<p>I’m looking to transfer from my current college, a local public university (about to enter my second year there) to a school in the UK because it’s cheaper there. I’ve found a lot of good schools there I like.
But- English unis last only 3 years in duration and you can’t really study anything except your major. It seems like it would be hard to study French and Spanish there. But on the plus side I’d be guaranteed to graduate in at least 5 years total…With a small chance of being accepted to year two.
Scottish unis are more like American unis and you take 4 years to graduate and have more room to explore. But I would have to get accepted to year two to graduate in five years. At a scottish uni I could probably study Spanish and French on the side.
I’m interested in Environmental Science, maybe Environmental Planning or Conservation Biology. From what I’ve seen careers from these don’t pay more than $40,000 a year…not ideal. But I really want to work in conservation and make a difference.
My mom is pressuring me to go with a major that will guarantee a good paycheck (to pay off debt). I know she also doesn’t like the idea of me having an extra whole year of expensive college. But I really want to study in the UK to make those international connections.
I’m just feeling a little hopeless. It seems like I can’t win, I could major in environmental science or conservation and end up not making a whole lot and possibly having to pay off debt for decades. Or I could major in something like Environmental Law, and dislike my job but make more.</p>
<p>Go with your hart and you will never know what is in your life ahead. You may ended with a job you may never dreamed of. </p>
<p>Most people spend about 1/3 of their lives at work. You want that 1/3 to be as great as possible. More money is nice, but as long you’re living comfortably, a happiness in your career is more important. You want a job you love because you’ll be a happier person overall. Also, if you work at a job you hate, it will show through in your quality of work at some point. Happiness > money</p>
<p>Have you ever had a job before, what makes you think you’d automatically hate the higher paying job? Majoring in something that won’t get you money is just naive. You might as well not go to college if you’d have to pay off a debt for decades - there are much better investments than that. </p>
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<p>It sounds like you like the environment, which makes this a non-option. Environmental law (it’s not really a thing) isn’t working for the EPA and helping the environment, it’s exploiting loopholes in existing laws to increase a company’s profit/make sure clients don’t have to pay huge environmental fines or get clients out of those fines. You could work for the EPA after a JD (or an NGO), but that pays the same as the environmental planning degree, and you’d need to drop some dough/add more to your debt for the law degree. </p>
<p>Regarding languages: it really depends how advanced you want your language studies to be. Do you want to take very advanced/lit classes, or at a lower level?</p>
<p>Basic language skill classes are likely to be available at most UK universities as an add-on - although they may not always count towards your degree. For a randomly selected example, here’s a link to language courses for students in other areas at the University of Reading: <a href=“Institution-Wide Language Programme at the University of Reading”>http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/IWLP/About_us.aspx</a></p>
<p>Take a close look at the universities you’re considering - I’d bet most of them will have similar opportunities.</p>
<p>I’m going to take your word for it that a UK university would be cheaper than your local public university.</p>
<p>By 5 years total, I assume that you are including the master’s degree? I’m confused about the 5 years total thing. Trust me when I say that 5 vs 6 years (aka taking 3 years or 4 years to finish your undergrad degree) doesn’t make a huge difference time wise. I would only worry about this if it were a huge thing financially.</p>
<p>Why do you want to make international connections? Do you plan to work abroad after you finish college? That would be the only reason that international connections make sense, and there are other ways to do that - like taking a semester abroad or interning abroad for a summer, or trying to find a job abroad after you graduate. SIT has several programs that focus on international issues that you can do for a semester. in [Madagascar[/url</a>] you can study biodiversity and natural resource management AND your French. In [url=<a href=“http://studyabroad.sit.edu/sn/programs/semester/spring-2015/ece/]Ecuador[/url”>PROGRAMS - SIT Study Abroad]Ecuador[/url</a>] you can study comparative ecology and conservation and Spanish, and in [url=<a href=“PROGRAMS - SIT Study Abroad”>PROGRAMS - SIT Study Abroad]Panama[/url</a>] you can study tropical ecology, marine ecosystems, and biodiversity conservation along with Spanish. SIT also has environmental sciences programs in Australia, Mongolia, Tanzania, and an international program that takes you from California to Vietnam, Morocco, and Bolivia.</p>
<p>Now. As for your career. I don’t know what your mom thinks is going to happen, but most bachelor’s degree graduates start out making between $30K and $40K. The only major that makes significantly more in the first 4-5 years of their career are engineers, who make on average $54K. Unless you want to go into environmental engineering, that doesn’t sound like it interests you.</p>
<p>But that’s the thing - environmental scientists may start out making $40K a year, but that doesn’t mean that you will make that for the rest of your life. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that [url=<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/conservation-scientists.htm]conservation”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/conservation-scientists.htm]conservation</a> scientists and foresters](<a href=“PROGRAMS - SIT Study Abroad”>PROGRAMS - SIT Study Abroad) average $58,060 a year; [environmental</a> scientists and specialists](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/environmental-scientists-and-specialists.htm]environmental”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/environmental-scientists-and-specialists.htm) average $63,570 per year; and [urban</a> and regional planners](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/urban-and-regional-planners.htm]urban”>http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/urban-and-regional-planners.htm) average $65,230 per year.</p>
<p>Even if you made $40K a year for the next 10 years, it’s unlikely that you’ll have to pay off debt for decades unless you incur monster debt. If you borrowed the max under the federal Direct loan program ($28,000), you could repay that money in 10 years relatively comfortably on an income of $40,000. But it’s unlikely that you’ll still be making $40K 10 years from now.</p>
<p>There’s also no major that ‘guarantees’ a great paycheck. You could major in environmental sciences and end up working at a tech start-up that uses technology to help environmental planners and make $$$$. Or you could major in business and end up as a retail manager.</p>
<p>Also, at least in the U.S. you can’t be a lawyer without a JD. So regardless of whether you majored in environmental law or environmental studies, you’d probably be eligible for the same kinds of jobs unless you went to law school.</p>
<p>Do what you love. If you love waking up to go to work then the debt will be tolerable. That being said, I would suggest minoring or duel majoring in something very diverse, like business, chemistry, biology, economics… This will give you more options should you decide you need more money and can make you more marketable in any field.</p>