What to major in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^Interesting analysis but general. You can't possibly be an expert in every field regardless that you have a PhD. However, I share some of your observations and would definitely take heed to your expertise in your field. However, I would strongly encourage students to do their own homework. No one is an expert in every field. And while we all have amigos who wear different hats in different fields, one still needs to listen to their experiences/advice then do your own research.

One of my best friends has a PhD in Linguistics and has been extremely successful. I would hang onto his every word for academic and career advice. I would listen to his general comments about careers in biochemistry because that's not his field,

With that said, it was good of you to take time to give your personal insights.

I tend to agree. I would dispute some of what 14:20 said especially the remarks about prestige in nursing. It is no longer a 'bedpan' career, and the associate degree is rapidly being phased out. Most organizations require a minimum of a bachelor's degree, and most programs have a combination BSN/MSN program. Also, nurses are not relegated to strictly hospitals and are used significantly in research, medical informatics, workers' compensation, genomic research, etc. NIH being just one company that employs nurses in research in addition to bedside.

So, I agree with PP that while 14:20 certainly has provided information definitely worth noting, I would not consider his comments gospel nor expert. You must have to get in there and do the legwork for any area of interest. One individual, no matter how well-intentioned, just doesn't take the place of checking things out for yourself and really delving into your interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Economics

I'll make this more specific - Behavioral Economics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The relevance of major is directly correlated to rank/prestige of school if you control for networking/getting hooked up with a job by someone you know.

A dance major at jmu or umd or even uva is not getting a job at a bulge bracket investment bank.

but yes, major becomes a bit more irrelevant if you go to hyps.

I think that, even with lesser schools, the same phenomena that allows HYPS kids to end up at Goldman with an dance major can be observed if the student is smart, motivated, and circumstances play along. I know a bunch of people from my time at UVa who majored in music and ended up at ivy med schools, sociology and went to HYS for law school, and even a classics major who runs a division at a systems integrator. Networking, personal drive, etc all play bigger parts than the degree a few years after college.

My advice: major in something you actually enjoy and plan to go to grad school or professional school of some kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless you want to do STEM the major rarely matters. There is a dance major that ended up in investment banking.

As mentioned take general classes and attend information sessions to learn about different careers. Research and talk to people about different careers.

While a prosperous career can be enticing most of the people that become lawyers, doctors and bankers for the money are miserable. Working just to work is just as miserable regardless of salary; I have done it at 20k and 100k.

This generally only works if you have deep networking connections, like family or prep school ties from before college.

Really, getting a good job is far more about who you know and how you grew up, despite all our aspirations as a meritocracy. I really believe otherwise growing up, but more and more I see the truth in it. Part of it is also being in a position to take risks (like majoring in dance knowing mom and dad could pay your rent or help line up a job). This is why many immigrants study engineering and medicine, as those were generally stable clear cut career paths (engineering less so b/c of outsourcing and anti-competitive hiring, medicine for all the shenanigans realted to health insurance).

[Anonymous]

So, I agree with PP that while 14:20 certainly has provided information definitely worth noting, I would not consider his comments gospel nor expert. You must have to get in there and do the legwork for any area of interest. One individual, no matter how well-intentioned, just doesn't take the place of checking things out for yourself and really delving into your interests.

14:20 here. Obviously, I can only speak with authority from my own experience, which is in chemistry/biochemistry world. These observations are volunteered on an anonymous site as nothing more than observations of my peers. I have friends who are in all the fields above who have shared their experiences, and with linkedin and facebook, it's easy to watch people's career trajectories. We also tend to discuss our struggles in these various fields, because honestly establishing our careers in this economy is tough for our generation, period.

Some of what I said were vast generalizations. I can already think of several exceptions off the top of my head about what I said about some of these areas.

In reality, there are just so many paths that people take to find career success. People get so hung up on majors--and love to bash the liberal arts. I don't think that an English degree from Yale or Swarthmore is necessarily going to leave you with no options. The job market is changing very rapidly, and in response, I don't think that direct vocational training is always clearly the answer. Parents in any competitive career tend to think that whatever it is they did is the hardest, worst job market out there. My dad is a lawyer with an English degree (who has been very successful in what he does, although it's been hard work) and he thought the magic ticket for his kids was STEM. Well guess what? It's not. It's one of many difficult pathways to a professional career.

What I have noticed, really is that the people who do the best tend to be aggressive self-starters and opportunity grabbers. Good grades and prestigious schools will always help, but in this economy as a recent grad, you cannot wait for opportunities to come to you. I think there tends to be a certain attitude of complacency in a lot of kids who are good at school, where they feel like if you follow the rules and get your As, it will all pan out and you can apply to a handful of jobs and it will be fine. It rarely works like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

So, I agree with PP that while 14:20 certainly has provided information definitely worth noting, I would not consider his comments gospel nor expert. You must have to get in there and do the legwork for any area of interest. One individual, no matter how well-intentioned, just doesn't take the place of checking things out for yourself and really delving into your interests.

14:20 here. Obviously, I can only speak with authority from my own experience, which is in chemistry/biochemistry world. These observations are volunteered on an anonymous site as nothing more than observations of my peers. I have friends who are in all the fields above who have shared their experiences, and with linkedin and facebook, it's easy to watch people's career trajectories. We also tend to discuss our struggles in these various fields, because honestly establishing our careers in this economy is tough for our generation, period.

Some of what I said were vast generalizations. I can already think of several exceptions off the top of my head about what I said about some of these areas.

In reality, there are just so many paths that people take to find career success. People get so hung up on majors--and love to bash the liberal arts. I don't think that an English degree from Yale or Swarthmore is necessarily going to leave you with no options. The job market is changing very rapidly, and in response, I don't think that direct vocational training is always clearly the answer. Parents in any competitive career tend to think that whatever it is they did is the hardest, worst job market out there. My dad is a lawyer with an English degree (who has been very successful in what he does, although it's been hard work) and he thought the magic ticket for his kids was STEM. Well guess what? It's not. It's one of many difficult pathways to a professional career.

What I have noticed, really is that the people who do the best tend to be aggressive self-starters and opportunity grabbers. Good grades and prestigious schools will always help, but in this economy as a recent grad, you cannot wait for opportunities to come to you. I think there tends to be a certain attitude of complacency in a lot of kids who are good at school, where they feel like if you follow the rules and get your As, it will all pan out and you can apply to a handful of jobs and it will be fine. It rarely works like this.

I couldn't agree more (bolded). My kid majored in languages (three critical) BUT added on some journalism, business, science, and international relations courses and aggressively marketed to the government, media, medical interpreting, etc, extolling all academic virtues. I can't even remember all the businesses but there were a bunch. This resulted in several varied job offers. You can study your passion but find out what you can add onto it to become as marketable as possible.

[Anonymous]

New to this process with a rising hs junior interested in international relations. What is the career outlook? Any advice on which colleges to visit? Course selection and summer programs? I know DC has lots of work to do on this, but any advice is truly ppreciated. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Well, pharmacy-D is also a great career, so are physical therapy and speech therapy.
For students who are good at math, applied statistics is also a good career path. All master and PhD students majoring on stats at local universities get good job offers...