Hi, I’m going to transfer for the fall 2017 semester. I’m going to be a sophomore (I did one year at CC). My parents picked this college for me, and I don’t mind. I know someone who goes there so I will already have a friend and plus it’s not a bad school. It just… doesn’t have the major I want. Right now, I’m a Criminal Justice major. I picked it after switching from Psychology because I didn’t like Psychology. Criminal Justice is interesting & fun, it’s just not something I can see myself doing after college. I have a really specific plan for what I wanna do once I graduate. I want to move to Las Vegas (I live in CA now, but I lived in Vegas up until my freshman year of high school, then my family moved) and I love it there and would love to live there again. I would like to work in one of the hotels on the strip or maybe a restaurant or something. So I was planning to switch my major to Hotel Management / Hospitality once I transferred, but THEY DONT HAVE IT THERE )): What should I do? I already have to go to this school, my parents won’t let me go anywhere else. Are there any majors that are similar to Hotel Management / Hospitality? Will I be stuck in a major I don’t wanna work in? Help!!!
Which school?
You have to tell us the school name so we can look at the majors and make suggestions.
Pretty much all schools have some form of business: do that & get internships in different hospitality roles. Business will give you the accounting, marketing and management finance that a hotel / hospitality degree will offer. Get jobs and internships in the foodservice & beverage operations (both practical - working on the floor- and admin) in different types of hotels, and some direct customer service jobs (eg, front desk).
You can even talk with the career counseling at your transfer U and ask them what major they suggest that would allow you to get the jobs in Nevada that you plan to pursue. In HI, it was the School of Travel Industry and Management, but likely most business majors would be pretty close. I agree that if you give us the name of the transfer U, we can help you come up with some suggested majors that should work pretty well.
@gumbymom @intparent @HImom - cal lutheran
Cal Lutheran has a business major with these concentrations:
Business Economics
Finance
Information Technology Management
International Business
Management
Marketing
Organizational Leadership
Small Business / Entrepreneurship
Sports Management
@philbegas - which one would be the most similar to hotel management / hospitality? i’m thinking probably business w/ a concentration in management, right? if i major in that can i still get a job where i want (vegas)?
Out of those I would probably pick from:
Management or Organizational Leadership if you just want to work in the managerial setting.
Marketing if you want to run social media, advertising, etc.
Finance if you want to deal more with securing funding, perhaps for purchasing other hotels and expanding
It your parents picked AND are paying for you education, pack your bags…as long as the school doesn’t have a reputation for providing inferior academics. Students vary majors and career tracks all the time. One of sisters changed here major senior year and it wasn’t pretty.
I would go for a program that provides you with versatility. As far as work, get your foot in the door and then focus on your career goals and how to accomplish them. I suspect that lots of adults are happily doing something different from what they thought they would do right after graduation. Careers have a wonderful propensity to morph at least once over time and likely more often.
@philbegas - thanks for the suggestions! i’m considering management or marketing out of those
@zannah - yeah i know, i’m going there either way. idk if cal lutheran is known for inferior academics. i don’t really know much about cal lutheran. i just wanna find a major that will help me get a job where i want to live eventually (vegas) and i don’t think criminal justice (my current major) is really worth it to continue with, you know?
You don’t have to major in hospitality management to work in the hotel business - a regular business major may be more flexible for you anyway.
Also, there are lots of industries in Las Vegas other than just tourism. I mean, that’s a great one to go into if that’s what you really want. But it’s not your only option. There are criminal justice jobs in Vegas, too.
Management, technology management, or international business (especially if you speak at least one world language) will take you as far as hospitality management.
Agreed that criminal justice isn’t going to help you with your career goal.
Now you need To figure out where you can be employed, get internships…
@MYOS1634 - I’m thinking of doing business w/ either management or marketing. I don’t speak any other languages but I might look into international business and consider that as an option too. I just gotta figure it out quick because I don’t wanna be studying criminal justice anymore. It was fun while it lasted but if I continue with it I’ll feel like I’m just wasting time & money bc I don’t even want to work in the criminal justice field once I graduate. I’m hoping I can eventually be employed somewhere in Las Vegas bc it’s been my dream to live there for a while. Even if it’s just a restaurant there I’d be happy.