Need MAJOR help and opinions picking a major for postbaccalaureate (long but please read)

College Majors
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Okay I know first things first, someone is going to say something along the lines of “this should be a decision you make and others opinions should not matter blah blah blah…”

Yes I agree, at the end of the day I will be the one picking my major but asking for help doesn’t hurt. And the reason why I’m not asking my close friends/family is because 1) they’re either not familiar enough with the US school system (my family moved here 18 years ago) or 2) I kind of want to keep my decisions private for now. So this place seems like the place to go, I find a lot of people on the internet to be extremely knowledgeable and helpful anyways so it’s not entirely bad that I’m looking for help here.

Okay here is a little background story about me and my academic past.

As I mentioned my family moved to the states (from the middle east) 18 years ago. I was 9 at the time (4th grade) so most of my schooling was done in the US. I was always a slightly above average students (got mostly B’s, very rarely got A’s or C’s – mainly a B student).

I never really had direction though, I never knew “what I wanted to be when I grew up” (still kind of don’t, and I’m already grown up). For the longest time I wanted to be a singer/actress on the Disney channel lol

I don’t recall ever spending too much time studying or doing homework, I always did complete it though and just got by. I changed high schools 3 times because my parents kept moving, I guess some of the environmental factors affected my work ethic too. I went to very average public schools where most kids ended up going to community college and some went off to tier 2 or 3 universities.

So when it came time to apply to college I decided I want to go to Fashion school, FIDM to be exact. My parents were very supportive, they were happy I was pursuing something I was “passionate” about, or so I thought. Well this was a huge mistake because within 6 months of attending I realized it was not the place for me, I felt like I had no purpose, the classes were ridiculously pointless and easy. I soon realized nobody actually needs a degree to work in the fashion industry and at this point I had no desire to even work in that industry but I decided to finish my first 2 years and get my AA and hopefully transfer to a UC to major in business or ANYTHING really.

Well I realized it was impossible because none of my classes from FIDM even transferred so I had to go to community college and basically start out as a freshman and take a bunch of general ed courses then apply to a UC and hope to get accepted. I was willing to do it until I faced more obstacles. First problem was, I couldn’t get into ANY classes because although I was coming in as a freshman, I was technically a transfer student and had the last registration date and by the time it opened up for me, no classes were even available and the waitlists were INSANE (like 40 students and the odds were not in my favor). Second problem was, I learned that although my units from FIDM don’t transfer over to any UC, they will always be with me, and since I had already completed 90 quarter units, that would put me in “senior standing” which mean I would have wayy too many units by the time I would finish community college and may not even be accepted into any university.

I was super frustrated and felt defeated so I called up FIDM to see if I decided to get my Bachelor’s from them, would their accreditation get me into grad school or law school and they said yes their accreditation is legitimate so I went back to finish my degree and got a B.S. Business Management in 2014 (overall GPA 3.1).

My next plan was to either go to business school or law school so I chose law school, long story short, it just didn’t work out, it wasn’t the right fit and I’m not too upset over it. So within the past year I have applied to 3 different grad programs (in the field of business - not mba) and have been rejected and I’m not saying it’s entirely because of my degree but I think the rigor (or lack there of) of my coursework at FIDM mayyy have something to do with it. Also it’s impossible to get any references from my professors because I did the latter portion of my degree online so I had very little interaction with them, it’s also been a couple of years. I have some good references from work, my resume is not too bad, I’ve started two businesses that aren’t doing too bad but I really want to keep building myself and I feel like there’s more I can learn, I have so much more time to keep learning. Also let me say… I don’t know of anybody that went to FIDM that actually went onto get a graduate degree.

Which brings me here, I think I want to go back to school and just start all over again. I want to experience college like a normal student, I know I will probably be older than everyone (I’m 27) but that’s okay, I don’t care. I never got to feel what it’s like to be on a university campus with people all around me who are enjoying their time as students. I’ve been trying not to bag too hard on FIDM this entire post but FIDM is sort of like a snobby high school but with the feel of a vocational school.

Okay enough venting. The real purpose of this post is to try and figure out which degree to pursue.
I am thinking about attending University of Washington in Seattle. They have a great second bachelor’s program and most majors are open (some require prerequisites, some don’t). I love the area, feel and atmosphere of Seattle. I love that it’s a research university, it will allow me to actually learn.

So I have to be realistic about my major, it has to be something I’m interested in, something I can academically conquer (for example, I’m not a science person), something that will help me further my studies. In the future I will most likely want to pursue business, possibly an MBA or some specialized masters program.

