<p>Actually, I can imagine a Cornell enolgy and viticulture major potentially being in demand. Tons of wineries in NY ( as well as of course other states). There are more brewing type majors popping up too and more local breweries all the time. Dairy farmers and crop farmers need guidance and skills as well. There are majors in those areas at many different colleges. Sounds like those kinds of majors could be very interesting for the right kid and would probably actually lead to a job.</p>
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<p>Why did the parents force him to major in something with relatively poor job prospects that he did not want to do anyway?</p>
<p>Most folks who take that major are NYS residents who benefit from much lower tuition at the contract colleges than at the private Arts and Sciences. And yes, there are many wineries here on the eastern part of Long Island.</p>
<p>As for the bell curve, what happens to the average kid struggling in STEM when up against the kids really talented in that area. Itās not pretty.</p>
<p>If we want to turn all our kids into worker drones toiling at tasks they are not suited for so fat cats can become multi- millionaires and pay 13% taxes so be it. It is certainly easier to accomplish this when no one has a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>To answer the question posed me: because it seemed āharderā, I. E. Mather and more science leaning than theater.</p>
<p>Why canāt parent and child compromise? Double major (one practical and one of whatever student is interested in), or major/minor combination?</p>
<p>And no, I wouldnāt pay for a major that does not directly lead to prospective employment. One should be able to support him/herself.</p>
<p>I would absolutely NOT pay for environmental science. In my opinion itās less employable then vitriculture.</p>
<p>Well, If some posters prevail we will have a fairly no nothing society with our young people at the whim of the job market.</p>
<p>All this despite assurances that humanities majors do lead to employment. Sigh.</p>
<p>Why does anyone have to prevail ? Canāt we have a variety of parenting styles? I wish I had time to count, but it still seems to me the donāt try to influence your kid idea is getting more votes. </p>
<p>I have one English major, also graduated with a journalism and documentary studies certificate, and one mech engineering sophomore who is facing a constant struggle. As a senior in high school he said he wanted to be a television actor. No acting experience.</p>
<p>My brother, a film major in the 80s and currently working in the industry said donāt do it. He also said donāt major in film production, which was the major my son was admitted with at his top choice. My brother would definitely see himself as having been the victim of family not supporting his goals. BTW, he was the only one of us that my parents paid for to go to college. They borrowed and he dropped out. He did go back though. Promised my mom on her deathbed.</p>
<p>Sorry about the poor punctuation. My son gifted me with a new keyboard app on my tablet.</p>
<p>Well exactly. There are many paths to success. Thatās the point.</p>
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<p>I agree completely with blossom.
Isnāt this just common sense? You can always tell the people with limited life outlooks if all they can see around them are people who majored in āmarketableā, blunt fields.</p>
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<p>Thatās right - nobody ever, ever buys wine. @@</p>
<p>So limited.</p>
<p>Yes I would and have paid for my two children to pursue their dream majors. D1 has a BFA in Musical Theatre and is supporting herself working as a performer at DisneyWorld (plus a second job). She knew it would be hard and that was the proviso - you have to be able to support yourself. I expect she will eventually get a Masters and teach theatre at the HS or college level but that will be her choice and her expense. D2 is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Both love their fields, are happy with their choices and will be successful, fulfilled adults.</p>
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<p>Did the parents also have a lot of disdain for choosing an obviously pre-professional major (theater in this case), similar to the common attitude here?</p>
<p>āYes I would and have paid for my two children to pursue their dream majors. D1 has a BFA in Musical Theatre and is supporting herself working as a performer at DisneyWorld (plus a second job)ā.</p>
<p>Bellevue mom: Can I ask what your D1ās BFA in Musical Theater cost, and also what a performer at Disney World earns? Iām glad sheās pursuing her dream, but curious as to what her (your) payback $-wise is currently. Iāve heard that one in not too many can make a truly good living in musical theater, and that many ultimately need to invest more $ + get a teaching certification and head in that direction eventually.</p>
