On college majors

[Datura]

Hi, everybody! This thread is mostly for college/college-bound/degree-holding students, but all insight is welcome! Share similar experiences if you have any!

I'm having a really rough time settling on a major for my Bachelor's degree. In the short time I've been at university (about six months), I've declared four different majors and a few different minors. If that sounds insane to you, that's because it is! I'm the kind of person—a lot of you can probably relate here—who has about a million different interests, and the thought of picking one or two frightens me. I don't want to get sick of an academic field, but I'm pretty sure that'll happen if I go too in-depth!

Right now my major is Urban Geography, because fuck yes geography. I love how geography complements almost every other liberal arts discipline: sociology, environmental science and biology, history, feminist/queer/race studies, anthropology, etc. etc.

It's interesting! For now. I'm starting to get into my (required) environmental/physical geography courses and fuck those, seriously.

But the more I think about it, the more I just don't think it's a field I can get involved in. Geography majors end up in government careers more often than not. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I'm not sure how comfortable I am aspiring to a lower-middle class lifestyle in the Midwestern United States. As much as I can pretend that I'd be cool living a bohemian lifestyle, I want money. I want to be able to experience some kind of luxury! My parents are both salesmen and they're probably both going to die without ever having left the Minnesota/Wisconsin/Michigan area. I want to live in a big(ger) city! Be able to immerse myself in high culture, maybe! Fulfill that promise that I made to myself a long time ago that I wouldn't ever become complacent!

And then there's the fact that, short of staying in academia, I would probably despise jobs that entail geography. Urban planning? Remote sensing? Real estate? Christ.

My other interests are... well, just about any social science or humanities discipline. I'm not exaggerating when I say I want to do everything. Right now I'm also on track to double-minor in German and Russian, which is cool, but I'm just not sure if they're things I can sustain an interest in and am I wasting my time with all of this and anxiety about the future aaaaa

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and such.

 

[surskitty]

Um, given that it's you and you burn out very easily, I'd suggest just taking classes that seem interesting and work out what major fits that sort of thing best after you know what junk you're having fun with. Don't be too concerned about what your degree is in; usually it matters more that you have a degree rather than that your degree is relevant.

Also it's worth noting that if you can stick with russian, that can pay really well :|b


as far as umbc is/was concerned i'm registered as a linguistics major; I'm not currently listed as degree-seeking at MC since I haven't gotten all of the junk sent over, but I've been taking a fuckton of art and language classes, since my health has been a little ... and I want to try not to burn out.

 

[Tailsy]

I had to 'declare a major' before I even went to university. Ya'll American nutcases get so much choice, man. But German and Russian sound cool!! You should do those that's fun! As long as you like it and it's fun. IDK I obviously didn't pick my subject because I thought it was going to be profitable. But that's just me, and I'm planning on winning a Booker Prize, so who knows.

(IT'LL HAPPEN YOU'RE ALL GOING TO EAT YOUR WORDS... ... sob...)

English is the best and there is no other degree for me! She says, having written three essays in one day because she's a lazy procrastinating fuck.

 

[Harlequin]

dunno i'm just like, a biologist. Biology is good! I decided to do it before I went to university and changing now would just be too hard and I don't even want to anyway I mean it's biology. <3

 

[Tarvos]

Ok, talking as someone who's completed most of his studies and is a proud holder of a BSc degree in chemical engineering

Just GO FOR IT, man! I know someone who studies geography and I'd find it a quite cool subject. To be honest, money can be earned anywhere if you look hard enough. Just take your degree, look around for job listings with your specs in the area you want to live in, and you're set. Since you want to live in the city there should be plenty jobs to go round. I'm pretty sure you can always job-shop around a bit - many people get a degree and then end up somewhere totally different anyway.

When I'm done I plan on initially moving to The Hague as a basic location for Tarvos Ops Inc and I am pretty sure you could do fine the same way.

