Most majors are worthless.

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am still surprised by parents that encourage their kids to pursue majors who are absolutely worthless. The “Do what you love and…” at least in this economy is absolute BS and wishful thinking. </p>

<p>I have several years of experience researching employment and labor market trends, if I had to advise someone on what majors to choose, I would say: </p>

<p>Engineering: Industrial, Mechanical, Chemical, Petroleum(although it is cyclical and not as stable), Computer Science, Computer Engineering or Civil Engineering</p>

<p>Business: Either MIS or Supply Chain Management. A business degree with no emphasis is almost worthless. Economics and Finance are decent majors but a bit too broad.</p>

<p>Anything else in my opinion will most likely lead to a life of underemployment, low wages and frustration.</p>

2

<p>SCM or MIS? really - not really the ones that I would pick as the best majors</p>

3

<p>Here we go… Another thread declaring humanities and life sciences useless. Yawn. </p>

4

<p>Thank goodness the world has a variety of folks living in it. Can’t imagine what it would be like if everyone majored in the same things. I am thankful for those who pursue careers in the arts and humanities, and hospitality. Makes life more wonderful for everyone.</p>

5

<p>Most opinions are worthless.</p>

6

<p>Most opinions about how other people choose to make a living are worthless.</p>

7

<p>I am not here to put anybody down. You can do your own research and you will come to the same conclusions. </p>

<p>Most majors are simply not marketable and general majors like Business Administration are becoming more and more irrelevant.</p>

<p>I would definitely not encourage my kid to pursue a degree that will most likely give him a negative return on investment. </p>

8

<p>Well then, I guess you don’t value music, or art, or hospitality management. None exactly guarantee a high income, but all are things we happen to enjoy. </p>

<p>I don’t know if you are a parent or a student. But I think it’s sad that you put such a high value on the right major for money’s sake only.</p>

<p>And FYI…majoring in one of your chosen fields doesn’t guarantee the student will want to actually WORK in that field. </p>

<p>We have a kid who majored in one of your worthless majors and is self supporting. </p>

<p>We have an engineering major who isn’t interested in being an engineer…for ANY amount of pay. She is working, but not in engineering.</p>

9

<p>That is ridiculous. Most of the people I know are employed in areas that are humanities related. All of them make decent wages and many make even better wages. I was an art major and make a very decent wage. I have one child who is an artist and is working in her field and is independent at age 24 and another who is going into a grad program for an MSN and NP license. I am happy for and proud of both of them.
What would be the point of “discouraging” a person from pursuing his or her dream? Would it be better for them to pursue a STEM field even if they have no affinity for it? Or maybe they should skip higher education altogether and work at a supermarket. What is your point?</p>

10

<p>Do not feed the ■■■■■.</p>

11

<p>OP clearly defines the “worth” of an object as how much money it can make him/her… Rather silly.</p>

12

<p>I should know better than to get involved in these threads. Silly. </p>

13

<p>You assume that life takes a straight path and that there are far fewer ways to find fulfillment AND make money. Your outlook is very limited. My husband’s path from MT major, to commercial real estate sales to managing director of a private equity fund is an example of that. And he made that journey without grad school. </p>

14

<p>Humanities are worthless…not saying humanities majors can’t make a lot of money because anything is possible.
But lettuce be reality, if a humanities major had to contribute to the advancement of society using solely what they learned in college they couldn’t do jack for society.
Humanities should just be gen ed & nothing more.</p>

15

<p>^^But lettuce be reality, if a supply chain management major had to contribute to the advancement of society using solely what they learned in college they couldn’t do jack for society. Yup. Same can be said for every major. College gives you the foundation for the future learning in the real world situations. </p>

<p>If everyone majored in supply chain management (and played Littlefield day and night), who would produce the supplies they are supposed to manage? E.g., who would design those sought after goods that those useless RISD graduates design? Who would make the pharmaceuticals? Who would produce the movies?</p>

<p>Ok, the trolls have been fed well. </p>

16

<p>Yawn. Seriously, don’t people ever get tired of complaining about something that doesn’t affect them? </p>

17

<p>I’m assuming there is some sort of cultural bias at hand here. But not everybody wants to nor should be an engineer or businessman. After all, it’s not like a person without a computer science degree is doomed to mediocrity. I’m hard-pressed to think of a functioning society where people do nothing but crunch numbers all day.</p>

<p>I’m a future STEM major and I have nothing but respect for those who choose to pursue a degree in the humanities. If we didn’t have writers and artists and musicians, the world would be an awfully boring place. Just my humble opinion as a high school senior. </p>

18

<p>I don’t know…at UCSB there is a controversial professor who teaches pornography and sex work. Last I heard, there was considerable demand for these services.</p>

19

<p>The OP has a long list of posts in engineering. So my prediction is that with this attitudes, the OP will end up a mid-level at best engineer doing ordinary work … because he/she doesn’t grasp the concept of education. </p>

20

<p>The OP claims to be 36 ears old…with an undergrad degree in economics. He returned to college to get a second bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering in January 2013. He said he was disillusioned with the working world in finance. </p>

<p>I guess he is chasing only majors that he thinks will earn him top dollar. </p>