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Just remember that the math and science "geniuses" who make fun of you would probably fail if they had to write the papers that you do. They think that science/math are the only things worth studying,
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Nope. I'm majoring in Liberal Arts, and many of the students in my Humanities classes are actually Math/Sci/Engineering majors - guess what, many of them do BETTER than the Humanities majors themselves, I kid you not. I'm an Econ major, and I do better in my Writing class than half the English majors in there. I know this because my Writing class has like 15 kids, and we all compare grades, and the English majors don't do any better than the Social Sci/Science kids. And to be honest, no one really makes fun of each other for their major - most people who aren't retarded realize that we need different things for the world to function. </p>
<p>If you stuck in the average Engineer in an English class, he could probably pull off a B. If you stuck the average English major in an Engineering class - well, more like a D. Writing essays is a pain in the ass, but not particularly hard to do.
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Math and Science people know HOW to do things and get a job doing them, Liberal Arts majors know WHY they need to be done and are the boss."
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Who said that, Hannah Montana?! Put a History major in charge of an Engineering department - epic fail. Sorry, I'm a Liberal Arts major, but I'm smart enough to realize that if Science/Technology/Engineering didn't exist, we would be cavemen living in the stone age beating rocks together.</p>
<p>^ me too =) We need our nutritious food or else we'll die, but soul food now and then just hits the spot. I'm studying both liberal arts and science by the way. Or at least I came into college as a "double major" in Econ/NeuroSci but I've quickly realized these fields don't have enough common classes that I'll be able to swing it...regardless, making fun of anyone's major is dumb, I don't like when people do it to me, I wouldn't do it to them.</p>
<p>In all honesty, the only real money maker most liberal arts majors can hope for is in law. Those with quantitative skills make the world go round. They make the trains run on time, and the buildings earthquake resistant. </p>
<p>I'm quite envious of those who have great quantitative skills and excel at other, more artsy stuff. I suck at math and have come to terms with that. </p>
<p>I know that I will never make $100,000(base year 2009) in my lifetime, and am happy with that. The whole 'not planning to start a family' thing also helps.</p>
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the only real money maker most liberal arts majors can hope for is in law.
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You're acting like a JD from a decent Law school is easy to come by - in which case, I take it you know little about Law school/admissions - it's not easy. And nope, it's not the only "money maker". My mom did Anthropology and became successful in Marketing. You sure as hell don't need a Marketing degree to do Marketing lol. Econ is another Liberal Arts field which makes a decent paycheck (Econ majors make more on average than their Engineering/Business counterparts) - but it is a quantitative field, really an exeption to the rule.</p>
<p>Listen, I know it is not easy. That's why I said "hope" for. Most LA majors don't have what it takes to do well on the LSAT and endure the massive amount of reading and logical inquiry required to earn a JD. But aside from law, most LA majors don't have many more money earning options. When I say "money earning" I mean comparable to professions like medicine, engineering, accounting, etc.</p>
<p>I take it you're an aspiring lawyer. Good for you. You're standard of living will infinitely exceed mine, at least in monetary terms.</p>
<p>^ Yep Law is what I want to go into, but let's say I didn't go into Law - I don't think I would be hopeless with my Liberal Arts degree. You can definitely can get a Humanities/Social Science degree and make decent money. My Anthropology mom made at least $65K before she stopped working. I honestly don't have huge salary expectations, and I'm pretty frugal with my money - my friend's make fun of me for being so "simple" and "unmaterialistic" (i go to college in NYC and you wouldn't believe some of these people!)</p>
<p>What are you studying, anyhow? I bet you could make a decent paycheck if you're smart :)</p>
<p>If I can manage it, I would like to double major; one from the sciences and the other from the humanities. I enjoy both :). Although math is something that I could do without...</p>
<p>humanities majors get laughed at because they're impractical majors. With our economy going down the drain, no one desperately needs to hire more soc. sci or humanities people. We need more practical majors like science, accounting, and engineering because they are marketable. No one's going to care if you can quote socrates.</p>
<p>I considered being a math major because it's always been my favorite subject. I actually enjoy doing the homework, and I'm one of the laziest people I know. It's just not practical though, especially with the economy. That's why I'm in engineering.</p>
<p>You guys are acting like these majors result in homelessness lol - obviously if no one could get jobs with them, then it would be illogical for anyone to pick those majors. Yet every year, hundreds of thousands graduate with liberal arts degrees, and yet we don't see millions of them living in boxes.</p>
