Useless college majors (based on your experience)

[pstokely]

[Kutjara]

1. Philosophy.

It's only utility lies in letting you know precisely what form of existential angst you're suffering from as you flip burgers at McDonalds.

[pstokely]

2. Can't get into law school (or afford it)?

I think you're overqualified for McDonalds

[Kutjara]

3. It was 20 years ago for me.

I made a career in IT by sheer force of will and nuisance value, so I'm OK. I wouldn't recommend it as a major for anyone who wants an easy path into a career, though.

Law just never appealed to me, and the law schools seemed to prefer Poly Sci majors anyway. :)

[Rhythm]

4. "Poly Sci"? The study of polyamory?

boy am I in the right program :evilgrin:

[Kutjara]

5. Now that's a course I could have got behind.

And in front of, for that matter. :)

[Deja Q]

7. And, more often than not, being right in the middle of!

:woohoo:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

66. Law degree doesn't help. Too many lawyers running loose.

I have a B.A. in biology and never worked in a lab.

I have a Juris Doctor I got at night school while working fulltime at the courthouse as a court reporter, and typing my own transcripts on weekends. Took me five years.

I was a court reporter for many years, my dad was an attorney and I was quite familiar with it, to say the least. However I got burned out from the stress of court reporting, and the occasional nasty lawyer or vicious judge, before I was forty. We heard in school that only one out of 200 people who start reporting school finish and end up working in the profession, because it's highly specialized. I even got the A.A. degree by taking 3 extra courses.

You would think that a law firm would love somebody like me with all this trial experience, can type 110 words a minute, etc. etc., to be a legal assistant, right?

Wrong. Nope. Nada. Niente. I'd be too expensive. I think I've got 280 or more semester hours of college and grad school. I'm not even sure.

So now I'm not unemployed. I'm relabeling my situation. I'm doing "early retirement".

If I had it to do over, since two degrees that took me nine years to get have gotten me exactly NOWHERE in the work world, I would have gotten a BFA in painting.

I majored in music for a while but decided I didn't want to practice 4 hours a day and then become part of a human jukebox known as a "symphony orchestra" and get aches and pains as well.

[Chan790]

6. Political Theory

or as the more common and plain-speaking folks would call it: Philosophy of Politics.

Worst $100,000 and 4 1/2 years wasted in my life. It's not only useless, it's academically-rigorous.

[pstokely]

85. Is that different from Political Science nt

[Chan790]

88. Political Science studies how the system works

we studied why it works at all. Basically I have no f'ing clue how a bill passes (actually I do, but it's a good example) but can quote Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes, Bertrand Russell, Dworkin, Strauss, Bloom and even Keynes until I'm blue in the face.

[tonkatoy57]

8. Music Performance

I have a BA and Masters in music performance.

You don't know despair and the feeling of, "boy did I fuck up" until you've gone to an orchestra audition for a job that pays 15K a year and see that there are 250 other people there.

[AllegroRondo]

23. followed closesly by Music Education

[trackfan]

45. With Music Composition right up there also.

[AllegroRondo]

50. dont forget that minor in Conducting

[pstokely]

86. Won't a high school band hire you?

[deepthought42]

58. Don't forget Music History!

I got my BA in Music History ('05) and I....work f/t as a receptionist and p/t in retail. Yes, thank goodness for the degree! :eyes:

[Pied Piper]

78. I totally agree

The degree means shit, but I met some important people in grad school, and I ended up working in arts administration for the world's largest orchestra corporation. I'm still taking auditions, though, and I'm a pretty active freelancer on top of my day job.

Pied Piper

[Patiod]

9. My S.O. majored in Theater

but that's okay - he has a backup.

He minored in English Literature.

[Burma Jones]

10. There is no Useless College Major

Just people that found something else to do........

I got my BA in Theatre

I have a PhD in Computer Science

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. I hate conversations like this. No major is useless unless

you adhere to the idiotic American belief that job training is the only purpose of education.

