<p>I am currently a Sophomore who just transfered to the University of Texas at Austin. I was previously at UTSA where I managed a mediocre 3.7 GPA out of a 4.0 scale. Having transfered to UT Austin, I struggled the first semester because I had no idea where to turn for help and the advisers here are unhelpful not to mention I felt lost a lot of the times trying to navigate my way around campus (the school has 55,000 undergrads).</p>
<p>I am hard working student but sometimes I feel like I am incapable of succeding in college. I attend all my classes and try to get help but my GPA has still suffered.</p>
<p>Anyways, I am currently an Economics major hoping to transfer to the business school for accounting but I am starting to reconsider many things.</p>
<p>I am great at writing essays and love to read about hisotry and politics and was hoping to become a US ambassador or work for the United Nations or a government agency like the NSA or FBI.</p>
<p>I feel pressured to find a major that will give me a better chance of finding a stable job that will allow me to earn a decent wage ($55,500 +). I thought about majoring in journalism but the job market for that field is weak and most people who do major in it do it because they love it (but not for the salary).</p>
<p>I am decent in math but its not my strengths and my science skills are average so I was wondering if any of you guys on CC could give me some ideas or share your expierences regarding how you chose a major?</p>
<p>Any suggestions would be appereciated! Thanks for taking the time to read and respond :)</p>
<p>Hi, a couple of thoughts: First of all, you obviously should take any advice you get here with a grain of salt. You’re asking a bunch of people with dubious credentials for help with an issue that baffles everyone. That disclaimer notwithstanding, I do have an opinion:</p>
<p>You are correct about Journalism. That field is flooded with people dying to make it. It will take a lot of work, a lot of dues-paying, low salary jobs, and that’s if you find a job at all. I don’t buy into the “if you love it, do it” thing. You don’t go to college to have a good time. There are lots of ways to enjoy yourself in this world for a lot less money than college. And if you wanted an education, you could always use the public library for free.</p>
<p>“I am great at writing essays and love to read about hisotry and politics and was hoping to become a US ambassador or work for the United Nations or a government agency like the NSA or FBI.” Good for you. I also love reading and writing about history and politics. I’m still a math major (as evidenced by my username). The NSA supposedly hires math majors. And after you go to grad school (which seems like almost everyone needs to do nowadays), there are careers in math and science which can use writing. In fact, you can write on almost any field. Econometrics comes to mind first, but there are lots of others.</p>
<p>I have a different issue with what you wrote: you keep complaining about your low GPA. 3.7 ain’t that bad, my friend. Are you being a bit too hard on yourself? You’re doing fine!</p>
<p>Tell me if I’m missing something. I’d love to help, and I suspect my rambling hasn’t brought you any closer to an answer, so please reply.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. If I have more questions I’ll just send you a PM.</p>
<p>What do you like to do?</p>
<p>Are you interested in journalism because you like it, or because there is some money in it if you happen to be one of the ones who “make it”?</p>
<p>Why are you in economics now?</p>
<p>What do you want to do for the FBI or NSA? You mentioned being a UN ambassador in the same sentence, but those really aren’t related at all. In fact, they are kind of the opposite.</p>
<p>I think you need to think a little deeper about what you want. The common thread in the things you mention is that they involve the perception of adventure and/or respect. Like maybe you watch a lot of movie? ;)</p>
<p>Have you considered that old cliche, if you won $10,000,000 what would you do with it?</p>
<p>My main thing is I want a major I’m interested in but I also want to be able to get a decent job and make a good slary, enough so I can live in a suburban area. My interests are in international politics/relations and I enjoy business overall because Iv’e worked with my dad on starting and running a family business.</p>
<p>The only problem is finding a major that fits my strengths and what I enjoy. I don’t want to be a journalism major because thats a career path down poverty lane :(</p>
<p>It sounds like you might enjoy forensic accounting or something like that. That’s something that can lead you into the FBI and/or journalism too. </p>
<p>[Forensic</a> Accountants Society Links](<a href=“http://www.fasna.org/links.htm]Forensic”>Forensic Accountants Society Links)</p>
<p>There are 4 ways to enter the FBI</p>
<ol>
<li>Accounting degree</li>
<li>JD degree</li>
<li>Critical skill…this is usually computer forensics and rare foreign language fluency (not Spanish or French, more like Arabic or Farsi)</li>
<li>General. Must have 3 years of relevant experience plus any degree. This usually means either being a detective on a local PD (which requires 2 yrs of patrol first) or working in military or other federal intelligence. Very difficult for any other experience to be considered relevant to qualify for this entry path.</li>
</ol>
<p>So you’ll either have to learn Arabic/Farsi, major in accounting (probably need a certification too), major in computer science, go to law school or spend at least 5 years after college at a local PD before applying to FBI.</p>
<p>NSA is a very tech oriented branch of government, though I do not know specifics, I do believe they are primarily looking for tech/math majors and linguists.</p>
<p>US ambassador is going to mean being a politician, very unlikely that this course would ever pan out for you. Don’t bank on it.</p>
<p>UN or State you could probably do something for them with good connections and any 4 yr degree.</p>
<p>Perhaps you should consider the Bureau of Diplomatic Security? Like the FBI they are federal agents, and they do investigations. They are under the State Department and are assigned to embassies as well as US locations. They are also much broader in terms of who they hire, you can get hired by them with pretty much any 4 year degree so long as you meet the other qualifications. It seems like that would combine your interests.</p>
<p>That’s just an example, there are tons of other federal law enforcement agencies that are far less stringent on academic requirements than the FBI is. They do investigations ranging from drugs to counterfeit to postal fraud and everything under the sun. There is more to federal law enforcement than the FBI.</p>
<p>th3vault might have been kidding, but hey, you are at UT: how about taking Farsi or Arabic? You could major in either, or you could major in something else and minor in one of these. If you want to work for the U.N., you could get a major in history or gov and a minor in one of the what, languages offered at UT - pick one of the less known ones that is considered “strategic” </p>
<p>Here are strategic languages to consider:
<a href=“http://www.borenawards.org/boren_scholarship/languages.html[/url]”>http://www.borenawards.org/boren_scholarship/languages.html</a></p>
<p>Here are the 34 languages offered at UT:
<a href=“Languages | College of Liberal Arts | The University of Texas at Austin”>Languages | College of Liberal Arts | The University of Texas at Austin;
<p>Take Telugu or Tajiki, maybe. Do any of these appeal to you?</p>