insight needed for picking a major.

LFArmada · Backside 180 Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 631 City: tucson

so its that time in my senor year where Im feeling the pressure of choosing what I want to study in college.

the way I look at it I have two options:

Choose on of the three majors im interested in but arent very practical (psycology, philosophy, sociology)

OR choose a more practical major that Im not so interested in. (economics or financing ect)

what is some advice??

CapriSunAllNatural · Posted: Oct 07, 2008 11:07 pm Post subject:

for psycology, keep in mind you have to have a masters degree to make any sort of living, sooo, if you want to go to school for 10 more years or so, then that would be your best option!

electricsnow · cassette Joined: 14 Sep 2003 Posts: 10756 City: Jefferton

my brother told me a psychology major is generally what people declare right before flunking out of Uni. That is, if you aren't working for your doctorate in that specific field.

I swear to you, it took me YEARS to declare a major. To be honest, it was stuff like snowboarding and wakeskating that made me look at how I could be involved with those activities while still being able to ride. In the end, writing seemed like the best fit (initially I considered sales, like repping and such but I hated that), and I'm an English major and a writing minor. I enjoy all of it, minus this technical writing stuff (which I'm cramming at the moment). It's enjoyable to read and learn about the literature I've studied, and that sort of thing just gives you a wider range of knowledge and perspective. But I think you have to enjoy it for it all to make sense and be relevant.

English, and I've heard that history majors will give you a good, solid base. Studying english helps you learn how to communicate clearly, while history requires you to pay attention to details. You may need more training beyond that, but those are some basics.

It might be a good idea to speak with a counselor. I personally would recommend to major in something that you enjoy but is practical, which is the best of both worlds. My sister majored in something that she really enjoyed but was like "big city" practical (basically working at a museum). Now she lives overseas and when it came down to finding a job, she basically had to find something that had nothing to do with her major.

But it's important to at least have that four year degree, because a number of people end up with careers that have nothing to do with their degree. That "piece of paper" will show that you can finish something.

scott a · "a" is for angel Joined: 17 Feb 2004 Posts: 4126

Donk · Posted: Oct 08, 2008 9:01 am Post subject:

Mechanical engineering, because building stuff is the tits!

sk8tehwake · Posted: Oct 08, 2008 9:29 am Post subject:

just get a business degree and call it a day. You can do alot with it and there is always a godd somewhere

ZoSo · Backside 180 Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 900 City: Winnipeg

Do you know what you want to do with your degree? Do you want to start working immediately after graduation or do you want to go on to grad school? If you're interested in philosophy, you might consider law because they are very closely related.

I'm currently an English major and everything ESnow said is very true...even my economics prof said that most CEO's of companies will not only look for people with certain skills....but also people with communication skills...and English definitely helps you do that. I'm also minoring in philosophy...though I heard that my university is offering a English/Philosophy double major program for next year...so I might hold off graduation (which I was supposed to do this year) until next year. I do intend on going into law school though, and I will be writing the LSAT in December...so it will really depend on how that all goes.

Overall, I would take a Philosophy degree over a Psych/Sociology degree...while all three are useless in a pragmatic sense...Philosophy courses do teach you to think critically and form concise arguments...plus to me...it's just more interesting than psych/sociology. If you do decide to major in Philosophy, take a Logic course somewhere a long the way...it's challenging, but it's super useful.

02LaunchSSV · Ollie Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 59 City: Columbia

Dude in todays world and market place, economics/statistics. You're guaranteed a job on tv dragging home buckets of cash like CEO's from AIG

Le Jalapeno · Guest

Philosophy is also very close to science (physics in particular). But I have no room to talk in this thread because I couldn't even grasp what i wanted to have as my major, so i decided to go into art Rolling Eyes

Guy · Backside 180 Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 842 City: Orillia

Donk, yeaaahh

jboss · Kickflip Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 3210 City: Chalmette

I think college is great for people who have a plan in mind and have found a program at certain college that will help them reach their goal. Other than that, college is absolute bulljive. You end up spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to stall time in impractical horseshit classes until real life starts. The funniest part is that people think that someone who has a college degree is somehow better or smarter than someone without, when I can tell you that I know a few people about to graduate or already graduated that are total dumbshits. Snap, I've seen people on here in college that don't even have basic grammar skills.

