<p>For the love of all that is good, no one respond to the above post. The STEM vs. Humanities debate is the most pointless debate out there.</p>
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<p>This is hilariously naive. :rolleyes:</p>
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Absolutely. At the same time, your lifestyle is your own problem. If you cannot sustain yourself individually, you must engage in trade with others.</p>
<p>No, life is not about money. I’m not saying this as some starry-eyed 17 year old. I’m saying it as a nearly 30 year old student who went to college, suffered health problems, failed out, went to work, suffered more health problems, and finally returned to school to get it all sorted out.</p>
<p>I’m living on less than $400 a month right now. I gave up a car and my own place to do it. I don’t have a lot of luxuries (and I’m missing out on some necessities I’d love to have) but I can also tell you with 100% honesty I have never been happier. Things are going well, my life makes sense, I’m surrounded by friends and family who love me. I might even be able to swing a trip to Disneyland this summer. </p>
<p>I am pretty confident that I can manage a life on whatever salary I get once I have a degree. Even if that’s a full time, minimum-wage position. And I think if I keep living life with similar priorities to what I have now I’ll still be just as happy.</p>
<p>Rich? No. But playing with fish or checking nextboxes or explaining to people why kelp is awesome and getting paid, even minimally-to do so is going to make me a hell of a lot happier than getting rich working a job I hate for the next 40 years.</p>
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<p>I disagree – any subject, even math and science, can be self taught. However, to think one can accomplish anything without any outside input whatsoever is misguided.</p>
<p>Yes. I worry about this all the time. I’m majoring in something that a lot of people laugh at and have called useless. But I can’t see myself majoring in anything else. I <em>wish</em> i could study engineering or finances and have unbelievable respect towards those who can but I just don’t have that kind of intelligence or comprehension skills.</p>
<p>It’s hard. I really do want to be successful and respected. I want to live (more than) comfortably and make my family proud with my career and salary. But I also want to major in something that interests me and that I’m good at. Just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best… :/</p>
<p>I think that is a good point-why don’t more people go and get a technical degree? The way that the economy has been has probably made people rethink their ideas about college. I had one of those useless for a job types of degree’s, but- although my degree has not helped with getting a job, the skills that i learned getting through college did help me with work.</p>
<p>I always had this idea that going to college is always a good idea no matter what you study. I am not so sure now. If it is going to put you into debt in such a way that you might never see the end of it, it is not such a good choice.</p>
<p>The idea of leaning something that will get you a job is a pretty good one. I would do that now if i had a redo on the whole thing.It is important to do something that you like. It is also pretty crucial to be able to make a living wage. There are a lot of jobs out there that pay pretty good and only take a 2 year degree. That is the direction i would recommend to anyone that does not have money to inherit or a chosen path such as in medicine or anther big degree that will get you a job.</p>
<p>^ Some of us aren’t willing to go into a field we don’t like just for a better paycheck.</p>
<p>It might be a good idea to put some fiscal consideration into it if you were to get a paycheck at all.</p>
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<p>Don’t be naive. A lot of it is about money.</p>
<p>Spec, I grew up happily in a family that made very little money. There are far more important things in life than getting a fat paycheck. If the money is what you’re after, then that’s fine. However, some of us getting “useless” majors are more interested in doing something we like rather than something that we dislike just for another 0 on the paycheck.</p>
<p>I think people need to be aware of what kind of salary they’ll realistically be able to obtain after graduating and getting a job in their field (and also as they progress in their career). It’s great to follow passion and not care about earning a lot of money, but don’t whine about a low paycheck later on. On the flip side, don’t complain about a job you hate but took in order to make a lot of money. </p>
<p>Balance is key. Consider the financial aspect when making decisions about majors and careers, but don’t make it the most important thing.</p>
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<p>I’m not chasing after a fat paycheck either. But you can’t ignore the fact that a lot of smart, tactful people can’t even find jobs nowadays. I’m not saying their majors/fields were ‘useless’, but there are a lot of ways to feed your interest beside dedicating your career to it. IMO, just find a job you won’t hate, and stick to it for several years. A lot of people blend life and job together, but I personally see them as entirely different things. Some people go after money, other people go after passion. Like Papertown, I believe in balance.</p>
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<p>If people who aren’t good at technical subjects go into technical fields, they drop out rate would be too high to believe. The engineers and math majors are a pretty self-selecting bunch, for the most part. The ones whose parents force them to be there drop out eventually.</p>
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<p>I hate this whole passion mentality – that you have one God given gift and you can’t do anything beyond that. Just do what you like and get so good at it that you can’t be ignored.</p>
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<p>What? Some people DO have a passion… some have multiple passions… something they want to dedicate their lives to. Sometimes it has money, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, people don’t have it. If you don’t have it, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.</p>
<p>contrary to your guys’ belief, not all engineering majors are heartless people just looking for money. i for one love doing math and science, as well as having major in which i can actually apply it. Also, i get the benefit of doing something that will make me a lot of money. That being said i think its very stupid to waste 4 years of college tuition for the two most useless majors i’ve heard. Lol, french are and theater, definately don’t sound like theyre worth 30k a year. (how much it costs to go to a UC)</p>
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<p>That’s great! You’re honestly the first engineer I’ve met who does it because he loves math/science. </p>
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<p>Not the “multiple passions” hypothesis. “I’m passionate about pandas, and gardening, and politics, and pie, and… and… and… now, I need to have a career that encompasses ALL my passions.” This stems from too many bestsellers and pop psychologists trying to convince us that matching our personality and passions/academic majors to a job is the key to success. I find this approach silly.</p>
<p>To love what you do, you need three things: control over your time, mastering useful things, and a connectedness with others. What I’m saying is: stop trying to match your major to your perfect passion/innate theory of self, choose a major for your own reasons (“This sounds neat!” vs “Being an interdisciplinary XYZ major totally matches my aura!”), and attempt to become the best at it. There is a direct correlation between how much your love of the subject will grow as you master it, and your senses of control over your time and ability to master valued outcomes.</p>
<p>You do this by banking in on career capital, i.e. rare/useful skills, and working right instead of constantly seeking the right type of work.</p>
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<p>Thank the Lord I’m not spending that much money. I’m not even spending 30k for all four years. My debt should be less than 15k when I graduate, which you can pay off with a minimum wage job.</p>
<p>And the only people I know who do well in math/science classes are people who enjoy it. I know several people who started out this year (as freshmen) as pre-med or engineering majors. The ones whose parents wanted them to do it and the ones who just wanted the money have already changed their majors to English and other humanities majors. The ones who did it, because they actually enjoy it are doing well grade-wise and are still that major. It’s amazing what enjoying a subject actually does for your grades.</p>
<p>Wait. . . .what’s wrong with liking math/science? I would die of boredom and drop out in a humanities major, and that’s just because I don’t like it. My proposed major is one that is associated with money, but I love math, and I like this. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that other people share that opinion.</p>
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<p>That’s true. I deplore anthropology, but I know 3 people who are totally crazy about it and would hate my major.</p>
<p>Just for your viewing pleasure (not that this study is perfect)… an analysis of wages and other characteristics of about 170 majors:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/whatsitworth-complete.pdf[/url]”>http://www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/cew/pdfs/whatsitworth-complete.pdf</a></p>