<p>Jan, I don’t think it is a matter of ‘getting bent out of shape’. Some posters feel it is important to keep the endgame in sight. The college years WILL come to an end and the young adult will need to get off the parental dole.</p>
<p>As my DD recently recently pondered - college these days seems to be looked at as a continuation of the high school years with the added benefit of binge drinking and little parental oversight. The problem is you go off for 4 years of fun and games and then - bang- you’re expected to get a job and act like an adult. </p>
<p>The philosophical difference seems to be between those who support the ‘study what you will and worry about it in 4-5 years’ and those who espouse the injection of a dose of market and financial reality at the beginning of the college process.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that a liberal arts major is “average”, in the sense that the majority of people pursue one. Also, keep in mind that most jobs in the US are not high-paying, and because this is the case with most people, this is also considered “average”. Yes, engineering jobs pay higher, and jobs for typical graduates with liberal arts majors pay lower. That’s just how it is. Make your choice and deal with it.</p>
<p>when did I ever suggest that we should turn our colleges into technical major factories? People are different, you can’t force them to do something because of so-and-so. My point that I was trying to make is that there are people on CC with delusional beliefs that liberal arts are very marketable and teach indemand skills. Overall, they are not, I don’t know why this is so difficult to understand. </p>
<p>I agree with qwertykey, students MUST compromise their passion if it is in a totally useless field. If I had a choice between 1 thing I like 100% and another thing I liked 60%, I would go with the latter if it had better employment prospects. A job isn’t going to be fun and games all the time regardless of your major.</p>
<p>You assume that because someone majors in history, English, philosophy they automatically know less about “real” life…Your also assuming that if someone receives one of these degrees they will also inevitably work at Taco-bell and make low wages for the rest of their lives…can I make the assumption you have no idea what your talking about?</p>
<p>This place is called CC and there are tons of unverifiable anecdotal evidence. Just because one person yells doom for accountants cause all his accounting friends have no jobs does not mean that is true across the board in the United States. I can’t believe someone would try to use CC as a gauge for employment between industries…</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Liberal arts/humanities majors say the exact opposite, I don’t know what you are talking about. LA majors are the ones who claim liberal arts/humanities teach “real life” and “human” skills as opposed to technical ones. Plus also the ones who deride others as “lifeless”, “black and white”, “cold”, “rigid”, “colorless”, and yes…some even say “NERD”.</p>
<p>“Does it really get you this bent out of shape that people decide to study english or sociology rather than engineering? Talk about bridge and tunnel. Then again, engineering.”</p>
<p>Propaganda gets me bent out of shape.</p>
<p>“You assume that because someone majors in history, English, philosophy they automatically know less about “real” life.”</p>
<p>People who aren’t worried about being employed, yes. That’s not all English and Philosophy majors, but when people tell me I made a bad decision because my major is “trade school-ish”, yeah.</p>
<p>I don’t think that’s really a choice most people make. It’s not like the world is divided into “People That Got Engineering Degrees And Make Money” and “People That Got Liberal Arts Degrees And Are Poor.”</p>
<p>“I don’t think that’s really a choice most people make. It’s not like the world is divided into “People That Got Engineering Degrees And Make Money” and “People That Got Liberal Arts Degrees And Are Poor.””</p>
<p>When you compare the lowest of the liberal arts majors (Language and Literature, in my opinion) to the top of the Engineering (Comp Sci, CompE, ChemE) it’s not that far off. My post isn’t near as far as an exaggeration as many would think, though I’ll admit, it is an exaggeration.</p>
<p>Yes there is a wide spectrum, and I don’t think someone who really wants to do Econ + Math or Physics + Math should do ChemE just because ChemE pays more, if someone deciding between German Literature and Chemical Engineering, even if they think they’ll like German Literature much better, is probably best off not doing that.</p>
<p>Even so, how many people who study Anthropology get to do anything career-wise that has anything to do with it? How about Psychology? They’re going to get regular “general” jobs that they don’t like any more than the guy who doesn’t like engineering but became an engineer got, but they’ll make less.</p>
<p>I think there is lot dilution with CS major. People think CA major is learning a programming language or knowing how to use a computer applications.
