself to ds2 doing 4 and 1/2 years cause hes going to lose ground with the indecision. DS1 does part time so its going to be forever anyhow

As lone as he accumulates credits for those first 2 years

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-13-2007
Wed, 03-14-2007 - 10:43pm

Thank- you for your response.

I apologize I really didn't give enough information to get an idea of what I'm looking for
Maybe this will help explain it a little better.

We are actually thankful to be in the situation we're in because he's been accepted to his first choice and he's very motivated to go.

My concern is
I feel like there are ways to prepare him for what he will be actually doing in his field of study but I guess the first step would be to narrow down what type of engineering he would like to go into??

His dad is also a physicist and is working in an optics lab at WPAFB here in Dayton.
They have talked pretty extensively about his career choice and my son has been at the lab several times.

His dad and I agree our son doesn't seem to have a passion for math or physics.

He says engineering his best option at this point because he doesn't really know what the reality of working in an any of the fields would be.

I've asked some friends who know engineers that may be willing to let him shadow them for part of the day.

I also checked into a career counselor to the tune of $295.00 for 2 sessions.
He is a retired high school counselor and has writen a book on being college smart
He would do an aptitude type test with him.

My sons passions right now are to play poker and play basketball with his friends.

I think he is blessed with the ability to do well in math and science although he's also had to put forth some effort to get the 4.0 in the calculus and physics classes he's taken.
I just don't see it as a passion or something he really enjoys.

He's also not one to kind of tinker with things or have an interest in how things work or are put together.
I understand this could just be me not allowing my son to just go into a situation and see where it leads him.
On the other hand, considering the drop out rate of something like 50% for college kids are there ways to help him so that all his efforts will be toward a more concrete goal or vision for his future?
Thank-you for your interest and I appreciate any feed back, especially with your background
Brenda

Avatar for suzyk2118
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-30-1997
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 8:08am

Well, not sure if this would help considering it's been 30 years since I was making that decision! Anyway, we did NOT have calc in HS, but with our strong thorough training in math I was able to do just fine in honors calc in college (we were on quarters and I did 4 quarters in 3). College physics was calc-based, so it was 'different' than the 2 years I'd had in HS (honors and AP). I never 'tinkered'; I still don't. But I loved the theory of the math and physics. When I got to grad school and 'switched' to EE because lasers were in the EE dept, I pretty much bombed the first test because I didn't bring a calculator- we never used numbers in math or physics! LOL. Anyway, the material was easier but more practical than the math and physics classes, IMHO.

When I was an undergrad MANY of my friends there were in engineering classes. I'd guess for the first couple of years it didn't really matter what type of 'engineering' you went in to as everyone needed a year or more of calc, a year or more of physics, certain humanities and social studies, and then some basic engineering classes that were required regardless of the type they would eventually break into. So I'd think going that route, at least for freshman year, is 'safe' as far as not making firm decisions on what type of engineering would eventually be chosen. And it'd definitely give a feel for the rigor involved. I don't think it's an issue to not have a firm type of engineering when you walk in the door, but I love the shadowing idea. And even this summer, if there's a chance he could intern anywhere as an engineer of ANY type, it'd give him a feel for what it's like out there.

My best to him, and congrats on first school choice!
Sue, who knew one OSU friend in physics grad school

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 2:49pm

Fantastic! Engineering (engineering is the family job here.) can be be very challenging. It depends on the discipline you are in and wheither you are pursuing research or not.

Has he decided what type of engineering he wants to study? Mechanical? Electrical? Civil? Chemical?

Impress on him that he should only go into engineering if he has a love and passion for it.
NEVER go into engineering because you think you will earn "big bucks". Those who do usually make terrible engineers. The reality is, after you factor in the hours, there are easier ways to make a living.

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2003
Thu, 03-15-2007 - 4:03pm

Please relax and don't worry! Your child's first two years of college are basically spent taking the required courses to graduate. He'll have to declare a major at the end of his second year.

So many students head to college "undeclared" and may find a certain class or subject may perk their interest. That's what happened to my daughter who is a freshman this year. I have another daughter headed to college next year. My husband is an English professor as well and many times advises students not to worry if their life's calling hasn't been decided yet before they enter college.

Please give him space to explore! And consider yourself lucky that he's headed to college!

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