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Whats your major in?

sleestakCy said:
Yeah, pretty much any degree that allows you to better understand our history, social structures, and government; do a substantial amount of difficult writing; do critical policy analysis; etc is pretty much worthless.

Friends of mine with degrees in history (the hardest classes I have ever taken are upper division history courses), political science, comm studies, anthro, etc have jobs in advertising, marketing, IT, sales, policy analysis, non-profit development, and consulting.

While the job prospects for applied STEM fields like engineering, CS, agronomy, MIS, etc are strong; the job prospects for basic sciences like biology and chemistry (per PayScale research and other research), for those with only an undergrad biology and chem degrees are really no better than those for history, etc.

I would much rather graduate with a 3.5 gpa in History than a 2.70 in chem or biology.

I have an undergrad degree in social policy/urban studies and graduates degrees in public policy and MIS. For many people, what you end up doing career wise has little to do with undergraduate major.
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This is partly society's fault and partly industry's fault.. College has gone from mainly an academic pursuit to a "degree = job" mentality. Plus corporations don't want invest in training people themselves any more (cause, you know, it costs money), and so they're placing more and more of that burden on Universities. Which then reinforces the "degree = job" thing because of industry expectations, etc..

I swear, I'm only a little bit cynical.

But I digress..
 
cowgirl836 said:
I don't think there's anything wrong with a history/any of the liberal arts degrees. In this case though, the OP doesn't know what he wants to do, so I think it makes more sense to first look into the fields that have a higher level of job placement/salary and see if any of those spark his interest. It's one thing to do something you love for less money than you would like - it's something completely different to be in a field that you don't get paid well for and don't have a passion for.
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I tend to agree with the gen-studies or undeclared start during frosh year, unless the individual is particularly goal-oriented and already has his/her life mapped out. Get a taste of a variety of disciplines while getting some GURs (or whatever they call them now) out of the way.

My post about history was more of a tongue-in-cheek response to the relevant "uselessness" of a History degree. I think history, geography, and cultural sociology are important components of modern business practices in these days of "global economy". Granted, a student is likely not going to graduate with a degree in history and go out and get a job being a historian. However, concepts learned in those disciplines can be readily applied to other careers.
 
My advice, find a degree this is consistent with your interests. Do some soul searching NOW. I defaulted to a business degree and yes, it has worked out well and I have a solid career, but I'll always wonder "what if" I had pursued a degree closer to what I'm passionate about.
 
Political science with a general business minor. Not currently using my major at the job I have no, but it's fine by me, because I enjoy my job immensely.
 
Agricultural Studies with a minor in Agronomy. Went into college really not knowing what the hell I wanted to do, so I fell back on Ag Studies because I grew up on a farm and come from an agriculturally based community. I'm just about done with my junior year and I can honestly say I'm still not sure. I can fall back on selling seed for/with a salesman from my hometown, but I have an internship coming up this summer for entomology crop research. It should go a long way toward telling me what I really want to do after college.

If you get into your freshman or sophomore year and you really don't feel like you're enjoying your major, don't be afraid to change it. Hell, if you're a junior or senior and realize you don't like it/won't like where it takes you, just make the change. The extra time (and unfortunately money) spent figuring things out in college will go a long way toward maximizing your happiness in the future.
 
My best advice is to dream big and put in your work, whatever you do. I won't offer any major suggestions since they have changed too much since I went to ISU, but I will offer my thoughts.

I graduated with a Transportation and Logistics degree (which I believe was a short-lived major). If you go the business route, keep a few things in mind. Do you want to be behind a desk or on your feet? Do you enjoy working with a team of people or would you rather be responsible for your work alone? I've been at my job for 17 years now and, while it's not for everyone, I still enjoy the challenges and the people I work with.

My personal opinion, but I dislike managing people. Even though I technically manage a handful of people, I'm far from a micromanager. I'm more of a problem solver and go-to guy for difficult situations.

As you get older, it gets harder to change jobs due to other life responsibilities. You also become part of a demographic that tends to be the easiest to downsize. Make sure you find something you enjoy doing and find a job where you enjoy the people you work with. I really can't stress that enough. Anyone that's been in the work force for any length of time can rattle off a list of people that just hate what they're doing.

