General Studies or Liberal Arts?

So after my second semester of Cyber Security, I’ve finally come to the point where I have decided it to be in my best interests to change my major. Now I am currently enrolled in a Community College and am paying for it myself by working part time, and originally I did enroll in General Studies because I literally had no clue entering upon graduating from High School what I wanted to do. However I recall switching majors into Cyber Security to begin with as General Studies started to take a turn for the ‘sciences’ (Biology, Chemistry, Etc… Not my cup of tea) and I wanted to see what a more technology-orientated course was like, and evidently, it wasn’t my cup of tea either. Not saying that perhaps I wouldn’t want to do it in the future, but just not right now.

Now my parents have told me they just want me to get something and stick with it, but I do feel like they are disappointed in me for wanting to switch. I’ve sent them a few articles about both majors to see what they think and they want me to go back into General Studies when Liberal Arts seems the more appealing to me, the only problem with Liberal Arts is that I have no clue how to explain it to them, which certainly doesn’t help with them accepting the change.

Can anybody help me out and give me some insight here? Or at least break both down into simpler terms?

What is appealing to you about Liberal Arts? Have you taken any such classes, and if so, what’d you think of the topics/material? The point of CC is to 1) take classes to figure out what you want to do, and 2) have credits to transfer to a 4-year so you can finish a degree in 2 years.

With that said, if you’ve taken a fair number of courses already and still aren’t “feeling” anything (specific, that is. “Liberal Arts” likely won’t get you a job), then look into other fields that don’t require a degree, like the trades: plumber, electrician, HVAC tech, etc. You may laugh, but in the D.C. area where I live, there is a HUGE demand for these types and they make $80K/year within 4 or 5 years of starting. And that’s without the typical $30-60K in student loan debt weighing them down…

I don’t think I could ever see myself in a trade, I mean I enjoyed my Hardware/Software classes during my time in Cyber Security, but whenever we made wires in my Networking classes I could never get them to work. I was required to take a woodworking class during my English Highschool and although it was alright, I wasn’t all that good at it (although I will readily admit that might of been due to the lack of access to resources like… wood that wasn’t scrap).

I have changed into a Liberal Arts major, however my parents are not happy with my decision at all, but its not their money thats paying for it. I don’t get any financial aid whatsoever, I have a part-time job that I use to pay my tuition with. I am enjoying my classes a lot more (Economics, Creative Writing, French, Algebra 136) but each time I express my enjoyment to my parents they seem to hold nothing but criticism for me. For example tonight, I was talking to my mother about how in my creative writing class my writing was used as a “Good Example” and I described the prompt as ‘easy’. Her response was “You’re supposed to go to college to learn! Its not supposed to be a cakewalk!”

So I have decided to just not tell them anything anymore about the nature of my school, my schoolwork, unless its Math for now.

Remember that in college you take classes related to a major so you are exposed to many parts…software, hardware, etc. But most people doing coding don’t have to make wires, so you could continue with CS and focus on the software.

It may be that Creative Writing is easy for you…or the expectations for CC students are lower so you are excelling. Also maybe change the way you talk to your parents, instead of saying it was easy you could say “The prompts was XYZ and I came up with the idea to write about abc and I really enjoyed it.”

Honestly I am not sure if it really matters what “major” you take in CC…just want to take the classes that prepare you for the 4 year school.

If you like computer science and writing maybe think about Technical Writing.

I’m kind of at an impasse as to what to do, since the original plan was to go to a 2 year place, get an associates then get a job with said associates so that job could pay for a BA, however in todays job market and in my location I don’t believe that to be possible anymore other than perhaps the medical field. I suppose it doesn’t help my mother went to school in a different country entirely and my step-father never went to college at all,

One of the major criticisms my parents kept bringing up was the salary difference between the majors, although there is one thing I have kept from them. During high school I took an Economics class my senior year and through that class I learned how the stock market worked through a year-long project where we simulated buying, keeping track of, and selling stock. When I switched majors I had the oppertunity to take Economics 101 and so I did, just to see if the high school class I did well in was just a fluke or not.

So yeah, I’m amazing at writing and economics, alright at computers, I have no clue what I want to do and my parents are getting fustraited.

Yeah, getting someone to pay for a bachelors degree is tough. Medical, teaching (retroactive repayment),and military are probably the only ways I know of off-hand.

As far as economics, if you enjoy that, go for it. It’s great you did well in a class in high school, but don’t assume that because you did well with the stock market in one of its strongest years is indicative of “knowing how the stock market works.” It’s a tad more complicated than that, lol. But by all means, pursue that if you’re interested. I have a couple good friends that majored in economics, and both are doing well. One is a private contractor in D.C. making excellent money, and the other is working on his PhD in economics right now.

Lol, I probably should have rephrased that, more like it was a good introduction to how it operates, for example the difference between stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc… my only concern is the math portion. I think I always did better in economics since there was an explaination behind everything, I guess I’m just one of those people that likes to overanalyze sometimes which kind of hinders me. Well that and the every-relevant question “When am I ever going to use this in my life?” Don’t get me wrong, when I get something in Math it sticks, however I just need a little more help than some people when it comes to learning the material.

What level of math are you in right now (or highest level you completed?)
Paying for college with a job is almost impossible nowadays.
CS is probably one of the most lucrative fields right now and doesn’t have hardware (wires and chips), that’s called CSE .
Economics is a liberal arts that has excellent job prospects but with a BA.
You can try to join UPS or Starbucks since they have a college completion program.

The Math I am in right now is 136, but I feel like for a lot of jobs these days whether it be Computer Science or Economics you need a BA minimum requirement (even if the head of the CS department that wasn’t the case).

Under no circumstances am I going to quit my job and start an unpaid internship at some company in the hopes for a job, unless I know I’m being guarenteed a paycheck I am not quitting my current job in retail. I know that isn’t exactly how that works in the USA but to me, economically, it just makes more sense.

Typically ups pays (it’s just a regular job except with tuition assistance as a benefit) but I see your point.
But all in all you should look at what classes you need to transfer to the public 4- year universities you can commute to, then make sure with your transfer advisor that you have everything. Liberal arts or general studies it doesn’t matter as long as you meet ‘entrance to major’ requirements.

We don’t know what Math 136 is…what is the name of it?

If your goal is to transfer to a four-year college, your major matters a little less. Some majors can be good preparation for what you want your BA to be in (like if you know you want to major in engineering, doing an engineering technology AAS can be a good idea because you satisfy requirements). But as long as you are satisfying the transfer requirements to a four-year your major doesn’t matter as much. Make sure you’re consulting with your CC’s transfer advisor.

But if you want to work after CC with your associate’s, then you will likely need to pick a trade or professional AAS program. There really aren’t too many jobs that will hire someone with an AA in general studies or liberal arts. Those majors are typically designed for students who want to transfer into four-year programs, particularly in the humanities or social sciences.

Math 136 is College Algebra