<p>āPaybackā - what a * tacky* concept, ivyparent43. Thereās no āpaybackā because itās not as though I expect my children to hand me back one dime of what I spent on their education. Itās all the same to me if my kids wind up making $35K, $350K, or $3.5 MM. As long as they are self-supporting and happy. </p>
<p>Itās about as tacky as suggesting that there should be some āpaybackā to consider when we decide to vacation in Europe versus at the beach.</p>
<p>I applaud you, Pizzagirl.</p>
<p>Yes, ucbalmnus, thatās what they thought.</p>
<p>I think this is devolving into one of those threads where battle lines are drawn and the same positions are reiterated over and over again.</p>
<p>There is always some kind of payback. Could be financial. Could be in life experience. Could be both. </p>
<p>We are full-pay at a big bucks school for the older kid. The deal for D1 was that it was worth it if she was going to take full advantage of the opportunities at her school. Sheās kept up that end of the bargain with a vengeance. Thereāll be a similar deal-cutting for D2. If the Dās aim is/was to plod through classes but otherwise not engage academically/intellectually while putting the party aspects of college front and centerā¦well, they can do that at a Cal State or UC for far less. Which is not at ALL to disparage UC and Cal State, just that the COA would be 1/3 to 1/2 as much!</p>
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<p>Not even the lack of money to pay for more classes due to the lack of a job?</p>
<p>"āPaybackā - what a tacky concept" (post #274)</p>
<p>Pizzagirl - I donāt see it as a tacky concept. Maybe I shouldāve used āreturn on investmentā or another phrase, but I think itās very reasonable for a parent and child to both consider the cost of a degree versus (1) its reasonably expected earnings power and (2) expectation of in-this-field employment upon graduation.</p>
<p>Did you just pick a price and cross your fingers when you purchased your house? Or your car? Iām guessing you studied comparable properties + neighborhoods + expectation of appreciation for homes, and repair frequency / resale value for cars. Yes, I know kids arenāt homes or autosā¦thatās not my point. My point is that as parents weāre making investments in paying for our kidās college educations. I donāt expect $ payback personally, but my kids should reasonably expect to receive it.</p>
<p>Bluntly, why should I pay $50K/year if my child wants to major in basket weaving because itās their love / passion, if there is a significant possibility of them not being able to make it in that dream field (notice that I picked an inane field, as the last two I mentioned (winemaking and film-making) caused folks to defend those fields as reasonable and $ filled)?</p>
<p>I love my kids and want them to succeed, but Iād be doing them a dis-service if I allowed them to pursue their love of basket weaving as a major without backing it up with a second, more marketable major at a minimum.</p>
<p>So my question stands to Bellevue, as Iām truly curious and donāt mean it as a knock: āWhat did a 4 year BFA in Musical Theater cost, and what does Disney pay by comparison?ā If the 4 year BFA was on a full scholarship and Disney is paying $40K/year, then itās an amazing deal. If the 4-year BFA cost $220K at NYU and Disney is paying $8/hour to BFAās or amazing high schoolers then it wasnāt likely a great choiceā¦given that ultimately Iām guessing 1 in 1000 Musical Theater majors end up āmaking it bigāā¦and Iām not considering love of theater or internal rewards or joy in giving back to an audience in this discussion.</p>
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<p>Of course some graduates in any field will ultimately land their dream jobs, even if there are 100 graduates for every position: those that are not only passionate but actively interact with their professors and everyone they meet in the industry and those that make a nuisance of themselves until they land a key internship will eventually find that job. But not every student has the personality to put himself or herself out there like that, in sales mode 24/7.</p>
<p>So my question is: whatās the trend-line for job opportunities? It would seem to me that the tendency to auto-read resumes via software keywords, combined with Corporate Americaās increasingly reluctance to hire talent that needs to be trained for the specific task, work against humanities majors. At the same time, small businesses are increasingly reluctant to hire, due to disproportionately-high regulatory overhead and, to stay afloat, pretty much also need to hire those able to hit the ground running.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it seems like the supply of fresh STEM majors is growing far too fast for the number of jobs being created. Itās not impossible that within a few years, the shortage will lie with flexible, well-rounded generalists.</p>
<p>Anyone have any stats on the trend-line over the last decade or two?</p>