Would this be a good major for me if I wanted to become a small business owner after college? I plan on going into the military for the majority of my life as an officer after college, so this would be just a little thing to do just for fun, but earning money as well after the military. I also want to major in this and minor in political science… how far could that get me? Thanks!
If you plan to have a long-term military career I’d consider what majors can help get you where you want to go with your military career. I don’t think your major will matter much 20 years or so after college graduation. You can always take some classes after you retire from the military to hone in and update your skills for your next step in life.
One problem… in the military, they don’t care what the heck your major was, just as long as you can do your job, your fine. The military puts you where they need you, so it does not matter one bit what your major was. @happy1
I have a hard time believing that the army views people with diverse specialties/majors such as engineering, computers, accounting, law, Arabic etc. would be viewed as interchangeable pieces. I think you would be placed where your particular skills are most useful.
But I do think that you will forget the details of what you learn in college after a 20 or so year military career. I will say that as I rule I think that a major in a more targeted discipline such as accounting, finance, IT etc. would be more valuable overall than much more general business administration degree.
They really don’t care too much about what your degree is in. I was in the infantry (enlisted) and had a platoon leader (officer) who had a mechanical engineering degree. Our brigade commander had a bachelors degree in history … as well as an MPA, MA, and PHD in government from Cornell. (As an aside, he also taught American Politics at West Point and was a Hoover Fellow at Stanford … no surprise, now he’s a US Congressman).
I don’t know the exact process of matching a person with their branch, but it has to do with qualifications and desires more so than the degree since most degrees will be pretty irrelevant to most any specific branch (i.e. infantry, armor, quartermaster, etc).
Keep in mind that if you want to be a career officer, it’ll often be encouraged or required that you get advanced degrees. Depending on how your career shapes out and the degrees you get, the possibilities of what you do when you get out can be endless.
@briank82 Off topic, but I learned if I went into the Navy (branch I’m most likely going into), the Navy would put me wherever they need me… so does this mean I could have absolutely no background in aviation and major in english or something irrevalent and become a pilot, for example?
@ryanalexander116 Using your example of a pilot. There really is no major that would prepare someone to be a pilot. Sure, an engineering degree or aerospace engineer degree doesn’t hurt, but really the major is irrelevant.
What will be important is how you score in any aptitude testing, your grades, your rank in your class, etc.
Typically what happens for the selection of branches, I believe, is you make a wish list and they select off of that. Like, you give them the 3 or 5 branches you want most.
If you’re selected for pilot training, it will all depend on how you do in flight school. A strong knowledge of STEM fields will be beneficial to a pilot, obviously, but they teach you everything you need to know.
Will I have an edge if I graduate from the Naval Academy (my #1 choice) rather than somewhere like VMI or The Citadel (my two backup schools)?
I’m sure it doesn’t hurt.
You’ll probably find a lot of useful info in this thread: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/naval-academy-annapolis/298730-likelihood-of-naval-aviation-after-usna-graduation.html
Some more interesting info, which addresses some of your questions specifically: https://navylifeofapilotswife.com/2014/01/11/guest-post-how-to-become-a-naval-aviator-the-beginning/