The most worthless majors are those jerry-built ones that lead to a specific job title, such as Financial Planning, Personnel Management, or Corporate Health and Fitness but give the student no intellectual tools for thinking or dealing with ambiguity. Such majors are the breeding ground of freepers, who can't see outside their narrow little worlds.

Until the late 1970s, employers hired English, philosophy, and music majors for management training positions. Many people of my generation were able to obtain such positions. That was when companies appreciated people who had a broad worldview and could think and write clearly.

Two things changed during the Reagan administration:

1. The MBAs took over the world. Within about five years, corporations stopped hiring anyone for management training who didn't have a business or computer science degree.

2. Anti-intellectualism became even more dominant in American life than it had been before.

In people's real working lives, they struggle and flounder in the beginning, but eventually they find their niche, and they may change careers several times, ending up in careers that have nothing to do with what they majored in.

I majored in German and minored in French in college, and my entire career has been with Japanese, both as a teacher and as a translator.

I didn't always appreciate my general education requirements when I was a student, but I credit my broadly based educational background for my success as a translator. A translator never knows what she will be asked to translate next, and the kind of knowledge and research and writing skills that I acquired as a liberal arts student prove useful on a daily basis.

So grow up and take every opportunity you can find to learn more about the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

[Seabiscuit]

13. Right on the money!

One of my favorite essays in my freshman year was entitled "The usefulness of useless knowledge". I forget the name of the author. But it was about the importance of gaining a broad liberal arts background before moving on to any career.

[underpants]

15. Great post-BTW Lydia this was on accident

I got an accounting degree because I knew I could always get a job with it. It was completely opposite of my nature or background (testing killed me- I usually could up my score at least 10 points simply in test taking skills) but so far it has paid off really well.

That being said you are right in that they used to hire people who could problem solve or bring different approaches to conflicts/issues/operations but now they just want group think at least it would appear that way. Plus they created an increased demand for business training and MBAs which keep the industry alive as well as providing a pool of managment types to fill the place of the ones who leave (no one really fails)

Read Lewis Powell's 1971 memo to the US Chamber of Commerce and tell me if you see where this all came from (the only thing he missed was the rise of the RW media)

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/powell_memo_lewis.html

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Great smoking gun memo!

And I found this wonderfully ironic bit of self-pity:
----------
It is still Marxist doctrine that the "capitalist" countries are controlled by big business. This doctrine, consistently a part of leftist propaganda all over the world, has a wide public following among Americans.

Yet, as every business executive knows, few elements of American society today have as little influence in government as the American businessman, the corporation, or even the millions of corporate stockholders. If one doubts this, let him undertake the role of "lobbyist" for the business point of view before Congressional committees. The same situation obtains in the legislative halls of most states and major cities. One does not exaggerate to say that, in terms of political influence with respect to the course of legislation and government action, the American business executive is truly the "forgotten man."
-----------
I've got it bookmarked.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

16. You know who you can blame for this?

The universities themselves. They started the trend by demanding pretty much every mid-level administrator and higher to have a Masters in Education.

[electron_blue]

31. For example, which ones?

I'd like to know. The ones I've worked at don't have this.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

42. Well, if you work in education...

I suggest you open up your copy of Education Week, flip to the employment ads, and take a look for yourself.

[electron_blue]

116. Oh good grief. I was looking for your real life examples. Not a run around.

I look at plenty of job ads over the course of a year, I'm on many job search committees and have been chair of several committees. I've never seen such a problem as you've seen. I just wonder whether you're basing this on widespread facts, or a few anecdotal bad experiences you've had.

[mike_c]

21. best response in this thread IMO....

:applause:

[Hugin]

22. I heartily disagree...

Being from a technical/science background and having worked managed by a number of both Business Types and
Humanities types who don't know a NPN junction from a dirt clod, I can tell you straight out there is
absolutely NO appreciation of hard science or what a technical project requires.