By the way, I'm self-studying Russian - if you need any help or want a lingo exchange, get in touch. Same for German.

 

[Dannichu]

It's okay; I'm doing sociology and there's not really anything you can do with that except social work (if you hate yourself) and teaching (if you hate yourself slightly less). Luckily, there are a ton of jobs that just require you to have a degree in something before you do it.

Obviously, if you're going to be a biologist or chemist or something, you need to have studied the relevant science, but most people who do humanity-related degrees go on to do something only tangentally related to whatever they graduated in - how do you think literature and history students get employed? I'd stick with something you love and are good at (and are therefore likely to graduate with a better degree, no matter what it's in), enjoy yourself while you do it (university is awesome and you're there for such a short time), and then worry about the future.

 

[Minish]

I love how geography complements almost every other liberal arts discipline: sociology, environmental science and biology, history, feminist/queer/race studies, anthropology, etc. etc.

You could say this about pretty much any liberal arts discipline! Which is why they're all awesome to study.

Yeah, there doesn't seem to be much point in thinking of your future career right now. There just isn't much point!! Do something you really enjoy right now, rather than trying to work the system in advance, I'd say! idk here you just... pick a subject you like and go study it and that seems to mostly go okay.

I have *literally* no idea of what I'll do after uni ... I also don't care whatsoever right now :D hopefully I'll be a student for life \o/ fortunately I don't think I'll ever really care about luxury!

 

[goldenquagsire]

As much as I can pretend that I'd be cool living a bohemian lifestyle, I want money. I want to be able to experience some kind of luxury!

No offense bro, but if it's lots of money you want then don't do a Humanities discipline. :P

Sure, there's the *opportunity* to advance your career and *eventually* make a boatload of money, but it's nowhere near the same 'magic bullet' that, say, a Maths degree is.*

That said, don't be afraid to do something just because you like it! I went into History course knowing full well that I'll probably be unemployed when I graduate, but I don't care because I love studying it so much! I know one guy who did Electronics because he thought it would be better in terms of job prospects, but he hated it so much that after a year he changed courses to Environmental Science. You can't force yourself to do something just for money reasons.

*Although I'm told by my Maths-undergrad housemates that even that subject isn't an automatic job coupon. It really *is* important to improve your employability in other ways, like work experience, social skills, leadership, w/e. Life is hard. :(

 

[ultraviolet]

General advice that I've been given at university for this sort of thing is that if you're interested in something but you're doing a different degree, see if you can pick up a unit in that interest as an elective and test the waters and see how you go. But then I was silly enough to go into a Writing Major for a year and a half before realising that I didn't like it very much and I couldn't really use it. Now I'm doing a Creative Industries Bachelor (animation major, probably a videogame design & culture minor) and hopefully I'll be content with this.

 

[M&F]

College-bound here. Almost got there last year (our SATs are a joke and good universities have tough entry exams).

I had to 'declare a major' before I even went to university. Ya'll American nutcases get so much choice, man.

This so much. Where I live there's no such a thing as majoring and minoring -- you pick one subject and that's it. And you also have to pray your subject of choice doesn't have horribly competitive entry exams.

I'm currently going for law. I don't think it's what I really want, but around here a law degree turns you into a god of employability, no matter what the field is. And my parents who work with law think I'd do well there, although they're probably biased. At any rate, around here it's not uncommon to get one degree and then go back and get another (our economy is currently rosier, I guess), so, it means I have like five years to think of something I actually really want if I don't take too much of an interest in law. And then whatever I choose, I'll have a law degree to back it up with.

Maybe it's the difference in economy, but sometimes it surprises me how opting out of college is so commonplace out there. Around here it's pretty much taken for granted that one will at least try to get in an university.

