Second year engineering, he has to register a minor by next week. He's picked data science. When I asked why, the answer was that most of his friends are taking it. I work in machine learning. I could tell him a lot about the field, good and bad, and I suspect anything I say will land as dad pushing or dad discouraging. How much did you weigh in on these choices once your kids were in college?
What's the other option on his list? 'Everyone is' may be the reason he gave you, not the reason he has. Ask what he'd pick if none of his friends were taking anything.
I see this every year with class 11 subject choices. The friends reason usually hides a timetable reason: same sections, same lab slots, someone to study with. That isn't nothing in second year.
I teach undergraduates, and the minor matters less than parents think. Recruiters ask about projects far more than about the line on the transcript. Does his college let students drop a minor after one semester? At ours they can, and quite a few do. If his does, the choice is cheaper than it feels this week.
You said you could tell him a lot, good and bad. Tell him the bad. He'll hear the good from his friends.
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