<p>Hello,
Just looking to see what you all think over here. I'm a 19 year old sophmore who really doesn't know what to major in yet and I think it's because I really don't fit in anywhere.</p>
<p>First, I'm an avid sports fan and would love to do something in the sports industry but I know sports management majoring is not the best in terms of job outlooks.</p>
<p>There are a ton of sports fans in the business school but this is where I don't fit in personality wise-- I'm not a type A business kind of guy. I'm more reserved, analytical, and more of a thinker. I like baseball stats and can dig into those for hours on end.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, when I go over to the sciences majors (I've always liked science too) I don't fit in either as I'm not a stereotypical 'science nerd' perse. In other words, even though I like science-- it's not my primary passion. </p>
<p>I blame my parents :-)
One is very outgoing and athletic while the other is more reserved. Looks like I fell right in the middle in terms of genes. I love my parents and talk to them all the time but I thought I would come over here to the mature board and see what an ousider thought I should do.</p>
<p>Economics with a quant emphasis…the ‘thinking’ man’s business degree. This might be a great degree for you. You can use analytical skills to analyze sports issues (economic, fiiancial, marketing) or any other issue of importance to you. I know one econ major working for a social media consulting firm doing social media analysis (crunching numbers) for clients that could include the sports industry.</p>
<p>As you stated, you don’t need a degree in sports management to works in the sports industry. Some things friends of mine are doing in the sports industry…</p>
<p>Haystack, you pretty much “stole” my answer. :)<br>
Seminole, my son is also a sophomore, 20 years old, and a sports/stats nut (soccer is his sport). He has just yesterday decided to change his major to economics from comp sci. He is taking the intro to economics class this semester and it is really clicking for him. His interests sound very similar to yours. In addition to economics and intro to stats next fall, he is taking a sports management class. </p>
<p>Go see your adviser and find out your options for changing majors. My son, as it turns out, has been concentrating on taking all his basic courses in his first two years, so his change of major won’t “cost” him an extra semester or two.</p>
<p>You should go to the library and pick up a copy of Nate Silver’s The Signal And The Noise, which is in large part about how he applies his original interest in baseball statistics to myriad other areas.</p>
<p>Something very practical and very in-demand, that appeals to thoughtful statistician types: actuarial science. Actuaries are key to all sorts of important things in the world, starting with health care reform, capital formation, alternative investments . . . and assessing the risks of sports contracts. (But, really, you should probably wean yourself of the sports business idea, and just enjoy sports as a hobby. People do succeed in the sports business, of course, but then people win the Powerball lottery, too, and at about the same odds.)</p>
<p>I am (was–retired) a statistician and wanted to reinforce the suggestions above. Statistics is very flexible in terms of career objectives, and several sub-disciplines, such as the “big data” applications mentioned above, in growing demand.</p>
<p>Everyone-
Great advice thank you. Stats, economics are ones I’m going to look into. It sounds like a fit.</p>
<p>cgpm59-
Out of curoisty what was the reason he changed from CS? That actually was on my list still to check out. I thought about being a web developer for a sports franchise. Or at least make my own sports sites for fun. Thanks</p>
<p>Sem – CS is a very difficult major, especially at my son’s school. You need to really have a certain something to figure out the programming. The successful CS students at his school are like bulldogs; if their program doesn’t work, they keep at it until it does. My son didn’t have that much interest. His adviser compared it to a sport or even a musical instrument – you have to practice at it every day. You can’t just go to class, do homework, and be done.</p>
<p>He took a web design class in high school and enjoyed it and won the academic award for the year for that class, but a CS major is not web design. There may be a web design class somewhere along the way, but the first classes you will have are programming in at least a couple of different languages. My son figured out that he just didn’t have the “puzzle-solving” skill, which made the classes difficult for him. </p>
<p>I’d suggest that you take a CS class; even if it doesn’t end up your major, it will count as an elective. You might find it easy and fun.</p>
<p>@cgpm59:
Yeah I knew CS is challenging…probably up there with some engineering and physics as the most difficult undergrad majors. WHat I find interesting is going to a universities athletic page and see what all the athletes are majoring in. I’m always blown away when I see them major in the programs mentioned. There aren’t many but there are some. Pretty impressive if you ask me.</p>