Economics vs Political Science vs Marketing vs Computer Science

College Majors
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I’m not sure if I should major in economics, political science, or marketing, as the title suggests. I am also thinking about computer science, but I have a feeling I would find it to be a bit boring. I’m not sure what I want to do for the rest of my life, however I know that I want to make a big impact in some way, whether that be through a business, politics, etc. I also want to actually enjoy the work that I am doing.

I am a very artistic and creatively inclined person. I also have a very analytical mind. This makes me feel that I would be good in a marketing role, though I’m not 100% sure what marketers do on a daily basis. I’ve also heard that the marketing degree is useless because it doesn’t keep up with the times and it isn’t required to have a degree to get a marketing job. I would want to actually become a great marketer if I went into the field, not just get a job and drag myself through my 9-5 daily.

Now the economics degree, I’ve heard a lot of mixed things. I’ve seen some people say that it’s one of the most useless degree you can get and I’ve also seen some people say it’s one of the best degrees you can get. I assume that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I have heard things about it being able to help me understand markets better which would help me entrepreneurially. I have also heard that the understanding of markets could be better for a marketing career than an actual marketing degree, though I’m not sure how much weight that actually holds if I would be interested in the creative side of marketing as well. I’ve also seen that the emphasis on math leads to preference over many marketing majors in some aspects. I’m not 100% sure what that means but I don’t want to be a data analyst if that’s what it is. I’ve also heard that it’s too general, prepares you for nothing, is way too theoretical, and doesn’t actually teach anything practical because it mostly teaches the economy on a macro scale instead of a micro scale. There also aren’t too many jobs directly related to the degree, though the ones that are directly related, I probably would not enjoy doing.

Now, the political science degree. I haven’t heard anything good about this degree. The only people that I’ve heard recommending the degree are the people that just tell you to do what you love and ignore practicality. I would love to do work in politics. I’m fascinated by the political world, as well as history, and would like to be able to make a big change to the world through it. Though, I know if I end up failing to do so, then I have no backup and I’m essentially stuck with a social science degree that holds no weight to employers.

Now, I also said I am thinking about computer science. I have no clue what it is really about on a deep level. I just don’t think that I would be all that interested in sitting at a desk coding all day. I am pretty interested in computers and have a tolerance for math but I’m not sure how it actually would be. I just know that it’s basically guaranteed employment with a good paying job.

I have pretty bad anxiety so I keep leaning towards majors that I don’t think I would really enjoy, like computer science, nursing, and accounting just because I know they lead to high employment rates and well paying careers. These are fields I wouldn’t think about if they didn’t have that edge.

Anyway, sorry about the novel. I hope my information was useful to some extent with informing about my situation. I am super thankful for any advice you may have. Thank you.

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I started to respond to some of the (many) wrong assumptions in your post, but realized that the real problem is that this is simply a parlor game at this point. You have no idea at all what studying any of those subjects at college level would be like, much less what a life on any of those paths would involve (not least how many different possibilities each one represents).

So. Back up and take a deep breath. You will spend ~80,000 hours of your life doing whatever career(s) you choose. CS, accounting & nursing have high employment levels (well- for now, anyway- automation in accounting is changing that)- but there are many, many paths to being gainfully employed.

Instead of worrying about which one of three things that you know little about but suspect you won’t like you should do, step back and start from basics: what do you genuinely like to do? what are your strengths in school work? what are your strengths as a person? Follow those threads: what does that suggest you should study next?

It’s not clear how old you are or what you are thinking of in terms of after high school, but the gift of the US system is Community Colleges: they are a great place to actually try the subjects or areas you think you might be interested in, at a relatively low cost. If it becomes clear that the path that is most interesting to you requires a 4 year degree, you can complete the 1st half there, then transfer to a 4 year. If it becomes clear that your path needs different qualifications, you can get them (or get the info on what you need) there.

Finally, listen to this podcast about using your career to make a difference. Although it is aimed at people who are out of (or coming out of) college, it may give you some ideas about using your career to make a real difference in the world: https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/ben-todd-key-ideas-of-80000hours/

3

Just because computer science is a ‘hot field’ now with good job prospects doesn’t mean it will always be that way - which is why you shouldn’t pick your major, or your overall career trajectory, with that in mind. (It’s a good idea to learn skills that are in high demand - but skills can be learned independently of major. You can learn computer programming without major in computer science, for example.) Hot fields change over time.

You’re also not ‘guaranteed’ a job - the unemployment rate for recent graduates in computer science is actually around 8%, which is not much lower than English and about the same as (or slightly higher) than journalism, communications, drama/theater, and marketing. But what you’ll also see is that unemployment rates converge for most majors about 5 years or so out of college; most majors hover at around 4-6%.

Economics, marketing, or political science degrees can be useful in a wide range of fields. It is impossible to list all of the things you could with those majors, because there are a lot of them, and some of the jobs that will exist have not yet been created. But it’s unlikely that your job will be directly related to your major because college isn’t vocational school.

So some thoughts:

  • Whoever told you that economics “prepares you for nothing” also seems to think that understanding the economy on a macro scale is not useful. But how do businesses know how to execute the micro without understanding the macro?

  • Learning to think theoretically/abstractly is not ‘useless’ - it is a very valuable skill. I can teach anyone how to do stats; that’s easy. Learning to think critically, to solve problems, to synthesize large amounts of data - that’s harder to learn and far more important a skill.

  • Economics will only help you understand “markets” better in the abstract, theoretical sense. A lot of people seem to imagine economics as “hard business,” but it’s not - it’s a social science, too. It’s not necessarily better for marketing than a marketing degree, because the “markets” economics help you understand are about the theoretical trade of goods and services, not actual market segments of people and how to persuade them to buy things. (That said, you don’t need a marketing degree to do that, either.)

  • You can take math classes as a marketing major, if you want. You’re right in that the math is what makes economists attractive (in large part, anyway), so just take the math if that’s what you’re interested in. You can do that in any major (I’d strongly recommend it for political science, too).

  • You certainly don’t need to major in political science to work in politics. There are many, many facets of politics that touch every aspect of our lives. You also can get a job with a political science degree - the vast, vast majority of political science majors are gainfully employed making middle-class salaries somewhere. It all depends on the skills and experience you gain.

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Maybe since you love politics and creativity you could become a campaign manager? You would have to be creative to find ways to help your candidates win elections, but it would also keep you in the political world, and if you ever decide you want to run for something you would know how to manage an effective campaign.

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Hi, you have interesting thoughts on this.