HELP! I don't know what to major in!

College Majors
1

Hey guys! If you cant already tell, I’m in need of consolation. I seem to have hit a difficult decision. Currently, I am a high school junior from Pennsylvania. I have okay grades (although I am still working on improving my GPA), and I also participate in a good amount of extracurricular activities which I am devoted to. During my sophomore year, I partook in Model United Nations, and I loved the thrill of speaking in front of my committee of 200 or so people. As I continued through my high school career, I began to realize that I wanted to major in Media, Culture, and Communications, which people have quite commonly deemed “the slacker major” (BTW, I don’t believe everyone in this category is a slacker-- myself included-- and I absolutely hate it when people talk down on it as a major for the unintelligent). After more thought, I realized that I wanted to also work in a formal, business environment. However, being the creative person that I consider myself to be, I leaned towards the major of Corporate Communications-- a healthy balance of both creativity and a business environment. The problem with this major is that it is QUITE rare. When I say this, I mean that only a handful of schools offer this major, and only about five are good schools.

I should mention that I am an avid fan of New York, and I love the hustle-and-bustle of Manhattan. Although I do live in Pennsylvania, I have been to New York City many times and have already decided that this is the place where I want to live my life beyond college (hopefully forever, even WITH kids). The problem with New York City-- especially Manhattan-- is its cost. The City is a key factor in my college major decision, believe me!

Anyhow, as I’ve discovered that living a decent life in Manhattan requires DEEP pockets, I have begun to look into investment banking… It’s not even remotely close to what I want to do in life, and if I went to college to become a banker I would most likely major in Economics, Finance, or Business. There’s one problem with all of these majors: they’re completely and utterly soul-sucking and boring (at least to me), but they can pave the path to a financially-successful future as an I-Banker. People always tell me to “follow my dreams”, but I believe that if I do, I won’t be able to afford living in Manhattan and I’ll have to ~shutter~ move to Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, or Staten Island.

Fun Information About Me:

  1. My first-choice and “stretch” school is Northeastern University, up in Boston. I love Northeastern because of their traditional-campus style in the City. I NEED a city school no matter where I go as an undergraduates, because cities offer so much, and there’s greater diversity in the people and activities you can do.
  2. Northeastern is definitely a stretch-school for me, although I hope to alleviate some of this “stretch-status” with a good ACT score (shooting for a 32 out of 36)
  3. I also love this school because of their co-op program, which gives the students an opportunity to get two years of work experience in their field AND a regular salary… Not only do you gain an edge with work experience, you get to actually make and save money!
  4. The education at Northeastern, due to its unique program, spans the course of five years
  5. I am a hard-worker, although sometimes I have difficulty with self-motivation (I should be doing homework that I’ve put off right now, but instead I’m doing this)
  6. When I am interested in something, I am very passionate about it, and I excel at doing it! (doesn’t everyone)
    AND
  7. I am extremely motivated by money. My parents and friends say that I think too far ahead-- seven or eight years ahead-- and that I stress myself out by worrying about accumulating a net-worth of AT LEAST $1,000,000 by the time I hit my thirties! I think that I sped too much time worrying about my future instead of the present, and I wish I could stop doing so, but I can’t seem to help myself…

If I do choose to major in Corporate Communications, I will be making decent pay in Manhattan (I already did research regarding salary), most likely at least six-figures, and hopefully I would have a decent pay out of college. But if I majored in Economics/Finance/Business, and managed to properly put myself out there in college, I could land a job at a prestigious I-Bank AND I would be earning at least $100,000 (salary+bonus) as a first-year analyst. That’s already reaching up to what I would be making, IN MY PRIME, if I majored in Corporate Communications. Plus, if I continued to strive and be successful, I could be making upwards of $800,000 BY THE TIME I REACHED 30!

In short, I don’t want to do something I hate, but I love to make money… what do you think? Should I major in business, and hate my life but have a decent shot at hitting the jackpot, or should I major in the obscure Corporate Communications, love what I do, and make a decent, six-figure salary (If I did that, I would most likely have to eventually move out of my favorite city in order to raise my children in a decent school-district, as New York City public schools suck, and I wouldn’t be able to afford any private schools, even on a six-figure salary)…

I just really want to do something I love and live in the City that I love, but I know that in order to make the kind of money I want, you have to make sacrifices…

So what should I do? Make a ton of money and most-likely hate life, or do something I love and make a decent pay, but move out of the city to the suburbs when I have children…

Thanks a lot to whoever decides to read through this whole post and comment… I appreciate it.

2

LOL. You seem totally superficial. There are some outstanding communications schools that don’t take slackers-so no, they are not slacker majors.

