<p>I feel very conflicted about what to major in at the moment. I initially planned to major in Math/Economics, and perhaps go on to grad school for economics.
However, the classes I've taken in English are making me rethink my decision, and I'd love to major in English, pursue fluency in French and Chinese, perhaps a few classes in Linguistics, and then either go to grad school for English or work with languages in some form or another. (I could double major, but it would restrict the number of language classes I can take, and I really haven't liked my economics classes in college so far)
However, my parents feel that this latter path has no future options and I'm basically condemming myself to a lifetime of misery. What should I do? What would be the possible consequences of either?</p>
<p>It’s true that even with a PhD in English it can be tough to make a living: only a few of the best graduates end up in tenure-track jobs in good schools. Many end up working part time, with low pay and no benefits, as adjuncts. So my question is: do you want to be a literature professor & pursue a life in academia? Or is it just that right now English seems more appealing than math/economics? English can be a good preparation for law school, for example, so if you change your mind about grad school in English that could be an option . Or you could double major in English and economics and have economics as a viable grad school option as well. If you decide that absolutely you want to be a literature professor, consider comparative literature, where your interest in languages will come into play, and may be enough of a ‘hook’ to give you an advantage over other candidates going after the same few jobs you’ll be shooting for after graduation. (Though if you take the comparative literature route, focus on Chinese rather than French - these days, that’s a much more practical choice.) If you do chose the literature route, you should absolutely shoot for the very best grad school you can get into: a PhD in comparative literature from, say, Yale or Berkeley will be a much greater ticket to a decent job than, say, Ohio State. (No disrespect meant to Ohio State.)</p>
<p>I agree with katlia, I think that a major in English is sort of what you make of it, and in that way it’s not automatically any more applicable to a job than a major in Economics or Math. It’s all about what direction you want to take it and how you choose to tailor it. </p>
<p>For example, would you be interested in working in publishing? An English major combined with the right internships can easily give you a future there. Maybe in the growing world of e-books or digital journalism. Would you like to teach? Find out what you need to get your teaching certificate or what other education classes you might want to pair with it. Maybe, for example, you want to teach overseas after you graduate. You don’t neccessarily need a lot of qualifications to teach English overseas, but learning a foreign language and being an English major can help a lot, especially if you try to learn more about the mechanics of the language, versus the language itself. </p>
<p>Like katlia said, an English major can be a good preparation for law school. You could try out technical writing, you could pair it with internships in public affairs/public relations/communications and go that way or go into advertising (two fairly lucrative fields). </p>
<p>A few basic economics classes will stand you in good stead no matter what you do. Knowing the basics of macro and micro are just a good foundation for future life. But there’s no reason why majoring in English should condemn you to a life of poverty or misery. </p>
<p>Yes, it’s up to you to figure out how to make the major work for you, it’s not going to be an automatic gateway to anything, no matter what. But neither will a math or econ major or basically most other majors. Grad school is not a magic ticket either. So if you’re willing to commit to making your English major work, then I say you should go for it.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, you can certainly major in English (or any humanities discipline) and go into business or onto business school. It’s what me and many of my friends are doing. If you’d like to pursue a PhD in English, of course, like MOST academic jobs right now, tenure track jobs are very hard to come by as more universities rely on adjuncts and the like. Also, as a professor, much of your life would be research, depending on where you teach.</p>
<p>Some of my friends who were English majors and myself are doing the following (one year out of college)
- working in consulting
- going to business school
- going to law school
- getting an MFA
- getting a PhD in English
- working for a publishing house
- working in journalism at a small paper
- working for a think tank in DC
- working as a social media strategist
- getting a degree in Library Science
- going to med school
- working in PR
- doing freelance writing
- working in marketing</p>
<p>So definitely a range of things you can do with the major!</p>
<p>One thing that seems to be fairly common is that people major in English thinking that they will become writers or journalists.</p>
<p>But it may be worth considering getting some background in subjects to write about as well. Knowledge of math and economics may be helpful in this respect, if you are interested in writing about these subjects.</p>
<p>Some math, economics, finance, and statistics courses can give you background for backup career options in actuarial science or quantitative finance, as well as giving you more knowledge about interesting subjects to write about (a lot of people understand very little or nothing about how insurance, risk management, and finance works, so there may be a market for explaining this type of stuff to the general public).</p>
<p>No specific major or courses are required for law school.</p>
<p>Zig - Re major in English: “my parents feel that this latter path has no future options and I’m basically condemming myself to a lifetime of misery.”</p>
<p>What they really mean to say is that you will end up in law school. ;)</p>
<p>Does it make any difference to the discussion if I’m an international student? </p>
<p>Well, going into academics seems like the ideal job- but I do realize that it’s almost impossible to get a tenure-track job. Plus, I’m only a freshman atm, so I don’t know how interested I will be in any one subject. I intend to continue with both Chinese and French (not possible if I double major in Economics also), and also know two other languages- no idea if that helps.
