<p>I'll admit, I never understood people that were so hyped to earn a BA in Russian Literature. I've been doing research, only to find that the lowest paid and slowly hired people are those who got liberal arts degrees. It seems those who get good jobs and start off with 50K+ per year are the economics, statistics, computer science, engineering freaks.
So if I get into UChicago next year, I think I'll double major in political science and economics. make myself a little more valuable.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the point of this thread. </p>
<p>Why are you posting this?</p>
<p>I’m sure UChicago loves pre-professional kids who choose majors based on money. That’s exactly the type of students they want. Keep it up, and you’ll surely get in!</p>
<p>Agree with ILoveUofC.</p>
<p>But also, you have to remember that people who get BA’s in Russian Literature often (from UChicago) go to Grad School, get a PhD, then work for a University, write, or do research. Whether that’s meaningful to YOU or not is beside the point. It’s meaningful to the professors who teach it and the students who study it, and if you take that attitude in college (the one that looks down upon others because of their major), then you will have a terrible, yet holier than though, time at UChicago. </p>
<p>Lest we forget, IBkid2011 that the UChicago College is a LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE. No matter what you concentrate in, YOU’RE GETTING A LIBERAL ARTS DEGREE (by definition). While Economics may be a bit more “useful” in the work force, a significant portion go on to grad school and then get PhD’s, making them far more attractive to companies than just a BA. Also, UChicago doesn’t have engineering. </p>
<p>Overall, in this changing world, and considering the economic times, it’s gonna be really freaking hard to get a really freaking good job out there with just a bachelors degree. You’re gonna have to go to some sort of post-grad school, and Chicago does a great job of doing that. So if you go to Law School, it doesn’t really matter what you major in. If you go to Med School, you ought to do Bio, but you don’t have to. And grad school is up for grabs. You don’t have to study anything in undergrad to determine what you study in graduate school really… it’s whatever you love to do. Don’t just do Econ and Political Science (possibly just as obscure and “useless” as Russian Literature, depending upon how you look at it) because you want to make money. </p>
<p>If all you want to do is use college as a leaping off point to making a high salary at a job right after graduation, go to Wharton and leave UChicago alone. </p>
<p>On a side note, 50k a year is barely above the average income for the US. UChicago students, regardless of major, probably ought to be making more than that just because of the great education that they got from the core.</p>
<p>Can you please not come to Chicago with that attitude? Lose it first, or just don’t come at all. It’s quite annoying with its narrow-mindedness (which tends to show in an application).</p>
<p>Values exist outside of the market. Some people buy stock in things without finite dividends.
“The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” -Oscar Willde</p>
<p>IBKid2011, I took the exact opposite route and have majored in something that will most likely not give me a high-paying job in the future-- but definitely one that I will love. I don’t necessarily think it’s fair to say to you, however, that you don’t belong at UChicago. You may absolutely love to learn but may find certain subjects more likely to make you financially stable in the future. I think it’s smart to think about these factors, I just caution you from actually acting on them. If you don’t have an interest in the majors you choose, UChicago could become an incredibly unbearable place. The classes can be very challenging and if you don’t have a love for the subject you could quickly become unmotivated. Think about what you are truly passionate about, and whether or not it is worth perhaps the lower marketability upon graduation. If you can’t get around the future financial freedom, double major with a subject that you love and one that is desirable in the work force. Just don’t write off a subject that you truly enjoy because it has a lower start salary. I want to go into journalism and I have realistic expectations that I will struggle financially for quite some time. That being said, I landed a sweet internship for the summer and all my more practical-majored friends are jealous…</p>
<p>The OP’s title for this thread (“useless majors”) is telling. Unless it was offered entirely in jest, I recommend that the OP look elsewhere. Looks like a very poor fit to me.</p>
<p>Is this supposed to be sarcasm?</p>
<p>I didn’t put up this post for no reason; perhaps i should have been a bit more specific. I was wondering how strong U of C’s departments are and their job/grad school placement. Don’t be so acidic.</p>
<p>“Is this supposed to be sarcasm?”</p>
<p>Not at all. If you truly consider some of the majors offered at UChicago as “useless”, there is a very high probability that you would dislike Chicago’s core curriculum, and the philosophy of education that prevails here. There are other, equally distinguished, schools which are likely to provide a better fit for you.</p>
<p>[The</a> Aims of Education Address (for the class of 2006)](<a href=“http://www.ditext.com/abbott/abbott_aims.html]The”>The Aims of Education Address (for the class of 2006))</p>
<p>You may be interested in this: [College:</a> Making The Case For Useless Degrees - Newsweek.com](<a href=“http://www.newsweek.com/id/235921]College:”>College: Making The Case For Useless Degrees)</p>
<p>Does Chicago practice “weighting” of courses, or is that just what a “High School” does? I mean, out of interest, how does weighting actually work? I’d also love to see whether comparative literature xyz has a better weight value than quantitative economics or thermodynamics courses.</p>
<p>There’s a market for every major, and people choose their major over what they love to do. I personally love Economics, yes there is a monetary incentive but of the sciences, Economics was my favorite. </p>
<p>My AP Lit teacher majored in Russian Lit at Notre Dame so I believe it still has some merit.</p>
<p>IBkid- If you’re looking at economics, then UChicago will be a good fit in terms of job placement after graduation. My dad works on Wall Street and he actually does recruiting for kids from UChicago. There’s also Chicago Careers in Business, where you get to take classes at the grad school and it can help get internships. I believe they have something like this for Law and Medicine careers as well…</p>
<p>Also, just because you are interested in making money after school doesn’t mean that you won’t fit in at Chicago. In fact, I think that the number of “pre-professional” students will increase in coming years because Chicago is rising in the rankings. I’m attending UChicago next year (yay!) and I’m planning on majoring in Economics. The fact that Chicago has such a strong econ department and will help me get a good job after graduation was a HUGE part of my decision to attend. At the same time, however, I do love learning for the sake of learning, and I’m looking forward to taking lots of different classes through the Core.</p>
<p>That being said, perhaps naming the thread “useless majors” was a bad idea…other people just have different opinions on what is “useless”.</p>
<p>^ I think people were saying that the OP wouldn’t fit in because he doesn’t respect the other majors/see the personal benefit. There’s nothing wrong with being pre-professional. I myself am planning on medicine, but I still really love Chicago’s emphasis on learning for learning’s sake, which matches your sentiment exactly.</p>