College majors: should they be useful or something you love?

In My Humble Opinion
41

That’s pretty much what I was getting at before. Firms like Deloitte, Accenture, Lehman Brothers and others will hire waves of college students for entry level ‘analyst’ positions. If you didn’t go to their pre-selected list of colleges and don’t have a high GPA, they won’t hire you. If you are looking for a serious career in accounting, consulting or finance, it’s hard to do unless you have real work experience from those type of companies.

I say if you want to study something like philosophy or theater, do it as a minor to complement a major in something practical like marketing.

42

1. What kind of major did you get? Professionally based or personal interest? Mix of both?

English literature. I had a vague idea of wanting to become an English literature professor, although I was still also contemplating becoming a translator at the time. So both personal and professional interest.

2. How much has that choice helped you? In both professional and personal environments?

I teach English 101 college classes now, so I’d say my major is pretty relevant. :slight_smile:

3. Do you regret your decision or not? Why?

I don’t regret it for a minute, but I will say this - if you’re going to major in the humanities, you either a) better love teaching, or b) have a lot of administrative experience as well. I say this because once you graduate from the humanities your options are pretty limited - all of my friends are either teaching or working administrative jobs in humanities-related positions (like on committees for events or grants, connected to non-profits or universities; some are working in museums or libraries). A precious few are working in publishing, but they have internship experience to back them up.

43

1. What kind of major did you get? Professionally based or personal interest? Mix of both?

None as of yet. I went to college for about two and a half years and quit (while on academic probation). I had many different majors while I was there; I started with physics, and then moved on to music, Latin, and English. It was all based on personal interest, with a vague notion of being a teacher of some sort at some point.

2. How much has that choice helped you? In both professional and personal environments?

Well, since I didn’t finish, I can’t say it helped or hindered in any particular way. Certainly the ‘college experience’ was very useful, and it was great as a stepping stone from dependence to independence. And, I learned an awful lot about a lot of things that interested me.

Professionally It’s been nothing but trouble (having no degree), as often a degree in anything is strongly preferred to a degree in nothing. But, I have been able to find and keep jobs based on ability and charm (I’m a moderately talented web guy).

3. Do you regret your decision or not? Why?

Some. Really, what I wish is that I’d waited a year or two. I really had no idea what I wanted to do, and so was kind of flailing around at 20 grand a year trying to reach a level of inspiration that never quite hit. It was still worthwhile time, but I probably could have done other more satisfying things with that time (and money).

Currently, I do freelance web design, but most of my time is spent with music; I work in three local school districts in their drama departments, as well as with community theaters and private parties, bands, etc etc etc. I’ve finally hit on the fact that music is what I really love to do, and already have some success at.

I’m going back to school in the fall to get a music degree, which will not only get me specific skills that I know I want (or want to be better at), but the credentials to get more than a stipended after-school position at a school.

Long answer, I know. :slight_smile:

44

  1. B.A.Sc. in Chemical Engineering with an Option in Management Sciences, M.S.E. in Environmental Engineering. Mix of both. I’ve always really enjoyed math and science and wanted something practical and useful. I’ve never been a big fan of research so I didn’t pursue a PhD.

  2. Helped tremendously professionally. I work in environmental engineering consulting. Personal only in so much as most of my socail network started with classmates and co-workers.

  3. Overall, I don’t regret it. I make good money and enjoy what I do even though I do very little technical work now. There are times where I kind of wish I went into something where the money was better and I could retire earlier such as medicine or law but then I realize I wouldn’t enjoy them and I’m still on track to retire well before 60. Other times I’d like to just become a full-time student/travel the world.

I think it’s all about balancing. Identify what you like to do, what you’re capable of doing, what kind of lifestyle you want and try to maximize all three the best you can.

45

It depends on the employer. Some want to see GPAs and transcripts to see what kind of courses the applicant took; people who took harder courses and got lower grades often get more consideration than those who went for easy As. And, of course, there’s the portfolio; grades don’t really matter if the applicant can’t do quality work.

