<p>My father majored in Economics and English then went on to law school and got his J.D. and LL.M degrees. He is now a partner at a law firm where he specializes in international law, corporate law, and legal strategy.</p>
<p>My mother majored in Biochemistry and Psychology and went on to medical school and is now a very successful pediatric surgeon.</p>
<p>Yeah, there wasn't much family time growing up, but at least all the kids turned out great. Well...at least I like to think so :)</p>
<p>DH majored in accounting and decision sciences. Worked for five years and went back for law school. Did the private practice thing, left for the government. The hours are still long, but he loves what he does. He's alwasy been good at wearing multiple hats, and this job lets him do just that. He also loves to cook -- which has now grown into a volunteer gig doing the catering at our synagogue. DS2 has joined him in this endeavor, and it's a great thing to see the two of them collaborating on something NOT related to academics.</p>
<p>I was an English major in the early 70's and then went on to get a Master's in English with absolutely no idea what to do after graduation. Halfway through grad. school I realized that I could never stay in academics and started taking the rest of prerequisites needed for Vet School. (I even had to retake Calculus because my time limit ran out!) I have been practicing vet medicine for 26 years now. Hope our S who is a freshman in college now will have a more direct route to a career, but just wanted to show that sometimes changing direction works out just fine!</p>
<p>I doubled majored in Accounting and French, went to law school, practiced corporate law for a few years and then became a stay-at-home mom.</p>
<p>If I had it to do all over again, I would have skipped the Accounting part and majored in English/Literature or History or something else in the Humanities (along with French).</p>
<p>I love to read, so the volunteer work I am involved in usually has to do with reading (adult literacy volunteer or reading to under-priviledged kids).</p>
<p>I majored in history at a then less known but now highly respected LAC.</p>
<p>Business, which has been extremely useful, but I wouldn't do it again. I took a lot of history and anthropology classes, and if I had it to do over again I'd have majored in one of those and worked and then gone to grad school for an MBA.</p>
<p>The issue I have with the B.S. in business is that it doesn't have the same cachet as the MBA, even though the coursework is almost the same. Our school used the case method for both undergrad and grad, and many of the 400 level courses were taken by the first year MBA's. </p>
<p>Business is one of those degrees where I think it works better if you have some experience before studying it--so much of it is practical and it's hard to know what they are talking about if you've never worked other than at a fast food place.</p>
<p>In terms of how useful it was, I still draw on things I learned in the late '70s and it is easier to pick up new things because of my frame of reference.</p>
<p>BSBA in Accounting, CPA license in Texas and Louisiana. Worked for years in Public Accounting for big regional firm in Louisiana developing a specialty in gov't compliance audits. Then as a sole proprietor in Houston providing consulting services to CPA firms with yellow book clients they didn't know how to audit. Though I still regret not pursuing that architecture degree, being an auditor of governmental entities in good ol' south Louisiana was NOT a boring job. Especially during the Edwin Edwards years....lol!</p>
<p>I started as a Biology major (premed) and then changed to speech language pathology at the end of sophomore. By taking summer classes full time I was able to graduate on time. I went to grad school for SLP also and absolutely LOVE my job. I have worked in many different settings and with all age groups. Currently I am in private practice with an emphasis on pediatrics. So thankful I found this field.</p>
<p>BS in Industrial Administration ... kind of a manufacturing/business/industrial engineering hybrid. I had to take lots of math, lab sciences, manufacturing processes classes, org behavior, methods, simulations, operations research,accounting, management, labor relations, economics, business policy, etc. --- strange collection of classes, and we generally took 21-22 credit hours at a time (alternating 12 weeks of classes with 12 weeks of work) --- then a thesis at the end. It was HARD, HARD, HARD, but I loved every minute of my undergrad experience. I learned how to balance things (specifically, studying & partying!). I did it because it was affordable & I could get a great job out of school ... which I did. I started out as a production supervisor in a truck plant, with body shop & paint shop areas (mostly men). After a couple years, it became clear that I was going to rise through the manufacturing ranks. That is a very tough place to spend one's career, and I was told that my bosses would block any moves I wanted to make within the corporation. I wanted out, so left & went to my alma mater. I managed the admissions & co-op activities for an area of the country, then moved a bit within the college. I ended up Acting Director of Financial Aid. 18 years ago, I left to raise kids, volunteering for everything in sight for many years. 4 years ago, I began substitute teaching. I now sub a lot in the local high schools, and I really enjoy it. Unfortunately, I now need a job that will pay more ... and as much as I have no regrets about anything in my life, I DO wish I had some kind of relevant skills to offer the job market today. I find that I am considered too competent for entry-type work & too outdated for anything else. It's frustrating & is contributing to my midlife crisis! I continue to sub while I work on finding something else.</p>
<p>H, on the other hand, got his BS-Industrial Engineering & is very happy working as an engineer for the same company where he started his career. He has never questioned anything about his life ... which bodes well for me!!</p>
<p>Improvisational Theater my first go-round, a passion for theater and stage since being a kid; second go-round Organizational Leadership (which assists in producing & directing film) & Film Production, also a passion for story telling since being a kid. I have loved every moment of each career I've had (I'm on my 4th).</p>
<p>BS and MS in Chemistry, with focus in Organic Chemistry/Biochemistry. I'm one of those ABDs, you know (I get addressed "Dr. BB" a lot). Like many in my line of profession, I started messing with chemicals (legally!) in 7th grade. I knew in high school that eventually I would be a chemist, however, I had no idea what my future work would involve. Since graduation, my work life revolves around biotech.</p>
<p>I majored in history and received a master's specializing in Southern and African-American history after lasting less than a semester in law school. Treasure trove did me in. In was the mid-60s after all and who cared about treasure trove? I certainly didn't.</p>
<p>Irony of ironies I spent 15 years in the US Department of Justice and the next 15 years in the Office for Civil Rights, US Department of Education working with, and supervising for a spell, attorneys. After retirement I finally did get to work at a university and a darn fine one too.</p>
<p>For me history was the perfect major.</p>
<p>BA English Lit./ESL minor, MA in English Lit./ESL
I was "undecided" at the end of sophomore year and leaving for a year in Europe so I looked in the college catalog for a major that I could finish in one year when I came back--English Lit. was it.<br>
My true love: Botany. I was nearly a Biology major--but I didn't want to do the math.
