So confused about my major....

College Majors
1

I’m getting a humanities degree. And even though my GPA is so high (4.0), I feel like the education I’m getting is worthless. Note that I do not think that the knowledge I’m learning has no value, but its application to the world of academia doesn’t seem so relevant to me. I want to get into a PhD program after college, but I see no real future in the research I will make.

I’m majoring in History, and though I’m just a sophomore, I feel so lost about the future. I can’t tolerate the uncertainty that college is presenting to me. For example, I would love to take more Physics and science classes for the sake of learning, but I am so afraid of getting a bad grade or failing. I’m starting to feel like I chose history because I knew before hand I could get a 4.0 GPA, but now that I’m actually studying the BA, I feel so dumb and worthless, as though I was wasting my time—which I’m not.

2

It seems that on the whole you’re confused about your future career. I would take step back and try to understand the reasons for why you’re interested in a PhD program ultimately—is it that the pursuit of academic research is in itself compelling to you? The fact that you’re wondering about the “future” or value of your research suggests to me that you’re maybe not considering a long term career in academia, however?

If you’d like to nicely hedge your career prospects, I would highly recommend you take a CS class or two.

3

Hi, just wanted to say that lots of students have doubts about their major at some point during their college career. Luckily for you, you’re having these doubts relatively early on. So there’s still plenty of time for you to figure out what you want to do.

If you can, I would encourage you to take one physics/science class this semester to see what it’s like. If you end up enjoying it, then you can sign up for more science courses next semester and seriously think about switching your major.

I think college is best spent studying something you’re truly interested in and passionate about. If you aren’t passionate about what you’re learning in your history classes, then maybe try out some other subjects. You also mentioned that you’d like to get your Ph.D. after graduating. To pursue a Ph.D. in a field, I think you have to really love that field. A lukewarm fondness for it probably won’t be enough.

4

There is still time! Lots of college students do not know what they want to study or study something they think they should. Heck, many come in undeclared or undecided. A great many switch majors once and a lot of people switch twice. You should not worry so much about the GPA early on and try instead to see what makes you interested or what you end up getting passionate about. That will be something you would later want to do research on

5

Let me elaborate more:
I love History, and there is a reason why I love it: I wan to study behavior. History seems good enough to me since I focus more on culture, ethnicity, and politics. But Psychology, Anthropology, Biology (ethology/primatology), Sociology, and Political Science will also fit my research prospects. I like Astronomy, though, and I honestly want to take more Physics related stuff. But that’s a different topic.

The problem here is that I’m starting to feel that funding and careers for humanities and social researchers will be so limited in the future that no body will be able to make a living out of it, that the future in academia lies in STEM. I’m worrying that I’m making a big mistake in becoming a professional Historian when I can live a decent life as an engineer and do History in my spare time (I wouldn’t be happy as an engineer, though. I don’t like the job). I know a little bit about programing so I know what I’m talking about. I just don’t like it. It’s interesting, amazing, and even funny, but if I have to choose, I will choose History, but society will not, and if society doesn’t choose it… How am I gonna pay the bills? what if I get in debt as I get the PhD? Is my research even valued by society? How can I market my research beyond the sake of learning?

I can’t send people to the moon or cure cancer. My research will involve things that people want and need. That’s why I feel like this, and it’s a conflicting feeling between what I see and what I feel I want.

6

I know I should be trying to convince you that you should pursue your interest as an academician in humanities, but I think you raise very valid points. Moreover, I have a rather bearish outlook on the overall US higher education space (see my recent comments on other threads relating to student debt), and believe that some universities will plain fail when faced with the reality of increasing educational substitutes (as a response to overpriced tuition) and rising off-balance-sheet liabilities (healthcare of their aging staff). In short, I wouldn’t characterize US higher education as a growth industry where demand for labor will be plentiful.

That said, I still believe society will always have a role for humanities and the liberal arts. I’m just not sure that it will place a ton of apparent economic value on it, especially as the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” gets underway.

From a more pragmatic point of view–and from a point of view of trying to bridge your research interests with your desire to make a living–do you have any interest in studying organizational behavior? Professors at business schools make significantly more (top 10 bschool professors make $200-250K) than others. Something to consider.

7

You need to find a way to refocus your thinking so that the “worth” of a certain field or class isn’t only measured by how much you think you will use that knowledge in your future career. The point of college isn’t only (or even primarily) to prepare you for a job or a certain type of career. It’s about giving you a foundation from which you can learn a bunch of jobs and careers, and function in society as a citizen of a democracy. History is a great major for that - there is so much you can learn from the historical behavior and events of humans to help us understand modern problems and help us avoid making the mistakes of the past. There is so much about history that has shaped and influenced how humans behave today.

You are correct in surmising that life for academic researchers is difficult these days. Grant funding is often slashed in just the areas in which you’re interested, and history is a really tight field - there are far more job seekers than there are jobs as a professor in history. The vast majority of people who get a PhD in history won’t become history professors. But you don’t have to get a PhD in history just because you are majoring in history. You could do a lot of other things with the major. (And, even if you did decide that you really do want a PhD in history and want to at least try to become a professor - there are still lots of things you could do with a PhD in history outside of academia.)

Don’t chase a specific job/career just because you know it makes money. There are lots of things you can do that will earn you a decent standard of living without making you miserable. If you know you don’t like engineering, don’t do that. (I will say, though, that most engineers don’t do programming, and even engineers that do program don’t necessarily do that as the core part of their job.)

I think what you need to do is explore more kinds of careers that you can potentially do. For example, there are social science researchers (particularly in psychology, anthropology, sociology, and political science) in many corners of the economy, not just in academia. I’m a psychologist doing research in technology, for example, and some do research in education, at think tanks, at nonprofits, at financial firms and banks, at government agencies, and lots of other places. Look into those kinds of jobs. There’s also the prospect of compromising a bit and coming to a field that studies people but is a little more practical - like organizational behavior, marketing, behavioral economics, quantitative political science, etc.

Also, do note that every career field carries with it a bit of risk. People assume that computer science/tech will be rock-solid forever, but we thought the same things about law and real estate back in 2004, and that ended up not being true at all. There could be another tech bubble - many things could happen to the economy that change what the “hot” jobs are. That’s why you can’t rely on what makes a lot of money now alone to select your job.