But, to answer your question, I would major in business because you'll likely get a better return on your investment. That or pre-med. There's never been, nor will there probably ever be, a shortage of jobs in the medical field.

ZoSo · Backside 180 Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 900 City: Winnipeg

taku · Kickflip Joined: 10 Mar 2007 Posts: 2868 City: Central FL

I hate that seniors are pressured into chosing a career so young. My advice is JOB SHADOW now!!

If I would have done this, I could have easily saved myself 2 years of nursing school and a crapton of my parents money.

LFArmada · Backside 180 Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 631 City: tucson

I do realize that to make a career out of my interests i would need a masters which puts them in the "impractical" category.

ZoSo · Backside 180 Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 900 City: Winnipeg

LFArmada, also...in highschool I also thought of going into psychology...though when I took intro to psych in my first year of university I found it extremely boring and pointless. However...the economics class I signed up for, which I thought was going to be boring, turned out to be pretty interesting and useful...I also found it really easy to understand. Economics will probably be my second choice if the whole law thing doesn't work out.

I'm not sure if the universities you have applied to let you do sort of a sampling approach in your first year...where you basically pick whatever courses you think may interest you, instead of focusing on one specific subject.

At the university I go to, every first year student (except direct entry engineering students) take University 1...which is basically taking a bunch of different first year courses...this allows you to sort of choose which subjects interest you the most. A lot of people complain that this is just a waste of money and it would be a lot faster for people just to go straight into their faculty.

However...I found it quite useful, because I had no idea what I wanted to major in in highschool...and those who do...most often end up changing their major anyways. In my opinion, this system, if anything, saves you money because you spend one year figuring out what you want to do instead of spending say...three years doing something that you don't like, and end up doing something else anyways.

price.dan · Backside 180 Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 1404 City: Regina

LFArmada, the majority of people in college have yet to decide their major. I would not suggest at picking a major yet. Take some classes your interested in and after the first year, you'll kno what u like, which will help with your decision. People picking their majors before college often end up changing their minds, because there is such a big selection, you won't kno what you like until you take it.

LFArmada · Backside 180 Joined: 05 May 2008 Posts: 631 City: tucson

but if I go in undecided, I dont have my parents support. And no support = no funds.

ZoSo · Backside 180 Joined: 15 Apr 2005 Posts: 900 City: Winnipeg

Tell your parents that it would be a ridiculous waste of money to force you to choose a major while still in highschool and that it would most certainly lead you to picking something else down the road, but only after you have wasted 2-3 years and a large amount of cash. Convince them that it is an absolutely asinine idea to pick a major when you have no idea what you want to do.

gatorskater · Posted: Oct 08, 2008 8:07 pm Post subject:

My philosophy- get a comfortable job where income = boat+house (preferably on lake), I don't think I will ever be able to afford lakefront but the other two will be nice. Since I am a science oriented person chose pharmacy, required time is about 6-8 years, taking me 7 total. If you are really interested in science and have the desire to learn about how the body works and like helping people I say pick a health related career, it's interesting, profitable, and always in demand. People will always need health care. Smash

DRAGON88 · Dragoon Joined: 01 May 2004 Posts: 1020 City: Portland

Pick what you find interesting and the occupation will follow.

I'm a Political Science/ Philosophy double major (though I do intend on going on to get my JD) and neither of those degrees really hold any "value" IMO. Chances are if you pick a major you hate then you will get burnt out and quit college all together, or at the very least will hate life.

At my school freshman and sophomore year for me mostly consisted of getting all the requirements taken care of (writing, english, electives, etc.) so take that opportunity to go and sample other fields that you might find interesting. Most of my credits from the first few years of college would transfer over into another major anyways.

In short, I wouldn't stress about it. As E-snow and Scott a have said you can always change down the road, if you do what you love then you will probably have a higher chance at succeeding.

Another tidbit of advice that a Friend of mine taught me that I'll never forget. ALWAYS take at least one class/elective that is fun or you are stoked about per term. This will help you get through the tough terms, like this one for me. (ONE of my classes assigned about 250 pages of reading for this week. Half of that is Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" IE 1760's writing. hooray!)