I’m actually very interested in 2 of their majors:

  1. Comparative History of Ideas
    The curriculum is extremely unique. Here is a little quote from the course description “an interdisciplinary program that draws on a wide variety of disciplines within the College of Arts and Sciences to examine the interplay of ideas and their cultural, historical, and political contexts”. I believe a course like that can help diversify and shape my perspective of the world, specifically in business. It’s unique enough to have me intrigued but also familiar enough for me to be able to relate it to my already existing skills.

  2. Germanics
    I have been taking German since I was 14, I know it at an intermediate level, and since this major is open I figured why not get a degree in it and become fluent in a 3rd language? It may not have a significant contribution to my grad school application but achieving a high GPA and having knowledge and full fluency of the world’s 3rd leading language of business doesn’t hurt, so actually I take that back, it will contribute to my grad school application.

So, help me. Let me know what you think, which major do you think I should go with. Or if you think neither, introduce me to other options. I am open to taking any advice.

mod note - edited to add line breaks to make this easier to read. - juillet

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From what UW writes on their website, they admit only a limited number of postbac students. So my guess is that the preference would be for students who can show they need a second degree for their preferred careers. Neither of your majors strike me as such. The goal of just learning for learning’s sake and experiencing student life, while a perfectly valid reason to study (assuming you have funds), might not impress the admissions. I don’t know much about the program, so I might be wrong, but I hope you researched this well.

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It does state the following: “Postbaccalaureate (postbac) is a matriculated status reserved for students who are working toward a second bachelor’s degree or preparing for entrance to graduate or professional school.”

Which is true in my case as I plan on pursuing my studies. They do not offer Business Administration as one of their majors for second Bach. or else I would have chosen that. Most of their programs are either art, humanities or science.

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In the interest of helping you, it seems like going back to school when you can’t figure out what to do next is sort of an MO for you. But at a certain point, college/education flips to being more of a means to an end than anything else, so it’s useful to sort out what your plan is and what you want the extra degree for.

Going back to college at 27, even a traditional college, is not going to be the same experience as going when you are 18 or 20. That’s true even if you choose a traditional university, live on campus, etc. My husband went back to college when he was 27 after a stint in the military. He was drum major of the marching band, hung out with the traditional-aged college students, has lots of friends and remembers that time fondly. But even he’ll tell you that the experience was not really the same as attending college as an 18-year-old - and I remember him struggling with that when he was actually in college. (He had experiences to compare, because he actually did attend a traditional college right after high school for a few years, but he dropped out.) There’s no real such thing as starting all over again.

There are TONS of people who never get to experience the “stereotypical” college experience, because that’s actually an experience that only relatively wealthy, upper-middle-class families in the Western world can provide for their children (or a few lucky ones who receive scholarships or financial aid). Most people commute to a college nearby them and live at home or in an apartment.

The second thing is, it sounds like you’re a UC

If you want an MBA, you don’t need a second bachelor’s to do that; what you really need is work experience. So I’d focus my energies on trying to get another job or progressing up the ladder in one you have, if you do already have one. Your work history is going to be more important than your bachelor’s from FIDM at a certain point.

However, if you are really dead set on getting a second bachelor’s degree at UW-Seattle specifically, then what major you pick really doesn’t matter in terms of getting into an MBA program and you should pick whichever one interests you more. So which one do you prefer?

I don’t see where on the UW Seattle website your options are limited to only certain majors if you’re a postbac student.

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So I’ve already started my application and the majors list is on the actual applications page. For example, I don’t see any majors in the field of Business on there so I’m assuming they are not open to post bac students. I also think I may have focused this post too much on the “experiencing college life” thing because that is not by any means the main reason why I am going back. I mentioned several times I want to keep learning, something new. Maybe even gain a different perspective and change my focus who knows? Isn’t that what second bachelor’s degrees are for anywyas? What else am I supposed to do? It’s NOT easy getting a job with my current degree, my end goal is to run my business successfully and be self-employed so what’s wrong with wanting to return to school to also gain knowledge?

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How are you intermediate level in German? Have you been studying it all along or did you stop once you came out of HS? I would look very closely at the courses which are part of the major. It will be literature and linguistics, too - or one or the other. The offerings look amazing, though, especially their certificate of localization that aligns with your larger goals of studying business and then you could do the MBA if you wished.