Also CS major is available in many flavor at different universities and some time at the same university.</p>
<p>The CS major that is so sought after is generally the one that is part of Engineering Department generally clubbed with Electrical Engineering. The example of which are EECS at MIT or UCB.</p>
<p>Another flavor of CS that is so sought after is in exclusive department of Computer Science. The example of which are Stanford or CMU.</p>
<p>There is a flavor of CS which is under the department of natural science that gets diluted from university to university and may be the one that is cause of concern.</p>
<p>If the engineering major decides not to become an engineer, many aren’t going to be making engineer type money. And the ones that do still aren’t in jobs that are exclusively open to engineering majors.</p>
<p>If the useful stuff they picked up in their classes was that useful, why aren’t there “teach yourself aerospace engineering in 21 days!” online courses and such.</p>
<p>I thinks it’s valid and is a good way to make good money in the end. Highly skilled workers can always make decent scratch.</p>
<p>However, you guys shouldn’t put down or look down at the other majors. You can’t just go by salary alone.</p>
<p>Think of the richest/most powerfully people on the planet. What majors do you think they have?</p>
<p>The more I see on this thread, the more I think I asked the wrong group of people this question. Maybe I should have directed it to the parents who are currently in successful professions they might have not anticipated when they went to college. I was hoping some of this kind of information would rub off on their kids.</p>
<p>Seems to me, most of you are just going by what you’re reading in the books. Though helpful, I find it doesn’t give a whole picture. It’s like reading a history book and believing everything you read in it, instead of getting info. from someone who lived it.</p>
<p>my only concern is that people tell young people that “philosophy and classical studies is a a marketable major” and baloney like “your major doesn’t make any difference after you graduate”. I’ve seen people say this kind of stuff. Its completely distorting the truth and making people think otherwise. </p>
<p>Furthurmore, a lot of students today go into humanities/leisure studies not necessarily because they really enjoy it but because its easy. “Well I’m going to college, and I gotta do something, so I’ll pick something real easy”, instead of a “I really enjoy studying anthropology”. Then they party and get drunk for 4 years. Of course, that is a small portion of students. The majority of students make hard decisions about their careers as they mature. But the funneling of students into easy majors reflects the level of work ethic that has declined in our country today. It is important that parents and teachers tell students that success is doable, but difficult and that certain majors simply have absolutely no practicality in our society today.</p>
<p>Part of me believes/understand what you say. However, is there a written rule somewhere that says something has to be “hard”/“technical” for you to make money?</p>
<p>I’ve met a fair share of “idiots” that make buckets of money because of a trait/skill/ability I never considered as “valuable”. It takes more than one kind of intelligence to make the world go round…</p>
<p>Your heart is in the right place, but you’re “in the box” thinking is working against you…</p>
<p>This shouldn’t be a black or white issue, though. One can compromise. Take me for example. I love journalism/writing. I write for the school newspaper (editorials) and have my own blog. At first, I wanted to do journalism, but then I saw just how terrible the prospects for a young journalist were. </p>
<p>So now, I’m considering teaching or nursing. I am not in LOVE with nursing or teaching, but there are some things I like about both, particularly the flexible lifestyle and pay. RNs average around $60,000/year. Many work only three days a week (12 hr shifts), and as an RN, I could work with babies and care for the elderly, something I can possibly see myself enjoying. </p>
<p>As a teacher, I would have my summer off to explore my interests, just as I would have four days a week exploring my writing/journalistic interests as a nurse. I think I would enjoy teaching a foreign language.</p>
<p>In short, don’t completely compromise your happiness. Find something marketable that you love. If you are a dancer who also likes the idea of nursing, minor in dancing and major in nursing. If you are a historian who can tolerate accounting, minor in history and major in accounting. Or go for a Master’s in Education.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, don’t do something you HATE for money. Do something you at least like or something that gives you flexibility to pursue your other hobbies.</p>
<p>But I am with you. I would be MISERABLE making only $25,000/year. I like going out for dinner and a movie, taking vacations, and going to the spa every once in a while, and I like fashion. Nursing would provide all those things for me…PLUS four days a week to write or play music.</p>
<p>listen, every individual makes a decision whether to do something</p>
<ol>
<li>all for money</li>
<li>for money and passion</li>
<li>all for passion</li>
</ol>
<p>I’d like to think most people fall in #2. My point is, people should do whatever they want according to their personal beliefs on what life is about (among the three choices). If they want to study psychology cause its interesting? great. You wanna study accounting cause its got job stability? then great. It just ****es me off when someone comes up to me and tells me that technical majors are too narrow, one-dimensional, don’t teach “life skills”, etc. and then go on about giving reasons why _______ major is a lot better than something technical. Btw, what are “life skills”? Is that a thinly veiled insult that math/science people don’t know how to socialize or party?</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I already wrote that a lot of students pick easier majors simply because its easy. Everyone has a general idea what kind of jobs are the highest paying/most indemand. Some just don’t like the subjects around it, don’t want to put in the time, or worse, don’t like the connotations surrounding technical majors.</p>