About a third of the classes I took to get my degree were in Technical Management. I guess most people don't know
that about Engineers... None of these non-technical managers have any concept of basic technological issues. A part
of my education which has never been utilized in any way as I'm passed over by the unqualified managers who are
hired on the cheap.

They just expect the lights to come on when they flip the switch and they expect it to happen for free.

[XemaSab]

25. I'd say the flip side of that is that progams became very watered down

My mom's got a bachelors in English and she worked her ass off in college. I know a lot of people today who went through the same degree program and were required to read about 1/5 of what my mom had to read. There are a lot of semi-illiterate English majors out there today. :(

(Not the same program per se, but a program leading to a bachelors in English.)

[Hugin]

28. No kidding!

Tell me about it, XemaSab!

There is also no effort to reward experience in any field. Their motto seems to be, "Every Day Is A New Day!"

[One_Life_To_Give]

70. Thats the comodity view

A 6 person-month project. 1 engineer for 6 months, 2 for 3 months or 12 for two weeks. It's all the same to the pointy haired managers.

[Rue]

105. Okay, that's scary.

I may be young, but I would expect even contemporary English majors to be a little more literate than average. Is academia getting that watered-down?

[unpossibles]

32. thank you. I too dislike this line of thought

I went to school to better myself and to learn. yes, it helps get a job, but if you actually learn something, you can apply your skills anywhere. And yes, it is tricky to convince a hiring manager that you do have skills that may not be obvious from your degree, but learning how to write a resume or interview is another valuable skill.

If nothing else, college taught me how to live simply, to communicate, to enjoy life, that people from all over the world and different subcultures are people too, and how to make do with less than ideal conditions in the lean times.

:)

[XemaSab]

36. Spellcheck

and the limits of spellcheck.

[unpossibles]

54. haha. OMG!!! I MISPELLD A WORD!

I must be a freepper. this is series!

(thanks)

[Jimbo S]

35. If hiring for a business management position

why not hire someone with a business degree? Wouldn't it make sense to hire someone with the proper training?

I'm an engineer and I find it doubtful that someone without the technical training that I have could do the work I have done.

My manager has a high school education and his lack of technical knowledge is just laughable.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

53. In the old days, it worked just fine

Sure, in real life, a manager needs to know basic accounting and business law, but otherwise, s/he needs to know how the organization works, how the product or service works, and how to keep the customers happy. In other words, a manager needs common sense above all.

A degree in Personnel Management? Come on! There isn't four years worth of stuff that you need to learn in order to work in an HR office. It's more like a month, less if you're a quick study. (I speak as one who temped in an HR office.)

All those mathematical formulas that people learn in operations management and finance--pretty worthless for the real issues that the average manager faces every day.

Believe it or not, companies used to hire intelligent people of any background and train them in-house for the jobs they needed to fill. For the most part, they did well.

As the result of an affirmative action suit in the mid 1970s, my cousin went from being a teller to being a loan officer in a major bank. She had no training other than having worked as a teller for five years. However, she did fine and was promoted several times before quitting to follow her husband's job to another city. Even so, by the mid 1980s, anyone who wanted to be hired for the equivalent of her first loan officer position had to have a degree in finance.

It's not practical considerations that caused this situation. It's gatekeeping. The companies don't want anyone from a low-income background, and they don't want anyone who has the intellectual and cultural background to challenge their pet assumptions.

[Jimbo S]

71. I guess one has to take it on a case by case basis

I've talked to people who went to college in the decades before I and I am aware a college degree used to qualify one for a job in anything.

OTOH, if the local nuclear power plant is hiring, I'm hoping they pick someone with a nuclear engineering degree and not a liberal arts degree. Lots of stuff one won't pick up from the school of hard knocks.
--
It's not practical considerations that caused this situation. It's gatekeeping. The companies don't want anyone from a low-income background, and they don't want anyone who has the intellectual and cultural background to challenge their pet assumptions.

