Is an English Degree useless?

<p>Everyone tells me this. I just wanted to hear opinions.</p>

<p>You could get a PhD and teach at a college, you could become a journalist, you could become a high school or elementary school teacher, or perhaps go into law.</p>

<p>I think it's pointless. I think nowadays most english majors double/dual/minor in something else do this fact. What you can do with an english degree, you can do a lot of other degrees which actually lead to a job.</p>

<p>Of course not. An English major is NOT useless. I know many people who do have an English degree and they usually are teachers or professors or in a communications field. Anyway why would you think it is usless.</p>

<p>Besides the fact that you can go to law school or to medical school or a variety of other things, take some advice from the Penn Admissions video...a girl majoring in English said that people aske her what she is going to do with an English degree, and she says just be a fully-thinking, intelligent individual...English is awesome.</p>

<p>English makes you different, since you can read more master works than others, you have been superior than most people intellectually.:)</p>

<p>"English makes you different, since you can read more master works than others, you have been superior than most people intellectually."</p>

<p><em>Insert joke about English major lovers with bad grammar here</em></p>

<p>When I was in college, someone asked the chairman of the English Dept.--"what do English majors do after they graduate?"</p>

<p>He replied, "They shed light!"</p>

<p>Few liberal arts BAs lead directly to jobs but if you add practical internships during college and a one or two year MA program after colllege, there are many professions where an intensive English background would be an advantage--any job where expert reading, analyzing, interpreting, writing and speaking skills + creativity and imagination are in demand. Or you could travel the world and teach English as a Foreign Language!</p>

<p>why worry about a job?...it's college, learn and have fun! If you are so intent on becoming a "this or that," then go to a vocational school...</p>

<p>Anyone heard the song "What do you do with a BA in English?" from Avenue Q?</p>

<p>Which degree (B.A., M.A, PhD)?</p>

<p>Just seconding pyewacket's suggestion of traveling and teaching ESL. Our daughter is in S. Korea teaching ESL. She doesn't have a degree, but better jobs are available to those with a degree. Typically, a person with a degree can earn $2,000+ per month, in addition to a paid apartment. Much of your income earned abroad is tax-free, so it's a good way to earn a nice income and see some of the world. Seoul is the 4th largest city in the world and is very international.</p>

<p>heh...Avenue Q...yesh, gotta love that song :)</p>

<p>Being an English major means you can write grammatically correct and half-coherent sentences without overusing exclamation marks. Being an English major means you are cognizant of the difference between "your" and "you're"; "their," "there," and "they're"; and "discrete" and "discreet." Being an English major means you can use the word "cognizant" without looking it up. Being an English major means you won't be laughed out of a job interview for sending in a r</p>

<p>yay english!! :)</p>

<p>The value of your degree is what you put into it, period.</p>

<p>English majors do incredibly well with med school admissions, by the way, because they tend to do well on the verbal portion of the MCAT. </p>

<p>That, and they tend to be able to write, a skill that many people apparently lack.</p>

<p>Besides being highly eloquent, what could you do with an English degree career-wise?</p>

<p>Your major does not define your career. Don't think of it as some key to open particular doors.</p>

<p>You can do whatever you want.</p>

<p>UCLAri, isnt writing only one section of the MCAT?</p>

<p>vtoodler, English majors possible professions are teachers, professors, manuscript readers, writers, columnists, reporters, authors, bureaucrats, anything that involves elaborating things in words basically, A good portion go to law school and become lawyers. And like UCLAri said, it's still possible to do other things.</p>

<p>Yes, but look at it this way:</p>

<p>Everyone who applies to med school has to take the same prerequisite courses, regardless of major. The MCAT science section is composed of acquired skills from those courses. So, the English major has the same science skills, provided they actually took the classes they were supposed to take.</p>