# What was your university major? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401 "2010-10-17T03:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/81 "2010-10-19T03:54:07Z")
I double majored in history and classical languages. I specialized in medieval intellectual history and in secular Latin poetry. My MA is in political science. Political science is a mongrel discipline. My training is on the quantitative side: we use the same theoretical and empirical tools as economists. More than anything else, my MA was a crash course in a few subfields of very applied math. Now I’m in my 2nd year of a PhD in a perverse combination of the two fields. I use the tools of formal theory to gain traction on problems of ancient governance, political economy, and interstate relations in late Roman Egypt and early medieval India. So I get paid to translate ancient texts and do game theory. Life is good. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/82 "2010-10-19T04:26:55Z")
BS in Comp Sci. I started out as undeclared because of the school’s requirements. Freshmen weren’t allowed to declare Comp Sci. You had to first maintain at least a B average in several Comp Sci courses (I don’t recall how many) and at least a C in some math courses. I think my original major was actually called something like “Undeclared Computer Science” as a description of people who intended to declare Comp Sci when they’d met the requirements. A number of my classmates from the first few semesters ended up as business majors. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/83 "2010-10-19T09:17:28Z")
BS in civil engineering (shocking, that). Eventually I figured out that I didn’t really like being an engineer, so I went back and got an MS in hydrology. I’m now working on a Ph.D. in hydrogeology. I could change my name, I guess, but then I’d have to remember it. I’m not sure that would work. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/84 "2010-10-19T10:44:23Z")
> [@ctnguy](#): > > Double major, maths and comp. sci. SNIP Me too. I get some weird reactions when I tell people, as if I must be the most boring person in the world and it might be contagious. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/85 "2010-10-19T14:18:41Z")
Started in 1992 as a petroleum engineering major because they offered me the most scholarships. Switched in 1993 to civil engineering, emphasis in river/harbor engineering because that’s what I really wanted to do. Went to school part-time, full-time, not at all and worked part-time, full-time as necessary since I was on my own with no parental support. Switched in 1997 to biology because I liked studying the things that lived in the water more than I lliked to study the water. Graduated in 2000 with a BS in biology (conservation/ecology/marine biology) with minors in chemistry & math. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/86 "2010-10-19T14:38:28Z")
History and education. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/87 "2010-10-19T21:46:37Z")
I started out in Political Science, with the intention of going to law school. Then I switched to Journalism, and had a raging mysoginist as an advisor, and wound up switching to English (medieval and Renaissance lit, specifically). I’m a technical writer now. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/88 "2010-10-19T21:58:49Z")
Bachelor of Science: Urban and Regional Planning, Master of Urban Planning (M.UP). The Jewish side of the family was _so_ ashamed. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/89 "2010-10-19T22:09:06Z")
BA in Liberal Arts. But if you if you want to get annoyingly pedantic, it wasn’t my “major” per se, because there are no majors at the college I attended, there is simply The Program (which, I feel compelled to add, includes six semesters of lab sciences and eight semesters of math). I minored in drinking - figured I was taking all the classes I needed, so might as well. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/90 "2010-10-19T22:23:53Z")
B.S. in Psychology. My university didn’t require a minor at that time. If it had, I was close in English, History, and Military Science. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/91 "2010-10-19T22:51:53Z")
I’m still in school and still have a few years left. So far I’ve majored in: Psych, then realized I hated it. Then nursing. Then realized I hated it Now I’m majoring in History, although I hate it with an absolute passion. I’m trying to talk the wife into letting me join the Army and try to fly for them. It isn’t working, so far. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/92 "2010-10-19T23:30:25Z")
Started as a drama major, but that’s not really useful so I graduated with an art degree. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/93 "2010-10-20T00:18:32Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > Me too. I get some weird reactions when I tell people, as if I must be the most boring person in the world and it might be contagious. It’s sometimes a debate in social situations whether to tell people that one studies computer science - in which case you get the usual, “can you fix my Windows for me?” type of questions - or maths - in which case you get the, “wow, you must be _so_ clever. \” response. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/94 "2010-10-20T01:41:23Z")
BS, electrical engineering MS, electrical engineering ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/95 "2010-10-20T01:42:34Z")
Started as undeclared engineering, then declared as electrical engineering first semester of my sophomore year. First semester junior year I dropped two of my EE classes and switched to biomedical engineering second semester. Had to take extra classes each semester, and my senior year I took a class while I was taking the pre-req for it’s pre-req…_that_ was a lot of fun, I’ll tell you. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/96 "2010-10-20T03:04:16Z")
I got’cher liberal arts right here. Art History. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/97 "2010-10-20T03:57:50Z")
Geography! (Am I the only one here? There’s gotta be more!) ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/98 "2010-10-20T04:09:20Z")
> [@JimmyFlair](#): > > Geography! (Am I the only one here? There’s gotta be more!) This is not trying to be snarky or snide - Tell me, what does a Geography major do? I’m genuinely curious. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/99 "2010-10-20T13:20:23Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Tell me, what does a Geography major do? I’m genuinely curious. A friend of mine with a geography degree worked with [GIS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geographic_information_system) systems (ArcView, I think). Got paid (fairly) big bucks. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401/100 "2010-10-20T13:26:18Z")
major: geology/earth sci minor: geography [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-your-university-major/557401.md?page=6)