I haven't seen that at all. Since competancy test have been for the most part outlawed, the college degree is now the new screening. If a person is smart enough to finish college, then he/she is competant enough for the job.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

83. Engineering and medicine were always exceptions, but

businesses used to hire liberal arts grads, and they seem to have prospered in spite of it--or perhaps because of it.

[BluePatriot]

118. "Gatekeeping"

>>"It's not practical considerations that caused this situation. It's gatekeeping. The companies don't want anyone from a low-income background, and they don't want anyone who has the intellectual and cultural background to challenge their pet assumptions."

Bingo!!! I have never heard it put so well. Groupthink over critical thinking skills, because "those pesky people that ask questions all the time" are just too much trouble to uninvolved higher-ups. Yet another control mechanism in our unacknowledged class system. Although, I don't know if it deliberately evolved that way, it's kind of like a chicken-and-the-egg thing.

[WindRavenX]

72. you rock

:thumbsup:

I'm here at BC to learn--not to get a job. Universities shouldn't be employee factories--they should produce thoughtful, learned men and women.

[philosophie_en_rose]

12. The one that you don't really love.

Every college major can be useful and enriching to someone, but not every major is useful to everyone.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

14. Film.

[Kerrytravelers]

37. Ah, but it depends on where you go and what you want to do in film!

Working in film is about who you know. Going to USC or NYU will connect you to people in the business.

While a film program may be excellent in their education, a school located in the middle of Iowa, miles away from the major film making stomping grounds won't get you the connections.

Well, and that may depend on what kind of film you want to do. Documentary and local interest films can be done, but a major budget film or access to actors who have come to LA and NYC to work won't be found in Iowa.

Not slamming Iowa, but really, it's who you know in some fields that are mostly networking based. Talent, yes, but getting your foot in the door is who you know OR where you went to school.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

43. Contacts definitely, but the degree itself is not so helpful.

I'm speaking of a Bachelor's degree, which I have, though. I have a cousin who is a cinematographer, who did go to film school, but his field is more technical than mine (screenwriting).

[Kerrytravelers]

56. Then I totally agree.

I have a MA in Screenplay from USC. The MA helped me land my current job (in education,) but the MA doesn't sell my writing.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

59. Absolutely.

:hi:

[pstokely]

87. Blockbuster won't even hire you, you're overqualified

[leftofthedial]

17. any degree older than twenty years

or maybe it's the person who is considered "useless" at that point.

[raccoon]

29. Amen/Ramen! nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

93. yep

The biggest sin in looking for a job is growing older. That's unforgiveable. Unfortunately, you have to eat between the time you are canned, and the time you're eligible for Social Security, at which time you can spend your pittance on Senior Alpo for Old Dogs.

[Hugin]

18. Electronics Engineering...

I kid you not... The HR people treat us like the kitchen help. A sad end to what was once
considered a 'Profession' along with Medicine and Law.

May it R.I.P.

x(

[Xipe Totec]

95. Word of advice,

go work for a company where the President and CEO are EEs.

You'll see how differently they treat you there. You just about HAVE to have an EE degree to advance in such a company.

[bleedingheart]

19. None

[XemaSab]

24. Art, followed by Anthropology for a BA

Unless you are planning to go on for an advanced degree, there's two one-way tickets to "Room for cream?" land.

[Hugin]

26. Awe, but, I adore Anthropologists!

I even have an official trowel and whisk broom!

:patriot:

[XemaSab]

30. But is the trowel a Marshalltown?

:shrug:

[Hugin]

33. I'd have to check...

I'm thinking it is!

:thumbsup:

(I've worn most of the markings off over the years... I almost had to commit homicide when I caught a
family member about to use it to finish cement. It was the exact type recommended by Fred Plog and
Richard 'Scotty' MacNeish.)


