Freshman Really Confused About Major and Running Out of Time

College Majors
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<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>I've gotten myself into a real problem. In high school I was unsure as to what I wanted do - my only interests were history (took AP US and AP Euro - really enjoyed them) and anything related to history. I was also pretty interested in stuff like linguistics and sociology. As time went on and the time for college applications came, I had decided on going for economics - I was unsure about what the subject would hold for me, but I imagined it would help me in understanding and playing a part in these economics-obsessed times - plus my parents didn't want me to major in history or linguistics and econ was a social science after all, so I set my mind on majoring in economics in college.</p>

<p>Although I had originally planned on going to UT Austin, I changed my mind and decided to go to Pakistan - to the Lahore University of Management Sciences (they call it 'LUMS' here). Honestly, I did not know anything about LUMS save for the fact that a lot of people (from Pakistan) had told me that it was the 'Harvard of Pakistan'. Naturally I was interested. As I soon found out, LUMS does have a high reputation in this country.</p>

<p>The good news is it turned out LUMS has a really strong economics department - the bad news is I have finally discovered that my calling is not economics. Having struggled through the intermediate micro and macro courses here, I have come to realize that economics is way too quantitative and mathematical for me (I cannot handle math). The idea of sitting down and analyzing data and making forecasts terrifies me.</p>

<p>To complicate things further, LUMS does not offer majors in anything other than economics (combined with politics), finance, and social sciences. The social sciences department is not that strong and focuses mainly on philosophy, which I can't stand, and for the most part ignores history and foreign language, two things I'm keen on studying.</p>

<p>The policy here is that we have to choose our major at the end of our freshman year, and it's ending in about two months. At the same time, my parents are urging me to either transfer to UT Dallas or UT Austin and major in something else if I can't handle economics, or to try to go for pre-med in some college. I've missed a good number of transfer application deadlines and time is running out for the remaining ones.</p>

<p>I want to major in history but the problem is that my parents keep telling me that I will have no real career with a background in history, with the recession and everything. From what I've gathered, history majors mostly go on to become teachers, archivists, curators, or writers/researchers, all of which seem quite boring to me. I'm really not into medicine, or any scientific subject for that matter, and economics seems like a bleak path for me.</p>

<p>I am totally lost and confused. I really like this place - people at LUMS are very nice and I've made a bunch of friends - and I don't want to leave. But at the same time I know I cannot continue in economics. This probably seems childish of me, but I actually want to study something that will eventually land me a job which is exciting in a sense - the idea of being a teacher or analyzing price indexes or prescribing medications is just not cutting it.</p>

<p>Of course, another option - one that my parents sometimes bring up - is to go to Saudi Arabia (where I'll be closer to my family) and study Islamic theology or something like that, but my chances of getting into one of their religious universities is slim at best - and I don't know Arabic (which happens to be frequently used over there) so that further negates that option.</p>

<p>What should I do? I'm running out of time and have no idea what to do.</p>

<p>(Oh, and sorry for the huge post - just had to get this out)</p>

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<p>Don’t let your parents bog you down.</p>

<p>Let me tell you a story about this cousin of mine. (She’s not really my cousin, but the daughter of a family friend). She went to Cornell and studied History. People bashed her for it, thinking it was a worthless major. After that, she received a scholarship to Florida International University (FIU) for a masters. She basically got paid to go. Currently, she’s teaching in Iowa, making 120k a year. </p>

<p>The jobs are out there if you look hard enough.</p>

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<p>Well I’m not exactly going to Cornell or a school of that caliber and most probably won’t get in, so I may not be in the same favorable position as that cousin of yours. And teaching really does not appeal to me, even if it does come with good pay.</p>

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<p>What a great choice!
I have seen those schools before on the news. It looks so inviting… with everyone sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, chanting fallacies from the Koran over and over.
They also have great physical education courses as well. Everyone must know how to crawl through tubes, be expeditious on the monkey bars, be able to disarm a western police officer in 3 moves and handle and AK 47 properly.
Oh my… do not forget their engineering programs! Remote controlled cell phone bombs, suicide explosive vests and IED mechanics. Take that MIT.
And just think, you get to eat opium falafel 4 times a day, woman wear those stylish burka’s and get beaten so gracefully. What a cosmopolitan city that Islamabad is… </p>

<p>That settles it, I am vacationing in Pakistan this summer! It’s no Afghanistan, but I will have to make due.</p>

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<p>Yes, yes very funny, VegasSommelier…</p>

<p>Luis, try getting a mod to move this thread to the college search and selection or cafe forums. There’s more traffic there so more potential that somebody knowledgeable about your situation will come across it.</p>

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<p>Luis: What is it about history that you enjoy so much? Evolution of civilization, cultures, battles, etc? Perhaps there’s some related or sub-field that you can find common ground on with your parents.
Maybe you can stay where you are and focus on the history of economics instead of just economics. Everything has a history. So for whatever field you can think of, just prepend “history of” to it.</p>

<p>Xav: Was that Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa or Cornell University in Ithaca, NY?</p>

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<p>I know it was funny… what is even more funny is that someone would actually want to move to Pakistan. UT Austin is a great school, and great college atmosphere.
Beats roadside bombs and irrational clerics any day in my book.</p>

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<p>She went to the Ivy. I think she got into one of the Contract colleges, since I recall her paying cheaper (she’s from NY).</p>

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<p>mreg: I’m interested by almost all aspects of history (civilizations, cultures, art, evolution of languages, military history, history of technology, etc.). More specifically, I’m more interested in European, Middle Eastern, and Far Eastern history (not so interested in the Americas, Africa). Ironically, the one history that doesn’t interest me at all is economic history or the history of economics. I remember finding the economic parts of AP US and AP Euro extremely boring - skipped through a lot of it. </p>

<p>Also, how do I get a mod to move this thread? (I’m new here.)</p>

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<p>what’s with the offensive and seriously ignorant posts on this thread? </p>

<p>sorry LuisEsteban for not replying to your problem, but honestly, some people are just plain rude.</p>

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<p>It seems as if you have closed down all routes for yourself. You dont seem to be interested in anything. Find what you really love and than transfer to U of T at Austin for that major otherwise slug it out with economics at LUMS. </p>

<p>There is no reason why you cannot eventually go on to do something you like at grad school provided you maintain your GPA.</p>

<p>And LUMS is a great place as you should already know with a very reputeable faculty so you would have a solid degree when you graduate.</p>