3

You’re right, I am extremely superficial, but that’s who I’ve always been, and as much as I wish I could change that, I just cant. And I do know about these schools, but I’m extremely tired of people always associating Communications with lazy people. It’s not fair at all.

4

I should also probably mention that Northeastern DOES NOT have a business/corporate communications program. The best school that offers what I truly want is either Bentley University or Marquette University… And @lostaccount I do need to make a ton of money to live a good life in Manhattan… do you realize this?

5

yeah, I think you’re thinking wayyy too much ahead, and anyways none of those projected salaries are guaranteed. you’re only a junior in high school. why are you so motivated by money? all of these “plans” you have are likely to change, but if you really want advice I would say pursue the major/career that you really like, not the one that you think will give you the most money.

6

Let’s be nice, ok? There’s nothing wrong with being motivated by money - making a lot of money is important to some people, and hey, it’s nice to make six figures.

That said, OP, I think you are being completely unreahttp://talk.collegeconfidential.com/react/comment/like?id=19264787listic and unnecessarily working about things. A couple points:

  1. I know you are not going to believe me when I say this, but New York - and Manhattan especially - are completely overrated. I dreamed of moving back to New York, where I grew up, and I finally did when I was 22. By the time I was in my mid-20s I was kind of over it. I still love the city but the every day reality of living there is far different from what you expect. Everyone’s different of course, and you may love it forever, but people see the movies and television shows about a fictional New York that’s way more glamorous than the reality. (Admittedly, some of that is due to money. I currently make six figures and I still wouldn’t be able to afford something as nice and spacious as I’d want, or as the condo I currently rent in the suburbs of Seattle.)

  2. Even if you do want to live in New York for real, there are 8 million people in the city and only a fraction of them are investment bankers. In fact, most of the people who live in New York don’t make anywhere near six figures - the median household income in New York City is a bit under $51,000 a year. It’s about $67,000 in Manhattan - not much higher.

You do not need a “ton of money” to live a good life in Manhattan. I lived a good life there making between $32K and $45K for six years. Was I always able to do everything I wanted to do? No, of course not - but I ate out at great places, had fun with friends, went to trendy bars, went shopping and had a general blast. I only had one roommate and it was a big apartment, albeit waaaaay up in Washington Heights. I even managed to save a little every month. You’ll be making more than that with a business-oriented career (I was in graduate school!) so you’ll have even more fun than me! I have a friend making $60K in a sweeeet upgraded duplex in Astoria - she shares with two roommates, but the place is huge and they each have their own bathroom plus a balcony with nice views. Most of my friends in the city make between between $55K and $75K and they have nice places. Not swank luxury places (although I did have one friend who lived in the Trump Towers - gorgeous views but the apartments were way overpriced for what they were), but nice comfortable places.

Also, seriously? Manhattan is so overrated. Brooklyn and Queens are way better. Although there are several neighborhoods in Brooklyn that are just as expensive as Manhattan these days - downtown, DUMBO, BoCoCa, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Greenpoint. Basically anything that’s 30 minutes or less to the city on the subway. But check out Astoria and Long Island City in Queens. Very nice rapidly developing areas. There’s also South Harlem in Manhattan!

  1. Majors do not guarantee that you will make any kind of salary, so a major in corporate communications wouldn’t mean you would “most likely” make six figures. You’d have to compete for the kinds of jobs that pay that much. The VAST VAST majority of jobs that fresh graduates can get do NOT pay ANYWHERE near six figures. People just generally aren’t giving 22-year-olds that kind of money. But even if you did start at that much it’s even more unrealistic to think that you can octuple your salary in just 8 short years. Do not make that kind of goal for yourself - you’ll just be disappointed. Always keep striving, but try a more realistic range to begin with.

You don’t need to major in “corporate communications.” That’s far too specific. You can major in communications and minor in business, economics, or finance. Or you can do it the other way around. Lots of communications majors allow you to take classes or even concentration on business communications, and sometimes you can find a public relations department that allows that too. Or you might be interested in industrial/organizational psychology.

I think you are stressing for no reason, because your conception of what a “decent” salary is and what is necessary to live a middle-class lifestyle are out of wack. That’s normal for your stage, but even living in Manhattan doesn’t require you to make $100,000 right out of college. Of course life is more fun if you’re rich…but you don’t have to be. If you can get a job making around $40-50K out of college, you should be fine. You’ll do what every other new grad does in the city - live with roommates, stand in line for student rush tickets at TKTS, pay $3 for the museums, take the subway, and go to the free stuff during the summer.

Also, have you ever heard of Stuyvesant? Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech? Those are NYC public schools. What about LaGuardia High School, the performing arts school? Also public. NYC public schools are the large school district in the nation; they serve over 1.2 million students. Don’t paint them all with the same brush - there are some schools in the district that are great and some that are not so great.

