Should I pick a college course for my DS?

[CollegeDilemma]

My DS starts his GCSE exams in May but still hasn't picked a course at college!

His school don't have a 6th form so he'll have to go to the local college, which offers a huge range of courses.

But he just can't pick what to do!

So his dad and I think that if he doesn't pick something by the end of the Easter holidays, then we will pick a course for him.

What would you do?

I would maybe whittle it down to a couple
of options and then they can choose from maybe 3 or 4? It’ll give them choice, but stop the confusion.

Does he need to choose by the end of the holidays, as in, is there no opportunity to apply later?)

You might find he is more receptive to the idea of choosing after he's finished GCSEs.

Me and DS's dad have said we'd pick 3 courses for him to choose between, but we're fairly sure he still won't pick one.

It's not imperative that he picks by the end of the holidays, but ideally he needs to apply by May to have his interview in June.

This has been going on since the beginning of Year 11, it really is about time a course was picked.

Talk it through with him in detail.
what are the courses like?
What careers can they lead to?
What kind of pay he can expect?
what does he like doing?
where does he feel his strengths lie?
how dies he envision his life in five years?
Add in your perspective- is he caring, hard working, outgoing, extroverted, intellectual, prosctive?
Tell him where you think his strengths are and how that might make him more suited to certain areas.

Eg an intellectual, logical thinker who is practical might be more suited to science or electronics.

I know one of my kids who was very intelligent but a bit lazy and liked his free time wanted to do an extremely rigorous, disciplined course that required many extra hours of study on top of what they were doing. The talk about expectations vs reality wasn’t an easy one as he was set on doing the course. But, he took a different course, had time to see his friends, date and work and is doing well in his chosen field now. He finally admitted to me that he probably would have not finished the harder course and been unhappier, but that it had been his dream for so long that it was hard to let go of.

The courses that we've picked would suit him and we've discussed them with him more than once, but still no joy. We've spent hours going over the courses and whittled them down.

There is no point choosing a course for him if he isn't interested in actually doing it. He won't put the effort in to study if he doesn't enjoy the course.

I agree, but he has to do something. And none of the options appeal to him!

I would double check with the college if it is ok for him to leave it late to apply. Courses at how local college fill up quickly so this might be the push he needs. You definitely cannot pick for him. Ds and his friends have all had individual informal chats with college once they have applied to ensure they are on the right courses.

I've asked the college and he can apply up until July, for interview in August, but that's really pushing it!

The interview is more of a formality than anything else, obviously if he was doing something specific like electrical installation then he'd have to show an interest, but general A Levels, not so much.