Undergraduate Major choice at ISU

[isu22andy]

Design school ? Pftt we made fun of those kids. Some kids guidance teachers and parents tell their kids to chase their dreams - I was told to chase job opportunities. I'd be willing to bet they're more graduated unemployed design majors then ag majors. My 2 cents.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Econ would be the one I go with. I have a business degree, and the return on investment is pretty good compared to the work you have to put in

Econ isn't a Business degree at ISU though.

Design school ? Pftt we made fun of those kids. Some kids guidance teachers and parents tell their kids to chase their dreams - I was told to chase job opportunities. I'd be willing to bet they're more graduated unemployed design majors then ag majors. My 2 cents.

You would be right because a lot of them go into those ones like industrial design or studio art when they don't make architecture.

Also, if you want your son to succeed in his love life, I would suggest design. There aren't many women in math, econ, or geology. But boy those design ladies are nice :spinny:

But seriously, out of those 4. Choose geology and tell him to get into oil.

 

[PeterCatfish]

Design majors at least have a command on the English language and know how to use they're, their, and there.

I started out doing the design core and Animal Science. I went through the core and switched majors to Ag Communications. I would guess you are far from being correct isu22andy, as the ISU design program is nationally respected.

 

[CycloneErik]

Design majors at least have a command on the English language and know how to use they're, their, and there.

I started out doing the design core and Animal Science. I went through the core and switched majors to Ag Communications. I would guess you are far from being correct isu22andy, as the ISU design program is nationally respected.

People that work as hard as design students with that level of attention to detail are going to find decent work, and probably something pretty meaningful. It's not exactly a ticket to the french fry station.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Design majors at least have a command on the English language and know how to use they're, their, and there.

I started out doing the design core and Animal Science. I went through the core and switched majors to Ag Communications. I would guess you are far from being correct isu22andy, as the ISU design program is nationally respected.

Degree	Arch.	Art & Design	Integrated Studio Arts	Graphic Design	Industrial Design	Community & Regional Planning	Landscape Arch.
Percent Employed	85%	73%	66%	92%	81%	83%	85%
Average Annual Salary	$37,906	$40,766	Not Enough Data	$33,397	$35,166	$39,580	$38,914

**These are starting salaries**

Now let us compare it to the others that you suggested along with a few others

Degree	Math	Geology	Economics	MIS	Business Economics	Mechanical Engineer	Civil Engineer
Percent Employed	85%*	97%	99%	91%	100%	96%	86%
Average Annual Salary	$47,899	$83,000 (Private Sector) $42,199 (Public Sector)	$48,800	$50,077	$49,100**	$58,634	$51,640

*Other 15% were seeking more education
** Had to use national average because it is has a graduating class of under 30

Also, you gotta think about mid-career salaries. Architecture, Geology, Civil Engineering, Economics, MIS, and Business Economics all double and then some.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Oh and those are ISU statistics. Except the one for Business Economics

 

[HoopsTournament]

Great math teachers when I was there, but I can't imagine telling someone to go into a core like that for a profession. If those choices are what is on the table, I would have to say econ. If he is outgoing and a people person, I would plan for MIS or Business Management. Those are some of the better ROIs out there.

Some of the top jobs are math related. The number one job right now is Actuary. Mathematician is #6. Statistician is #8.

Jobs Rated 2010: A Ranking of 200 Jobs From Best to Worst | CareerCast.com

 

[Goothrey]

Math but not engineering? Doesn't quite compute. Though I would recommend signing up for a math class regardless as it does indeed keep options open. I was in design my freshman year and took calculus while doing that. At the end of the year I had switched to engineering and having that calc class done with was really nice for flexibility reasons especially since nothing else carried over credit wise.

 

[Cy$]

true. and calc 1 is no joke either as it is the major engineer weed-out course.

*cough* physics 1 *cough*

though Calc 1 is a weed out as well.

 

[cloneswereall]

My son will be a frosh at ISU this fall starting out in Design. I know that he is not entirely sold on a design major and is keeping his options open. He will also be taking Econ 101 and Calc 1 this fall. He is also thinking of a major in Econ, math, or geology but is really open to a lot of possibilities except engineering.

What majors at ISU are known to have really good undergraduate teaching? Anyone with experience in the math, econ, or geology departments?

I am excited to have son at ISU this fall as opposed to U Iowa where I teach as I grew up an ISU fan.

Almost any Secondary Ed is good. I would advise against Social services and Phys. Ed. And I advise more because of job possibility than anything.

 

[GMan]

To this day, I still fail to understand how freshman and sophomore calc and physics are considered weed out classes. Classes don't get any easier after them, and they aren't very hard in the first place.

