2015 son will be playing college ball but still deciding on major. Not sure what he wants to do, and at age 17 can't say I blame him. Thinking business may be the way to go. Possibly interested in accounting, but with most majors not sure what degree may be difficult to complete w sports schedule.
Anyone w advice? Did any of your sons change majors and how did that work.
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Majors with labs tend to be the most difficult and time consuming. The problem my daughter had with softball and labs were the labs tended to be in the afternoon during practice or games. She had to take two courses in summer school due to the conflict. It's really a matter of determination, self discipline and time management. If a kid wants to make a major fit into his schedule he will make it happen. Don't forget chances are the reason they're in college is ultimately for the education even if they're playing baseball. Don't compromise the education.
Many college students, and athletes, change their major, so he doesn't need to be stressing out about it, but it's great that you're starting to ask these questions now.
Typical majors that can sometimes be difficult given the time commitment of being a college athlete are classes with required labs, or required group study sessions. Also, those can be more of a concern at smaller colleges where there may only be one or two sections of a lab compared to five or six sections from which to choose.
At one university where I worked, I recall a couple of athletes who quit their sport because of the conflict between practice and architecture labs (where they would construct models of their designs).
One other thing to consider for Division I programs. All Division I athletes must meet "percentage of degree" requirements starting with their junior year. This is commonly referred to as the "40/60/80" rule. They must have completed at least 40% of the specific course requirements for their chosen major by the start of their 3rd year of college, 60% by the start of their 4th year of college, and if still competing during 5th year, 80% of their course requirements.
This isn't an issue for the majority of Division I athletes who start at their college as a freshman, but can be a problem for transfer athletes when their credits won't transfer from one college to another.
The good news is that he has time to think about it. Many schools do not require a major to be declared until their Jr yr. He should start to think about it now and discuss with the family and friends of the family different jobs and what he might like to do after baseball and college is done. Look at those majors and see what core classes are required so he can stay on track by keeping up with his core classes. If science or engineering is a possibility he has to stay on track with math the first two years. I always tell kids to try to get "hard skills" no matter what major they take, if it is business; get a finance related degree, teaching; math/science are more in demand, etc. Depending on the program engineering and science can be problematic because of afternoon labs, but some programs allow athletes to work around these.
Good luck!
Going into college and not sure of what you want to major in and do for a living 4 years down the road is not that unusual (heck I'm still trying to decide that myself 
). My son went into college with an undecided major. Like most schools, his university had a pretty extensive core requirement that took most students 3-4 semesters to complete. It was through taking some of these courses that he determined what interested him. He declared his major after his sophomore year and graduated with a double major. There truly is still plenty of time. Best of luck to you son.
This is a question that could be on any college thread, sports related or not. MANY people change their minds on what they think they like once they start taking their core courses, and none of them are athletes. There is no shame on going in undeclared and then meeting with department heads to get a feel for which program might appeal to a person.
My incoming freshman class of College for my major had 435 people that had already declared that Marine Science was their major, I graduated with 3 other people with my major. THREE! Sometimes even when you think you know...you don't really know.
On visit this summer, the conversation between my son and the head coach went something like this:
Coach: Have you decided on a major?
Son: I'm kind of undecided right now.
Coach: Hey, that's our team's most popular major!
True story.
This is a question that could be on any college thread, sports related or not. MANY people change their minds on what they think they like once they start taking their core courses, and none of them are athletes. There is no shame on going in undeclared and then meeting with department heads to get a feel for which program might appeal to a person.
My incoming freshman class of College for my major had 435 people that had already declared that Marine Science was their major, I graduated with 3 other people with my major. THREE! Sometimes even when you think you know...you don't really know.
432 college students saw the light. I talked with a person a couple of years ago who started college as a Marine Sciences major. After two years he realized how few decent paying jobs there are in the field and a PhD is probably needed.
Perfectly normal for a high school senior or college freshman not to have settled on a major.
As long as your son chooses his freshman courses wisely--that is, he makes sure everything he takes either counts toward fulfilling the school's general education/core curriculum requirements or is an introduction/gateway course to a major he might be thinking about--it should be possible to graduate on time even if he waits to select a major after he figures out what interest him and he and sees how academics and sports interact at his school.
This is a question that could be on any college thread, sports related or not. MANY people change their minds on what they think they like once they start taking their core courses, and none of them are athletes. There is no shame on going in undeclared and then meeting with department heads to get a feel for which program might appeal to a person.
My incoming freshman class of College for my major had 435 people that had already declared that Marine Science was their major, I graduated with 3 other people with my major. THREE! Sometimes even when you think you know...you don't really know.
432 college students saw the light. I talked with a person a couple of years ago who started college as a Marine Sciences major. After two years he realized how few decent paying jobs there are in the field and a PhD is probably needed.
LOL, actually I have a decent paying job without a PhD which allows me to fork over thousands of dollars to let my son play baseball wherever he wants , but I do get your point. It was my experience that most people didn't understand they needed Calc II to play with Shamoo at sea-world, which was their goal. It was not my goal, hence why I stayed with it.
If those former students have seen Blackfish, they may be glad they didn't reach their goal of playing with Shamu!
