<p>Hi
Due to the fact that no one in my family has gone to college before I am very unaware about the college education. What are major and minors? What are degrees? What does this do to the degree? How many credits for each degree? What's the difference between associates, bachelors, master, PH.D, and Doctorate ? If anyone could please explain how this all goes together I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks again</p>
<p>This is the 21st century. The very fact that you are here means you know how to use the internet. So, do something called googling. You can find all you need to know.</p>
<p>Rundown:
Majors - What you want to study
Minors - what you’re interested in but not enough for a whole major
Undergrad degree - type of education you gett which requires such and such courses (major + general education classes to make you well-rounded)
Master’s degree- requires such and such courses + thesis (strictly for what you’re going for, no fluff)
PhD degree - requires such and such courses + more time + better thesis (no fluff)
PhD = Doctorate</p>
<p>Thanks for answering! LOL your right, I do know how to use the internet meaning that before I even found this website I tried “google” to find this information (which lead me to discover this forum). This was really my last resort! Mainly because I couldn’t find the answer & not everything I wanted to know were in the other websites. I probably should clarify my question: When it comes to choosing a major, how does this affect the degree program? I would understand better if you gave me an example. Thanks btw I’m still in high school!</p>
<p>Have you talked to your guidance counselor? I’m a first generation as well and learned 90% of what I know from the internet and experience. Trust me, as a first gen, you’ll never know all about college. I’m sure second, third, etc. gens don’t either. But as you go on with high school, closer to graduation, and even during college, you’ll learn a lot about college itself. Overall my GC helped set me in the right direction in terms of basic college. I advise you to get the most out of you can out of your GC ASAP… Unfortunately I learned too many things way too late as I’m already in my third year of college. </p>
<p>Your major affects your degree in the sense that it’ll generally reflect the career you want or may pursue in the future. For example, a computer science degree may lead to a job in that field. But that isn’t always the case because changing career paths is common. But, it helps someone who is very sure on what they want to do to become set on a path since the classes for X degree will give you education in that field. Also, some jobs require a degree in X, Y, or Z to be a preferred applicant.</p>
<p>This information is definitely on the internet… i think you’re just not searching it correctly.</p>
<p>Major - your primary area of study like business, computer science, nursing, etc (some schools offer a lot of majors and others may be limited)</p>
<p>Minor - a second area of study (some people may decide they are interested in something else but are not 100% out or use it as something to fall back on) </p>
<p>An associate’s degree is a 2 year degree usually obtained at a community college. </p>
<p>A bachelor’s degree is a 4 year degree.
Associate’s and bachelor degrees are undergraduate degrees.
Master and doctorate degrees are graduate degrees.</p>