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Permalink Reply by Jack Bauer on December 18, 2012 at 11:26am

^Don't do this. 

 

The purpose of college is to get a degree that thrusts you into the job market with a marketable set of skills ... not to "redefine alot of [your] worldviews."  If you're aiming to redefine worldviews, you can just as effectively, for a whole lot less money than 4-years (or more) at an Ivy League school.  "Find yourself" at a community college or public library.

Majoring in something that is "very broad" because you don't know what you want to do leaves you with a general education, no skills, and few job prospects.  It is really difficult to get a job when you don't know how to actually do anything ... even if you can wax poetic about your worldview, politics and philosophy.  If that stuff interests you, minor in it.  Major in something practical.

Trust me.  I was a poli sci major.  There are very few jobs out there for people like that.  I went to law school, which gave me a marketable skill set, but my undergraduate education was largely a waste except that it got me into law school.

 

JB

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Permalink Reply by George Dorn on December 18, 2012 at 12:12pm

Computer Science and Engineering seem to have the best career prospects these days. If you're willing to work in a major city for a big company (Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, etc.), it's not uncommon to be earning six figures pretty soon after getting your degree.

The hard sciences (biology, chemistry, physics) are also worth considering, although the job market is more competitive in those fields. Business/finance/economics also have the potential to be very lucrative. You could become a doctor (where a good income is all but guaranteed), but of course that requires many years of schooling that you may not be willing  to do.

Liberal Arts are among the least lucrative, unless you get your PhD and are lucky enough to find a teaching job (and teaching positions, especially at the college level, are extremely competitive). Most everyone I know with a liberal arts degree does something completely unrelated to their major. I would also not recommend going to law school unless you really want to be lawyer - the job market for law is very oversaturated right now.

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Permalink Reply by Rebekah on December 18, 2012 at 12:34pm

1. Google "high-paying majors"; get better advice than our non-expert guesses.

2. Read some business/economy news. Get a sense of the growing and declining industries.

3. Talk to the counselors at your school.

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Permalink Reply by Will on December 18, 2012 at 2:42pm

About "do what you love":

I took a philosophy class.  Most memorable thing the prof (as opposed to Aristotle) said was, "Sometimes this stuff gives me chills, it's so good."

Priest at a church I visit said, "The thing I love most about being a priest is I get to celebrate the Eucharist."

As for me, when I get bored with my job . . . I get back into programming.  (I teach CS.)

The point is that although nobody loves every aspect of a job, many of us love the core of it.  It is possible.  

Yet I also know there are some that just don't find delight in anything they can be paid for.  Ah, well.  You still have to make a living.

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Permalink Reply by David Gomez on December 18, 2012 at 3:16pm

I disagree with the man who said that those who major in political science are in retail. One can go on to law school with a degree in political science or become a paralegal. I had my degree in political science and spent 35 years in the claims analysis field for a Fortune 500 company working multi-million dollar claims. It was a good career. Folks start small such as auto claims but you can move up in the field and make $100K a year doing that after putting in the time. With that said it can drive you up the wall as it is listed as one of the top 10 most stressful jobs and has been listed as such for over 30 years. I retired from that and am now a swing trader in the stock market working for myself and am doing very well. I don't have a degree in business but have a head for business and it is self-taught. Of course one has to have a head for business and find politics and economics interesting to be successful as well as know when to cut your losses. At your young as of 20 I would suggest you look at what it is you enjoy in life and see if you can make a career out of that. The key to knowing wealth is not how much money you make but making sure you don't live on credit because even the wealthiest people can be poor if they are constantly in debt. If you make less money doing what you enjoy but keep your debt low and don't live on credit cards and debt you might find that whatever your career leads you - you can live well if you are not in hock up to your eyeballs. Good luck to you!

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Permalink Reply by Rebekah on December 18, 2012 at 3:28pm

I just want to correct a possible misunderstanding that may arise from this post: There is no particular major necessary for law school or to be a paralegal, or any major that might exclude you from such a career. Different states train and license (or not) paralegals differently. Law schools accept students who had any or no major.

An out-of-the-box major can be a major plus, depending on the kind of law you want to practice. Patent attorneys need a science/engineering background. Attorneys who speak obscure foreign languages are always busy.

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Permalink Reply by David Gomez on December 18, 2012 at 3:30pm

That's true Rebekah - I was just giving an example of other things people with political science majors can do other than retail. :)

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Permalink Reply by Jack Bauer on December 18, 2012 at 3:35pm

The real problem is, a political science degree doesn't exclusively qualify you to do anything.  You can teach, or go to law school, or go to hairdressing school, or become a licensed paralegal, or work in retail ... all of which you also could've done with a major in English, or History, or 'general studies', or basket weaving.  So, why political science?

 

I would recommend anyone wanting to go to law school get a practical degree in engineering, or a hard science, or something ... then go to law school.  Even a business degree would help some, particularly if you're going to run your own firm.  A poli sci degree opens up effectively zero opportunities.  It is essentially a general studies major.

 

JB

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Permalink Reply by Ogden on December 22, 2012 at 9:09pm

So, I'm all about doing what you love.  The problem I have is when people do what they love but complain that they don't make enough money, can't find a job, etc. You aren't doing that and you are asking the right questions.   More people should do that.

I suggest engineering.  Here's the thing to realize about an engineering degree.  An engineering degree is a problem solving degree.  Sure you will learn specifics about a certain discipline, but engineering will, at a higher level, teach you how to approach, wrap your brain around, understand, and solve problems.

That is a skill that you can take an build into many, many places outside engineering because they transcend the technical.  You could argue that they aren't really technical skills at all.  Being able to frame a problem quickly so that it can be understood and solved (even though you may not, entirely, know how to solve it on your own) is a valuable skill, and people will pay good money for it.

Also, even if you dive into some hard technical skills, don't skip the soft skills.  Learn to deal with people better.  Focus on EQ as well as IQ.  A highly technical person with solid people skills is not a common occurrence, let alone someone with that combination of skills that also wants to be in a management or other position of responsibility.

Engineers tend to blow off the Gen Ed classes, don't.  If you take them seriously, and take the right ones.  Don't take "math for plants" or "rocks for jocks" or "underwater basket weaving".  Take a serious intro class in psych, philosophy, business, economics, etc. and between the broadening of your education that the subject matter gives you and the being around people who are not also engineers, you will be on your way to a good education that will give you a good career and free time to pursue your passions.

Oh, and taking those classes will also get you out the engineering building and into classes where there are more girls too.

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