Getting a degree in something I don't like.

[Crazyjeeper]

I'm a political science major, so without grad school, I'll be doomed to writing a political blog from my parents' basement.

But, I enjoy it, and that is what matters.

 

[BlaRo]

As long as you go out in style...its all good.

 

[wooflepoof]

I have people telling me how worthless my Writing major is; even tonight, like about 20 minutes ago, some asshole who I hadn't talked to in three semesters was like, "oh, you won't find anything with that major." Considering he's a fucked-up neo-Nazi creeper in charge of the sketchiest fraternity on campus, I have no sympathy for the fucktard and choose to ignore naysayers like that in general. It's not your major per se; it's what you can ultimately do with the skills you learn from the required classes in there.

And as a Writing major, I'm expected to become a suicidal alcoholic.

also penniless. don't forget penniless.

I decided to go the way of journalism too, but that's after I got my degrees in culinary and foodservice entrepreneurship. I just finished them up because I didn't want to spend the extra time and $$ switching majors. The entrepreneurship part of my degree was fun and i enjoy cooking....i just don't wanna make a career out of it. Fortunately a writing grad program doesn't really require you to have a writing based undergrad degree and that's much the same with or law and med school. My friend once told me if you wanna get into a good med school don't take pre-med cuz it doesn't really prep you all that well and schools like for you to get all your exploring out of the way in undergrad school before you decide to make such a huge commitment. Thats whats great about college, you can ret-conn yourself here alot easier than you can once you're in the real world.

 

[geezerman402]

Ha, you guys are definitely making me feel a lot better about this

 

[Hatmouse]

Short answer: do what you are interested in.

Long answer: same as short answer.

 

[yeeha]

As an optional test protocol, we are pleased to present an amusing fact: your major doesn't necessarily dictate your career path.

This is true to an extent. There are a lot of people that have careers in areas unrelated to what they majored in. However, there are a number of fields where you do need to have the right education. Sciences, engineering and medical doctors are a few examples. Even then there are ways to get into these fields if you majored in something else but it will usually mean going back to school for it at some point anyway.

 

[spicysaurus]

This is true to an extent. There are a lot of people that have careers in areas unrelated to what they majored in. However, there are a number of fields where you do need to have the right education. Sciences, engineering and medical doctors are a few examples. Even then there are ways to get into these fields if you majored in something else but it will usually mean going back to school for it at some point anyway.

As a scientist, I can vouch for this. If we had an open position and somebody with, say, a political science degree applied, they wouldn't even get an interview. A thorough working knowledge of the subject is pretty much a basic requirement for science jobs.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

Don't forget, James May graduated university with a degree in classical piano (or something) before he became an automotive journalist. The college degree is starting to become less and less relevant in this crippling job market; it's all dependent on what you enjoy instead of what you got your degree in.

IIRC, Richard Hammond has a degree in art history, which he admits hasn't been of much use.

What I discovered a few years ago is that an undergraduate degree is the new high school diploma. It's no big deal - everybody has it. If you want to get a really good job, you have to go to graduate school.

(Controversially, studies suggest that in the current economic crisis, employers prefer to hire college grads, compared to MA/MS graduates...)

In other words...it's all about luck and hard work.

 

[LeVeL]

Switch majors immediately. Life is too short to waste doing something you don't like.

This. I started reading replies and when I got to BlaRo's post I stopped. My family is all mechanical engineers on both sides so, naturally, I majored in it too. However, my engineering classes weren't very interesting and everything else (physics, chem, calculus, etc) seemed kind of useless - we never really used any of that, aside from some basic physics. So I switched half-way through sophomore year, went to a community college that spring semester to get some intro classes out of the way, then came back to UMass junior year and declared economics. Best decision I've ever made, hands down. Classes are really interesting, I am constantly reminded why I took calculus, and life is great. Best thing is that since I find the subject matter interesting, doing the work is easy. I realize that you are a junior but I still think you might want to switch majors. A good friend of mine stuck with mech engineering even though he didn't like it and ended up withdrawing from all his classes (which means he cant come back next semester) about three weeks ago... he is (well, was) a senior. He is planning on coming back but he's not sure if he's staying in engineering. If you don't like what you're doing, switch - better late than never. Good luck!

 

[spicysaurus]

If you want to get a really good job, you have to go to graduate school.

Not true. I have a great job, and all I have is a Bachelors. It all depends on what you want to do with your life.

 

[LP]

Man I started out as a double major in astrophysics and physics.

And after complaining whining and being totally stressed out and depressed, here I am as a completed Astrophysics major

Ok, I know that wasn't the best example but you gotta find something you love doing and are GOOD at.

