Starting to think about majors with DC

[Anonymous]

Law firms want people who can write succinctly.

[Anonymous]

Look at the Tumblr for the Occupy Wall Street movement, the part where students posed with signs about how much debt they had and the fact that they were unemployed. A very large number of them were communication majors.

I'm encouraging my artsy child to take literature and the like, but to also learn a hard language -- like Chinese or Arabic in college. In addition, I'd like him to get a quick master's degree (even online) in something practical like instructional design or ESL so that he will have some actual skills when he enters the workplace.

[Anonymous]

My kid was an Ivy English major and just graduated last year. Works in investment banking. A recent Wall Street Journal article (I don't have the link) said that a lot of companies really valued liberal arts majors instead of "trade majors" because they can think. Let you kid decide OP. Don't decide for him...he will resent your interference.
The key is to do as many internships as possible to see what he likes and to also get a "leg up" on getting a job when he graduates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid was an Ivy English major and just graduated last year. Works in investment banking. A recent Wall Street Journal article (I don't have the link) said that a lot of companies really valued liberal arts majors instead of "trade majors" because they can think. Let you kid decide OP. Don't decide for him...he will resent your interference.
The key is to do as many internships as possible to see what he likes and to also get a "leg up" on getting a job when he graduates.

Yes, I'm sure if your kid had majored in English at a non-Ivy school, the investment banks would still have hired him. Conversely, if your kid had majored in accounting at his Ivy, the investment banks wouldn't have been interested because he wouldn't have shown he could "think".

[Anonymous]

OP,

My son is entering freshman year, we leave in a few weeks. His major is going to be HIS. How old is your son? Cut the cord!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid isn't college-age yet, but what I'm going to tell her is that she needs to learn a skill that people will pay her to do. This doesn't preclude also majoring in something that's her passion, nor does it necessarily mean a professional degree. It could be data analysis, programming, accounting, maintaining a popular/amusing Twitter feed, speaking an in-demand foreign language, designing websites.... etc. Whatever direction she decides she wants to take her career in, having a BA in [Passion] + Marketable Skill will put her in a much much better position than just a BA in [Passion].

I'm a numbers person so I'm admittedly oblivious to the types of careers that utilize strong writers, but it seems like something in marketing/advertising/social media might be a good fit for your kid?

Oh and please don't listen to the humanities cheerleaders who believe "employers just want evidence you can think and write". Even if that were true, your standard English Lit/Psychology/History degree has been so watered down that as far as employers are concerned, it simply does not provide this evidence. (Contrast that with a math-heavy major, which at least proves you can crunch numbers and solve problems.) Not to mention that college costs as much as a mortgage these days and sadly, the reality is you need something else from your investment besides "evidence you can think and write". Just my opinion.

Well, there is research to refute your opinion. http://www.aacu.org/leap/documents/2013_EmployerSurvey.pdf

[Anonymous]

You will want good communication skills so you can write down whether the to make a whip or no whip coffee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think figuring out how to tweet is a pretty intuitive skill for most people who are under 30. Obviously some people have more of a knack for using it productively than others, but I'm not sure what is to be gained by taking a class on it.

Lots of ignorance here. Today's comm classes focus on communications theories, developing strategy, and writing clearly and effectively. They don't actually give lectures on how to write a tweet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will want good communication skills so you can write down whether the to make a whip or no whip coffee.

Or, you know, to communicate ideas effectively to internal and external colleagues/contacts. I'm guessing you suck at that.

[Anonymous]

Most graduates of elite private high schools communicate very well BEFORE entering college. A communications degree would be wasted on them. Many public high school grads are deficient in communication skills and this thread is likely more applicable to them.

[Anonymous]

Lots of ignorance here. Today's comm classes focus on communications theories, developing strategy, and writing clearly and effectively. They don't actually give lectures on how to write a tweet.

I didn't say that that was what you learned in a communications class. I was responding to a poster above who was claiming that the humanities were useless and you needed to learn a marketable skill, like managing a twitter feed. A lot of people who were never formally trained to manage a twitter feed do so just fine for work. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'm sure if your kid had majored in English at a non-Ivy school, the investment banks would still have hired him. Conversely, if your kid had majored in accounting at his Ivy, the investment banks wouldn't have been interested because he wouldn't have shown he could "think".

Prestige is a big thing for ivy grads regardless of major getting prestigious jobs, but I don't think it's all so cut and dry.

I graduated in the midst of the recession from a SLAC. A very well respected SLAC, but nowhere near as selective as an ivy, and one small enough that there are plenty of people who haven't heard from it. I also graduated in the middle of the recession. I can't speak to the job search as a humanities major myself since I studied a STEM field, however I have plenty of English, Classics, Religion, and History major friends. Some of those people went to law school, some in the T14, and some at regional schools near where they wanted to practice with scholarships. A few are employed in Big Law, and a few others are employed in smaller firms or have moved in house. Some of those people did the pre-med prerequisites with a humanities major and went to med school and are now residents. A few more went to graduate school in the humanities--they were really passionate about what they were studying and wanted to make a go of academia. Only time will tell if they regret that decision.

A few are unemployed or underemployed. But mostly, those who didn't go on to graduate or professional school are employed in normal white collar professions. A classics major friend does marketing for a publishing company. Of the English and other humanities majors I know off the top of my head, one is in marketing for some company that makes MOOCs, a couple are journalists (one has even made her way up to an editorial position), a few others work for publishing companies, a few work for think tanks and non-profits, a few work as paralegals, another does production work for some show that Hulu produces, a couple became management consultants, a few others do analyst work for banks, some went into K-12 teaching, and a few are copywriters. Not investment bankers, and often you have to start off around 30K and work your way up (although not always), but mostly people seem to be finding jobs that require a college degree. A lot of people manage websites and twitter feeds without communications theory class or some such just fine.

[Anonymous]

^^and not everyone found "good jobs" right away. A lot of people did stuff like worked for Kaplan/Princeton review test prep or Mathnasium until they found a "real job." Others took a job in retail or as a barista.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Communication major is garbage

so is marketing.

[Anonymous]

I'd focus on getting DC INTO a college first and then let him/her figure out the rest!!!