To the OP: Don’t discount a social science/liberal arts degree. Some of my peers in that area got good jobs in areas like human resources and management because of their research and critical thinking skills. Even if you end up in PR, minor in a social science because you will learn many of those same skills, and being able to put a survey together and knowing what to do with the information really is helpful when you’re working on a campaign, and depending on the program at your uni, may not be taught as part of the PR emphasis.

To answer your questions:

I was a communication/journalism major (electronic media emphasis) with a minor in history. I knew that the comm/journ major would be helpful to a number of career choices, and the history minor was pretty much for fun.

It’s actually been pretty helpful in both my professional and personal lives. My major taught me how to write and talk in front of people, both incredibly useful skills. I also spent a lot of time at the campus radio station, so I can use sophisticated software and equipment. I may never produce a commercial or do a shift as a DJ, but I can learn difficult concepts quickly and I can make good decisions under intense pressure.

Thanks to the history minor, I know how to conduct original research using a variety of documents. I also know how to dissect (and make) an argument, recognize bias, and think more or less nonlinearly to connect one event to another.

I do not regret it for a moment. I enjoyed the courses I took and use the skills I learned. Nothing wrong with that.

Robin

46

1. What kind of major did you get? Professionally based or personal interest? Mix of both?

I was an English major for a while, out of personal interest. Then I decided I wanted a job, so I changed to Environmental Science. I only did that because I decided to be a geologist, but changing to a Geo major would have taken forever. My taking geology (I later got a masters in it) was a mix of both.

2. How much has that choice helped you? In both professional and personal environments?

The English major turned out to be a good thing, because I’m a good writer, and most people aren’t. I could probably waltz into a tech writing job any time I want, although it doesn’t seem very interested.

I was an oil geologist for 8 years, then got laid off. I wasn’t terribly fond the job. I took an environmental job for a couple of years, but loathed it. Now I’m a software developer, although I’ve only had a few computerology courses, but I really like it.

3. Do you regret your decision or not? Why?

I couldn’t say. I’ve ended up where I am via a twisted path, but here I am. I don’t think any of it was a waste of time. Much later I got an MBA, which was a total waste, but that’s another story.

Okay, now that I’ve answered the questions, here’s the real deal. You have to learn how to get a job. You have to learn how to network, write a resume, do warm and cold calls, and do interviews. If you can do that, you don’t have to worry much about your choice of major; if you can’t, well, it gets hard. Obviously, you need specialist training for a lot of fields, but you can always pick that up later. You probably know now if you’re a math/science type or a humanities/social science type. Go with whichever you are, and don’t worry about it. You should, however, have an eye on what sorts of jobs would seem to be immediately available to you, and if you can stand to do them.

47

  1. Geology. I’d been collecting rocks ‘n’ fossils since I was a kid. I just wanted to keep on doing it for a few more years.

  2. It’s a foot in the door, nothing else. I’m a professional geologist, but I use precisely 0% of what I learned at university.

  3. No regrets what so ever.

48

They usually don’t ask; however, I’ve learned that having a 4.0 GPA (or close to it) is a good way for your resume to get noticed.

49
  1. English.
  2. The major per se didn’t affect my career, but the skills I already had in that area have been very useful.
  3. No regrets.

I’ve taken a few other courses after college that were more explicitly career-oriented.

I think college used to be viewed as a way to become an educated human being. Now it’s often thought of more like trade school. Maybe that’s inevitable, as more and more people attend college and get advanced degrees.

50

  1. I have a double major in Classics and history (ancient and medieval). I had intended to be scholar since I was very young, and these were my fields of choice. Aside from going to grad school and teaching, there was no intrinsic job training.

  2. Oddly, my academic choices have helped me enormously. I am not working in this field now: I am a statistician for a Fortune 100 financial services corporation. In the finance staff group, even. But my training in writing, communication, critical thinking, and synthesis of large amounts of disparate data has been inestimably valuable.

Here I disagree with Dinsdale completely: I can (and have) learned marketing and accounting from books, but there simply is no substitute for a rigorous liberal education in the humanities and social sciences. Reading a few books by Norman Cantor does not make you a medieval historian.

Accounting and other job-oriented areas are much easier than game theory, econometrics, or hell, deciphering papyri in Greek that are fifteen hundred years old. I was the hiring manager for a position that required accounting skills, and I knew more with a year of practical experience and an “Accounting For Dummies” than these kids knew with their accounting degrees. They just did not know how to think.

