<p>In this economy I can’t recommend a student going into debt for almost any undergraduate degree when job prospects are so shaky. There are colleges out there that are affordable for every student without debt. Our kids are being sold a bill of goods when they think they have to go to a “top” school no matter what. Twenty years from now, no one will care what college you went to.</p>
<p>My oldest brother does very well with his advertising firm; travels worldwide twice a year and doesn’t worry about money so I don’t think it is a waste. But, a piece of advice he gave to one of my students also interested in advertising - read a lot, travel a lot, culturally educate yourself outside of the classroom. Why? When you create you need a lot of different experiences to pull from to be successful. Second piece of advice - make sure you have very strong writing skills, very strong.</p>
<p>" There are colleges out there that are affordable for every student without debt. Our kids are being sold a bill of goods when they think they have to go to a “top” school no matter what. Twenty years from now, no one will care what college you went to. "</p>
<p>Being willing to take on SOME reasonable amount of debt is not the same as “no matter what”.</p>
<p>I have neighbors who think nothing of using debt to buy a fancy car which starts to depreciate day 1; or of using debt to put in a pool (which most statistics in my area suggest reduce, not increase, the value of the home); or of using debt to turn the family room into a home theater.</p>
<p>Debt is a tool. You can use it judiciously (to increase your “human capital” via education, job training, licensing, whatever) or you can use it foolishly (it would be great to own a fancy car but I would never go into debt for one). You can’t demonize the tool when it’s being poorly used.</p>
<p>I majored in something which allegedly has no career value whatsoever. I have worked in a couple of different fields, have moved ahead professionally, have taken pay cuts in order to advance, and have gotten huge (and probably undeserved) raises and promotions. I paid off my loans on time, and lived modestly until I did.</p>
<p>My parents never questioned my choice of major and never assumed for one minute that they’d be supporting me after I graduated. I did the same with my own, who have graduated, gotten jobs, moved ahead, relocated, did all the things one does to build a career. </p>
<p>It is naive to think that just because your kid majors in something “practical” he or she will be set. Every decade or so a tsunami comes ashore and washes out the aerospace engineers, the nurses, the teachers, the petroleum engineers, or the internet/comp sci whiz kids. There are no safe careers and the economy is cyclical. There are kids in my neighborhood who bit the bullet and became Ed majors because mom and pop wanted them to be practical… and now NYC isn’t hiring teachers. St. Vincent’s hospital in NY closed which has flooded the area with highly qualified and experienced nurses… so now the newbie nurses can’t find jobs.</p>
<p>Major in something you love that you will excel in. Take enough courses outside your comfort zone to prove to prospective employers that you can think and read critically, calculate higher level math comfortably, speak and write a language fluently beyond English (or even just speak and write English fluently which is not a given). </p>
<p>If you love nursing or accounting or actuarial science that’s great. But the world is filled with people who do urban planning and package design and bio-statistics and design playgrounds and write speeches for politicians and train police departments on cultural and gender differences… and all sorts of things.</p>
<p>I’m interested in majoring in a field that has no immediate job prospects (political science). What does one do with that type of degree upon graduation?</p>
<p>CIA: teach, graduate school, law school, government work?</p>
<p>My parents like my choice - Computer Science, with a premed track. My concentration will be databases and open source programs for hospitals and clinic computers. </p>
<p>I have a friend who is being ‘forced’ to become a biology major doing premed. She wanted to go into psychology and minor in international relations. Her parents told her that she won’t get any financial support if she majors in psychology. It’s sad but she doesn’t even want to do premed. I can see how her parents want her to have a career in medicine (like a lot of parents) … but I know she’s not going to be going into medicine whole heartedly.</p>
<p>Didn’t like the choice of either of my first two kids’ majors but I was at a point with them that I just wanted them graduated with ANY major. They were majoring in graduating.</p>
<p>@CIA: I hate to be obvious, but perhaps you could find work at the Agency?</p>
<p>My eldest son has just finished his freshman year of college at CSU Sacramento and has always loved the natural sciences. However, he was a very un-motivated student in high school and generally did poorly because he did not study and rarely did homework assignments. He actually had to repeat Algebra II and thus only had three years of high school mathematics. When he took the SAT his Junior year he got a 620 in the math section. He told me he wanted to major in Astronomy in college. I received my undergraduate degree in Astronomy but went to medical school partly because I knew I would not be able to do the graduate school level math a PhD program in Astronomy would require. </p>
<p>I had a serious talk with my son and frankly told him that I had seen nothing so far that gave me any reason to believe he had the aptitude for math that a professional astronomer would require. I suggested other natural sciences that were not as math intensive as Astronomy and we settled on Geology which he seemed happy with. Even though he does not have to take the extremely advanced upper division math courses required for physics and astronomy majors he does have to take the three semester calculus sequence for math, physics, chemistry and engineering majors as well as three semesters of Calculus based Physics for science and engineering majors. He started off in college were he left off in high school, did not take his studies seriously and barely got a C in pre-calculus and was on his way to failing Calculus I in the Spring semester. </p>
<p>I had a another long talk with him about his study habits and suddenly something clicked and he really buckled down and studied for his final exam in Calculus I and he ended the Spring term getting a 94 on the test, the highest grade in the class by 12 points. His class, which is almost entirely made up of engineering majors had an average of 60 on the exam. I was of course thrilled but now do not know what to think concerning his math aptitude. Maybe his aptitude for math is much higher than his SAT score and performance in past math courses would suggest. It was only one test so I can not be sure. </p>
<p>He is still interested in Astronomy but is still pursuing a degree in Geology. I want him to continue in Geology because employment prospects are so much better than they are in Planetary Astronomy. He will be taking Calculus II and Calculus based Physics I this Fall and if he picks up where he left off with Calculus I, of course I will be happy but it would put me in somewhat of a difficult position. I want him to get his degree in Geology for the better job prospects but it will be hard to tell him he should stick with Geology because the math and physics are to rigorous for him in Astronomy where jobs are hard to come by even for PhDs.</p>
<p>Well, I always knew my D would major in some art field, from the day she first picked up a crayon. I did tell her that being a starving artist wouldn’t really be much fun, regardless of how “true to the art” it might be. She is actually majoring in art education for several reasons: 1. I pointed out with all level certification she could at least sub and have that to fall back on (she’d like to work in an art museum). 2. She’s getting to do all kinds of art in the course of her degree which is cool, she had to declare an area of specialization. That said I did tell her that if she wanted to go to an art school, I would help just like any other college, but I wanted her to have at least a 2 year degree from a liberal arts school, because I think it’s important. She want make a fortune probably but as long as she can support herself in a manner she doesn’t mind living and is happy that’s all that matters to me.
