I canât look at it easily. Does it say what they switched into or did they just drop out altogether?
Ok, Iâm at school now and able to look at the link thanks to WiFi⊠Really nice data.
With Engineering, 216 intended on the major from the start, 210 declared it, and 189 graduated. Of the others, 5 went to Chemistry, 1 to aL&S Studies degree, and 21 didnât get a degree from the college.
With Social Sciences 574 intended, 498 declared, 488 graduated. Those who didnât⊠46 went to L&S categories, 10 went to Arts and Humanities, 4 went to Natural Resources, 4 went to Math/Physical Science, and 61 got no degree from the college.
Interesting to seeâŠplus all other categories are there for the curious. Readers can interpret as they want. 
Invariably true but perhaps not widely acknowledged by recent college graduates who are more likely to equate happiness with higher incomes and greater worldly goods, thus leading those with no real passion for their work (i.e. accepting whatever positions they could manage to land due to the need for income) to be less satisfied with their choice in major.
Well, nix those numbersâŠI just realized they were transfer students.
For incoming freshmen 621 intended and declared Engineering with 531 graduating with it. 47 didnât graduate from there. The others dispersed mostly to L&S. (This is far more what I expected to see. I was beginning to doubt my IRL experiences!)
With Social Sciences 610 intended, 312 declared, and 296 graduated with it. 67 didnât graduate from the college. The rest dispersed with the vast majority staying in L&S, though 32 got a Business degree and 3 got an Engineering Degree.
None of these numbers surprise me.
Correlation to having regrets about their degree is speculative. I place my bets on those who settled for something vs those who selected by choice either at the beginning or after experiencing classes. Then I would add any who graduated with high debt.
I think those who equate income/worldly goods and happiness are less likely to ever be content.
Seems like the most regrettable majors are undertaken by folks who donât know what they want or donât understand the whole picture of what they are likely to get given their degrees. IF you donât have a plan and a back up plan then you ARE likely to regret your career path regardless of your ultimate degree.
Itâs so funny to me to see how many pro-Stem folks there are. And how so many think that people who go into LA canât hack STEM. LOL. As the parent of very Stem-y kids, I can tell you that kids will chose a field that is best for them. This is especially true of people who are well balanced across all disciplines.
Not all good jobs are in STEM folks. Nor are all the high paying jobs in Stem either.
Itâs obvious from some of the comments that some people have never worked in the fields which they are commenting on. For example, someone cited that top consulting firms are only taking 10 students from a top school. 100-300 kids are going into consulting from top schools and are not working for non name consulting firms. In this job market the number is probably even higher. Itâs obvious this person has never worked for Mckinsey or any other management consulting firm.
@Creekland Totally agree. Income is just a small component of âhappinessâ and being content. I also agree with your point that folks with large debt loads will likely be less happy than those who have made other decisions. I have read elsewhere, that if people make 75K or better that their happiness is unaffected either way. Personally, for me that number is far too low. But I think most people have an individual income number above which happiness doesnât increase.
Happy times, My brother works for McKinsey. At the undergrad level, they take fewer than 10 per school, just like Bain and BCG. The Big 4 accounting firms take more in their consultancy arms. Our family has plenty of work experience at McKinsey, Bain and Booz Allen, thanks. So unless you can cite studies to back up your claim, I think I will rely on our personal experience with those companies. There are many companies below top tier, but the top tier is tough to get into, even from HYP.
@roycroftmom Your numbers are roughly accurate and I have proof for the one my D has interned with. Those saying otherwise are speculating and wrong. @Happytimes2001
There is no question that I could have gotten intoâŠand graduated fromâŠa third tier engineering program. My SAT scores and grades in HS made me a perfectly viable admit, and my dogged work ethic would have kept me in.
There is no way I would have survived Brown as an engineer though (they did not admit by major, so I could have made it in, but not out). I saw the level of mathematical creativity required from my roommatesâŠI didnât have it.
Is the world really better off with me as an engineer than a top shelf Classics major ? Are the Stem or bust folks here really viewing the world in such a narrow way⊠you either come out of college with a career path nailed or end up poor and underemployed?
