Post by gogadgetgo on Oct 11, 2012 11:36:54 GMT -5
I have a film degree and while I learned the majority of my skills while on the job on set, that degree and the contacts it gave me set me up for a great internship. Without those contacts, I wouldn't not have found the employment opportunities that I did.
That being said, I wasn't trying to be a director or writer so I think that worked in my favor.
I know a lot of people with those majors who are doing well, though many of them attended grad school, so I guess that doesn't really count.
My undergrad doesn't have any practical majors other than engineering (i.e., no business, accounting, etc.). Pretty much everyone I know majored in English, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Anthropology, Religion, Art History, etc. They are all doing quite well, but the economy was admittedly much, much better when we graduated.
I stand corrected! Scientific fields (engineering, biology) seem more real-world applicable than liberal arts, though.
My accountant husband was an accounting major
My best friend majored in art history and while she now has a graduate degree, her jobs have always been art history-based (working for companies doing research on antique jewelry and furniture). She's always been surrounded by art history majors, so I know a lot of similar stories through her friends that I've met (who work, for example, at a very major museum, in a fine arts divisions of an insurance broker helping collector clients acquire new pieces, people who work at antiques dealers, etc.)
Her fiance was an art conservation major and also has a grad degree, but was an art conservationist before then.
I know lots of communications majors who do communications (PR) and English majors who work in publishing.
10. English 9. Sociology 8. Drama and Theater Arts 7. Liberal Arts 6. Studio Arts 5. Graphic Design 4. Philosophy and Religious Studies 3. Film and Photography 2. Fine Arts 1. Anthropology
(Sorry if this has been posted before, just saw it late night yesterday and found it interesting)
I'm #1! I'm #1!
But I still have a pretty decent job, despite my Anthropology major (and Master's!).
My feeling is that unless you are in a specific program, like business, engineering, pre-med, etc-- most liberal arts majors are useless unless you go to grad school.
Or are well connected/network like crazy. Or go to an Ivy or other well regarded school, where people don't really care so much about your major.
Or volunteer for six months until the place decides to hire you, like my husband who was a European history major, who volunteered at a Holocaust memorial organization after he finished his BA until they gave him a paying job.
I completely agree with ESF. There is more than one way to use your degree. I learned quickly that the right school, name, contact, whatever, will get you in the door much faster than your major. I personally know too many without grad degrees who have done well with liberal arts degrees.
xoxo Political Science and History double major ;D
I'm glad I'm not the only one surprised to see English in the Top 10 since I don't want to come across as just being defensive about my major, LOL. It's always been a feeder degree into law school if nothing else.
Interesting! It seemed the popular thing to do was major in Philosophy prior to law school, at my university. About half of them were planning on law school and the other half of us were double majoring. And Philosophy and Physics should totally be on this list. My parents were right, I should have gone for engineering.
Or are well connected/network like crazy. Or go to an Ivy or other well regarded school, where people don't really care so much about your major.
Or volunteer for six months until the place decides to hire you, like my husband who was a European history major, who volunteered at a Holocaust memorial organization after he finished his BA until they gave him a paying job.
I completely agree with ESF. There is more than one way to use your degree. I learned quickly that the right school, name, contact, whatever, will get you in the door much faster than your major. I personally know too many without grad degrees who have done well with liberal arts degrees.
xoxo Political Science and History double major ;D
Oh, I am agreeing you guys, absolutely.
But I still stand by the assertion that the major itself is useless. They are getting the job because of the name of the school and/or connections- not because of the major.
I'm surprised English is on there but Political Science is not.
I wish someone would have told me English would have been a much better major to prepare as an attorney. Poli Sci was pretty useless. All it did was boost my GPA once I switched over from Biology.
I have to disagree. The combination of writing and researching that I had to do for my poli sci major was absolutely the reason I am successful at my current job and why I did well working in a law firm immediately out of school. Maybe it depends on the school, but I went to a no-frills state school, so nothing fancy.
Interesting! It seemed the popular thing to do was major in Philosophy prior to law school, at my university. About half of them were planning on law school and the other half of us were double majoring.
That was me (on both counts, though my other major wouldn't have helped me much in life either)
I'm surprised English is on there but Political Science is not.
