<p>Re: English/pre-med--some English majors have very loose requirements, and the minimum requirements for med school aren't that heavy, either.</p>
<p>I was able to finish all junior/senior requirements for a lit. major in my senior year--after declaring a major at the end of sophomore year and spending junior year in Europe. . . "related hours" of humanities or arts could count toward the major requirements (I claimed 12 hours of architecture).</p>
<p>A particular guy was in all my senior classes--he had changed his major from chemistry to lit. senior year in an effort to look more "interesting" on his med school applications. We both graduated on time. </p>
<p>Another option is to get a degree in English, and take the premed requirements later--at a cheaper/easier school. I know quite a few non-science majors who did this.</p>
<p>Anyway, look at the course requirements for specific majors at your school.
Some are more flexible than others.</p>
<p>If you want to study English literature or creative writing, you'd better back that up with a highly marketable skill. The skill could be writing--but you'd need to graduate with some SERIOUS writing credentials in order to be able to pay back that debt with a semi-decent salary. From freshman year onwards, you must be focused on getting the very best internships and staffing positions--as well as making apush to getting your work published prior to graduation.</p>
<p>Personally, I think $40K debt is too much for an English major who is liekly to make $25k upon graudation. Think about signing up as an RA to reduce that amount to $30K.</p>
<p>Jux: As others have said, you can do a lot with an English major in the job market. I recently heard an interview with an HR person saying that they want anyone who can write, and math skills are also a bonus. I'd also add, consider taking some business courses. If you have a 4-yr degree, decent grades and 24 business-related credits, you can get into a Contracting Internship program in the Fed Gov; starts at $37,640/yr (GS-7), with virtually automatic yearly promotion to GS-11; then further promotion opportunities. May not sound like a glamorous career, but it affords lots of options, including your spare time to write. Also, I'm sure you've read the "Debt" thread, but please consider NOT starting life $40,000 in debt. There are other college options, you just need the courage to consider them.</p>
<p>Last year there was a post with a link to a Philadelphia area college that showed jobs along with the job title that recent graduates had gotten and they were listed by majors. It also had the employers name. I was suprised by the diversity of jobs of English and History majors. Maybe someone can find that post or the link. I think the college was Penn. </p>
<p>My son just decided to major in English (he's a college freshman) and we were delighted.</p>
<p>My mom wanted to be an English major but my grandfather, knowing that she didn't want to go into teaching, persuaded her to major in journalism. She did well in her field.</p>
<p>I know lots of people who majored in things like economics, music and English and were also pre-med. It's really not that hard. In most colleges there is plenty of room between distribution requirements and electives to fit in all the requirements and graduate on time.</p>
<p>My English major sister-in-law has been a librarian, a teacher, a journalist, and is now a real estate developer.</p>
<p>A friend of mine majored in Classics and is now a neurosurgeon. I was pre-med, majored in Biology, and now work with rare books. With the exception perhaps of engineering, you can do whatever you like as an undergrad and go into pretty much any field you desire. College is not vocational school.</p>
<p>I wasn't an English major, but I was a Comp Lit major. I took some economics courses, too, and participated in a program that got me a fancy internship at a Wall Street bank. I had no trouble getting into law school, getting into business school, and getting a second internship and then a job offer from the bank. One of my (16) law partners was also an English major; the chairman of the firm was a Spanish major. We all come from the Pleistocene Era, of course.</p>
<p>My daughter is an English major now. She is only a sophomore, so she doesn't have definite employment plans yet, but she generally expects to do freelance writing and editing, and probably high school or middle school teaching, to support her writing jones, if she doesn't go straight to graduate school (and then wind up doing the same stuff, probably). That is a hard row to hoe with $40,000 in debt, but far from impossible. (It's a hard row to hoe in general. You have to really want to do it, and you have to be good.)</p>
<p>If you can think, research, learn, communicate well, and get stuff done, there are lots of jobs in the world for you. Really.</p>
<p>My wife double-majored in Psychology and American Studies. Her first permanent job (which she enjoyed, and was good at) was with a nonprofit housing developer. She went to law school, but only practiced for about four years. Ever since, she has had a succession of jobs in the public and nonprofit sectors, some of them pretty well paid, others not so much. She has accomplished a ton.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What about vet school? Could I fulfill pre-vet requirements while majoring in English?</p></li>