You are looking WAY ahead. You can make decisions that affect your children’s school district when you actually have children. Not when you’re a 16-year-old junior in high school.

Let me tell you something: I love my job. It’s still work, but I wake up every morning not dreading the day but looking forward to being at work, thinking about interesting things, and having great conversations with my coworkers. More importantly, I work about 40-50 hours a week and my evenings and weekends are mine. I have worked a crazy job with 60+ hour weeks and I hated it. I’ve also had positions that I dreaded going into and those are the worst. You don’t want to get up on Monday already hating your life because you have to roll somewhere you hate. It means so much to your mental health and quality of life to like what you do and get decently compensated for it.

7

@juliet thank you so much! the message in this was so reassuring!

8

What you want is a career that entails creativity in a business environment and an education that prepares you for it. There are many ways to get both. I suggest a business administration major with writing and communication classes, as well as, if your college offers them, rhetoric and marketing classes, and even apparently unrelated creativity-engaging courses, among your electives. If your strategy is picking the courses rather than the major, you will find vastly more colleges suitable for your actual objectives. All that really matters is learning the material however you can.

Well, that and impressing employers when you want jobs, but I’m confident a “business administration” degree will be more impressive to employers than a “business communications” degree.

People appear to have jobs with more interpersonal interaction and variety with a business administration degree than with a finance or, if working in a business environment, economics degree (http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Arts_%28BA%29%2c_Business_Administration/Salary and http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Arts_%28BA%29%2c_Finance/Salary and http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Degree=Bachelor_of_Arts_%28BA%29%2c_Economics/Salary).

Also, I recommend seeking internships that involve communication in a business environment during your college years. Not everything has to be learned in a class or even is best learned in a class.

Creativity certainly has a role in business (http://knowledge.ckgsb.edu.cn/2014/08/13/marketing/the-importance-of-creativity-in-business/).

9

You sound like a good candidate for a Marketing major. At the national company I work for, our Marketing director does lots of creative things and makes a lot of money doing it. Among other things, she either oversees or directly creates a blog and e-newsletter that goes out to clients and on the website, she prepares content for and attends trade shows, she gives webinars, she writes or has others write white papers, she writes content for the website describing products, she gives presentations within and outside of the company, she analyzes website usage using data on what people clicked on, she works with outside public relations agencies to create press releases, she works with the CEO to plan product launches including naming products, etc.

Get into a great business school, major in Marketing, get involved in a speech club or other activities to increase your spoken and written communication skills, do summer internships, and you’ll be all set. Whatever you do, don’t choose a field that seems boring to you like investment banking. You would never be able to thrive and compete in that area against people who love investment banking and live and breathe it. Choose a field that YOU can thrive in and be the best at – which will be something that comes naturally to you and that you enjoy. People enjoy doing what they’re good at. The fact that you enjoy speaking to a crowd is huge and awesome! Public speaking is considered the number 1 fear among so many people.

You can give lots of speeches and develop these skills through all kinds of activities without pursuing a degree in that area, and your skill will be more valued that way. Go join a Toastmasters club and compete in speeches to work your way up to becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest level of achievement. Continue with Model UN. Lead an organization when you get to college and give presentations to members. You have so many options to develop skills. A major in communications or corporate communications won’t be nearly as valued as a Marketing degree from a renowned business school, combined with extracurricular activities and internships that demonstrate your communication skills. Plus, all business schools have courses that prepare students to give business presentations both individually and in teams, so that will prepare you for the business world.

The most financially successful people I know got that way because they planned early, and didn’t let others tell them they were too young to think about money and the future. I know of one person who as a teenager dreamed of becoming “financially independent” and living off of his investments by the time he was 40. He reached that goal by his mid-30s. Without that focused plan, he would not have achieved that goal, because he would not have been looking for real estate and other investments in his early 20s already.

Read “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and some other books that will give you some more tips. They will tell you that it isn’t how much money you have coming in that makes the difference – it’s what you do with that money. My friend who became financially independent at a young age had a job making in the mid-40s, but he lived frugally, had roommates and saved money and invested it in real estate, and learned all about real estate on his own through investor’s groups, seminars, books, and trial and error. His bachelor’s degree was in business and economics, and his MBA focused on marketing.

Your degree and your salary typically won’t get you to a place of riches and advanced wealth. It will be what you do with the income you have that will make the difference. There are people with large incomes that live paycheck to paycheck, and others with modest incomes that have amassed a fortune. So think about these things as you consider your strategies for going forward.

10

Thanks all for your encouraging words of wisdom! I’m really finding this to be helpful!!