I wish someone would have told me English would have been a much better major to prepare as an attorney. Poli Sci was pretty useless. All it did was boost my GPA once I switched over from Biology.
I have to disagree. The combination of writing and researching that I had to do for my poli sci major was absolutely the reason I am successful at my current job and why I did well working in a law firm immediately out of school. Maybe it depends on the school, but I went to a no-frills state school, so nothing fancy.
Probably school dependent. Other than my undergrad Con Law classes (which were quasi-law school Con Law classes with an attorney as the professor), my poli sci classes were a joke. Read a book, write a paper. Or in the case of my American Government classes, memorize XYZ and spit it back out in an exam. Little to no research. I learned my researching and writing skills in law school.
eta: I went to my state's flagship university that has a ranked Poli Sci program according to US News.
Does anyone actually work in a field directly related to their undergrad major (not including those who went on to med/law/grad school)?
I'm a former English major and am happy to report that I'm doing well. It's a great foundation for lots of careers.
Right. There's a difference between college and vocational programs (both of which are valuable in their own ways.) I used to run a college career office, and it always drove me crazy when people (usually parents) would ask me what their kid could do with a sociology degree... it's not like there's a direct career path between the degree and a sociology "job", but done right and with internship/field experience, the possibilities are really endless. (Myself, I was an american studies major, and before I went back to grad school and worked in higher ed, I was making about 6 figures as a recruiter... not bad for a dinky lil liberal arts degree. Of course, now I have no job and no income whatsoever, so it all equals out in the end.)
Really, English? I am a little surprised by that one. Otherwise I do agree.
Just a month ago, English was listed as one of the top 10 degrees to have on a different site.
A lot of people assume an English degree just means you sat around reading "old books", but obviously you need to have good grammar skills and be able to think creatively. A lot of companies in my experience want that, and not the every Tom, Dick, & Harry who studied Business & Marketing because they assumed it was an automatic position at a big company.
Does anyone actually work in a field directly related to their undergrad major (not including those who went on to med/law/grad school)?
I'm a former English major and am happy to report that I'm doing well. It's a great foundation for lots of careers.
Yep. I'm a tax accountant/CPA with a bachelor's in accounting. My husband was a finance major who works in finance/accounting. My brother was a physics major who is now a physics teacher. Best friend was a marketing major who works a buyer for a retailer. The list goes on...
I wish they'd divide up number 8 into acting majors and tech/design majors. The actors are bringing down the average.
Employment in the tech side is up, most of the freelancers I know have shops fighting over them and most jobs start above the median level in the slideshow.
And those of us who got "academic" theatre degrees -- i.e. dramatic literature and history. Most people I know who went that route in drama like me have great jobs. But most of us also went to grad school as well.
I have a friend who got a degree in fashion merchandising... From the University of IDAHO, bwahahahahabahah. She's now working at a nursery school while her husband is in law school.
I have a BA in religious studies. I knew that the degree by itself would be useless but always knew more school was in my future so I didn't really care.
Interesting! It seemed the popular thing to do was major in Philosophy prior to law school, at my university. About half of them were planning on law school and the other half of us were double majoring.
That was me (on both counts, though my other major wouldn't have helped me much in life either)
Yay! Psychology isnt on there! I guesss because it is usefully if you go to grad school (and actually I am finding it pretty useful for my ed classes too.) My H's major is #10. Eh, I guess.
Really, I think just about any college degree is useless on its own unless you get some sort of specific job related training out of it. Things like nursing, teaching, etc where you get practical experience actually doing the job. I think most other majors are only beneficial if you go to the right school, make the right connections, get the right internships, or some combination of those. Or if you go to grad school and learn something directly applicable to doing a job (law school, social work, medical degree, etc).
Education is great for its own sake and it makes a nice box to check off on a job application, but I think this list of 10 is interchangeable with 100+ other majors that also don't prepare students for the real world and an actual job.
My friend is #4 and his sister #1. After getting his philosphy degree he went on to law school and became a successful attorney. His sister continued her studies, got a PhD in anthropology and has a really awesome job at the Natural History Museum. For some inexplicable reason I like to read lists like these, but they are kinda' silly.