Not sure where to go for help

Parents Forum
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<p>What do you see yourself doing when you graduate? Do you want to teach? Do you want to be a business person? Do you want to work in a laboratory? Do you see yourself in a medical field? Or programming a computer? Or not stuck at a desk (as in sales or field work). I think you have to really think about what you see yourself doing and work back from there. And to remember it does not have to be a life-long commitment. You are thinking about your first job/career. </p>

<p>Being at a school that may not be as difficult for you outside of music, may be a blessing in disguise if you want to move into a completely different field. The science and math courses may not be as difficult as they would be at more “difficult” school (not saying they will be easy but probably doable).</p>

<p>With your scholarship and no debt and maybe a summer class, you may still be able to afford an extra semester if your really need it, by taking out loans for the last year or so and using that money for any added courses. </p>

<p>Seems like you really need to think about your schedule for the spring and come up with a plan. </p>

<p>Your other option would be a transfer, but finances may impact that. Depending on where you want to go, can you or your family afford it without scholarship money or are you eligible for need-based aid at UT or other schools? </p>

<p>Good luck. It will all work out. Remember that many people end up working at something different than their major (but it helps to major in something related to what you want to do). </p>

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<p>Go to the Career Counseling office and see if they have any tests that might be helpful.</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone. I have long considered law but have made no real action toward it because you don’t need to major in something specific to go there. I still consider it I suppose. I really would rather not finish the music degree. I am still at a point where I can finish something else in the same amount of time. The idea of finishing the music degree just to get a degree seems unpleasant. I know you were suggesting to teach, however I don’t feel that I only enjoy teaching music. I like explaining things to people, and so would probably be content teaching something else. In fact I’d probably prefer something more directly applicable to a wider range of people. Often I’ve found myself a little confused when teaching private students, wondering why they were pursuing lessons when they clearly were not going to take use them for much in their lives. I have thought about economics, its on my list, and not out the window. Though to be honest I think I’m a very humanities type of person in general, and have greater passion towards history, philosophy, or perhaps English. Yesterday I attended a lecture on Polymers in Art, and the man giving the lecture mentioned how he saw a piece of art and wondered what it was made of. This is probably the last question I ask, though I now would like to try his approach. I’m not super worried about class difficulty because I have a hard work ethic, however many of the more “practical” majors have long lists of pre-reqs/sequences that will make them take a longer time to graduate even if they aren’t very hard. I ran into this problem with the math advisor. I honestly do not exactly know where I want to work. I know with music something that often bothered me was the question of how what I was doing added value to the world. I know art and culture is important, but still, I feel many of the times I’ve performed have not been meaningful. I would like to do work that seems to matter more to me than just entertainment. That I think is part of the appeal of teaching. I’d be terrible at sales because I don’t have the confidence to sell things, and also I’d be asking questions such as: why does anyone really need this product?</p>

<p>I think I really excel at academia. Even in college I can just sort of sit tests with little trouble, and studying/reading and note-taking come easy to me. As a student of American public schools I feel that I am quite well acquainted with sitting in a desk all day, and can work effectively in that environment. Some struggles I’ve had with music: I don’t mind working a billion hours a day, but I can’t stand the idea that things are not finished. In other words, in music, you are never perfect, there is always something else to do. I always go to bed feeling guilty because it is inevitable that you didn’t accomplish everything. I would like to leave work, even if work takes up most of my day, knowing I have left it. So there’s that. I think I need some degree of independence as I like to organize and streamline things where possible. So there’s that. As far as what environment I’d like? I have no clue.</p>

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<p>sounds like you don’t really want to study science and math so would not advise doing that. Major in something like American Studies or Philosophy, and then go into business or teaching or go to grad school. Or major in business area like finance or marketing. At this point, you have to pick something and run with it. Doesn’t have to be your ultimate career, but the first step. It sounds like you are like a lot of college students, who really don’t know what they want to be when they grow up. that is fine, but you do have to pick a major. Good luck</p>