After teaching for a few years and working at an academic/administrative job, I've stayed home with my kids for 14 years--homeschooling the last 12.
I pretty much like everything--even math!</p>
<p>Economics and Business - I loved Econometrics and mathematical modeling, so I also had a math minor, thinking I would become an actuary, but my senior internship with the local utility changed all that, and I haven't looked back. At the encouragement of my advisor and other faculty in the department, the courseload I took is now a separate Mathematics and Economics major at Lafayette.</p>
<p>I chose my college based on its great English department, but when I got there I discovered that its Comparative Literature department was even cooler. My BA was in Literature, with the equivalent of a minor (very minor - practically no math) in Economics, and a series of great interships at an international financial institution. I went to law school because young lawyers seemed a LOT happier than young comp lit professors or dissertation-writing grad students, and law school seemed more substantive than business school at the time. I wound up as a practicing corporate lawyer, somewhat to my surprise.</p>
<p>My wife's career has been less straightforward, and so probably more typical. Started out as a Psychology major, headed for clinical psych and working with autistic children. Got interested in feminist theory, and wound up with a double major in Psychology (of gender) and American Studies (of women's history). Graduated with no idea what she wanted actually to do, and after some months of floundering fell into a job with a low-income housing developer. After a few years, that led to law school, which led to five unhappy years of being a welfare-rights lawyer. A volunteer position taken on during a maternity leave led to a nonlegal local government job in children's health, which led to a series of government and private nonprofit jobs at many different market levels. She is now a pretty big deal in her field, which is mostly populated by people with education degrees, and she commands battalions of subordinates and a budget with lots of commas. </p>
<p>She wouldn't change a thing about her undergraduate training, except she wishes she had taken more statistics. She also uses her legal training a lot, even though she hated being a lawyer. Now and then she may regret having walked away from a Kennedy School admission (when I took a high-prestige job offer in Washington without asking her first, although the plan was for me to look mostly in Boston). But she learned plenty of management skills on the job (and she reads all the management best-sellers). She thinks of herself as a liberal policy-wonk and successful public sector manager.</p>
<p>Planned to major in chemistry; didn't like the labs, so changed to math; didn't like abstract math, so changed to Statistics and never looked back. It's a great field with a wide set of applications. Loved working for the government on surveys and censuses until early retirement.</p>
<p>The only thing I'd contemplate changing would be to specialize in Education Statistics--would love to be involved in developing and analyzing standardized testing (CollegeBoard?) and contribute to getting it right! It's become an avocation since D starting taking them in elementary school.</p>
<p>Also helps alot in everyday life. For instance, like Lost in Translat, I'm an avid bridge player and probability certainly applies there. Not a poker player, though.</p>
<p>American Studies major at small New England LAC -- so a liberal, liberal arts major. Only took the math & science courses needed to graduate. After working for almost 6 years, went back to school for MBA at Yale (at the time, the degree was actually called MPPM -- Master of Public & Private Management). The Yale program was a good fit for me since it was a "liberal arts" approach to a business dgree. Worked for several years, then left to raise kids. Along the way, did a great deal of volunteering on various boards/committees. I believe my liberal arts approach to things taught me how to think, and how to look at the bigger picture. </p>
<p>More recently I've taken several courses in archaeology/anthropology -- great stuff; incredibly fascinating. If a had a "do over," I wouldn't avoid math & science as an undergrad. Also, I continued French and started Spanish in college -- languages seemed to come fairly easily to me. But, I didn't pursue that path. Sometimes I wonder how things would be different if I had, but I really don't have any regrets. Besides, there's still time! :)</p>
<p>My undergrad degreee was in Special Ed-Deaf & Hard of Hearing. Taught for 3 semesters, then went to law school. If I had known I was going to law school, I would have majored in something fun, like history.</p>
<p>started out undeclared
took classes in film theory and literature
returned to true love.....mathematics
didn't want to teach and not a genius....so added computer science
graduated in 70s with double major in mathematics and computer science
career has been in software
have forgotten 99% of the math I studied, but still love numbers</p>
<p>My first major was Math. Then transferred schools and did an honors degree in research psychology(rat lab person :)) with not quite enough credits for an official minor in computer science. Through the research project found that I was way too goal driven to spend most of my life just searching so research not for me. We into the Federal Government in contracting, have been in the field in private industry and as a consultant and teacher. My career has been in IT contract negotiations. So I guess all majors worked together to get me there. My Masters is in business though. Didn't plan it that way. You just have to be open to the possibilities.</p>