 

[Autumn]

Heading off to college next year and my major of choice at the moment is music therapy. If I don't feel like that's quite right though I want to do something either related to a) music (preferably something where I can put my music theory skills to use, as music theory is the most awesome) or b) working with autistic/special needs kids. Of which music therapy is both so!!!

dunno if it might change though there are so many things i could do and am interested in. chemistry. meteorology. video game design/play testing. writing. scientific research. engineering. i could see myself doing and enjoying any of these things but i am still quite unsure so :p

 

[Dannichu]

Where I live there's no such a thing as majoring and minoring -- you pick one subject and that's it. And you also have to pray your subject of choice doesn't have horribly competitive entry exams.

Or you can choose a subject to study because it has non-competitive entry requirements :D

 

[M&F]

Or you can choose a subject to study because it has non-competitive entry requirements :D

Yeah, I guess that's altogether possible.

I can't name any particularly non-competitive course off the top of my head, but I guess that's exactly the point.

 

[Cerberus87]

I'm currently going for law. I don't think it's what I really want, but around here a law degree turns you into a god of employability, no matter what the field is.

Really? I have a law degree and I'm unemployed because the working conditions for lawyers are really bad compared to other sought-after professions. To get a good job you must apply for exams in public institutions, and I hate exams.

 

[spaekle]

Hawww I'm an illustration major. If anyone has any questions about art school I can try to help. :7

I'm happy with my major because it means you can do pretty much anything in the art world as long as people like your work. And yes, the jobs are out there - you just have to be clever/have some business sense/know people/not expect to be doing character design for Bioware right out of school.

That, and I can't really afford to switch majors because staying longer than I already have to is just too much fucking money.

 

[Cerberus87]

Is it too late for me to get another degree (I'm 24)? I have a degree in law and I have the option of attempting a masters degree or going for another course. I've narrowed down my options and decided journalism is an interesting career... What do you think?

 

[goldenquagsire]

Is it too late for me to get another degree (I'm 24)? I have a degree in law and I have the option of attempting a masters degree or going for another course. I've narrowed down my options and decided journalism is an interesting career... What do you think?

Speaking from experience as someone who's currently trying to get into journalism, I can tell you that it's really not the best job prospect out there. Journalism is a slowly-dying field. It's also one of the most ridiculously competitive fields you can imagine. Unless you've been doing work experience and internships and have made a hell of a lot of contacts (not to mention have a fair amount of actual writing to your name) over the last few years, it's really not worth trying to break into it at this stage.

Honestly, I'd say just suck it up and take the law exams. The money and job prospects are incredible, you'd be missing a big opportunity if you didn't take it. :P

 

[Phantom]

I'm actually thinking of going back to school. I will probably be swamped in student loans from it, but I want a complete career change. I want to be a teacher, something in like theology/philosophy or history; anyone know anything about like... anything about it?

 

[ultraviolet]

Speaking from experience as someone who's currently trying to get into journalism, I can tell you that it's really not the best job prospect out there. Journalism is a slowly-dying field. It's also one of the most ridiculously competitive fields you can imagine. Unless you've been doing work experience and internships and have made a hell of a lot of contacts (not to mention have a fair amount of actual writing to your name) over the last few years, it's really not worth trying to break into it at this stage.

Honestly, I'd say just suck it up and take the law exams. The money and job prospects are incredible, you'd be missing a big opportunity if you didn't take it. :P

Posting to agree; I considered journalism very briefly and unless you're prepared to be extremely competitive, it's probably not a field for you. Most journalism students I know become increasingly bitter about their studies as they go on because much of it seems to be writing to make a good story and not necessarily writing to report the truth, which is kind of sad.

 

[bulbasaur]

Speaking of journalism:

Health Canada warns against 'anti-toxin'

Health Canada updated its warning against using "MMS," also known as Miracle Mineral Solution or Miracle Mineral Supplement, which is promoted as an anti-toxin and contains sodium chloride. Health Canada says using products including sodium chloride can result in poisoning, kidney failure and harm to red blood cells. - QMI AGENCY

I don't know if they did this on purpose or not.