Choosing a major or field of study can help your child choose a college, and help them graduate on time once in college. However, they may have difficulty finding the career path they are most excited about. Here is how you can help your child choose a major.
Explore Together
Encourage your child to explore. Have them talk with a guidance counselor, take an aptitude test, and shadow professionals. There is a whole world of opportunities available and it probably hasn’t been explored by your child. Most high schools push conventional careers such as lawyer, doctor, or teacher, and so that is all students imagine. Instead have them consider their passions and find careers that match. Do they love sports? There are more careers in sports than playing professionally; think about physical therapy, marketing for professional sports, and event management. Do they love music? Talk to music therapists, sound technicians, producers, and more to discover the vast opportunities other than performance. Help your child think deeply about their interests and discover what kinds of passions can lead to fulfilling careers.
Use Coursework
Going to college without a declared major is not the end of the world. Most freshman are required to take a certain amount of general or elective credits anyway. Their first year might be a good time to explore some of their interests a little more in depth. Students start to run into trouble when they begin taking credits that will no longer apply to generals or electives. You don’t want to pay for an excessive amount of credits that won’t apply to graduation. Help your student recognize the costs of these classes and work to pin down a major.
Look At The Trajectory
When your child chooses a major help them have a vision for how they will use that major upon graduating. Will they need graduate school? What are starting salaries within the profession? What will a student loan bill amount to, and will their career help them pay off loans? Helping your student look at a broader picture might encourage them to choose a major that has plenty of career applications.
Developing Vision and Goals
Sometimes choosing a major is hard, because it is hard to picture your future. Give your student the tools they need to see what life could look like after college. Having clear vision and goals will help your student graduate on time, with a major that can put them to work.
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