Would you support your child in pursuing a degree in English Literature?

[Anonymous]

My daughter's best friend is an English lit major and has an internship at a Big 4 in M&A.

[Anonymous]

Undergrad?sure. Great for pre law and even mba if balanced load. Grad school is all that matters. Would not support an English lit PhD though. Cruel to the kid to sentence them to a lifetime of poverty as an adjunct. Same for most bio PhDs though. Academia career is a bad choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I'd encourage them to research what career they could develop from that major. I've been seeing more and more jobs seeking those with journalism and English degrees, which surprised me.

For example, technical writer, various communications professionals, digital marketers/copywriters.

B2B copywriters can earn a lot.

One of the most successful people I know from college was a theatre major earning well over $200K in communications. A personality and network will do a lot to help. This person has a way with people.

Generative AI says hi

As a person in tech, it's not the boogeyman people make it out to be. CEOs just expose that their jobs comprise of things that AI can do, and think the rest of their workforce is sitting around doing squat.

[Anonymous]

yeah, because you need to go to grad school to get a good job anyway. just do something with a good GPA and then nail the GREs or LSATs or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergrad?sure. Great for pre law and even mba if balanced load. Grad school is all that matters. Would not support an English lit PhD though. Cruel to the kid to sentence them to a lifetime of poverty as an adjunct. Same for most bio PhDs though. Academia career is a bad choice.

I wouldn't love the choice of an English lit PhD, but they get paid to do it, so it's not really a bad thing. I'd highly encourage for them to move from and Eng PhD to high school education and try to get into administration.

[Anonymous]

My undergrad degree is in something many might consider "fluff." I have a masters in an area that relates to my career.

Studying something I loved as an undergrad meant I had great grades and a high GPA when I applied to my grad program.

[Anonymous]

No, I wouldn't waste nearly $400k on any majors outside of Economics and Computer Science/Engineering. Next question.

[Anonymous]

Not many majors that are better at training you to think. Except philosophy. I would encourage anyone to study lit.

[Anonymous]

Of course! That would be one less employee I will have to teach to write. They will have been exposed to history, science, art, politics, philosophy, etc etc. This doesn't limit your career options; it actually expands them as it's a degree useful for literally anything.

[Anonymous]

Unlike others, I think it is a ridiculous, useless waste of time. Why not just read a book if you're that interested?

DC will be majoring in STEM like a smart child does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unlike others, I think it is a ridiculous, useless waste of time. Why not just read a book if you're that interested?

DC will be majoring in STEM like a smart child does.

what if DC is garbage at STEM or doesn't like it?

[Anonymous]

Of course. It was one of the most popular majors at my top three SLAC in the 90's, and my major. I had no trouble with law school admissions and am doing just fine. My English major classmates are now in consulting, law, academia, PR, marketing, publishing, writing, high levels of government, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unlike others, I think it is a ridiculous, useless waste of time. Why not just read a book if you're that interested?

DC will be majoring in STEM like a smart child does.

what if DC is garbage at STEM or doesn't like it?

Sounds like a parenting fail.

[Anonymous]

yes? what's the alternative? cut them off unless they agree to major in CS or Engineering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unlike others, I think it is a ridiculous, useless waste of time. Why not just read a book if you're that interested?

DC will be majoring in STEM like a smart child does.

what if DC is garbage at STEM or doesn't like it?

Sounds like a parenting fail.

You can't parent TE (it's not STEM, Science and Math are degrees that make pennies, take it from a double major in the two). Engineering is designed for most to fail out, and for good reason. CS is easier but is already becoming grossly competitive.