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<p>Thanks.</p>

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<p>Okay so some tentative research: Philosophy at UNT is a 30 credit hour major. It has slightly different core than the college of music, but nothing major. I feel like if I were to do that then I ought to get either a compelling minor or a double major. I’ve been looking at economics, but it is harder to understand their webpage for total hours. English is basically 40 hours, and education minor is almost 20. So it would probably not be paired with anything at this point. Though I do have some AP for english, but I’m not sure if it would be useable. I’ve been trying to schedule times with the advisors to talk about these things in person.</p>

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<p>I took the personality test, and career matches at my school’s career center. Still basically scored perfect matches for things like nuclear engineer, and actuary. That’s great and all. Guys, how long do you think it tends to take to finish a STEM degree starting as late as me (second semester of sophomore year?) This is assuming I’d even be let in. I have lots of AP credit but its all in history, english, government, that sort of thing. Its been a long time since I’ve taken a science class with the exception of one physics of sound class I didn’t try very hard or allow myself to take interest in last semester. And is it worth it to take the extra time if that’s what it will take?</p>

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<p>Your post is a great example of why entering freshmen shouldn’t be dead set on majoring in a particular subject. People grow and change as they learn. That’s what college is for. I don’t know if this will help you, but my daughter (a sophomore) chose her major by reading the entire course catalog, circling all the classes that interested her, and determining what major they added up to. This was the only way she could be sure of being able to take the subjects she was passionate about while still earning a degree and fulfilling the distribution requirements. As a parent, I believe it is a far better use of my money to pay for classes my child wants to take, rather than the ones that she doesn’t like simply because they might add up to a “useful” degree. Useful degrees change all the time. Take what you love.</p>

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<p>Haha, I appreciate that but I’m a generally curious person. I think almost everything taught in university is taught for a reason, and know that if I don’t find something interesting I probably will given time. So I appreciate that, but I don’t know that I have a huge burning passion or even interest in one thing or even one area.</p>

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<p>You didn’t try very hard in the physics class you took last semester but now you think you’re going to become a STEM major?</p>

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<p>Lol I understand your perspective blossom. A lot of people react that way. Look at it this way. As a music major, your piece of paper means almost nothing. Your ability to perform means everything. There’s a saying about music majors who have 4.0s, and its that they are doing it wrong. Anyways, last semester I sort of lived the saying some. I did not try very hard in any of my classes, and basically spent all day obsessively practicing. This semester I am operating very differently and taking care to excel in each class and subject I have. I understand if you are still skeptical. I’m skeptical. If you read through this thread I think its been clear that for the majority of it I’ve been leaning towards humanities. However the career center tests basically pointed in the opposite direction. Which leads me to ask, A) how trust worthy are the tests, (they weren’t free.) B) Am I full of crap? Is it conceivable that someone could have a high aptitude towards a subject but then not apply themselves? I tend to believe this makes logical sense. IE, its possible (not assured) that Beethoven could have been great at math if he weren’t so busy working on music. Anyways criticism is welcomed. I don’t want to set myself up for failure, but I also feel uncomfortable getting a degree that I can get in under two years, and also I don’t want to get a degree just to get one.</p>

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<p>For someone who claims they excel at academia, you are not putting your best foot forward with these arguments.</p>

<p>I think you need to step back from all the verbiage and figure out what you actually want to be studying. Not what you want to do for a living (because it’s clear to me that you don’t know yet and that’s perfectly fine) but what you want to be studying. And then figure out if it’s a do-able plan in terms of extra semesters or summers or extra tuition that you haven’t budgeted for. Picking a new major because it represents the path of least resistance… when there is some evidence that you don’t work very hard or get engaged in a subject that you’re not inherently interested in (although the physics class sounds pretty relevant for a music major) seems to be a sure fire way of you repeating this discussion a year from now, except you are one year closer to graduating.</p>

<p>The discussion of Beethoven and math is irrelevant. First of all- you are not Beethoven. Second of all, the issue is not “could I be brilliant in STEM if I apply myself” since I’m sure the answer is yes. The issue is- are YOU going to apply yourself in STEM. And so far, the evidence suggests that this is not a fruitful path for you. Someone who really loves math and science tends to find it so interesting that it absorbs them regardless of what else is going on in their lives.</p>