Apart from that, however, I am also thinking of jobs like interpreting, or publishing. Obviously, I am a bit scattered at the minute- but I guess what I’m asking is, how impractical is it to drop economics? It’s something that I’d rather not do, though I realize it might be more marketable.</p>
<p>I live in the DC area and am constantly amazed at the number of job notices looking for English majors. Many employers here want employees who know how to write well.</p>
<p>Love it Glido!.. It is true that many jobs require excellent writing and communication skills. With email the dominate form of corporate communications- one needs to know how to write a clear concise email- for status updates on projects, responses to attack email, proposals etc. as well as speeches and presentations (both oral and written). It is getting harder and harder to find employees who can meet this criteria. And from experience, if someone cannot write a decent email, eventually nobody in the organization even opens them. </p>
<p>Math and science degrees don’t mean best educated that is for sure. You wouldn’t know it by reading CC though.</p>
<p>Economics might be more marketable if you were interested in going in to business or polling or something like that. But it sounds like you have minimal interest in working in the fields were economics would be an asset. If your main interest is teaching/academia, there aren’t a lot of jobs available for that period in terms of tenured positions, and considering the amount of work you have to put in to get to that level (Phd, lots of publishing, teaching, etc.) you might as well be putting in that work on something that you love vs. something you really dislike.</p>
<p>Yes, it matters if you are an international student: unless you have a Green Card or manage to get an employer to sponsor you for a visa (hard) you will be required to leave the U.S. after your studies are over. If that is the case, you need to ask yourself: how employable will I be with an English degree in my home country/outside of the US? And that’s a whole different discussion.</p>
<p>My son graduated from Penn last May as an English major but also took a lot of economics courses. He had business/law firm jobs throughout college and did very well in the job interview process. His writing skills were highly valued, and he landed a good corporate business job. As long as you can show that you have some other strengths, an English degree is not at all a deal-breaker in the job market.</p>
<p>I agree with what MoWC says: English plus [math, economics] can be a great skill set to market.</p>
<p>Also, the OP may want to ask him/herself exactly what it is that is attractive about English. Is it studying literature? You can study literature in any language, and maybe Chinese would be a more marketable major. Chinese/Math would be a dynamite combination, for grad school or for the job market. Or is it languages in general? The intersection between math and linguistics is totally hot these days, and rumor has it that people with computational linguistics strengths can get attractive job offers, too.</p>
<p>So - English major here. Was media relations director for a human rights/human relations agency. Founded a very successful publishing house that is still going strong. Wrote for magazines (I’m responsible, for better or for worse, for the term “tree huggers” - as I wrote an article in the 1970s about the birth of India’s ecology movement called “Hugging Trees”). Wrote 11 books, edited more than 100. Currently have two regular magazine columns. Founded three non-profit foundations. Have traveled and written worldwide. Taught writing, and worked as writing coach. Senior planner and policy analyst for a state board of health. Write an annual 400 page book each year on the state of alcohol, drug, and tobacco use in my state and its public health ramifications (currently in 18th edition). Never lacked for dough.</p>
<p>Thank heavens I don’t have a business degree!</p>
<p>Wow - the originator of the term “tree hugger” is on this thread! What a great term!
Zig - are you from China?
And, ahem…“It’s what me and many of my friends are doing.” I was hoping that if my kid majored in an English-related field, I would not have to correct this anymore! Sigh…</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice!
I think I can safely say that economics is not on the table anymore, as business is definitely something I don’t intend to go into. I know I’d like to work with languages in some form- whether that is through linguistics, or comparative literature (which is something I really hadn’t looked at before it came up here!)- is what I don’t know.
So, do I stick with math for now, or do I pay more attention to becoming better at French and Chinese? In either case I do want to continue with english in college.</p>
<p>And no, I’m not from China.
And wow, I did not realize that that is how the term ‘tree hugger’ originated!</p>
<p>Do you like math, French, Chinese, linguistics, etc.? Knowing more about various subjects can help you if you write about these subjects; communicating what may seem like an esoteric concept to the general public (like many topics in math, or how a different language may affect people’s view of the world) can be a skill that is uncommon and useful.</p>
<p>Yes, I love learning French and Chinese, and linguistics seems fascinating from the books I’ve read- though I admittedly have not taken any classes in it. Math- I don’t know- I thought I liked it in school, but I cannot stand the way classes are conducted here (basically plugging in formulae- I can understand where Lockhart’s Lament was coming from- math is worse here than what I experienced in high school 
)</p>
<p>The modern hugging trees movement dates from March 26, 1974 in the Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, North India, when a group of women headed by a woman named Gaura Devi, hugged a group of ash trees slated for being chopped down to be made into tennis rackets. From there the movement.</p>
<p>(There was, however, a previous tree hugging movement in Rajasthan, India in 1730, about which I have written as well.) I met Gaura Devi and the area tree hugging leader Chandi Prasad Bhatt (still a friend) in 1977, and published an article in early 1979. Another article was published at the same time by my friend Mark Shepherd in Co-Evolution Quarterly.) Hugging trees comes from the Garhwali word “Chipko”, which means “embrace”.</p>
<p>Did I mention that my English major fed my love of reading fine literature that I have retained for more than 40 years?</p>
<p>In our own little ways, English majors change the world! and occasionally get paid to do it.</p>
<p>^I’m actually from India, and so I know about the Chipko movement- I just didn’t realize that it led to the word ‘tree-hugger’! That is fascinating!</p>