Oh, my... MacNeish died in 2001. Automobile accident. I always figured he was immortal. :(
http://www.andover.edu/rspeabody/S_MacNeishObit.htm

[XemaSab]

41. There are two archaology trowels: Marshalltown and crap that was on sale

at Home Depot. :P

[Hugin]

49. Well, there you have it!

Home Despot didn't exist when I got my trowel! :D






Awe, man! Fred Plog died in 1992... *sigh* He was one of the best Professors I ever had... x(
Cripes! These strolls down memory lane are hard on an Archeology Enthusiast.

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/pqrst/plog_fred.html

I learned everything I know about MesoAmerican Prehistory from Plog.

[Kali]

111. ASU?

Know any others?

[malta blue]

27. I have that useless Anthropology degree...

So sad...I could not afford to seek a higher degree so therefore, my BA is useless. No one will hire me as an archaeologist...

[Cabcere]

51. I'm working towards mine right now

I was originally going to major in International Relations, but quickly learned (during the intro course) that it was not for me. :shrug: So yeah, I'm an Anthro major with no clue as to what I'm going to do with my life. I am learning a lot, though, and enjoying it for the most part, so I guess that counts for something...right? :shrug:

[malta blue]

55. If you like to dig - do as many summer programs as you can

I was lucky enough to dig in Israel, Chile, Peru and Belize...

[Piltdown13]

91. And there are also summer programs...

...for the more cultural anthro-oriented folks. (FWIW...I too am much more familiar with the archaeology options, being sort of half-archaeologist myself :-))

[achtung_circus]

98. My alma mater

now has a forensic anthropology program.

Man, if it had been in existence, lo, so many years ago.

I made do with Geography, which, at bottom, is about how the world works, politically, economically, spatially, statistically, ad nauseum. Probably one of the more useful general degrees.

Oh yeah, maps too. Maps are cool.

[Kali]

113. I would have done forensics too

if I hadn't been all about partying...love poking the dead stuff with a stick :yoiks:

[Kali]

112. Sure they will

Oh, did you need to make enough to live on?

[unpossibles]

34. I have a BFA in painting and a good job that I love

art school taught me how to think creatively and how to solve problems, which are valuable skills. The sad part is, many would agree with you that it's for slackers, even though I worked my ass off in school.

[Kerrytravelers]

40. The fact that you have that artistic talent isn't lazy- it's a gift that I don't have.

But I do appreciate! :)

[XemaSab]

44. I'm curious:

what's your current job and how did your art degree help you get there?

I've never known anyone to get anywhere with an art degree unless they have a LOT of talent or some other skill. This is all totally in my own observations, of course, and I've never been connected to a school that had a killer program. /disclaimer

[unpossibles]

52. my job is in the field of photo research and I also sell paintings

the photo job is in the visual arts field, so while not techincally in my degree, it is related. I don't see college as needing to be a job factory, so that doesn't bother me. You are right though - it's not easy to get a job at all, but I also don't mind that I've had quite a few other jobs not in my field - I can learn from those as well and apply them here.

[Cobalt Violet]

107. BFA in Painting here too!

:hi: I love my degree. If corporate America doesn't value it, Fuck 'em. I sure value it. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[conscious evolution]

38. Aeronautical Science

But only if you loose your Class 1 medical Certification.

[eyepaddle]

47. Oops.

Wrong spot.

[crim son]

39. Psychology/Sociology!

You need a PhD to earn over fifteen bucks an hour. Can't recommend it, even though it was very interesting.

[SPKrazy]

60. Would Mostly Agree

At the time I went to grad school it was nearly impossible to find a job with a BS in Psych.

Now there are agencies here in Arkansas that hire people out with a BS in Psych and pay them close to $20 an hour to do case management or be mental health paraprofessionals.

:shrug:

of course that may be a regional thing.

