<p>What is the real value of a liberal arts degree? </p>
<p>What can you do with that degree? </p>
<p>Who is looking for a liberal arts graduate?</p>
<p>When it comes to liberal arts degree it’s less about the actual degree and what school it comes from in my opinion. The entire purpose of the liberal arts degree is to cultivate the human mind by challenging it with understanding human civilization’s past, present, and future. The buzzword used now is “critical thinking”. But in my own experience liberal arts degrees are viewed less by what they do, but where they come from. Having a degree in sociology or biology from Columbia will look 1,000,000 times better than having a degree in sociology from Bingham Young. The reason why is because in the liberal arts it’s not just the material that matters but the teacher. The reason why early supporters of the liberal arts like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were so gung ho about the concept was because they understand that an individual that was educated in a way that makes him explore different aspects of the world would be an ideal individual as seen by humanists. So as I said before, I know people that majored in degrees like Irish Studies, History, Sociology, Biology (the sciences are also considered “liberal arts”, something not known by many opposers of the liberal arts.) that because they graduated from top universities are doing quite well while kids that graduated from 4th tier private schools or weak state schools are struggling. Regarding what you can do with a liberal arts degree, historically the sky was the limit. In the early late 90s came the era of “specialization” degree but after the financial crisis I think the focus on pure numbers is subsiding. I graduated with a liberal arts degree from a top school which took me to a highly renowned graduate school and since I just started hunting for jobs I can say the companies that have turned me down never cited my degrees as the reason, usually it was about conflict in timeline.</p>
<p>@BlueJayBJ</p>
<p>That’s great information! Thank you for sharing!!!</p>
<p>What kind of jobs are you looking for as a liberal arts graduate?</p>
<p>I would like to know as well. Everyone that I know with a liberal arts degree doesn’t have a job.</p>
<p>Before I did my masters I was a research fellow at a prestigious university abroad than was recruited at a private equity firm because as the manager said “Being able to think creatively is 1,000,000 times more valuable than crunching numbers.” Like I said, it’s less what you study than where you went to study. I graduated from a top 15 University here in the states so I have more of a leg up, plus my degree trained me in 3 languages which I now have full working competency in so it sets me apart from most candidates. I just got back home from my masters and am completing my dissertation so haven’t spent that much energy looking. The one thing I am worried about has nothing to do with jobs. My family wants me to to find work in New York City since we live in manhattan because they complained I’ve been abroad for too long so job hunting is going to be stressful since I am trying to get back abroad while my parents are doing everything they can to keep me here. @mssmith I’m looking to get into strategic consulting. I;ve been networking quite hard and after telling them I was an area studies major I never got a look of disapproval. Someone from Deloitte that I am still in communication with called my choice good foresight. Funny thing is I have a friend that graduated in gender and sexuality from Berkeley who is now an extremely successful marketer. She always argues when people claim her degree is useless that understanding the mass psychology of women has earned her a house, a beautiful car, a growing nest egg in 6 years since she has graduated. If someone is an ethnic studies person for example, marketing is probably the best job to go to. If you are a history major you can really do anything. My friend graduated from Duke and is now working at Congress. I have a friend that minored in Irish Studies at NYU with a major in psychology and because she learned gaelic a big real estate firm picked her up before the market crash because she could wow the irish buyers (she is much older than me and was laid off during the financial crisis but because she made a lot of contacts she now works at Guinness here in the states.
I have a friend that majored in Classics at University of Chicago that is in Law school. I will reiterate it, it’s not what you studied, it’s where you studied. My friends that went to the local low rank state college in liberal arts have massive employment problems. It’s unfair but true.</p>
<p>Hi, I read your reply and I have a degree in History from a Tier 2 school. We were recently given the award for being a doctoral carnagie doctoral research facility(whatever that means). I will say this, they are really trying to ramp up the reputation of the university. If you want to major in engineering, business, nursing, or be a teacher, then this is the place to go from what I hear, but is Tier 2 any good? And btw, what was the degree that got you proficient in three languages?</p>
<p>I did a degree in Asian studies from a school that hosts intensive language programs abroad for a few of the languages.</p>