<p>I need your help fellow forumgoers. </p>
<p>Let's say hypothetically I major in philosophy and attain a B.A from Cal in four years (I'm a freshman atm.) </p>
<p>But then I have a GPA of 3.4-ish since I've heard that's the average GPA for Cal philosophy majors (or maybe 3.5-6 if I'm lucky). </p>
<p>What's the worst that can happen to me? The best? </p>
<p>I'm hoping to continue on to graduate school (that'd be the best-case scenario) but I'm unsure as to whether programs would even accept me since they're competitive as it is and my hypothetical GPA isn't really looking so hot. </p>
<p>So if I go for the "real career" route, would I be similarly frustrated? Or would I, with my B.A from Cal and measly 3.4, be able to snag a decent-ish job (as in above janitorial and elementary schoolteaching)?</p>
<p>As you may be able to tell I'm having a minor crisis here. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Btw–I was inspired to create this thread after talking with my friend last night; she told me I had to be really smart to be successful in philosophy and that “average” people like me wouldn’t make the cut and thus would end up with the crappy end of the stick, essentially. </p>
<p>And essentially I just want to know if what she said is true because I definitely buy it.</p>
<p>If you had a 4.0 in philosophy and not going to law school, I’d still say that you’d still get the crappy end of the stick. Just saying… cause philosophy doesn’t really give you much skills for life.</p>
<p>Well, that’s pretty bleak.<br>
I’d rather be a Starbucks barista than teach schoolchildren or work as a customer service and sales associate, even if the latter ones pay more.</p>
<p>Thanks for the data though. </p>
<p>@StarryNights: If I had a 4.0 in philosophy I wouldn’t go to law school but grad school then perhaps pursue a career in academia. Not my vision of a crappy end of a stick at all. I’m sure that’s what a lot of brilliant philosophy majors do. Life skills–maybe not, but as a major its only function isn’t just to feed students into law school. </p>
<p>Of course, I’m probably never getting that 4.0, especially in Berkeley…</p>
<p>Honestly a sub-3.4 GPA isn’t going to get you into a solid graduate school, especially considering how competitive phil Ph.D and Masters programs are to get into. Btw the average GPA for phil majors is ~3.2.</p>
<p>As for achieving a “real-world job” with a 3.4 and a philosophy degree, you’ll be fine. Granted, without a specific job in mind, I have no doubt you could land a decent clerical/office job somewhere and work your way up. </p>
<p>Again, for grad school, unless you’re fully confident in your ability to handle philosophy courses in terms of grades, then I would not pick that major…Of course, if you just love philosophy, it shouldn’t really matter.</p>
<p>if you can get really good at philosophy (whatever the hell that means), I remember reading articles about surprising majors that pay well. </p>
<p>Granted, you do have to be good at it. And those guys in the picture looked like they were born in the year 0 AD.</p>