[itsmesgd]

75. I did pretty well (not financially) with a Criminal Justice major and Psy/Soc minor.

[crim son]

76. I had a double major

and when I got out of school ('86) there was nothing available for me, not even in Boston where, at the time, there was a job boom. For me it was a financial issue because I was living in the city with no aid of any kind, and needed a minimum income. I'm glad it worked out for you, though :)

[itsmesgd]

77. eh, not quite. I am not a professional, but I enjoyed the knowledge that the education departed

I'm a private investigator. I dont exactly roll in the big bucks. I work where I want for who I want, when ...they say so.

So...criminal justice plus psychology equals a career of following cheaters and liars.

[Nikia]

94. My mother had a psychology major

Her first job was a program assistant at a halfway house for drug addicted teens. Her next job was a probation officer. Then she got a master's degree in public administration.

[Hosnon]

46. Useless in what context? I don't think any degree is categorically useless.

Many may be useless in the job market though...

[Cobalt Violet]

106. I agree with that.

I love my BFA.

[eyepaddle]

48. I got jobs with my geology degree, it just turned out that

I didn't like them much. I was either spending months at a stretch sitting on an offshore drilling rig with a bunch of yankee hating bubbas, or I was spending time and effort making it look like gas station owners give a shit.

The degree was wonderful though, I found it very stimulating and rewarding to learn about the Earth and its processes. If I would've had the wherewithal to move into Ph.D'ville and do some research and teaching I think I would've like that quite a bit.

I got a master's in environmenatl health and now I'm a safety guy. :thumbsup:

[XemaSab]

101. No! Not the safety guy!

:o

We've spent the last few days removing swallow nests. The first day we had chintzy sunglass-style goggles, hardhats, and dust masks. We went home with grit in our eyes and splinters from the wooden stake we used to knock down the nests. The highlight of the day was finding an injured bat.

The next day we had better goggles, but left the hard hats off. Spent the day getting hit on the head with pieces of clay.

Good times. :D

[Wapsie B]

57. None of them.

If you're talking about degrees that will directly translate into a job once you graduate that's one thing. And if that's a concern then I would suggest going into something more vocational in nature such as nursing or accounting where the specialized courses will prepare you to enter that specific profession. But in terms of educating someone, and making that person a more well-rounded individual with a much broader worldview no degree is worthless, not even in the most esoteric area of study.

Many will become disillusioned and cynical about the job market, seeing the engineering grads get nice job offers during the on-campus recruiting session, while the music and english grads are left wanting. But they don't realize that 5 years down the road that engineer may have been dead-ended or would like to move in a new direction, wishing they'd have paid closer attention to their english and composition skills.

If you want job training go to a community college to learn a trade, thus having a tangible skill to offer the employment world. I know more than a few people who after getting their Master's degree went to a community college to learn a specific course of vocational study.

What upsets me greatly is hearing that if a job is up for grabs between two individuals and one has a degree and the other doesn't the degreed person will come out ahead. That is not true by a long shot. I've had my education and achievements ignored. If you're in a field where many of the workers are undegreed having a college education does not give you a leg up. I had a boss who had nowhere near my education, but he had been at that particular job for a long time and OJT'd into it. I do believe he got a thrill out of knowing that he got where he was without an education. And that mindset seems to be common in my field as well as others.

[TheBaldyMan]

61. Baton-twirling

There was a story in the news a few years ago that an American College would allow students to major in baton-twirling, this struck me as the most mickey-mouse major ever.

There is nothing wrong with marching bands but allowing someone to class it as an academic subject devalues all other scientific, academic and technical degrees.

[Blue_In_AK]

62. B.S. in psychology

I've been a legal secretary/paralegal most of my life, and now that I'm semi-retired I prepare court transcripts. I could have done it all without the degree, but thankfully degrees didn't cost much back in my day.

[Oeditpus Rex]

63. Journalism

Unless you can live on $25,000 per year while being discouraged from doing your job.

[regularguy]

64. Corporate Law

I guess you might make some money, but could you imagine having your brain filled with that crap?!?!? I have a *brilliant* cousin who went into corporate law, and is making tons of money. Of course it's none of my business, but I always think (to myself) "what a waste".