So in my experience, what matters most is that your education is sufficiently rigorous and trains your intellectual skills more than studying any particular content area.

  1. Good grief, I have not regretted it for a moment. In fact, I am going to convert my job to a part-time arrangement and go back to finish a PhD next year (I have an MA already). I graduated almost ten years ago and I still maintain my language skills and I try to read a few new books in the field every year. It is a part of who I am much more than just what I do for a living.
51

  1. Social sciences (combined political science and history) for my Bachelor’s, English (Writing) for my Master’s. I took what I wanted to take for personal reasons. When I went for my Master’s, I was also writing professionally (It was fun to announce in writing workshops that I had already had a novel published), but I took the courses for fun and due to my interest.

  2. Made no difference. In much of the Real World, no one gives a crap about what your major is. The important thing is the degree. I got a job in a computer I&TS department because of my Master’s in English.

  3. Obviously, no. I took courses I enjoyed, and it didn’t hurt my career in the slightest.

52

  1. I was a film/digital media production major. I majored in it because I liked it, but of course I was hoping that I’d have a career as a great director one day. This hasn’t happened yet, and perhaps wasn’t the most realistic “career choice.”

  2. It’s hard to say. I learned a lot of computer and writing skills in the course of my studies, but I can’t point to any specific job I’ve gotten specifically because of my major. I wouldn’t say it counted against me, though. The critical thinking and writing skills I learned are something I use every day. But I bet I would get that with any rigourous program.

I have just recently taught a film production course to young artists in rural Africa, and that was immensely rewarding. I hope to continue in this path in the future. I’m not sure if that’s a possibility, but it’s something I’d like to do.

I’m a little skeptical of getting your degree to get in a money-making job. I had friends who majored in Computer Science for that reason, and ended up graduating right as the tech bubble burst. They spent the same time waiting tables that I did. They also had to start on the ground floor right next to the Folklore Studies majors. You can’t be sure of anything in the job market, and experience counts for so much more than school does anyway.

  1. I don’t regret it at all. Even if I never, ever, ever in my life find work that has to do with my major, I have a life-long love and appreciation of something that has made my life incalculably richer. I’ve always loved movies, and now I love them and understand them and can think of them on a level I never imagined before I started. Now, this sounds like a lot of time and money invested in a hobby. And maybe it is. But it’s something I love in my life that can never be taken away from me, that will bring me joy and nourish my soul for the rest of my days. If I’m going to have to do a soul-less job that I hate anyway, I might as well do it and have a great passion in my life as well, right?
53

Now that I’ve seen the world, if I could go back, I’d major in what I WILL need to make a living at; minor in what I love! …If you’re lucky*, maybe you can combine the two passions when you start your own business!

*keep your eyes open and think outside the box. Follow the herd in the short run, but don’t forget to dream and PLAN for the long run when the herd will follow you! - Jinx

54

I’d rather not go into my personal background in detail, but I can say I definitely went with what I loved as a major. Double major, actually, two completely unrelated fields that had nothing to do with each other. My master’s degree was in something else altogether. People long predicted my perpetual unemployment. Well, my education actually took me all over the world. I own a home in Bangkok. I’ve played elephant polo. My life has been one heckuva fun wild ride, and all because I studied what I really, really wanted to and figured out later how to make it work. If you don’t do the same, you’ll always wonder how it would have turned out.

55

1. What kind of major did you get? Professionally based or personal interest? Mix of both?

Professionally based, although I’ve tinkered with computers since the '80s.
BS Computer Science, MS Systems Engineering
2. How much has that choice helped you? In both professional and personal environments?

Professional? Tremendously. The degree(s), security clearance and pilot ratings* are pretty much a requirement for my job.
Personal? Who knows. Most of my job I can’t talk about, and the remainder seems to bore people.
3. Do you regret your decision or not? Why?

Nope. It would be difficult to reach this salary range in most other fields. Add to this above average bennies, 4-day workweeks, lotsa vacation, flextime, a good pension, and getting to play with all kinds of neat toys, and there’s not much to regret. The only downside is facing the occasional contract-driven layoffs, but I usually manage to dodge that bullet. Every layoff so far has been followed with a higher paying offer from a competitor.

