Reposted because I originally put this in the wrong forum.
I know, I know, if I wanted a guaranteed job I’d just go to a university and be an engineer. But after realizing that most people change their majors at least once, I have some doubts on whether engineering is even right for me. Which opens me up to LAC’s.
I feel like LAC’s are more supportive for people who don’t know their major yet. But at the same time, I want to get skills that are marketable. Any suggestions? Experiences? I’d like to hear it all!
Yea the idea that if you get an engineering degree that you will get a job right out of school is (hold for pause) totally bonkers. Everyone is struggling with the job market.
If you want to be as employable as you can be I would suggest computer science (we are living in an ever technological world). Generally speaking I would suggest STEM over anything else in terms of salary and employability…BUT, if your heart yearns for a certain major in arts…just do it. If you know that it isn’t employable, at least minor in it. We only do this college/uni thing once in our life (usually) so make sure you do it right.
I don’t see why it has to be an LAC. If you want a more intimate community than a 40,000+ public university, then small-medium sized universities can also provide that.
I’m replying because you @sparco2 play cello. Many LACs offer STEAM majors that may be marketable. Economics and languages are majors considered marketable. But what you should be looking at is the career placement resources at each LAC. That is where you will find employment and it has little relation to your major.
My kid graduated from a LAC without a STEM major and had no problem finding a job. It’s not as high paying as CS or engineering (which is perfectly fine with this grad) but said child is gainfully employed in their chosen field with a major in something that often elicits barista and living in your parent’s basement jokes.
I think it is a fallacy to think that only certain majors are getting jobs. Study what interests you, do well in school, and most importantly, get experience while in college through summer jobs and internships.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think applied math (as a major) is inherently more employable than pure/general math. Pure math majors can take computer science classes and learn to program. On the other hand, an applied math degree can be pretty theoretical (if your application area is theoretical physics, for example). Math majors can go into lots of different careers, but most of them require you to study other subjects (education, computer science, statistics, etc.) and ideally seek out work experiences (internships, co-ops) to prepare for them. These things, rather than the name of your degree, will determine how employable you are.
Like @halcyonheather said, what really gets you a job is your skills and your experiences. It’s not that your major has absolutely no bearing on it - but it has less bearing than people often think it does. For example, the unemployment rate for recent graduates in most engineering disciplines, computer science, and most and business disciplines has ranged from 7-8% in the last few years, which is about the same as it is for communications, biology, drama/theater, family & consumer sciences, criminal justice (and higher than it is for chemistry, for example). And much maligned majors like psychology, sociology, and political science only have marginally higher unemployment rates (in the 8-9% range). Economics actually has one of the higher unemployment rates, at about 10-11% in the last years.
The other thing is that unemployment levels out after graduates get some experience. In the “Hard Times to Better Times” 2015 report from Georgetown, pretty much all majors had unemployment rates in the 4-6% range after graduates were more than 5 years out from graduation.
The difference comes in in what kind of job you do and how much money you make. It probably doesn’t surprise you to learn that on average, engineering, computer science, math, business and economics majors made more money than sociology, anthropology, chemistry, biology, French and German, psychology and social work majors. That remains true throughout their careers. However, people can and often do switch careers into higher-paying sectors, so just because you major in something doesn’t mean you will make at the average for your major - especially if you get a graduate degree. There, salaries can vary wildly as your job title and duties can, too!
I know gainfully employed graduates in all kinds of majors. And I have lots of coworkers at my company (Microsoft) who majored in all kinds of majors you wouldn’t expect and are working with their BAs in the field.
A generation or two ago, the easy answer would have been, “Study whatever interests you and go to grad school.” But, a lot of people are drawing the line on how much post-secondary education they can afford and only certain fields pay for themselves in terms of graduate student stipends. I am now meeting forty y/o doctors who are still paying off their student loans.
My best advice is to get loads of experience outside the classroom. Anyone should be able to teach themselves Excel™. The rest, as these returning Wesleyan students testify, is a matter of exploration and self-discovery: http://wesleyanargus.com/2016/09/08/they_took_our_jobs/
Cs is found in most LACs and will increase job prospects under any variation (data science, computational math, bioinformatics) and/or added to any major of your choice.
Major in whatever truly interests you, learn to analyze issues and (especially) learn to write extremely well, take some of your classes in marketable skill subjects like statistics and CS, and try to excel at everything you take. You will be marketable.
@juillet Thanks for the informative reply. I would say that environmental science, architecture, field biology, and statistics are interesting to me. That’s why civil engineering felt like a decent compromise.
I’ll admit that I was concerned when my oldest said that Math was her current best idea for a college major. She’s still in High School.
That’s kind of weird coming from a STEM person, but I guess I was under the common misconception about Math - “What are you going to do with that”.
I think it depends very much on the person, but here’s my take on Math versus Engineering:
If you’re the type of person who likes to learn just enough theory to get going and then dig right in, then I think Engineering is the way to go. On the other hand, if you like to really understand something deeply before applying it, I think Math is a much better fit.
I chose Engineering, but I think I’m really a Math person at heart. For someone like me, studying Math in depth would have been a much better path.
Don’t let anyone push you into Engineering just because you’re good at Math and Science. Ask yourself if you really have a natural interest in Engineering. If you don’t, I’d avoid it like the plague. It’s a serious commitment.
If you major in Math, and later decide to do a Masters in Engineering or any Science field, you’ll be wiping the floor with all of the STE folks. In my opinion, if you like Math and want to apply it, you can’t take too many Math classes as an undergraduate.
I would say that environmental science, architecture, field biology, and statistics are interesting to me.
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Bioinformatics is big (and getting bigger). Check it out. UCSD has a good undergrad program for it.
You also might like molecular engineering. UChicago has a brand new undergrad program at its Institute for Molecular Engineering that my D applied to a year ago - unfortunately she didn’t get in, but it looked very cool and touches on some of your interests.