<p>I am a senior in high school and I am currently trying to chose a major. I originally was going to double major political science and broadcast journalism. I am having doubts though because I've heard many stories about people majoring in political science who are unable to find jobs. Broadcast journalism is very competitive so there's no guarantee there either. Majors I'm also considering are international relations and economics. I dont know though. Like I said I just want to be able to get a well paying job once I graduate. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>A major doesn’t get you a job. Experience and professional networks and communication skills and thinking skills get you a job. </p>
<p>You might want to consider attending a college that will not require you to declare a major right away. </p>
<p>Of the majors you listed, I see economics as being the most versatile and journalism as being the least. Econ, poli sci, and international relations all have strong opportunities associated with them.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you. The only issue I would have with economics is that I’m horrible at math. Would that be a huge issue?</p>
<p>Pharmacy (but you need to get a doctorate, I think)</p>
<p>Depends on why you’re horrible at math and depends on how econ is taught at the college you go to. </p>
<p>If you’re horrible at math because you don’t practice or don’t know how to practice, that’s a skill you can absolutely learn. If you’re horrible at math because the subject itself just drains you, that’s a different can of worms. If you just don’t like the abstract nature of math, econ will bring it to your neighborhood. </p>
<p>I don’t exactly have my finger on the pulse of econ, but I get the impression that the trend for econ departments is towards quantitative approaches. There are certainly departments that lean more towards the social/qualitative side, but even there math is unavoidable.</p>
<p>Ooops! If you are terrible at math, PLEASE do not go into pharmacy. :)</p>
<p>Plumbing…</p>
<p>I never considered pharmacy. Thats not my type of job. I know people in the medical field also make lots of money but thats something I would never choose to persue. Its just not me.</p>
<p>If you want a major likely to lead to a good-paying job because you have that major then you need to think of the vocational type degrees offered to undergrads. Nursing, accounting, engineering, stuff like that. There are other vocational type degrees that at least give a high probability of employment albeit not always at great pay; for example, education. Some people get their vocational type training in grad school, such as doctors.</p>
<p>Some people with a liberal arts degree do quite well, or at least have good prospects. These are people who take time to do extra things in college like internships, who have identified career areas and what it takes to enter them in advance, and (often) that go to more highly ranked colleges. Of these group some have the potential to greatly exceed the income of most of those in the previous paragraph as they become high ranking managers and the like.</p>
<p>A suggestion: you ought to spend more time learning about the career process by reading a few books about it, reading up on the web, etc. Getting info a few paragraphs at a time thru forums like this is unlikely to lead to a well informed choice.</p>
<p>p.s. Econ by itself is a liberal arts degree and doesn’t really increase your job odds much over others in the group like History or Sociology. Business Econ, Accounting, those with a focus on applied skills are something different than pure Econ.</p>
<p>I want a job that would enable me to travel and work with lots of people. I’m very outgoing and well spoken. Something like international relations really suits me but like I said I want a job where I’ll be making lots of money and I wont have to struggle finding a job.</p>
<p>
Really? Why do you say that? </p>
<p>What exactly do you know about what people working in Int’l Relations do on a daily or weekly basis, how they enter the field, who the major employers are, how they select employees, if there are any colleges or types of colleges people in the field are likely to have attended, how people advance in the career, what the salary is like, approximately how many people in the USA work in that field, whether the field is growing or shrinking, what cities or countries you are likely to live in if you work in this field? </p>
<p>^^^ Just to give a few questions off the top of my head that someone who had decided a field “really suits me” ought to be able to easily answer.</p>
<p>Or did you just think “international relations, bet it means travel and meeting people, sounds perfect for me”?</p>
<p>Well international relations opens many job opportunities. I used to really want to work for the UN. I still do but I know its very competitive. Thats why I’m looking into other majors.</p>
<p>For most of the social studies majors (political science, psychology, economics, etc.), having some math ability* is useful in order to handle statistics that is often used (e.g. analysis of political poll and election data, research study results, etc.). Students intending to go to graduate school in economics or work in quantitative finance need a lot more math.</p>
<p>If you want to go into international relations, knowledge of one or more foreign languages relevant to the field would help.</p>
<ul>
<li>Calculus is typically not required for social studies majors, except for economics and business majors, but a reasonable expectation is to complete at least precalculus by high school graduation, so that you will be ready for statistics or quantitative methods courses that may be needed.</li>
</ul>
<p>Mining engineers make 100,000+ as a starting salary.</p>
<p>OK. So you want a job where you do not have to do math or anything quantitative, won’t have to struggle finding it because it isn’t competitive but pays lots of money.</p>
<p>If you follow the yellow brick road, you may find a wizard to grant your dreams!</p>
<p>First of all I said was I was bad at math. I never said I wasn’t willing to work hard. The only reason why I’m hesitant about majoring in something that’s very competitive is because I don’t want to end up with a degree and jobless. You’re misunderstanding what I said. I just want to find the major that’s right for me.</p>
<p>Rona, you need to understand that you can not have it both ways. </p>
<p>If you want to make big bucks, you usually have to work very hard in a very competitive environment. And it usually takes some specific skills.</p>
<p>You can work very hard in a non-competitive job that requires few skills. You’ll eventually get ahead and be middle class. Nothing wrong with that, but not lots of money as per your goal.</p>
<p>Of course there is always the lottery!!</p>
<p>
So in other words rather than being able to give any responses to the questions I asked in #11, all you can say is “it opens many job opportunities” without being able to define just what those jobs might be, who offers them (except for a vague “the UN”), the salary one might expect at those many opportunities, how people are selected for those many opportunities, etc. </p>
<p>And yet you appear to believe “Something like international relations really suits me”. Interesting…</p>
<p>You are also switching back and forth, I might point out, between talking about a major in international relations (your post #12) and a job in international relations (your post #10) as if they were the same thing. They’re not.</p>
<p>Thinking things over, I may have been a bit harsh here. So let me rephrase. I think what you’ve posted reflects an overly simplistic view of the world, for example that you can describe a major as “opening many job opportunities” without being able to say much about what those opportunities might be. </p>
<p>But you’re only 17. This is probably what passes for informed discussion among a lot of your peers, the same ones that think “get into Harvard and you’re set!” And just as soon as I wrote the previous sentence, thinking that at least most people see the flaw in that reasoning, I unfortunately made the mistake of clicking to see what else you’ve been posting about and sure enough you’ve got a thread “What are the chances of transfering from a community college to an Ivy league?” Oh, well.</p>
<p>So let me say that its wonderful you’re thinking about careers during your senior year in HS, as opposed to the far too many that start thinking about them senior year in college. For advice I’d say reread my post #9 where I mention different types of majors. Read some career books. When you get to college start visiting the career center freshman year and explore what might interest you and how you become an attractive job candidate in those industries.</p>
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</p>
<p>That’s what we all want! 
It’s not working out for a lot of people these days, and not for want of trying. The economy and all, you know.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about a major right now. Go to college. Work hard. Try different things. Be open to something new grabbing your interest. Select courses because you’ve heard that the professors are outstanding, not because they’re easy or because they’re in only subjects you think you like. Write, write, write. Talk to professors who do interesting work, and find out if you can work with them on projects. Read, read, read. Get a few internships. Work a minimum wage job so you know what that’s like. Listen. Take advantage of the opportunities your college offers you. </p>
<p>The major, the career, and the path will become clear in time. I promise.</p>
<p>And mikemac is absolutely spot-on about going to the career office starting your freshman year.</p>