Much help needed on picking a Major

<p>I'm a 2nd year at ERC currently double majoring in International Studies - Political Science and Music Composition. I very much love politics and government and am very passionate about music. However, I'm concerned about my post-undergrad prospects as an IS - poli sci major and was wondering what you guys thought in terms of switching majors among these options.</p>

<p>Option 1
Majors: International Studies - Econ (or maybe just Econ BA?, so less math intensive than BS) and Music Composition
Graduate by: Likely 4th year
Interest level: 7/10</p>

<p>Option 2
Majors: Economics BS (which would mean joint with some form of intensive math) and Music Composition
Graduate by: Likely 5th year if I can get lucky with my schedule
Interest level: 5/10</p>

<p>Option 3
Stay where I'm at
Interest level: 9/10</p>

<p>So some things to keep in mind:
- The only reason I even bring up Econ BS is because I know that that would be the best major in terms of job prospects/grad school after undergrad
- I wouldn't say I'm passionate about math, but I'm sure if I worked at it hard enough I'd be able to get by. Econ would definitely be more challenging, but it's doable I believe. I took AP Calc in high school (got a 5) and took a couple quarters of Calc here (10B and 10C).
- Dropping my music major (or even minoring) is not an option.</p>

<p>So I guess what it comes down to is this - is it worth taking on a rather great challenge in an area that I'm somewhat interested in for the sake of really making my bachelors count? Or do I stick with the subject I'm more passionate about but risk making life after undergrad more difficult?</p>

<p>Any and all levels of advice (professional, intuitive, anything) are greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>As someone who started college with every intention of being a music major, I can definitely relate to your situation. Now, a year later, I’m majoring in Biochem/Chem and am really happy with my decision. Originally, I picked bio because I thought it would be the “easiest” hard science to pursue. Then, instead of suffering through the major prereqs as I expected to, I ended up really loving chem. Obviously, it was challenging to go from a an almost exclusively humanities/social sciencey background taking mostly chem classes but honestly, the challenge has been rewarding. Don’t let the challenge of a BS in Econ deter you from pursuing it. On the other hand, if you are sure that you don’t enjoy math very much I would question how passionate you would be about econ as a major because the further you go in the field, the more closely it starts to resemble pure mathematics. Have you considered doing a Cognitive Science major with a concentration in Human Cognition along with the Music major? It is something you could tie back to music by studying how people perceive sound and that could have career applications in things like musical therapy. Sorry for rambling, in short:

  • a BS in econ makes more sense than a BA if you want to pursue a career/graduate study in the field.
  • a degree in International Studies is only as marketable as you make it. Get exceptional grades and INTERNSHIPS throughout college.
  • if Music Composition is your primary career objective and you are really only looking for a back-up plan then it makes sense to make your “back-up” major as strong as possible. Having two majors with questionable employment outlooks does very little for your post-grad prospects.
    -Although loving everything that you study would be the ideal situation, it is not always possible. Since you are definitely going to keep music (something you are passionate about) as one of your majors, why not choose something very practical for your second? Practical does not have to mean tedious. You might actually find something you enjoy in addition to music.
    -As to your concern regarding staying in school for an extra year, I think that if an additional year of school significantly increases your future prospects it is more than worth it (given that financing that extra year is not an issue).
    -take another look at the major catalog and don’t write things off too quickly. Visit departments and talk to their advisers.
    Good Luck:)</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your input!
Just a quick question… what do you have in mind when you say more “practical”? </p>

<p>But again, thank you!</p>

<p>Well, most practical from a job security perspective would be pretty much any major that ends with -engineering. However, engineering disciplines (in my opinion) are kind of an acquired taste so I totally understand if you are uninterested in going down that road. </p>

<p>Next come the hard sciences. I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you don’t want to be a physicist, chemist, biologist or anything in between. There is this one program called Environmental Systems: [UCSD</a> - ESYS - Environmental Systems](<a href=“Environmental Systems Program”>Environmental Systems Program) that has a Environmental Policy major: <a href=“Environmental Systems Program”>Environmental Systems Program;
Its kind of a combination of environmental science and poli sci. I think this is a practical choice because environmental concerns are something that is and will continue to be really relevant and applicable. The prereqs for it are mostly hard science but UDs are mostly econ/poli sci/public policy. Also, there is an internship worked into the major requirements and everyone I know in the ESYS program says that the department is really good about setting students up with internships that match their professional/academic interests. </p>

