Parents pressuring sister to major in "something useful".

MiamiDAP
Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:17:15 +0000

One need to study job market before spending tens of thousands $$ on college. When my D. said that she wanted to be a marine biologist (she is a swimmer who had tons of snorkeling trips), it was clear where she is coming from. Quick check revealed that there are few jobs in a field, but there are very few and the chance of getting one is very low. I also told her that I have been unemployed 8 times and although I loved to go to new place and learn new stuff, being unemployed is very depressing and the whole instability is not for everybody and if she wants to have more stable situation and loves biology, then medicine seems to be a natural choice. So, she decided that pre-med would be the closest thing for her. Well, if our family had unlimited resources and were sending child to college for getting education, yes, whatever she wants to study is fine. Since it is not the case, then a little more research seems to be prudent thing to do before spending all $$ and 4 years of one’s life. I imagine that original idea of college was for expanding kids horizons of well to do families. With few exceptions, I cannot see how it is still the same.