I’m having a difficult time choosing a major that I find both enjoyable and rewarding money-wise.
So I’d love to hear some opinions! If you re-did college with a different major, what major would you study, and which career would you have loved to enter!
I have done that! In my mid 30s, having family too, but a very supportive H.
I was an engineer (EE), never liked it and after 11 years of working decided that enough is enough, not my thing.
I went back to school (cc at first), got associate in CS, found the job (loved it right away, great fun) and then various employers paid for my BS and MBA. I am blessed that I had done. If you are miserable doing what you are doing, just switch rather earlier than later, do not wait for 11 years, couple will be enough.
I have done that, too. College major was biology which I loved. I didn’t love being a medical technologist which I was for 5 years. I went back to school and sort of fell into accounting. Not everyone’s thing but I enjoyed it from day 1. I got my CPA and have worked in accounting/finance for several years. Wish I had done that to begin with.
I started out as a biology major, but switched to Comparative Literature (and transferred from a small local private where I commuted from home, to a big state flagship U to do so. I couldn’t deal with having to do vivisection, which was legal in Indiana at the time - maybe still so? So I realized I’d never be happy doing research and development work, which was what I had originally envisioned for myself with the Biology major…)
I’d major in Comp. Lit. again. It was challenging and engaging. It satisfied my desire to learn more about the world, and to read and write…
However, I’d be more aggressive in looking for a job that was more “interesting” like in advertising or publishing. I was afraid to move too far from home, so I looked in St. Louis and Chicago for jobs. Ended up taking a job as the sole library clerk at a small patent law firm in Chicago. I got the job because of my translating skills, and because I’d worked at the university library, and knew Library of Congress system… and because I could write and do research, I guess. It was a very boring job, though, and I hated it. It did steer me toward getting my Master’s in Library and Information Sciences, though, which I also don’t regret, although I haven’t worked as a librarian since my daughter was 3.
I do wish I’d had more guidance about what I could have done with my major and the skills it gave me. I remember watching Mad Men recently and thinking - I was qualified to do that, with my B.A., to be an ad writer (I had also taken grad level creative writing workshops) and it would have actually been stimulating and enjoyable.
I should add this was many, many years ago - 26, to be exact. Graduated in 1989.
Economy was much, much better then, too.
I’m still all for my kid getting a B.A. in a Liberal Arts field, if she chooses. The LA/“humanities” majors can be versatile when applied to real-life jobs and careers, I believe. And we can’t all be engineers and computer scientists (although we certainly need them too.)
I majored in psychology for college and I loved, and still love, the field.
But if I could go back to college and do it over, I think I would major in statistics. I would have to go elsewhere, as my college didn’t offer the major, but I LOVE statistics and I could definitely do it as a career - my current position requires a lot of it. I would love to be a professional statistician!
I loved my journalism degree. I wouldn’t change a thing, even though I work in marketing now instead of journalism. It was a practical degree course that gave me a lot of skills in research, writing, meeting deadlines, understanding public perception of ideas, etc. But, with the benefit of hindsight, I would have double minored in German and Women’s Studies. I did my German minor but discovered my uni’s Women’s Studies department late (senior year) and would have loved to take more classes. If I’d been strategic from freshman year, I could have swung it.
But let’s say I had to make another choice, then I’d say I would have majored in TV with a minor in marketing/advertising. I work in the industry now and I love it, but a TV major could have positioned me to get into this industry five years before I ended up doing so. (but I really, really loved j-school)
I majored in biology and really enjoy parts of it, but I love chemistry (my minor because I just could not bring myself to take calc 2 and 3 back then). If I could do it over, I’d do something with bio/chem engineering. better pay, more respect from the get-go. Or, I’d have gone on to grad school immediately. I really enjoy clinical epidemiology and work in a related field. I do have a master’s now, but no one guided me in undergrad despite excellent grades. They just didn’t know what to do with kids who weren’t interested in professional schools at the time. Someday, I may go back and finally formally study epi.
I probably would have stuck with CS. Though if I was going to do it all over again, probably 2/3 majors out of CS/statistics/econ/history, which I all like. And dropped all my pre-med science courses. And gone deeper in to my foreign language.
I had no clue what to major in, since I did well in math and science courses and there was a push to get women into engineering in the 80’s, that’s what I majored in. I did well in school, but did not like engineering as a job. Looking back, I wish someone had suggested I look into actuarial science, I think it would have been a good fit for me.
I loved history but thought it wasn’t practical enough. Ended up in business. That was a mistake: I should have stuck with what I loved and given it my best shot. 35 years later, I’m retired and going back to the subject I love. I’ll always wonder if I could have made a career out of it had I not been so afraid of failure and had thought a bit more creatively about my options.
I majored in art education and probably wouldn’t change that even if I could since teaching has been a great fit for me and I am passionate about art and it’s importance in children’s education. I was also really interested (still am) in natural sciences and human anatomy. At one point I considered pursuing scientific illustration but never did.
I strongly support following the major that really interests you. Even if you end up working in another field you will have received an education in the thing that stirs your heart and soul. That is a chance you may never get again.
I majored in economics and own a small business in the medical field. If I could pick something else I would have majored in english and worked in the publishing business. But I don’t regret my choices, it would have just been a different path.
Psychiatry vs psychology, because of the $, job opportunities, and potential for more time to be involved in writing.
My first degree is Accounting but unless you live in a city, the possiblities are slim…I am now a licensed social worker and I enjoy the work but I think I would have loved to be a travel consultant or restaurant reviewer… that’s my passion ~ traveling and eating ~ and it can’t pay worse than social work lol.
I’ve been happy with engineering. At parties with DH (also an engineer) and his coworkers, the other wives tease that we think there are only two career choices - “engineering” and “other”. Perhaps that means we are all happy.
I started as a music major. Switched to speech pathology which was my career for 38 years or so.
If I could wind the clock back…I would have done music. Or I would have moved to NYC and studied music…vocal.
Another EE here, but my emphasis area was computer engineering. My career has been spent designing software and having good interpersonal skills had been a major asset since those are rare on my field. I love my profession, but if I started over I might be lured into neuroscience. That’s fascinating stuff!!!
I got a Nursing degree. My father died when I was eleven. Mom was the bread winner after that (book keeper at our church). She stressed that I should major in Nursing or Education with which I could always support myself if needed.
It didn’t take long on the job to figure out I had made a mistake. I disliked working 3rd shift with no support, stress. snide rude surgeons, working on holidays. I wished I could have majored in Liberal Acts
My degree is in accounting, which has proven to be an employable degree (every business, non profit, government, university needs someone to count the money). It doesn’t set my soul on fire, but I have learned to find satisfaction in it.
My nephew is actually pursuing my dream major - political science. It’s going to be fun to watch as he launches out into the world. I told him at Christmas that I’d start watching for him on C-Span in about 10 years.