Regarding the undergrad to pick as a backup, I'll throw my hat in and say Econ. If I remember right, it's not too long or hard of a program, and it will give you an entry into the finance industry which is large and potentially well-paying. However, I would suggest thinking about an Econ minor regardless. I was taking Econ classes as my electives anyway, so I thought why not take enough to make it a minor as it was only 15 credits. The value it provided was that I could say in interviews that I was interested in and had knowledge of the business side of things, and I think it helped me demonstrate to employers that I understood how the job fit into a larger business context. Not too mention that, at least for me, economics is fun to study!

 

[cycloneinpdx]

I graduated with a Bachelor's in Political Science. The program itself is kind of a shell of what it used to be, but there is one professor your son should take: Dirk Deam. He handles american political theory, law, and also does an environmental class and a space-politics class (he was an Aerospace Engineer who worked for NASA before he became a lawyer and eventually got his PH.D. in Poli Sci and began teaching at ISU). He teaches socratically, challenges students, but is fair and very, very interesting. He also takes time to get to know his students.

He should look over his course listings, and if he sees something he likes, take it. I took every class from the man, and none were disappointing--they were far and away better than most of the rest of the classes offered at ISU. Even if he's just filling an elective (which, the Space class is cross listed in Aerospace Engineering and the Environmental class is possibly cross listed with agronomy... I can't remember, it's a fairly new class so it may not be yet), he's worth taking at least one class with (even if he Audits it). Some students hate him/can't handle him, but he was my favorite, by far, and the one who steered me in the direction I headed (Law). It may not be his interest, but in the spirit of getting a strong general education, no one will do better at teaching the american political process and how it's supposed to work than Dirk.

 

[cdekovic]

My son will be a frosh at ISU this fall starting out in Design. I know that he is not entirely sold on a design major and is keeping his options open. He will also be taking Econ 101 and Calc 1 this fall. He is also thinking of a major in Econ, math, or geology but is really open to a lot of possibilities except engineering.

What majors at ISU are known to have really good undergraduate teaching? Anyone with experience in the math, econ, or geology departments?

I am excited to have son at ISU this fall as opposed to U Iowa where I teach as I grew up an ISU fan.

My son wanted to be an Architect, decided to go into Construction Engineering. Got his degree and is now working and playing hard in San Francisco for a General Contractor. Most of their work is on Stanford Campus.

 

[sleestakCy]

Based upon reading CF, it seems that many of the math profs are bad. It appears that my son got lucky in his Calc 1 class and has a prof with great reviews. Same with his English 250 prof. I am relieved at this. His Econ 101 class still has no prof assigned.

 

[madcityCY]

A couple of misc. commets/ thoughts on posts (not necessarily the OP - sorry).

as other have said, if you want to make "design" work, you've got to love it. Both in school and as a profession- it is not a 9-5 8-5 or even 8-6 type job - not at the highest level of design any way... Which is interesting because the "highest level" is often not that profitable. I do it because I can't do anything else. What I mean by that is that if I did something else - all I would do is day-dream about designing things. It's a curse.

ISU's design programs as for the most part pretty well recognized. I know that Architecture is consistently ranked in the top 10-15 nationally (by DesignIntelligence) - sometimes higher and in front of an Ivy League.

if you're looking at a design major as an ROI - it's terrible. But if you work hard, and don't spend like crazy - you can live comfortably.

It would seem math applies to a lot of things - being really good at that should offer a range of options. To me, geology would be really interesting, and of course pay decently if 1.) you can do oil, or 2.) be a professor.

In the end - get an MBA with whatever else you go with. Instantly be seen as a potential business-leader on that profession.

 

[cloneswereall]

Out of curiosity, what is English 250 now, and who's the prof?

 

[longtimeclone]

Out of curiosity, what is English 250 now, and who's the prof?

I believe a few years ago they renumbered the English classes. English 104 and 105 became 150 and 250, so there are a bunch of professors or TAs

 

[cloneswereall]

I believe a few years ago they renumbered the English classes. English 104 and 105 became 150 and 250, so there are a bunch of professors or TAs

Ahh, if that's the case, then I probably wouldn't know who's teaching it. I think when I was in school the 250s area was most of the Intro to Linguistics courses (granted that was 8 or so years ago).

 

[cycloneted]

I haven't read this thread, but if someone is considering business, do finance, accounting or both, or one of those with whatever else you want. Whatever you do, don't do just marketing.

 

[nfrine]

For the work you will have to invest in design, don't throw away the enginering option. It's a lot of work too, but the problem solving skills you acquire can get you a job anywhere.