As far as your question, “Should they (college majors) be useful?” I say definitely. I’m currently funding all expenses for my eldest’s college journey (tuition, books, r&b, car, fuel, phone, laptop, etc.), and I informed him at the beginning that I would only pay for degrees have a good (documentable) high paying job at the end. This limits him to the sciences, engineering, and some stuff like accounting and law. If he wants to pursue a degree just for fun, he’ll need to do it on his nickel. I don’t mind shelling out mucho bucks to get my offspring started (I’m even paying for all his flight training: Commercial, Instrument, Multi-engine, CFI, CFII, MEI), but I won’t pay for courses that are glorified hobbies, or just to have some kinda degree.

*Not an absolute requirement, just very desirable on a resume.

56
  1. Psychology. Mostly personal.
  2. Kind of-sort of.
  3. No, can’t say I do.

Here’s the deal: When you’re 20, it’s really, really easy to say “I’ll be happy if I have my <insert passion, whether it be theater, writing, music>, even if I’m poor and jobless forever!” There’s something about a good liberal arts program that makes people really passionate. Of course, college lasts for four years, and “the rest of your career” lasts for 40. I know dozens and dozens who thought that their passion for and degree in their chosen subject would be enough to keep them happy. But upon actually becoming poor, struggling to make ends meet as a barista/temp/admin assistant, and watching their friends settle down into stability…the happiness fades. Plenty go back to school for stuff like massage therapy, some go for a Master’s in Library Science or something similar. The “social safety net” is usually your parents–I also know dozens and dozens of people in their mid-20s who have gone back to living with Mom and Dad.

So my advice, as someone coming from a school with a great deal of prestige and following lots of my classmates through their late 20s, is to get a degree in something practical UNLESS you plan on following through with grad school OR you can get into a field with good jobs right out of college anyway. By the second part, I mean that it’s much easier to get a job in an unrelated field as someone who is graduating with a degree in, say, “Humanities,” in the spring than someone who got the Humanities degree and then spent five years messing around before trying to get a job in said unrelated field. The resume of the second person says “I’m only applying for this job because I chose poorly and am sick of being destitute.”

Example: You want to major in history but not get a grad degree. Fine. So pick a field with job prospects, like marketing. Do a marketing internship or two during your college years and look for a marketing job right out of college. You’ll be fine.

57

A couple of thoughts on that. College does only last 4 years but your degree and your diploma last forever. People will make assumpions based on your academic credentials. For example I have a BS in Civil Engineering but for years I always had to explain to interviewers why I wasn’t doing it for a living. And even still, it somewhat pidgeonholes me as a “smart, quantitative guy”. That’s fine, but it might hinder me from getting more creative or “soft skills” jobs which I may be more interested in.

58

College is far too expensive to major in something that does not directly lead to a job. In the old days, you could major in English or History, and you’d get hired and trained. Not anymore. You need marketable skills.

I’m not saying I necessarily agree with this, BTW. It’s just the way things are. Majoring in something like music or Women’s studies, and then being chronically underemployed is a waste of (your parents’) money. Students who go this route inevitably come to regret it.

My undergrad degree was Biology. Not the most marketable, but I knew I was going to grad school. If I hadn’t done that, I would have stayed and gotten a degree in Comp Sci (at my expense).

59
  1. Russian Studies (undergrad); International : I studied what I found interesting personally and then tried to find a job that fit my interests.
  2. I had the right degree to get started in the industry I am in and I enjoy it. I can’t really imagining doing anything but what I do. I’m pretty far from my original degree now, but it got me on the path that I wanted.
  3. I regret not starting school sooner, I kind of screwed around in my late teens and then went to school in my mid-20s. I really believe that it pays off to study what interests you and that rewarding academic careers lead to rewarding professional careers.
60

That’s not really what I’m seeing from the liberal arts majors in this thread…

Anyhow, if you do go liberal arts, Millet’s advice about getting internships during your college days is the best way to go. Frankly, even with technical degrees, it’s the smart thing to do.