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<p>Note the quotation marks, meaning that is how those majors are perceived. There are plenty of lists out there put out by people who do surveys - just do a google search or search within C.C. for threads on this topic.</p>
<p>Most college students talk to each other and know what the ‘easy majors’ are for the specific college they are attending.</p>
<p>The opinions of college students about one another’s majors are pretty useless, no? I mean, I used to snicker at the communication studies majors at my school - but then I grew up, and realized that they did some pretty nifty things and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was.</p>
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<p>Well, DD2’s preference would be a law degree and then off to the FBI, Dept of Justice, and the like. I have no doubt she’ll succeed - but Tiger Mom seems to think that government jobs are nekulturny - never mind her father spent 30 years on one or both my parents did. Plus, like many immigrant parents, she has a suspicion of all things government. </p>
<p>Things like architecture are a bit easier to go along with if the student can demonstrate an aptitude for it. So far, DD2’s primary talent so far is controversy with her writing (as in, how to get a school newspaper interview into the local news and have the school board fuming…) She demonstrates mastery of English far beyond her years, and knows how to, ehem, stir the pot. She’s looking forward to 9th grade journalism as it feeds into one of the country’s top rated HS newspapers. But, again, journalism or writing would not be my choice either. </p>
<p>Sometimes it’s a lot easier to NOT have many choices.</p>
<p>Actually, at one time I seriously considered being an English major. Then I took my first advanced lit course and discovered I had no talent for discerning the deeper meaning of late Victorian prose writers. That ended that plan. What may be “easy” for some people’s not “easy” for others.</p>
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<p>What’s more ironic is that this level of expected obedience/conformity is something I’d expect more from the Chinese/East Asian immigrants of my parents’ generation (Born in the '30s) or older. However, even some of them feel that a child who follows his/her parents too closely in those areas is necessarily a good thing. </p>
<p>Heck, one older aunt who was a topflight graduate from the best university in the ROC(Taiwan) went so far as to remark that a child who was too compliant/conforming to parental tastes is either too timid to exert/expand his/her independent personality or worse…doesn’t have much of one.</p>
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<p>What a coincidence. My grandmother was proud of a cousin for being an officer in the US military forces, but was turned off when he joined the FBI because it was “too shadowy/related to spying”. </p>
<p>However, some members of my family actually believe going into government service/education is much more “honorable” than working in the private sector. Ironic how my undergrad LAC agrees with that ethos…even though the larger US mainstream culture has the exact opposite view.</p>
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<p>I considered it for 5 seconds…and found the idea of analyzing a few lines of Shakespeare, Marlowe, or Milton and incorporating some literary crit theory for the entire semester or for one’s entire thesis to be as interesting as watching paint dry. Ended up going into history instead.</p>
<p>Can anyone testify that accountants make a good salary after 5-6 years (about 100k or so)? I’m not a “top” student, but I am average and will go to a mediocre school (Rutgers). If I pass the CPA exam, does anyone believe its possible to have that high of a salary?</p>
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<p>Then don’t become a journalist or writer!</p>
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<p>Easier for whom?</p>
<p>Beat it OP! We are not interested in your question anymore! (Joking! Joking!!!)</p>
<p>Easier for everyone involved. It all boils down to “Know Thyself”. </p>
<p>Few kids today understand their strengths, even fewer their limitations, and parents, Tiger or not, either take the ‘dollar signs in eyes’ approach or the ‘let them choose anything’ approach. </p>
<p>I would have been happy as a clam to have studied photography, sociology, or psychology back in the Olde Country. The first two were not available and the only form of psych was medical school with a psychiatry focus. Punt. But even then I understood the importance of the future, whatever that is. </p>
<p>It is difficult to do so at age 17 or 47, I know…</p>
<p>OP, yes, you can be making $100K a year a few years out of college with an accounting degree. But what will determine whether that happens or not depends on how well you do in college AND on how well you perform in your post-college employment. Getting a CPA will help a lot, but even then, there are no guarantees. And FWIW, I’d say the exact same thing if you were asking about the prospects for an engineering grad (except the part about the CPA, of course). </p>
<p>I’ve actually got a true story about the daughter of a friend who’s doing very, very well 6 years out of college with an accounting degree, but it’s longer than I want to type on my phone so will have to wait.</p>
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<p>Strengths and interests change over time. It is asinine to suggest that every 18 yo “should” know these things. I enjoyed my major (a specialized double major) at the time; but if I had to do it over again, there are other, “softer” things I might have enjoyed. And they would have led me down different paths. There isn’t just one correct path for everybody that the student has to find. There are more paths imaginable in life, and I think it’s very in-the-box to think that there are just a handful of paths that (invariably on CC) are either medicine, law, IB, mgt consulting or engineering.</p>
<p>Work is generally paid for because it is not always ‘enjoyable’. So, hard decisions at age 18 are justified because down the road work will be a necessity, not a luxury. It would be nice to NOT have to make such decisions, but not all of us have the luxury.</p>
<p>Interests change, but not strengths. I never understood math in my life (I find algebra challenging at times…). I could pass the class, more or less (with an emphasis on less) but I could take math for a decade and still be where I am. Interests, maybe they sharpen a bit once more is understood or once newer stuff becomes available. And unless I whack my head on a tree, I am not likely to forget stuff I am good at. </p>
<p>I would support a focusing effort of one’s interests - but not wholesale major change as is the norm in the US. To me that tells me that the Know Thyself part of the program was fast-forwarded over. There are tactical decisions to be made - thru minors or grad school - but focus is focus.</p>