<p>For you to switch majors to end up in something you don’t like any more than the current music major seems to me to be an experiment gone amok.</p>

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<p>Okay thank you. I appreciate your honest assessment, and will give all this thought.</p>

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<p>I’m not sure what I want to be studying, but I’m in an awkward position where my core is almost complete and so most of the classes I can take would be exclusive to whatever major, and would be essentially thrown away if it turned out I didn’t like them.</p>

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<p>Leave of absence for a year while you get a job and try to figure things out? Better than a random walk down philosophy/math/chemistry/teaching?</p>

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<p>Okay. I think that’s a pretty strong option. Thank you.</p>

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<p>You might get different responses on the music forum :slight_smile: I certainly disagree that “as a music major, your piece of paper means almost nothing.”</p>

<p>It is too bad that your parents think of college in such vocational terms.though, in this day and age, it is understandable, especially with debt and the cost of living. But you really can study what you want, get a degree, and make your way into a career path, still. Your reluctance to study humanities is apparently common: there are lots of articles filled with angst about the demise of humanities in favor of STEM, mainly, and threads on here too. But I personally know many extremely bright kids who majored in English or history and have great jobs right out of school. And writing and analytical skill are much in demand these days.</p>

<p>As for music, you haven’t really written that much about why you want to change. You are right, UNT is great for music. Are you a performance major headed for a BM? Perhaps you could change to a general music major for a BA ? <a href=“Admissions | College of Music”>http://music.unt.edu/admissions&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Studying music is a great way to study history, culture, aesthetics (perhaps through the philosophy department), anthropology (ethnomusicology), composition, and so on. In other words, the general study of music could combine several of your aptitudes, for humanities, for music and for theory/math. You might also be interested in getting into some of the intersection of technology and music (electroacoustic work, algorithms for computers in composition, other directions), neuroscience and music, or even politics and music.</p>

<p>Graduates of a BA in music have the same access to jobs that any graduate has, and to any graduate or professional school, including law. There are also jobs in non-profits and schools involving music. And there are many fields you could enter outside of music.</p>

<p>I hope you will go over the music forum and “talk” about whatever has disillusioned you. And if you must change area of study, I hope you will consider the humanities that you are clearly drawn to. You can always get funding and go on in academia once you really get focused on something: clearly you have the ability.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the kind words and support for the humanities. I feel there really is some strong pressure on my generation to see STEM as superior, both intellectually and career wise. It is almost like somehow I’m less of a contributor to society if I don’t go this route. I’ve definitely talked to a lot of people here at UNT, and also have given the music major two semesters of second chances at this point. There are many logical reasons why I disagree with it, but beyond that my intuition has been saying to leave for a year now. I am at a point as a musician where I strongly desire to be more self guided. I’m also somewhat disillusioned with the education I’m receiving here. But I do love music, in part for the reasons you stated, of it being so all encompassing. You can deal with all sorts of things in relation to it.</p>

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<p>Maybe you could spend a little time on Craigslist to look at various job categories. In my area the state cultural council has a great website of jobs in cultural organizations (including music).</p>

<p>I am biased, I admit: my daughter just graduated with a BA in music. She also did some internships and is well-placed for some jobs and grad school. She didn’t do any performance at all (except privately). She developed an interest in modernism across the arts and in literature. You sound like someone who would like that type of thing.</p>

<p>When I was your age, math and science were looked down on in favor of humanities, and college was a time to explore and “enrich your mind.” Sounds quaint, doesn’t it? </p>

<p>Taking a gap year at this point can turn into a gap decade, or more. I really hope you can stay and finish in something. I don’t honestly think it matters that much what you major in, with the exception of a vocational track if you are passionate about it. Finishing in music for a BA versus BM might be the path of least resistance since you have already done some of the requirements.</p>

<p>That’s all from me! Good luck!</p>

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<p>Thank you!</p>