Iâve interviewed board certified physicians trying to get entry level jobs as financial analysts. They hate medicine and patient care, and when I ask why they slogged through it, itâs usually a combo of parental pressure and âstem or we wonât payâ. This is good for societyâŠall the resources devoted to training a young doctor who loathes the field?
There are kids who graduated from Montclair and Framingham State who are ready to launch⊠regardless of their major, and kids who graduated from RPI or Babson who are clueless. How about helping your kid learn about how to launch in the kids desired field, rather than assuming that the humanities grad is too dumb to get a real job?
Hint⊠sending out 500 resumes to jobs you see on ziprecruiter is not a viable strategy. And adding another 500 companies does not double your oddsâŠ
@yikesyikesyikes , thanks for the link, but I would consider that study to mostly be agenda-driven garbage.
Although, it does confirm my original point that at the time we are forcing women into STEM (late adolescence), there is a significant gender gap in spatial ability.
Probably true, at least once one is not or no longer poor, unemployed, or in heavy debt. (But examples from these forums indicate that many feel âpoorâ even on top 5% incomes.)
Regret may be generally greater in bad economic times, when an expensive degree leads to the unemployment line. For example, civil engineering and architecture majors graduating in 2009 probably had higher regret than those on other years.
Doctors, who quit the practice of medicine after finishing their residency, are predominately women, particularly women with children. The hours, being on call, and poor work-life balance all drive women, and mothers, in particular, out of the field or to scale back their hours. However, the pressure to work a large number of hours is not unique to medicine, but common in many highly compensated fields: consulting, finance, and law among others.
https://www.npr.org/2011/06/21/137319969/after-earning-mds-are-docs-obligated-to-keep-practicing-med
https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/why-women-leave-medicine
Iâm tired of hearing the old stereotype of spatial relations. I realize this is off topic but itâs been repeated twice on this thread. Spatial relations skills can be taught. There is also more recent research showing that some of the differences we see are because of nurture, not nature.
https://www.futurity.org/spatial-reasoning-gap-2035092/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-men-spatial-reasoning_n_5806406be4b0b994d4c184d2. If people want more of the new science, do a search for
As the mom of an 2nd year engineering student who is kicking some serious butt academically, Iâm offended by the notion that we are âpushingâ girls into STEM. Some girls rock at it and more would if they would get the support from earlier ages.
For the record Iâve interviewed men who hate being doctorsâŠthis is not a phenomenon confined to women. But my pointâ does society win when we pour resources into creating miserable doctors who became doctors because their parents refused to support a different path? Is that the oncologist you want to be treating your kid?
Any field could end up with people who âhateâ what they do. . That seems overblown to insinuate that there are all these âmiserable doctorsâ out there who were forced into that path. Of course that exists but for every one like that , there are likely many that want to become doctors, dentists, nurses, PAâs, etc. apart from what their parents wanted them to do(and maybe what their parents were happy with as well) and are quite happy with their careers.
There are many unhappy lawyers, who were usually LA majors
- A lot of people want a unicorn job. They want a top 2% income, but to work 40 hours a week and with no required travel. If they had majored in art history or whatever their passion was in college, it doesn't mean they would have been any happier with their career path.
- Very few board-certified male pediatric oncologists are leaving medicine to take entry level jobs in unrelated fields. It's true a lot of doctors like to complain about a host of issues: high student loan debt, high malpractice costs, excessive paperwork from insurance companies and electronic medical records, lack of freedom to practice medicine the way they want, and difficult patients. Health care policy is outside the scope of the thread, but I don't think telling them they should have majored in the classics is the right answer to any of those issues.
Iâll offer a different POV. Just our family perspective. For those that say income does not equate to happiness that is entirely not true in our household.
My kids have have enjoyed a very nice life growing up. They very much appreciate the life that they have and do not take it for granted, BUT they would like to continue their same lifestyle in adulthood.
In order to have the lifestyle that they want they need to earn a very good salary, therefore, they have both chosen to major in something that they like, but also has the salary to provide them the lifestyle that they would like to have.
If you make enough money your interests can be funded by your salary. You donât need to major in it if it doesnât pay well.
I donât understand why this thought process is frowned upon on cc.
A hiring type person , by definition, is dealing with people who want/need a job or possibly a new direction, and are hiring in the fields their employer is looking for. There will always be a percentage of skilled professionals that decide they want or need a change. Nothing newâŠ