<p>I learned my lesson during my first week in college back in Louisiana… I was a fresh off the boat international student, and decided to attend the new student ice cream social. So this 18 year old rosy cheeked guy and his dad, both in Bolo ties and awesome cowboy shirts and $1k boots show up. We strike a conversation and turns out he was a History major. So, here I was, about to ask why would he study history, when Bolo Sr. declared “my here boy will never work in Hee-story, I own a bunch of oil fields”… Uh-Huh…</p>
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<p>Looks like she has a realistic plan, and will not be one of those new graduates featured in magazine articles whose dream college ends with a nightmare of six figure debt and no prospects for a job that can pay it off.</p>
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<p>But many fields are fields that students wouldn’t have had any exposure to in high school in the first place! How many students have exposure to (say) neuroscience, art history or philosophy in high school?</p>
<p>My D <em>thinks</em> she’s interested in chemistry because she really liked AP Chem in high school, got a 5 on the test, blah blah blah. How the heck does she know if that’s really her life passion, or just a subject she liked? She’s taking neuroscience now and likes it a lot. But for all I know, maybe she’ll take art history or comparative religion and like that too. That’s <em>fine.</em> College is the time to explore. This in-the-box thinking that you have to “know yourself” at age 18, with only high school experiences under your belt, is ridiculous. Not to mention the assumption that you just are who you are, never any personal growth or change. I <em>love</em> history and politics in a way I never, ever did at age 18, 19, 20, 21. I don’t love math the way I used to (as a math major). That’s ok. Really. Why are you so scared of personal growth and change and a student developing new interests?</p>
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<p>Since the top performing majors on the LSAT are math, physics, philosophy, engineering, and economics, all of which involve logical and/or quantitative thinking, her math excellence might be a good thing for her in this respect.</p>
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<p>You are aware that biology type majors do not have particularly good job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level, right?</p>
<p>Indeed, [Berkeley’s</a> career survey](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm]Berkeley’s”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm) indicates that Asian Studies majors have generally gotten higher pay levels than Molecular and Cell Biology or Integrative Biology majors over the years.</p>
<p>Many people have the mistaken idea that STEM majors automatically have good job and career prospects. This is only true for some STEM majors (not biology), and even those which often have good job and career prospects can have industry downturns that mean that someone unlucky enough to graduate at the wrong time will have a hard time finding a job (e.g. civil engineering graduates in 2009).</p>
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<p>I hope you have a backup plan in case you do not get into medical school. Most pre-meds do not get into medical school.</p>
<p>turbo: what a way to start. Just out of curiosity, what country would one come from, besides Wyoming :D, that one would wear such an outfit?</p>
<p>I think there are couple of different kinds of ‘what the kid wants to major in.’ </p>
<p>One is where the kid has long had an interest in, and apparent aptitude for, a particular field. My son, in 1st or 2nd grade, brought home a piece of paper from school with ‘fisix’ written on it. Apparently, this was his answer to ‘what do you want to do when you grow up?’ Despite this early decision on his part, we have assessed and discussed with him over the years what his academic aptitudes are, what his goals are, what his interests are. If we thought physics was a bad major for him, we would have had discussions all along the way about alternatives etc. Today he’s a happy physics/math double major.</p>
<p>The other case is where the kid has no idea what they want to major in, or they suddenly change for no rational reason. Ideally, the student would have a relationship with the parent where they would discuss the various possibilities and seek mutual opinions. Whether the parent goes along with whatever the kid decides, if the choice is not in line with the parent’s thoughts, would really be a personal choice between the parent and the child, depending on their background, expectations, cultural norms etc. It is not one size fits all. Also, if it comes with conditions on the parents part, it is not likely to be a surprise to the student as it is assuredly part of a larger parental pattern.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m not willing to hand over >$200,000 to my then 17 yo and say, “here honey, do whatever you want with this as long as you have a degree by the time you run through it.” You bet I have a say in how and where they spend that money but it is a two way conversation with mutually respectful discussion that has been going on since they were old enough to talk.</p>
<p>Students should not be deciding their majors in a vacuum but base it on their interests, aptitudes, life goals, anticipated needs (lifestyle for example). If I see my child making a decision that is clearly out of line with the above, I will have (more than one) discussion with them. I believe that they trust I have their best interest at heart, that they know that I have life knowledge that they do not, and that they will take fully into consideration my thoughts and suggestions. </p>
<p>OK. I’m going to go and smoke some more of that stuff now.</p>
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<p>Rutgers is actually considered a top school for some subjects and a good school for many other subjects.</p>
<p>If you had asked me what my son would likely major in, up until the end of the 10th grade I would have said creative writing or some variant thereof. That was all he did. He went to summer camps to develop this - all at his initiative. He was going to be the next JK Rowling. And he was pretty darn good too. And then … at the beginning of 11th grade, something clicked. And he swung from those interests, to a strong interest in history, political science, int’l relations. And self-studied in those areas, and soaks it all up like a sponge. I can’t imagine if I had decreed at 10th grade that he would be a creative writer. He would have missed out on developing another true, authentic - and in this case, truer and more authentic - passion. If he grew between 10th and 11th, there’s no reason to assume that he won’t continue to grow. Indeed, there are several ways / interdisciplinary programs where he can take his interests. Maybe he takes it to a humanities-based focus, or towards a global focus. Again, how in-the-box to decree that he has to have it all decided the first week of freshman year. Don’t you <em>want</em> your kids to take courses that open their eyes to areas of human endeavor beyond what they know? Or, I guess, it’s all just a ticket to punch for the work world.</p>