Useful college majors (based on your experience)

[XemaSab]

If a young person was coming to you asking for advice about what to study, what would you suggest?

Would this suggestion be based on future marketability, or enjoyment of the degree program itself? :shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I always tell them to study what their passion is - they can always find a job

There are no useless degrees.

Certainly some degrees are absolute requirements for some careers (engineering, medical, physics, etc.), but unless the person wants to go into a specialized field, I always counsel them to study what they love.

When I worked at one of the world's major consulting firms, we had consultants with degrees (and some with advanced degrees) in business, physics, english, art history, philosophy, journalism, fine arts, English Literature, other literature, dead languages... the whole gamut of possibilities.

All corporations really look for - at least, the top corporations that thrive on excellence, whether consulting firms, banks, investment banks, or whatever - all they look for is leadership potential, entrepreneurship, ability to learn and to be taught, and critical thinking. (except, as mentioned, for those areas that a specialized degree is essential, such as in engineering).

[Deja Q]

8. So it's not too late for me to go into the porn industry?

:rofl:

[Nikia]

2. To make money with an undergerad degree, engineering or accounting

I think that English, history, and political science are good liberal art subjects that teach valubale analytical skills and writing skills (at least they were at my college). I wish that I would have majored in one of those subjects instead. Alternatively, it might be good to major in a smaller department in order to get more faculty attention and mentorship even if you aren't a top student.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Useful? In what way?

Financially? Spiritually? Emotionally?

Those are three different objectives and we should be mindful that not everyone has the same interests or objectives.

Society does place different values on these, but not everyone gives a flying flip what society thinks...

[XemaSab]

4. I'm leaving the definition up to you

:D

[Xipe Totec]

6. In that case, Philosophy

Gallagher:"You didn't just give up being a scientist one day did you?"

Chantilas:"I realized science couldn't answer any of the really interesting questions. So I turned to philosophy... been searching for God ever since."

Chantilas:"Who knows... I may pick up a rock and it will say underneath it 'made by God'. The universe is full of surprises."

http://www.moviesoundclips.net/sound.php?id=33

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. They should major in what they truly love

When I was a college professor, the director of the placement office at one college told me that she was seeing a lot of alumni coming to her for advice 5 or 10 years after graduation.

They had gotten that degree in accounting or engineering or nursing, thinking only of that job at the end of the tunnel, only to find that they hated the actual day-to-day routine of the job and/or their colleagues.

The recently deceased playwright Wendy Wasserstein spoke at the college where I taught just before I left academia. She said that everyone in her family was either a lawyer or a stockbroker, and that when she said that she wanted to go to drama school after college and study playwriting, her parents were horrified.

She told them, "Give me five years to write plays. If I fail, then I can always go to law school. But I don't want to be a forty-year-old lawyer wondering if I could have made it as a playwright."

That's how I feel about career choices. Try becoming what you really want to be deep down in your heart, no matter what anybody else says. If you're still making lattes at Starbucks after five years, well, you'll still be young, and you can go train yourself for some boring bread and butter job.

Everybody told me I was stupid to go into academia, and eventually I left it, but it gave me some very good experiences that I wouldn't have traded for the world.

Everybody told me that I was stupid to become a self-employed translator, but even though I dislike the insecurity of self-employment, the actual work is a perfect match for my skills.

Major in what your heart tells you. You never know where your career path will lead. How could my college friend who majored in sociology as an undergraduate have predicted that she would end up as an IT specialist in Norway? How could an acquaintance from later in life who trained as an engineer have predicted that he would end up founding a magazine? I could tell you about my theater major friend who ended up as an entertainment lawyer, or the music major who has worked as both an airline flight attendant and a translator.

Thinking that you can pick a college major that will determine your career for the rest of your life is naive.

[Ptah]

7. University of Hard Knocks, Master of Metal and comedy

:hi:

[Pierre.Suave]

9. I would tell them

to study what interests them and take a variety of classes about different things.

[greendog]

10. I studied Fine Art and Anthropology

And it's true, I don't have a Lexus in the driveway or a fancy home by the golf course. My income is rather small and my job is completely without prestige.

I will say this: We live in a world of incredible beauty and I'm thankful every day that I spent several years learning to use my eyes. I think I'm able to access a type of wealth that's unavailable to the folks that spend their time focused on money.

[AngryAmish]

11. Material Science

I wish I was smart enough to do it. It will change the world.

[Conan_The_Barbarian]

12. Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics