Is it possible to focus on small schools that have fairly good/small science departments instead of determining which STEM field he wants?
When I was in HS, I was leaning towards physics simply because I enjoyed that the most in HS and then in college, found no interest in doing physics, and "fell" into computer science my sophomore year simply because it was a requirement for another field that I was more interested in - if you had asked my first year roommate if she thought I would end up as a CS major, she would have laughed so far since I hated computers my first year.
And I have so many friends who had similar journeys to their major(s)... to make me think that unless a high school student is so passionate about a field, liberal arts college is not a bad option to explore - and really look at how comfortable he will be at that college. Although I did not really have any idea on possible career and would have never seen myself on the path I am on now, I did know what school environment I wanted and looked for that as my priority.
I have a similar story. I went to college with the idea of studying Environmental Studies realized quickly that the major was more politics and less science. Ended up with a math degree because it was easiest and took a lot of computer science classes. I ended up worked as a computer programmer for 15 years.
Unfortunately more and more schools make changing majors while at school very difficult because of increase in major requirements and demand to get students out in 4 years. This is particularly acute in Engineering. And very few small schools have Engineering programs. My local state schools that have Engineering require entrance into the major at the time one applies. What I think he needs to figure out before applying for colleges in 18 months is if he is interested in majoring in Engineering vs.. the rest of stem.