Also, most people do not stay with the original job they get after college. Just be sure to be honest about what you are looking for from a career. Money is certainly helpful, but it's not an end-all if you hate going to your job everyday.
 
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CynadoAlley said:
Agricultural Studies with a minor in Agronomy. Went into college really not knowing what the hell I wanted to do, so I fell back on Ag Studies because I grew up on a farm and come from an agriculturally based community. I'm just about done with my junior year and I can honestly say I'm still not sure. I can fall back on selling seed for/with a salesman from my hometown, but I have an internship coming up this summer for entomology crop research. It should go a long way toward telling me what I really want to do after college.

If you get into your freshman or sophomore year and you really don't feel like you're enjoying your major, don't be afraid to change it. Hell, if you're a junior or senior and realize you don't like it/won't like where it takes you, just make the change. The extra time (and unfortunately money) spent figuring things out in college will go a long way toward maximizing your happiness in the future.
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If anyone does this for a living PM me. Thanks.
 
I majored in AST (Ag Systems Technology). It is in the ABE department. I loved the faculty in that department and loved the class sizes. If I had it to do all over again, I might have gone Mechanical Engineering because it would have opened a few more doors right out of school, but I still love what I do. I basically do what an "engineer" does now and didn't have to put myself through the hell of all the math and physics.
 
Finance, looking back I have no idea why, I'm not remotely interested in finance, maybe I used to be and forgot.
 
Started college as an education major, but switched to political science after my sophmore year. Graduated with a B.S. in political science from Simpson College and received a J.D. from Univ. of Iowa (worst 3 years of my life, and I'm not talking about the law school part of it).
 
cowgirl836 said:
I think BFF took that same speech class. I would definitely recommend knocking out some of these classes before college/first summer at college if you can. I stayed out at ISU my first summer to work and take some of those easy courses. Probably be cheaper for you to take them at a CC - just make to talk with someone about transferring them. The CC I could have gone back home to (out of state) wouldn't have transferred in.
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Yes, definitely make sure the class is approved to transfer back correctly. I mainly did this for classes I was required to take, but knew would either be a pain at ISU, or I didn't want to invest time in. You could do this for electives, however ISU offers a lot if interesting classes that should count for this.

Also don't be afraid to take online courses anytime from CC when wanting to transfer them in. They are so easy and take no time at all, that you can easily do it even while your on an internship. One summer I took 3 classes online that actually started with 1.5 months left on my study abroad, so I completed a majority of it from Australia.
 
My major/undergrad degree from ISU was in speech communications, and I emphasized in communication disorders (basically speech/language therapy). There wasn't even a minor in it when I was in school 20 years ago and now the program has been absorbed into the phsychology department. I really didn't know what I wanted to do when I applied/enrolled at ISU. I took one communication disorders class and loved it. To work in the field of speech therapy, you have to have a master's degree. ISU is the only state school without a grad program in the field. That was okay, I got married right after college and we lived in Minnesota so my grad degree is from the U of M. My husband loves that we are still paying on my grad school loans and I've been a stay at home mom (not bringing in income) for 11 years. ;) He has a Chem E degree from ISU. He liked working as a ChemE, unfortunately right now he is doing more EE. Hoping that will change someday.
 
CtownCyclone said:
Mechanical engineering here. It's been great for me. Don't choose engineering just because you can get paid a lot, though. You will hate your life if you do that.
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That goes for any major. You study what you are interested in learning about. College isn't about simply getting a job, its about a formal continuation of what in reality should be life long learning.
 
Stumbles said:
That goes for any major. You study what you are interested in learning about. College isn't about simply getting a job, its about a formal continuation of what in reality should be life long learning.
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In my opinion this is no longer the case. College is too expensive now for it to be about anything else other than finding the best paying job you can get with your degree unless you are on scholarship or have wealthy parents.
 
canker2323 said:
In my opinion this is no longer the case. College is too expensive now for it to be about anything else other than finding the best paying job you can get with your degree unless you are on scholarship or have wealthy parents.
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Which only results in a flood of students who only see dollar signs no matter what degree is on their diploma and people that get pushed into college that have no preparation or real desired to learn anything. Its only no longer the case because we are forcing it to get that way.
 
Electrical Engineering here. Emphasis on analog VLSI circuit design, one year left. I can safely say Ive found something I truly enjoy.
 
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