College senior switching majors

College Majors
1

<p>I'm in a predicament. It is the spring of my senior year and I am set to graduate with a degree in broadcast journalism. I was wishy washy on what to study when I came into college, and changed my mind a couple of times before landing on journalism by default because I had done a lot of journalism in high school. However, as I was taking classes and weighing my options, I got so much journalism credit that I figured I might as well finish the degree.</p>

<p>So, I will definitely end up with a broadcast degree.</p>

<p>However, I don't want to do that as a career. Both my parents are from wheat farming families, and though I grew up in the suburbs, we still have our farm and I've been around it growing up, albeit not a daily basis. I'd like to take over the family farm and quit leasing it out to neighbors and start producing wheat on our own again.</p>

<p>So, I'm thinking of withdrawing my diploma application and staying for around 2 more years to complete an undergrad in agribusiness-farm and ranch management.</p>

<p>Luckily, I've been on a full ride scholarship, so although I'd end up having to take loans and scholarships to pay for the next two years, I don't already have debt piled up. And I have a spanish degree I'm only about 3 classes away from finishing (too much to fit into this semester) that I could finish up as well.</p>

<p>The downsides are I'd be spending more time in college...though that can be a plus too.</p>

<p>Is it worth it to switch? I feel like it'd give me some "closure" to know I'm leaving with a degree in something I actually want to do. It'd give me a couple of years' chance to do things I didn't get to or take advantage of the first go around, and I'm still young enough to not feel like an old man trying to relive glory days (I'm 22). Although I kick myself for not taking better advantage of my education up til now, there's no use dwelling on regrets. There's only my future to be concerned about.</p>

<p>Anyway, is it worth sticking around and possibly getting some scholarships (because I hear it's nearly impossible to get undergrad scholarships going back once you have a degree), or another option is to just get my master's. What are the pros/cons? One con is I wouldn't be starting this upcoming year, because I haven't taken the GMAT or anything.</p>

2

<p>Just a suggestion: Graduate on time with the journalism degree and manage the farm, since your family owns it. Take some business classes in the summer if you feel that you need the skills. If you graduate on time, what would you do? If you were going to take back the farm, then the two extra years of college would most likely be a waste of money. The journalism degree could help you if the farming bit doesn’t work out-you don’t even have to become a journalist. A journalism degree tells employers that you have good writing skills and know how to work under a deadline, which is what all employers want.</p>

3

<p>Go with the Journalism and graduate on time. Also go ahead and get the Spanish if you have the money.</p>

4

<p>Switching is only worth it if you transition to finance, accounting or engineering (but not biomedical). </p>

<p>But it may not be possible, especially with your journalism background. Check with your counselor.</p>

<p>Switching gets severely limited the higher you go and some schools deliberately trap you in bad majors because they need a large supply of industrial serfs.</p>

5

<p>Lots of people don’t end up working in the field they majored in. As others have said, graduate on time–the degree might be a useful credential in the future. You are fortunate that you can, I assume, step back into your family farm. Once you’re actually working there, you should be able to see where your knowledge is lacking. Then, if you need to take courses, you will be able to target the helpful ones and skip stuff that might be required for a degree or a major, but that you’d never use.</p>

<p>My uncles were dairy farmers, and said that they really, really used the accounting classes they had taken at a nearby junior college–more than the agribusiness classes, which weren’t very specifically tailored to the enterprise they were actually running.</p>