<p>As I mentioned before, if you do it right, Cognitive Science is a pretty applicable major as well as something you can connect with your interest in music. [UCSD</a> Cognitive Science - Major Program](<a href=“http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-study/major/]UCSD”>http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-study/major/)</p>

<p>Another one I though of that was more social sciencey was Urban Studies and Planning. It has aspects of poli sci but also has a research methods requirement and a research project that you complete as a senior which gives you real world experience, much like an internship. I think this one is good because in other social science disciplines you end up taking a bunch of classes that may or may not be applicable to your future studies whereas in USP they put a focus on social science research methods and real world applications. [Undergraduate</a> Major](<a href=“http://usp.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/major.html]Undergraduate”>http://usp.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/major.html)</p>

<p>Finally, the ICAM major in the music department looks like something pretty marketable. Admittedly, I don’t know too much about what kind of tech job it is supposed to prepare you for, but in general, computing is something that is relevant and in demand. I don’t know if you are allowed to have two majors within the same academic department though.</p>

<p>This is kind of a random aside, but back when I wanted to be the next big opera star my dad encouraged me to become a dentist. He said it would allow me to pursue my “passion” while maintaining a nice income. Dentists typically have their own practices, can dictate how much/at what times they work and can afford to charge a premium for their services. So basically, lots of money + enough free time to seriously pursue secondary careers. Which is contingent, of course, on the successful completion of 7 years of dental school.</p>

<p>I hope at least some of this was somewhat helpful.</p>

<p>Is an Econ BS significantly different (as in significantly contributes to job opportunities more than a BA) from the Econ BA? If not I would honestly recommend trying to graduate in 4 years. Most people don’t consider that 1 more year in college = 1 less year in pay / job searching. </p>

<p>Also, if you haven’t looked at internships/research yet I would start - whether it’s economics intensive or international studies/polisci related. I would tentatively say your experience matters more than the letters on your degree, and it’ll help you decide on what major/field you would enjoy more.</p>

<p>There is no BS Economics major. There is a Joint-Math/Econ major and a Management Science major offered by the economics department that are BS.</p>

<p>It also does not actually matter whether it is a BS/BA. The reason that the other two are BS is because they are more geared toward jobs that require more quantitative work. They are also usually more preferred for those who want to go to grad school since math is an important skill to have.</p>

<p>My advice is to figure out what you’re going to do with an economics degree if you decide to pursue one. If you definitely want to go to grad school, then it’s best to do Management Science or Joint Math/Econ. If you’re more into marketing or some other similar job, Economics BA would be fine.</p>

<p>I’m majoring in Economics/Mathematics right now and I can try to help you. First of all, like others have said, if you want a BS in Economics (Management Science or Econ/Math) then you would need to take the 20 series for math as that is a requirement. I’m not sure how that’s going to work since you already started the 10 series. </p>

<p>And it’s true though, I don’t think it really matters if it’s a BA or a BS. In your case, I think the BA will be the better route since you can graduate on time and you can always orient your courses to fit your needs. For example, I might switch to BA Economics and just take some math courses instead of the full requirements of the Econ/Math major.</p>

<p>Anyways, if you do plan on majoring in Economics, I think it is a great major! It is very practical and broad so there are a lot of opportunities out there in terms of job prospects. You can do anything, really- law, medicine, business, etc.</p>

<p>Oh, I just noticed your interest level for Econ. If you don’t like it, I suggest not majoring in it because with Economics, it’s either a love it or hate it situation. I have a senior friend who is majoring in Economics right now and he hates it and it’s too late for him to change to anything else… >.> so yeah that is my two cents. No point in majoring in something you don’t like right :/</p>

<p>I considered this a few years ago when I had my quarter-life crisis about college. You don’t sound like you want to do econ to me. However, I can totally relate to your thoughts about IS-PS employability. I’ve spoken to professors about it and am under the impression that you’re left with law school, graduate school, or some sort of consulting/lobbying work (with the hope you’ll end up in the government someday). If you really love International Studies/Relations type stuff, take operaticmimosa’s advice and get some awesome internships (DoD, DoHS, and especially the DoS internships come to mind). Do UCDC with some group specializing on foreign policy for a quarter or two as well. Its definitely doable, and it sounds like you’d enjoy yourself far more than if you shoehorned yourself at the age of 20 into a more ‘practical’ field you might end up hating.</p>

<p>Thank you all for the advice! Sorry about the lack of responses… crashed my laptop a while ago and finally got it back >.<</p>