It just seems like the norm for people from middle class families. Everyone assumes that in order to be successful, you have to graduate from college. Problem is, once students get into college they realize that they won’t be able to get into med school when they’re failing their freshman chemistry class. So, they just end up switching to some random degree. Honestly, some of the journalism and public relations kids around me treat college as if it’s a four year, party driven summer camp.</p>
<p>You can imagine an ideal career for every college major, but the amount of people who actually land those careers can be pretty small for some majors.</p>
<p>I just think for any middle class student, majoring in something that isn’t going to have a return on investment is irresponsible and unrealistic. I met a girl who got her master’s in Women’s Studies. She has been unemployed since last spring from her job as a receptionist. She is working a job that doesn’t require a degree and in six figures of debt she’ll never repay because she went to college to learn about something cool rather than something practical. I am sure women’s studies majors can get a job in “the field (whatever that is for them),” but I am willing to bet this girl I met has a much more common experience.</p>
<p>If you get a useless liberal arts degree (not implying all liberal arts degrees are useless), you aren’t even necessarily ahead of someone your age who didn’t go to college but worked full-time during that period and learned some practical skills. </p>
<p>Some people also major in things like music, art, and acting hoping to become musicians, artists and actors. I feel like our generation’s culture of being told we’re special and we can do anything we set our minds to is turning out an endless supply of waitresses and a real shortage in the more challenging STEM fields. I know the engineering job prospects aren’t amazing right now, but they’re a hell of a lot better than basically every liberal arts major.</p>
<p>Yes, that is true for some of the majors listed in post 19, but that is not stopping legions of students from going to college to major in biology and English (or business at less selective schools). The list in post 19 is a list of common pre-professional motivations for majoring in those subjects; it does not imply that the job and career prospects at graduation are as good as the students think that they may be.</p>
<p>People can major in whatever they want. But if they complain later because they can’t get any jobs with their major, and then go to Wall Street to dump on everyone who worked their butt off to get a practical major, then, well…</p>
<p>Okay, I’m an engineer, I’m old and I see engineers 8-10 hours a day. People that don’t enjoy some part of engineering / math / science usually will not make it to Junior year. If they do, and they graduate, they are miserable and unmotivating and they get the lowest (or zero) raises. Don’t follow this path unless something in your enjoys what engineers do. Freshman engineering isn’t really engineering … it’s a sorting hat ceremony.</p>
<p>If you think you might like engineering, at least make sure you take the required calculus and physics so you don’t get behind. If you realize that you want to do something even more interesting, then you can use the math/science as electives at the very least, and you continue on your journey.</p>
<p>I’m in my junior year now in civil engineering, I like it and think some stuff are interesting but I’m not like in love with it. I could have easily did architecture since I am very good with art. But I chose engineering because it has a brighter future for jobs.
I would say you don’t have to love it, just a slight interest would keep you there. No point switching to liberal arts since you will most likely be unemployed.</p>
<p>I would not go into engineering just for a higher initial paycheck. First of all, you probably won’t even make it that far. Engineering school is tough, even for those people who truely like the field. </p>
<p>When I was interviewing college applicants I would evaluate them on their GPAs, any work experience they had had and their passion for the field. </p>
<p>College and the workplace are quite different. Doing engineering work for 8 hours a day (and many times more than that) with only a short lunch break is a whole lot more intense than college. To do well, you really need a love of the field. If not, you’ll either be out the door soon or never get a pay raise because you’ll never produce up to the level your peers are.</p>
<p>Engineering is really a type of field that you need to be sure that you want to do it. There are plenty of majors that make good money, and plenty in non-engineering fields. You can do a job that you love and still make a good salary. </p>
<p>Applied math and physics are extremely lucrative majors, and both don’t have the kind of commitment that engineering requires. Most sciences will give you that same kind of good job prospects, and many liberal arts majors are great for law school and working in the business world.</p>
<p>The most popular science, biology, has generally poor job and career prospects at the bachelor’s degree level. Chemistry majors also do not do so well. Math, statistics, and physics majors do better, since they often have the possibility of finance, computer software, and (for physics) some types of engineering jobs.</p>
<p>Law school can be done from any undergraduate major.</p>
<p>Sure but you seem to think that there has to be a direct link between undergrad major and job immediately to claim an ROI. For the vast majority of Americans, they are financially successful in careers unrelated to their undergrad major. Moreover, many go to graduate school. The ‘useless’ majors you seem to go on about may not be obviously linked to a particular occupation like engineering is straight out of college, but by and large they have led people into all kinds of decent careers. Even most engineers don’t end up as engineers. </p>
<p>Sure there is high unemployment right now, but for the most part the US has not been a third world country where the majority of students have to major in engineering or worry about survival. </p>
<p>Any frankly anyone who equates a rigorous liberal arts degree with clubs, watching lectures online or reading a book doesn’t have an ounce of an understanding of what one acquires in such a course. </p>
<p>I speak as someone from a lower class - not middle class- family, who pursued my interests in undergrad at a local college while living at home- having confidence in myself to do so- and now actually work in my field of major and earn in the top 1%. Because I loved it and had an aptitude for it. Probably a major you would roll your eyes about, but thank god I didn’t major in engineering.</p>
<p>Why do people think engineering is so dang miserable? I want some engineers (particularly EE and CEs) to come here and tell me they live a miserable life. 2 of the computer engineers I know work as programmers, and a 3rd works teaching computer engineering (lol), they’re all great social people… much like myself! </p>
<p>I like to draw, although I’m not great at it - I have a tablet and have probably spent way too much time in photoshop for my own good! I love astronomy, running, biking, and have been heavily persuaded both by architecture teachers and English teachers to pursue those subjects instead. XD </p>
<p>Seriously, I’m just fine. </p>
<p>Also: You’re going to change majors fast if you hate the subject. I don’t really believe it’s possible to do well in a subject if you don’t like it at least a little.</p>
<p>^We had some close friends who got into Amway and tried to convince us to join them. The biggest part of Amway’s pitch is that you will make tons of money and be able to retire early. Our friends said, “Doesn’t that sound great?? Don’t you want to retire at a young age?” DH and I looked at each other and answered, “No!” in unison. We told them we like what we do!</p>