If one is not prepared to take an active role in identifying their course of study and desired path of education I would suggest that that person should wait to go to college.
High school guidance counselors strongly encourage students into pursuing university.
When I was in high school it didn't seem like there even was a viable option other than Computer Science, which I know now is largely unrelated to most software development. Of course, you could argue I didn't do my due diligence, but it was the guidance counselor's job to guide me and I trusted them implicitly. In retrospect, that in and of itself taught me a valuable lesson about critical thinking.
Everyone I've talked to has said they haven't used a single bit of calculus in a professional capacity since graduating. I may be succumbing to confirmation bias, but I've never heard to the contrary.
That's an incredibly privileged point of view. It is not frequently the case that students with the apitutude for college have the support they need from family and relevant experts at school to engage in the kind of thoughtful deliberation you suggest.
It does take more support from family and counselors, because it's swimming against the current. It's easy to jump right into college when everyone's drilled it into your head that you need to go, regardless of your particular personality/goals/stage in life.
That effect to not go against the grain should be more extreme in communities where 99.9% of students attend college.
Regardless, the issue isn't to pick your path exactly before you go. The point is to be prepared to dedicate some marginal effort to it either at the beginning or before.
You really think it's on the schools to tell students what they should learn or what degree they should get? Certainly people have different amounts of support going into it, but we can't just keep pushing the age of personal responsibility further and further out. To absolve underprivileged young adults of these key steps in life is not only harmful to their personal development, but I'd argue personally insulting to their potential as independent adults.
> You really think it's on the schools to tell students what they should learn or what degree they should get?
No, not me. I agree with you that we've pushed the age of adulthood too far out.
But when the mistake you learn from comes with crippling debt, it is on us to guide kids to make low-consequence mistakes before the big ones. That's why I suggest we encourage more real-world exposure with internships, co-op programs, shitty jobs first. We need to foster the environment that allows kids to actually critically think about their future instead of shoving them towards it, and we need to practice the meritocracy we preach by looking past degrees to hire people.
It depends on the school -- Some schools have a broader general education focus, with less major-focused work, and enough of an opportunity to explore before declaring a major.
Others require you to pretty much declare from day one, and it might well be another $50,000 if you get it wrong.
Not that anyone does.