Top 10 worthless majors

<p>Well, I'm majoring in #1 and #2 on this list, so I guess I'm screwed! (I guess it's a good thing I really like the idea of law school ;))</p>

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ONLY if you went to an elite university.

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<p>No. Perhaps your IBanking firms, but they are hardly representative of the average employer.</p>

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Those 10 majors are indeed worthless ... unless you went to an elite university. As someone in this thread pointed out, there was a Black person who went to Harvard and he majored in BLACK STUDIES and he's MANAGING a hedge fund. Do you think that this same Black person majoring in Black Studies would be managing a hedge fund if he went to HOWARD Univeristy instead of Harvard?

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<p>I disagree. I know many people who have majored in these "useless" majors. They are among the most intelligent people I know and they all have good jobs that they are very happy with.</p>

<p>can someone post the list. it's blocked in my country.</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p>1) Religion
2) Film
3) Latin
4) English Literature
5) Dance
6) Communications
7) Music Therapy
8) American Studies
9) Philosophy
10) Art History</p>

<p>What are we talking about here?</p>

<p>theorygeek, if you intend to say that one need not go to college to read philosophy, then you're right. As the author said in that blog, all you need is $20 dollars and a library card.</p>

<p>Learning philosophy, however, entails the following:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What are the authors saying? What thesis are they proposing?
You can do that on your own.</p></li>
<li><p>How strong are their arguments? Which sections of their philosophy is questionable? How well do these arguments hold up against more contemporary views / recent events / past theories? Does this author actually claim anything new, or does he unknowingly draw from ideas of an earlier philosopher?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>This is the part which can hardly be taught. You CANNOT claim to be a student of philosophy if you do not know how to read philosophical texts CRITICALLY. College courses in philosophy worth their salt teaches you the FRAMEWORK to read the texts, criticize them, and perhaps, ultimately formulate your own philosophy. In the meantime, you learn how to analyze, take out what is not important, point out contradictions in argument, pick out logical fallacies, put the author's argument in a broader context etc.</p>

<p>If only we could 'teach ourselves' philosophy. A fine thought, but learning it requires you to interact with classmates, write papers and get them graded and commented on by professors, and critiquing not only your fellow classmates, but also writings and papers by critics and writers of philosophy.</p>

<p>i don't think anyone believes that they are truly worthless majors, they do teach you a lot, reading classics, philosophy and talking about it at a deep level will prepare you well for many careers. But, the point is, that unless you goto HYP-elite school and get somewhat lucky, your earning potential at graduation time is not as high as the quantitative majors, and the degree of rigor in terms of getting A's, is not as tough. by graduation time, as an engineering major, I received offers from manufacturing, law firms, consulting, IT, defense contractors. Your options with those majors in the OP are severely limited. </p>

<p>I think Philosophy is a very complicated subject to learn, I took 2 classes and they were difficult and very enjoyable. But these days, some of the majors listed in the OP, such as women's studies, native american studies, should not be undergraduate majors, they are too focused, and too easy when you are not engaged in research.</p>

<p>i´m number 2:Film(not film studies thought)...i´have heard people saying that you can be a director , producer, writer , without a degree in a realted ffield..That´s nonsense only a very few of them are able to pull it off without a degree.Just look at the alunmi list at USC, UCLA,NYU film schools...i cannot see myself in this indutry without going to a film school...
it´s like a friend of mine..She wants to be a theater actress but is a biology major because her parents says you don´t need to major in theater to be an acctress..well you don´t have to but what is the point of taking biology...one might say that theater is worthless..well it´s worthless if you are not going to persue a theater carrer(acting,directing)...I think what happens is that certain majors one should only take if he/she is sure that, that is what they want to do...</p>

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<p>Well, they don't necessarily need to be easy. You still have to take classes outside of the major, and in fact, you need at the most, 9-11 courses in your major. That leaves about 20 or so classes after that "easy" major to satisfy the requirements. In a concentration such as Women's Studies or Native American Studies, there can't be more that nine or ten courses that are actually "learn stuff" courses and not "research stuff" courses. However, I do ultimately agree with you (it's just the fact the curriculum doesn't necessarily have to be easy). Just my two cents.</p>

<p>I didn't like the author's style of writing or comments, but anyway.... those majors aren't "useless"; they just have limited job options, including teaching/being a college professor.</p>

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Again, this just further proves that going to an Ivy League or elite university is the golden ticket. It's ridiculous that all these Ivy Leaguers who major in the most pathetic majors like Art History or Womens studies are making hella lot more money on Wall Street than many of my alma mater (Top 50) friends who had "real" majors like biochemistry and electrical engineering.

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<p>No, what's pathetic are people who think that the only measure of whether a major / field of study is worthwhile or not is whether it leads to managing a hedge fund or otherwise working on Wall Street. News flash: It's worthwhile to be an art history major even if you don't wind up on Wall Street. There's more to life. Yes, we're all So Very Sorry that people of certain ethnic backgrounds don't see it that way, but too bad, welcome to America.</p>

<p>"It's ridiculous that all these Ivy Leaguers who major in the most pathetic majors like Art History or Womens studies are making hella lot more money on Wall Street than many of my alma mater (Top 50) friends who had "real" majors like biochemistry and electrical engineering."</p>

<p>Nothing is stopping your friends from applying to these positions too. These people at Harvard must have had something initially going for them, be it test scores, grades, connections, 90mph fastball over your friends at your school to be there. It's not the major, it's the system that pays investment banking analysts two years out of school much more than scientists or engineers two years out of school. Also, I highly doubt that someone less than one year out of college, Harvard or not, is already managing a hedge fund; or if you even have an idea what this means.</p>

<p>This obviously isn't accurate at all...</p>

<p>My grandfather majored in American Studies at Notre Dame and graduated Summa Cum Laude. </p>

<p>He ended up working for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, his passion is journalism. He eventually became an editor and ombudsman of the paper, and was elected president of the national journalism organization, Society of Professional Journalists. He now is a professor of journalism at Texas Christian University.</p>

<p>So much for "doing graduate work cleaning tables and taking orders at a Chilis, Applebees, TGIFridays or Red Lobster."</p>

<p>In some ways, your major in unimportant. Though this may be outdated, my grandfather majored in economics at UCLA, and only once did this seem like something of prestige. Really, if you're smart enough, you can major in whatever you want. Only certain majors, like an engineering degree or a teaching certificate matter that much. This also goes with the school you graduate from. I feel like it's a better choice to get more degrees from "lower level" schools than a single bachelor's at an Ivy Leage institution.</p>

<p>Such a true list.</p>

<p>"I feel like it's a better choice to get more degrees from "lower level" schools than a single bachelor's at an Ivy Leage institution."</p>

<p>A degree from a prestigious school can open doors in many fields. For instance, Art History majors at Princeton can get jobs not only at art museums but also at top management consulting firms.</p>

<p>What about a triple major from NYU, with one of those degrees being in Art History?</p>

<p>I have so many AP credits, it would have been possible and practical to triple :/</p>

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My grandfather majored in American Studies at Notre Dame and graduated Summa Cum Laude.</p>

<p>He ended up working for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, his passion is journalism. He eventually became an editor and ombudsman of the paper, and was elected president of the national journalism organization, Society of Professional Journalists. He now is a professor of journalism at Texas Christian University.

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Using google and this information I can determine who you are. You just hardcore outed yourself.</p>

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<p>That is an incredibly stupid list. College is not vocational school.</p>

<p>Some of that stuff was FUNNY!</p>