I figured it was my job to give her the best k-12 education I could, so that I knew she was well prepared for whatever field she might choose in the future. To that end she attended a rigorous college prep school (which also had a great art program) and there were days she was not happy with me about that, because she had to at pass her classes. After that it is not my life to lead. That said, she had a friend at school who was also talented and interested in an art field. Her parents flat out refused to pay for any education in an art field. They said they didn’t pay that much in tuition all those years for her to just throw it away. I didn’t agree, told my daughter so, but it wasn’t my child.</p>
<p>My parents happily paid for me to major in art (graphic design), but at a top 20 university. When I graduated and couldn’t find a job in my major I ended up going to law school and have now been working as a lawyer for 25 years! It was nice to have options.</p>
<p>My performing arts son was ever so done with academics after high school. Actually he was done while he was in high school. He was fortunate enough to take enough APs and get high enough scores that he did not have to take much in that area in college. He barely made it through nonetheless. It’s would have been a luxury for me to have been able to dictate majors for my kids. I feel lucky when they finish any program with a degree.</p>
<p>I am not going to force my kids into any major… except I have this strong reaction to management major… I know, those who can’t do, manage; those who can’t manage, consult. But, with this bs degree, I don’t think they can manage or consult! I rather prefer my kids major in drama!</p>
<p>I am going to be a Television-Radio major in one of the best communication programs in the country. My parents realize that this major can look to unmarketable and I agree them. They are not forcing me into a more “marketable” degree because they know that I have a passion for television. I have wanted to be an intern for Conan O’Brien for four years now. His show may have been wrongfully cancelled but I will find the opportunity. I know my major seems odd but I look at biology/chemistry majors and think what they do it weird. I am horrible at science but on of my best friend’s will be a chemistry major. Let her - the one who loves chemistry - be the chemistry major while I - the television addict - be the Television-Radio major. </p>
<p>I also plan to double degree in something. Probably Culture and Communication and then minor in anthropology which lets me take some art history courses (another passion) and seem somewhat “marketable.”</p>
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<p>Cute. Our oldest majored in systems engineering. He doesn’t have a technical bone in his body–no skills that one usually associates with an engineer. He is happily employed as a consultant. All the technical stuff is sent back to headquarters for others to figure out.</p>
<p>One of my kids spent 2 and a half years majoring in chemical engineering and than switched majors. I was so disapointed and concerned that he made the wrong decision. The following semester he became involved with an EC that changed his life and has led to so much happiness and success for him. It was another great lesson I learned in parenting…the kids are going to be living their lives long after we are gone and they need to do what makes them happy. I should have never questioned his decision to begin with…he is a smart young man.</p>
<p>Amazing feedback and advice. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>d majored in what she wanted, english and art. no job yet after 15 months. now talking grad school in…? having had no say in first 4 years, we now have no say in the next step except that we won’t be paying for it. not so much as a single dollar. study what you want, but be prepared to support yourself. and these days that’s not easy. or perhaps your parents are wealthy enough to continue with this little game of enrichment well into your adult years.</p>
<p>We are paying full freight for our son and daughter’s university educations. We told them they could select their own majors, but we did ask them each to explore at least one solid field as a minor. You could say this was a requirement that we asked each of them to fulfill.</p>
<p>Our daughter, now a senior at MIT, wanted to major in physics. We asked her to take at least six engineering courses and to explore the possibility of double-majoring in engineering. She did this, and now she is completely focused on physics. We’re happy, and she’s also happy, because as it turns out, some of the engineering background she now has has helped her to land some relatively well-paid summer physics internships. :-)</p>
<p>Our son, soon to be a freshman at Willamette, wants to major in English. Since his strongest subjects in high school were mathematics and science, we have asked him to take at least 5 math classes along the way, enough for a minor when he adds one computer science course. We feel this background will give him some great options, should he find himself unemployable with an English BA. He has agreed, and I hope the outcome will be positive for him as well.</p>