<p>You guys realize that only 1 out of 4 Americans even have Bachelor's degrees? And half of those must be liberal arts...so only 1/8 Americans get the professional degrees...yet 7/8 Americans aren't jobless...hmmm. :) Also, in Science fields, a Bachelor's alone limits you - not everyone is smart enough to get a Masters or Ph.D and most people don't. Engineering is different because you only need a Bachelor's, as far as I know.</p>
<p>Aodhan, the notion that math majors can't get jobs is incorrect if done correctly. You can get tons of jobs as a math major as long as you pair it with something else, and the combo is better than either on its own. On its own it doesn't have a lot of applications.</p>
<p>If you wanted to get into genetics which uses a significant amount of mathematical modeling. Would you rather hire someone who studied bio/genetics/biochem or someone who did that and math? Finance or math and finance? You can't even go to econ grad school without practically having a math degree. One of the biggest assets of a math degree is for grad level work. At the highest level of most scientific fields you need to know a significant amount of math. Being a mechanical engineering isn't just doing contrived labs, at a higher level it is all about finite elements analysis. </p>
<p>It isn't too dificult to make the switch from math to engineering too. I'm a math and econ double major, and I'm starting a masters in an engineering program next year.</p>
<p>Molly4180, having a bach in engineering may be enough but not necessarily. If you work in R&D you will always work for a guy with a masters degree, and in turn they will work for a phD. In fact, industry is in need of more american born engineering phds at the moment.</p>
<p>What is the reason for studying Humanities.? While I see a need for such disciplines, I see absolutely no need for a college degree in such topics. If you want to be a artist, writer, dancer, actor, etc it comes down to either you have it you dont. If you have it you don't need a college degree, and if you dont have it, well im sorry but yo arent going to get it. No college will make somebody into the next great artist or will allow them to write the next great novel or story. The opposite is actually the truth. </p>
<p>I mean college is fun, so why not go. Im sure lots of humanities people have a great time and learn a lot, so why not have degrees I guess. I just don't see them as enablers, more of something to pass the time.</p>
<p>molly4190 wrote:
"What are you studying, anyhow? I bet you could make a decent paycheck if you're smart" </p>
<p>I'm a philosophy major at a California Community College and am about to transfer to a UC this fall(hopefully Berkeley). Even though this is a perfect pre-law major, I have no interest in become a lawyer. I too am pretty meager, and wouldn't mind driving used cars and renting for the rest of my days.</p>
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While I see a need for such disciplines, I see absolutely no need for a college degree in such topics. If you want to be a artist, writer, dancer, actor, etc it comes down to either you have it you dont.
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I agree you don't need a degree to do any of that, but you're forgetting that Literature, Foreign Languages, Cultural Studies, Philosphy, Gender Studies, History, Classics, and a bunch of other stuff are all Humanities. Obviously anyone who wants to study those or be a teacher or get a Masters/Ph.D in those will want to study them for undergrad...you're acting like the Humanities are just Film, Theatre, Art and stuff!</p>
<p>Philosphy, eh? that's a tough one with just an undergrad degree...still, there's the entire field of marketing/advertising and a lot of business crapadoodle. or you could be an entrepeneur or just do something, I don't know lol. I'm sure you've thought about it.</p>
<p>My economics professor constantly brings up the fact that kids in Asia are raised to aspire a technical, scientific education, and that this is contributing to loss of U.S. hegemony. My friend who was born and raised until the age of 12 in Beijing confirms this. </p>
<p>Here, in the West, there is a lot more emphasis on "finding yourself" and "doing what's a good fit for you". Not so in Asia. And this may be why China and India will eventually eclipse the U.S. Education there is simply a means to an end. To me and many others, it is an end in and of itself. Unfortunately, this sentiment is impractical. </p>
<p>Ironic how our rugged individualism may eventually leave us behind the pack, while more collectivist societies prosper.</p>
<p>"Philosphy, eh? that's a tough one with just an undergrad degree...still, there's the entire field of marketing/advertising and a lot of business crapadoodle. or you could be an entrepeneur or just do something, I don't know lol. I'm sure you've thought about it."</p>
<p>I'll probably go back to washing dishes at the Sizzler. Maybe this time they'll give me that $.50 raise I was lobbying for.</p>
<p>CCC - Hmm I'm an Econ major so I take a lot of Econ classes, and several of my profs have mentioned almost the opposite - Asia's really limiting human capital by putting so much emphasis on technical degrees. You end up with a nation of knob-twiddlers who can read a schematic and fix this and that - but in the long run, you need a broad range of skills and diverse workers to prosper. Imagine if everyone in America decided to become an Engineer - do you think that would work out in the long run? I personally think an environment that fosters individualism and creativity is pretty important across all fields, especially science. </p>
<p>But yeah, we have a shortage of Engineers/Scientists in the US and it would be nice to see more Americans go into the field (as long as they're capable, we don't want to push incapable students into those fields lol).</p>