My son completed his first year in finance with straight A's but now wants to do engineering because wants to be passionate about his career. He got a full scholarship ride to Babson but now wants to start over at Lone Star. I've argued with him how stupid that is so let me know if im wrong.
imo not stupid at all. If money is the issue than Olin College of Engineering has a certificate program he could take advantage of: https://olin.smartcatalogiq.com/201...sley-Students-Engineering-Certificate-Program that might allow him to stick with the scholarship even if he'd have to do a year or two of grad work to equal a BSE or BEng somewhere else. But could also be the distance from home is more significant than he's letting on. In that case he may never be happy at Babson. I'd be hesitant to lean on him too hard, in my experience that rarely works out well
That’s like going from working at a five star restaurant to the morning shift at McDonald’s. Convince him to finish his finance degree on the full ride. Then he can apply the bulk of the ‘basic’ credits towards getting an engineering degree at a four year school, possibly on a partial scholarship. Since arguing isn’t working, try persuasion. As @Os Trigonum mentioned, he might be homesick/lonely. You may need to travel there more often just to be there for him.
He's taken a couple of Olin classes, I'll ask him about that. He met a toxic girl recently that gave him an ultimatum. Stay and be with me. He says there no longer speaking but I know hehas feelings for her.
I appreciate following passion but lone star doesn’t seem like the right direction….just show him starting salaries of each for comparison purposes But as mentioned, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. He can continue knocking out core/foundational classes and apply to other engineering schools. Does he even know what kind of engineering ? Why engineering? How does he know that is the ‘answer’? If finance isn’t cutting it for him, why not shift to a different major? If he likes the quantitative aspect he could get that in quantitative methods or even the economics route (science , not the Liberal arts puff stuff) sounds like there is certainly a lot going on in his head. Definitely play it slow and spend a lot of time listening to him to find the main issue and not telling him what to do
Art history is where the money is at! Push him that direction. He and his Starbucks manager will thank you later!
Can he minor in something to do with engineering? I totally get that he is unsure of exactly what he wants to do. I changed my major 5 times in college and didn't even know what I wanted to do long-term until I was 33. That said, I'm glad I just stuck with what I (eventually) majored in, even if that wasn't what I ultimately chose to do. It helped me get a decent job and some money, and it's much easier to sit back and contemplate what you want to do long-term if you are living comfortably. So if he's about to minor in something at least engineering-adjacent and stick with his current path, I think that would be best. As for how to help convince him, which was the entire point I of this thread, I have nothing valuable to offer. Sorry bruh. I would just say that, no matter the outcome, you should feel some comfort because your son is clearly a bright and exceptional person who will do well in life even if he takes some ill-advised turns along the way.
Yeah, its not apples to oranges. Engineering is a way different career and if he wants to get an education at Lone Star, might as well do side classes at a JC for core credits, then transfer with an associates degree. Full ride at a private school is no joke. He can do engineering later and leverage both for a leadership/sales role. This is all purely in $$$ terms. Way less idealistic than i was when i was deciding what to do in college. I guess maybe appeal to him that a full scholarship at a great private college is risk free and that he's allowed to "waste time" while trying it out with an open mind. He still has the option after go for a different degree in the future or even right after, and that you're not necessarily forcing him to take a finance job immediately after graduation. Living somewhere else that's far away without debt is still considered a once in a lifetime opportunity for many folks even if he doesn't feel like it's his true calling. Careers are generally accelerated with cross functional skills. You can remind him that job responsibilities change every 5-10 years, and when he grows older, salaries become just as important as personal career goals.
Full degree is the big thing. Does that college not have Engineering degrees he can pursue? I have a Finance degree mainly because I am good at math and my Counselor told me it closed the fewest doors. I've been in the financial industry my entire career but don't care much about it. Work is work.
The people I know doing the most technical mechanical engineering work are definitely not the ones with the biggest salaries. The problem with engineering is that if you really want to make good money you don't really do much engineering anymore. More of a glorified project manager. With all that said, your time is your most valuable asset and if he is certain he will enjoy engineering work more than finance that's what he should do. It could be worse. He could have said he wanted to be a musician or dance or be a writer or something else where he could end up completely broke.
Raskolnikov felt sick, but he couldn't say why When he saw his face reflected in his victim's twinkling eye Some things you'll do for money and some you'll do for fun But the things you do for love are going to come back to you one by one
If he's already done the jackoff finance classes, would he want to do a semester of proper economics? Use those classes to help find out where he wants to fit in his new Engineering world. eta: look for a "history of [whatever]" that appeals to him