[Manifestor_of_Light]

92. Objection, booooooring.

Yep, many areas of law are quite boooooring.

If you can stand the excitement of Commercial Law, which is one semester of Sales & Secured Transactions, and one semester of Bills & Notes, without killing yourself from boredom, you've done well. We had a textbook written by David Epstein and it had problems in it with companies with funny names, like the L. Ton John Plumbing Company, and it even had cartoons!!!

Other thrill-a-minute courses are Corporations, Agency & Partnership, Estate & Gift Taxes and Federal Income Tax. AggghhHH!!!! :banghead:

[CTyankee]

65. My BA in Communications and Fine Arts and MA in Liberal Studies

I was a fundraiser until I retired due to the stress the job was causing me.

I found that at least in the nonprofit world, it doesn't much matter what your degree is in, except of course for accountants/lawyers, etc, but you have to have the degree. Even if you could do the job and do it well, no degree meant no job. I went back to school late in life to finish up so I wouldn't have to put up with the crap.

[Midlodemocrat]

67. No such thing. My major was something I enjoyed, and I earned

a good living for a while, but now I do something completely different.

[sarge43]

68. BA, English Literature n/t

[TallahasseeGrannie]

69. Art History

and I know this from personal experience. Went back and got a BFA, which is only half as useless.

[devilgrrl]

80. Hey TallahasseeGrannie....

nice to see you back. :-)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

108. Thanks

I thought I'd hang out in the lounge a bit. Nice to be back.

[Strawman]

73. There are no useless majors, only useless students.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

74. Communication

Or usually major found in abundance in a major college football team.

That said, I agree with the above comments that a degree is what you make of it.

[Madspirit]

79. Any You Don't Enjoy

Philosophy and Psychology were the most enjoyable. I loved them both so much I don't even have words for it, though philosophy did depress me pretty badly. I settled on the latter, psychology.

I didn't go to college to get a particular kind of job or to make money. I went to learn that which I found fascinating.

I'm now 52 and quite poor. haha...sob.
Lee

[grace0418]

81. College is a great learning experience no matter what your major. I wouldn't

trade my years in school for anything. It almost doesn't matter what I studied. It's what I learned about life and being an adult and working towards a goal that really made a difference in my life. I always remind myself that if I could go to school full-time, work full-time, feed/clothe/house myself, and still have time for friends and my husband (who was just my boyfriend at the time), I can do *anything* at all. I got no help from my parents and very little from the government, so college was a crash course in survival. And I did it! Graduated with honors, too.

[windy252]

82. I haven't finished

but I believe my cousin had a major in Philosophy. He's not very happy.

[Ookie]

84. No such thing

Anything that delays the work a day world is worth-while :headbang:

[hfojvt]

89. math, physics, statistics, and economics

those are my majors/minors. I work as a janitor. Previous to that I worked as a factory temp.

[LostInAnomie]

90. Sociology is one of the most intellectually enlightening degrees available.

But, it's about as useful in the job market as crapped in pants.

[Rabrrrrrr]

96. I firmly believe that there are no useless college majors.

Though I do believe that "business" should be stricken as something that one can get a degree in except at the masters level and above.

But then, without the "business" degree, colleges couldn't field enough people to put together any sports teams, so I know that dream is gonna die.

[Xipe Totec]

97. 19th century French Poetry

Andie MacDowell: Believe it or not I studied 19th century French Poetry.

Bill Murray: What a waste of time!... I mean for someone else, that would be an incredible waste of time. So bold of you to even choose that, it's incredible. You must be a very, very strong person.

(audio clip here: http://www.supercalafragalistic.com/sounds2/groundhogday/groundhogdaymain.htm )


- Groundhog Day

[Nikia]

102. I think a foreign language major could be valuable

To be a translator or to work with a company that does business with people who speak that language and are of that culture.

[Xipe Totec]

103. That was a joke

Obviously a poor one.