<li><p>Are you guys really telling me that:</p></li>
</ol>
<ul>
<li><p>Excepting pre-professional programs like Wharton, your undergraduate major doesn't have to closely align with the graduate program you apply to? That is, I can study whatever the heck I want, and (assuming I do well, of course,) I can use my degree to apply to whatever graduate program I want? Could I have an undergraduate degree in physics but go to grad school for English?</p></li>
<li><p>Graduate requirements are fairly lax (I mean, being able to get into med school while having pursued an English curriculum suggests that the pre-med requirements only took up half of your class time -- and by extension, half of your major)
I can study whatever the heck I want, and (assuming I do well, of course,) I can take my degree and apply to whatever graduate program I want? Could I have an undergraduate degree in physics but go to grad school for English?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I'm not entirely sure what's going on since we've only used med school for an example; I can't even imagine how naive this post must sound.</p>
<p>Anywho, if that is what you're telling me, it sounds too good to be true. Any comments?</p>
<p>Professional schools (like business school or law school or med school) is different than graduate school (like going to graduate school for economics, for example). Med schools require 1 year calculus, 1 year general chemistry, 1 year organic chemistry, 1 year physics, 1 year biology, and sometimes a basic English course. You meet those, and you've completed the course requirements for applying to medical school. </p>
<p>Graduate school is a little different. Students generally major in that subject or they major in a closely related area while taking courses in the subject for which they are applying. For example, a student could go to graduate school for physics with a math degree if he's taken a number of physics courses and determined that physics is the area he'd like to focus on, even though he didn't major in it. I may not be exactly right on this since it's not a track I'm very interested in, but that's my understanding. You should go read some college websites and see what their graduate/professional schools require to get a taste for it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How much does grad school cost? I know professional schools are terribly expensive, but my mom says that many universities will foot the bill for your graduate tuition if you teach at, research with, and ultimately contribute to the college. She works in a financial aid office, so I usually just trust her on these things, but I've never heard of somebody getting a free ride to grad school just because they were a TA...</p></li>
<li><p>Say I go to grad school for some liberal arts program like English or History; is teaching basically the only thing I can do after graduation?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Just for your information architecture school is also be a professional school. I was required to do one year of calculus, one year of lab based physics and to submit a portfolio that showed some sort of artistic bent. (Could be architectural projects, drawings, photos - when I was on the admissions committee one person submitted photos of dances they had choreographed.) We also had a number of older students from all walks of life. One of the best students had spent a number of years as a journalist.</p>
<p>If you can write well, you will be employable. Companies are always looking for people who can express themselves, who don't resort to jargon, who can explain technical information to non-technical people, etc. Communication skills are in high demand in many industries.</p>
<p>And yes, you can go to graduate school in very many different areas, not just those in which you majored. I majored in psychology (completing the pre-med requirements as well), went to graduate school in epidemiology and public health, and then went on to law school. It is neither impossible nor even that unusual.</p>
<p>I am an english major as is my husband. It took about 5 years after college graduation for me to figure out how to make good money, but I did it and have consistently earned six figures since then. So has my H. My H has been a writer the whole time. I have switched jobs several times (a couple of them writing based) and have always done well financially.</p>
<p>Do what you love. If you are worried about debt, you can always take a year off during college and bank your earnings to reduce the total debt load. If you become a RA you can save money too.</p>
<p>Creative people (writers are creative people) make money by applying their creativity and insight to problems/situations. Sometimes they write about them, other times they 'see a need and fill it.' Non-creative people, or those who need a great deal of structure and predictability, may not make such good use of an english major, but if it is your cup of tea you will be fine. </p>
<p>Our eldest is now in college, majoring in english. She is exceedingly creative. We are thrilled about it.</p>