Everytime I thought "fuck astrophysics, this isn't what I want", I'd find myself reading astronomy magazines, journal articles, and getting boners from watching stephen hawking lectures.

After rubbing one out on general relativity equations and eating some nipples for breakfast, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

Good luck with your endeavors!

 

[shad_68]

After rubbing one out on general relativity equations and eating some nipples for breakfast, I knew this was what I wanted to do.

That's my #1 hot contender for the Final Gear: Most Disturbing Post of the Year award as of now.

 

[Twerp128]

A degree just gets you in the door, after that you may as well wipe your ass with it.

 

[Hidden_Hunter]

A degree just gets you in the door, after that you may as well wipe your ass with it.

This sadly

 

[Hatmouse]

However, getting in the door is an important and necessary step.

 

[Twerp128]

Well is it worth 4 years and 5-6 figures in debt?

 

[yeeha]

If you want to get a really good job, you have to go to graduate school.

(Controversially, studies suggest that in the current economic crisis, employers prefer to hire college grads, compared to MA/MS graduates...)

For a lot of careers it is becoming more and more true that you do need a degree beyond college. There are some exceptions though. I think salesmen and sales managers is one area where experience is generally viewed as more important. I work in a chemistry lab though and the CEO has told me he wants all the chemists to have at least a masters if not PhD.

Well is it worth 4 years and 5-6 figures in debt?

Depends, if you know what you want to do and know college isn't all that important to get there you can safely skip it. But if you don't know what you want to do it can be a pretty big gamble. Either don't go right away and gamble that you'll find something you like without the degree or go for a 4 years and gamble that things will work out that way.

My general opinion is that if you don't know what to do and have parents willing to pay for all or part of it the safer bet is to go to college. Scholarships, part-time jobs and choice of college can bring the cost down some.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

If I may elaborate on Night_Hawk's post,

If you are good at doing something with your hands - go ahead - pursue it. I understand that he is good with working on cars, then there's no real need for him to go to college. Especially, if he likes what he is doing.

Some of us (actually most college student) can't do shit! So we go to college, to learn...but it's mostly theoretical. No real skills. One of the very few benefits is that at the end you receive a degree that qualifies you to apply for a job, even though you can't really do anything.

I would love to be able to do things with my hands, but I can't. I'm really good at physics and math...but when it comes to the practical, real-life side of things...not so much. Let's put it this way: I've jacked up my car and removed a wheel about 10-15 times in the past year. Out of these 15 times, the car fell of the jack once. How well does that speak for my mechanical skills?

not entirely true,

for engineering at least, you get the degree that allows you to apply for the job but you can actually use what you've learnt to do the job you just got hired for. i mean if they hired you sans degree you'd not be able to do much bar make the tea and be the butt of many a joke.

of course, you do soon learn new engineering ways.... optimizations to the many theories in your head.... engineering is just maths with shortcuts hahaha, thats why i love it. Math students painstakingly derive everything.... we just take the shortcut and get on with doing something useful!

saddly, the business grads and the accounting/finance grads that spend a greater proportion (if not most in the case of business) of their time having fun and partaying while your stuck in engineering, again, trying to sort out CFD models, will be pulling up beside you in their BMW/Merc/Audi/Jag while you still drive the beater you've always driven. ( i mean we do some of their modules in addition to engineering as extra work....and it was easy peasy)

alot of the time i think engineers get a raw deal, but then i dont think id be happy doing some namby pamby non-job with a overly elaborate title that was boring and easy. u do engineering coz u enjoy it, not because it pays well

 

[Hatmouse]

Well is it worth 4 years and 5-6 figures in debt?

Depends. If you wanted to be a <doctor/engineer/whatever>, where the degree is *required* to be able to begin to practice, then you have to put in the time and money. There's no other way.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

^yup u can start at the bottom as a techie or a welder or machinist or something and u can generally work your way to somewhere decent but you'll never have the recognition of being a proffesional engineer and you'll likely never end up with chartered status. Even if u have a bachelors it takes an age to get chartered because the company you work for has to get you on an MSc to get your masters then it's another 4 years of development before you can apply for the penultimate engineering status in the uk: CEng. Chartership.

That's why I'm glad I worked hard to stay on the masters MEng program. So I walked out the door ready to start development towards chartership and my company doesn't have to suffer by having me on day release to get my masters. As a bonus I only need 3 years to get chatered becuase my placement year counts as one of the 4!! Score! CEng by 27, next step fellow!!!!

and yeah, u pretty much can't do any of that without the little bit of paper on which ur degree is printed. In the sciences and engineering it's defo worth more than the paper it was printed on. If you are ultra shit hot though they can make people fellows in the same way you can be given an honorary degree or doctorate.