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Yes I have been taking courses in German since 2014. I learned it as a high school student then stopped but then enrolled in community college courses in 2014 and have also been taking weekly classes at a local language school for a year and a half.

Why would I get a certificate??

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No, a post-bacc is not just about people who want to continue to learn. You could do that with community college courses or “extension” programs that offer certification of some sort (a specialty, often not requiring cores not related to the major.)

A post-bacc program is usually not a “re-do” of college. It’s to fill in blanks necesary for the next defined goal. I don’t believe you have a ‘next defined goal’ yet. A typical example is kids who didn’t get all their med school prereqs. They use a post-bacc to take those courses, it’s generally intense and just a year or so, depending. In effect, it’s a bridge program.

And yes, you need to show not just the right drives, but the academic and experiences that make your ultimate plan feasible. They strongly suggest you contact a dept advisor to see if your plans/qualifications make the program realistic for you. Have you done this?

All of this needs to make sense to them. The back story (FIDM this or that, registration issues, etc,) is less important than your laser clear focus and your record, so far, that qualifies you for this particular opportunity.

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I have reached out to someone in one of the departments i’m interested in over the weekend but have not heard back because they’re on holiday break so I will know within a couple of weeks if the program is the right fit for me.

Also, what you mentioned about a post bac being a degree to fill in blanks and used the med school example, I agree and see how a post bac would help but the majority of their undergrad programs are accepting post bac applicants… so it’s not just pre-med/pre-dental students, it can really be anyone in any field. There are TONS of humanities, social science, arts and environmental science majors available for post bac students. I don’t see how I don’t qualify as one of those people who’d like to return to school to fill in a blank because that’s literally exactly what I’m trying to do. I feel that there is a HUGE blank when it comes to the quality of my FIDM education.

So what exactly is someone in my situation supposed to do.

I have been having an extremely difficult time getting into grad school. I’d like to go to a decent school and I’m hoping a second bach. from a good university with quality education and not a vocational type school such as FIDM will add a boost to my application.

I have had a very hard time getting any jobs that were not in retail sales (these jobs dont even require a degree) since graduating, hence why I’ve had to start my own businesses and run them from home, which I’m not complaining about really. A LOT of FIDM grads have this same problem btw, finding jobs that they didn’t already qualify for as like high school students, and it’s funny because FIDM swears that they have the best job placement, yeah as like a sales associate at macy’s, and like I mentioned I could have gotten that job straight out of high school too.

I’m not really interested in completing one of those online certificates for two reasons 1) they are wayyyy too pricey for what you’re getting IMO, I would rather save my money and have it go towards a degree or my business lol. 2) Someone mentioned earlier that a second bac. won’t increase my chances of getting into grad school, okay if that’s true what on earth proves that a 6 month certificate course will?

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Not just filling in blanks you see because you went to FIDM, that dissatisfied look-back. But for a distinct purpose/plan, the look-forward. And that’s what you need to calculate. I said these programs are a bridge. In your case, a bridge to what? Not just ‘better’ job prospects.

Graduates from wherever college do get job opps. I can’t comment on where you are, what you’ve done or not, in the job search. But applying to the post-bacc needs a plan and a justification. That’s not about what’s wrong with FIDM.

The certificates from extension-type programs prove academic experience in the area you study, are a further point on your record. I know some that work quite well, but you need to follow your specific interests and needs.

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@ginaharty the certificate I mention is within the Germanics department - I’m assuming you could get it along wit your post-bacc. It’s a certificate that allows you to claim competency in “localizing” businesses to the German culture so it would fit in with your larger goal if you are still interested in an MBA. Honestly, if you love German enough to have continued taking classes in it all this time, I would look closely at Germanics which is also a major that would allow you to explore your interest in the history of ideas. I was pretty impressed with the offerings when I peeked at UW’s department. If you have a decent level of proficiency already, you can test out of some of the lower level classes and maybe save yourself some time and money (if your cc classes were for credit maybe they would accept those, too?). This is the certificate I am referring to - https://germanics.washington.edu/certificate-localization

I think UW would be thrilled to have a motivated post-back like you who really wants to learn. I am finishing my Master’s and I’m old and I am totally enjoying hanging out at the college. 27 is not too old to want to enjoy college life. I read a post on here awhile back about a 27 year old who went to Upenn through their adult ed program, lived on campus and did everything - went to frat parties, joined clubs. It’s whatever you want it to be. I had a friend who didn’t row in college but did when she was older at grad school. Why not?

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