I love languages. I am fluent in Spanish and English, working knowledge of Russian, had college training in French, tutored in German, own and study a Nahuatl dictionary, Studied 19th century Mexican poetry...

Trained in theory of formal languages, Program in COBOL, FORTRAN, C, C++, Pascal, and Java (also languages).

That's why I love that line from Groundhog Day; it is so dismissive and petulant.

Sorry for the confusion I caused! :blush:

[Dastard Stepchild]

99. I don't believe useless degrees are the problem...

I think it's more that a BA/BS/etc has become the bar for the vast majority of jobs that, I would argue, really don't require a college education. Now, that said, I loved college, and continue to love my graduate level work. But I just don't think it should be required of people for a large number of jobs. That way, people can return to studying Classical Languages and Philosophical Thought (two of the most maligned subject areas) with nary an ounce of guilt because they WANT to study those subjects, not because they have to try and squeeze their academic experience into a little job box. I am in no way discouraging college attendance, because I think people can acquire numerous benefits from their time there. I would just love to see it returned to an "I'd like to go," rather than an "I must absolutely go or my future is fucked" scenario.

I also think this is why graduate programs are taking off like mad.... the generalist undergraduate experience does not directly translate into work opportunities for a number of graduates.

[Nikia]

100. A 4 year degree in biology

I thought that I'd throw that out there.
It isn't that it is completely worthless in getting a job. It just doesn't lead to a good paying job, which is why they can find entry level people with biology degrees to work as lab techs for $11/hour. If you want to make decent money, you need an advanced degree.
Being in Wisconsin, I got my first job with a food company. Then I temped briefly at a consumer products company. I chose to take a permanent job at another food company, instead of hoping that I might be hired someday at the other company (They had lots of lab temps that didn't get hired). Now, I am at yet another food company with a job with more responsibility. For my next job, I might be able to get something that pays more than the average engineering major makes right out of college. I graduated from college in 2000.
The unfortunate thing is although I like biology and science, I like the social sciences and humanities much more and got higher grades in them in my college career. I think that it would have been better if I had majored in one of those subjects if I wasn't going to get a high paying job anyway. If I wanted a high paying job, I should have majored in engineering, although I would have had to go to a different college for that. One thing that did not appeal to me about all enginnering programs that I considered was that the degree was so technical, allowing very few liberal arts classes.

[Xipe Totec]

104. Need to use a different measure

I know it's tough, but the salary associated with a job is a measure of how society values a degree, not how you measure a degree.

The question you need to ask yourself is this:

What do I want to do with the time I have been granted in this universe?

Remember that it is finite; less than a century. For some, less than half a century...

So, given that you are a sentient being in this universe for such a short time, what do you want to do with the gift you were given?

[jmowreader]

109. There is one Completely Useless major

Computer Information Systems.

Every college HAS to offer a degree in Computers these days if they want to be taken seriously, right? Unfortunately, the no-shit computer science disciplines--hardware engineering and software engineering--are the provinces of universities who possess Schools of Engineering.

Enter the CIS degree. It's taught in a university's School of Business, and it's effectively a four-year MCSE program.

If you're going to get a computer degree, get a real one.

[leeroysphitz]

110. Anything with the term "interdisciplinary" in it...

[Critters2]

114. I found my history degree useful, even if my academic advisor

didn't think it would be. She worried all the time that I needed education courses. I knew I didn't want to teach--at least not middle or high school--and that I would be attending grad school of one kind or another. And yes, a history degree was useful there.

But if I hadn't been okay with going on to grad work, it might have been a problem.

[smoogatz]

115. Creative Writing and Dance.

Totally useless degrees in terms of the job market. Is the instruction worthwhile? Depends who you are, where you go to school, and who you work with.

[DuaneBidoux]

117. Anthropology. Useless for a career but fantastic for life.

You need to define useless. Do you mean for a job? If that is the only thing you look at college for then in my opinion you are not necessarily talking about an education but instead vocational technical training.