What majors would you recommend on a purely pragmatic basis?
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Anonymous
| Article in magazine section of Sunday NY Times talks about how value of a college degree keeps decreasing and how we are all going to be replaced by someone in Asia who works for $1.75/hour. Heck, even lawyers are having their work outsourced. So what would you tell someone to major in, assuming they could reasonably learn the material? I know, it would be great if this was the 1970s and you could major in philosophy and sociology and still get into a corporate training program but that day disappeared with black and white TV's. So what would you recommend? |
Anonymous
| As an English major, I have honestly been surprised at how well I have done - as have similar (LAS) majors. Managing my career has been easy as long as I have been willing to move for the jobs. My college boyfriend majored in finance, now a CPA, and he probably makes a little more than I do - but not much. |
Anonymous
| Medicine (doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner), engineering (difficult hard science field unless you plan on getting a PhD), multiple foreign languages (interpreter), a trade (plumbing, mechanic, electrician, elevator repair, husbandry, farming). |
Anonymous
STEM, something that produces a product or fixes a problem. Lawyers are still around because the US is built from profiting off of litigation and all of our elected officials are lawyers or pander to them to write laws for more litigation money. These are undergraduate degrees. If you were to think about including grad degrees, medicine and law would be on top also. Highest-Earning Majors Mining and Mineral Engineering Metallurgical Engineering Mechanical Engineering Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Electrical Engineering Chemical Engineering Aerospace Engineering Mathematics and Computer Sciences Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration Petroleum Engineering Lowest-Earning Majors Health and Medical Preparatory Programs Visual and Performing Arts Communication-Disorders Sciences and Services Studio Arts Drama and Theater Arts Social Work Human Services and Community Organizations Theology and Religious Vocations Early-Childhood Education Counseling and Psychology Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2073703,00.html#ixzz1erqcTKZe Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary - Full List Starting Median Pay Mid-Career / Median Pay Chemical Engineering $64,500 / $109,000 Electrical Engineering (EE) $61,300 / $103,000 Materials Science & Engineering $60,400 / $103,000 Aerospace Engineering $60,700 / $102,000 Computer Engineering (CE) $61,800 / $101,000 Physics $49,800 / $101,000 Applied Mathematics $52,600 / $98,600 Computer Science (CS) $56,600 / $97,900 Nuclear Engineering $65,100 / $97,800 Biomedical Engineering (BME) $53,800 / $97,800 Economics $47,300 / $94,700 Mechanical Engineering (ME) $58,400 / $94,500 Statistics $49,000 / $93,800 Industrial Engineering (IE) $57,400 / $93,100 Civil Engineering (CE) $53,100 / $90,200 Mathematics $47,000 / $89,900 Environmental Engineering $51,700 / $88,600 Management Information Systems (MIS) $51,000 / $88,200 Software Engineering $54,900 / $87,800 Finance $46,500 / $87,300 Government $41,400 / $87,300 Construction Management $50,200 / $85,200 Supply Chain Management $50,200 / $84,700 Biochemistry (BCH) $41,700 / $84,700 Industrial Design (ID) $44,400 / $84,400 Electrical Engineering Technology (EET) $55,100 / $84,300 Food Science $43,300 / $83,700 International Business $41,600 / $83,700 Civil Engineering Technology (CET) $46,600 / $83,300 Geology $45,300 / $83,300 Computer Information Systems (CIS) $47,900 / $83,100 Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) $51,600 / $81,200 Molecular Biology $40,500 / $81,200 Chemistry $42,000 / $80,900 Film Production $41,600 / $80,700 Political Science (PolySci) $39,900 / $80,100 Biotechnology $40,800 / $79,900 International Relations $40,500 / $79,400 Occupational Health and Safety $46,400 / $79,000 American Studies $43,400 / $78,600 Information Technology (IT) $48,300 / $78,500 Industrial Technology (IT) $48,100 / $78,400 Information Systems (IS) $48,300 / $78,100 Telecommunications $37,300 / $78,100 Urban Planning $41,500 / $78,000 Accounting $44,700 / $75,700 Philosophy $39,800 / $75,600 Zoology $38,000 / $75,200 Advertising $37,700 / $74,700 Architecture $41,500 / $74,400 Marketing & Communications $38,200 / $73,500 Literature $39,100 / $73,200 Fashion Design $36,300 / $72,400 Global & International Studies $37,800 / $72,000 Biology $37,900 / $71,900 Environmental Science $40,200 / $71,200 Linguistics $39,800 / $70,700 Business $41,000 / $70,500 Microbiology $38,500 / $70,100 Nursing $52,700 / $69,300 History $37,800 / $69,000 Public Administration $40,400 / $68,900 Hotel Management $36,100 / $68,700 Forestry $41,500 / $67,200 Communications $38,000 / $66,900 Landscape Architecture $41,900 / $66,700 Geography $39,600 / $66,700 Journalism $36,100 / $66,400 Health Sciences $35,800 / $66,200 English $37,100 / $65,800 Public Relations (PR) $35,500 / $65,700 French $38,400 / $65,500 Sports Management $35,400 / $65,100 Liberal Arts $37,800 / $63,200 Anthropology $35,600 / $63,200 Human Resources (HR) $37,900 / $62,600 Organizational Management (OM) $42,300 / $61,900 Agriculture $38,600 / $61,500 Psychology $35,000 / $61,300 Medical Technology $45,100 / $60,900 Health Care Administration $36,700 / $60,900 Sociology $36,100 / $60,500 Radio & Television $35,000 / $60,000 Hospitality & Tourism $35,900 / $59,500 Visual Communication $35,600 / $59,000 Criminal Justice $35,300 / $58,900 Fine Arts $35,900 / $58,600 Spanish $36,400 / $58,400 Interior Design $34,300 / $58,200 Humanities $34,900 / $57,800 Horticulture $39,600 / $57,300 Theater $34,700 / $57,300 Music $36,800 / $57,200 Graphic Design $35,600 / $56,500 Fashion Merchandising $36,800 / $56,300 Dietetics $41,500 / $56,100 Education $36,800 / $54,700 Kinesiology $34,200 / $54,600 Photography $32,900 / $54,500 Nutrition $38,600 / $54,400 Interdisciplinary Studies (IS) $36,300 / $54,400 Exercise Science $33,100 / $54,400 Social Science $36,600 / $54,300 Drama $37,800 / $54,200 Multimedia and Web Design $40,400 / $53,900 Animal Science $33,800 / $53,700 Paralegal/ Law $35,300 / $53,500 Art History $38,300 / $53,300 Art $35,300 / $52,400 Theology $35,600 / $52,000 Public Health (PH) $35,500 / $51,700 Athletic Training $34,600 / $50,200 Religious Studies $32,900 / $49,700 Recreation & Leisure Studies $34,500 / $49,100 Special Education $34,300 / $47,800 Culinary Arts $29,900 / $46,800 Social Work (SW) $32,200 / $44,300 Elementary Education $32,400 / $44,000 Child and Family Studies $29,600 / $40,500 |
Anonymous
| Engineering, hands-down. Physics, perhaps because it's certainly not pragmatic but seems to be sparsely joined. Math. |
Anonymous
| If you are going to do the hard work, get the engineering degree over physics or math. Trust me on that one. |
Anonymous
| I just don't see how it makes sense to tell a humanities-type person to major in engineering just because it's more "practical." People tend not to be very successful when they choose fields they aren't passionate about, even if they are capable of "doing the work." And if you are truly passionate about literature, or philosophy, or music, chances are you'll find a niche (probably in teaching) where your job satisfaction will be much higher than it would be in a job to which you are not well-suited. |
Anonymous
| Accounting always seems to be good, especially for CPAs. Worried that engineers can get outsourced and also compete with H1-B holders (thank you Bill Gates). Interesting that people recommend quantitative fields - engineering, physics, math, even accounting. |
Anonymous
|
Agree that passion can lead to success. But you can have your regular secure job during the work week and pursue your passion on the weekend. I know a lot of people who do this. Doctors, lawyers and college professors who are sculptors, musicians, painters, sports enthusiasts and history buffs on the weekend. And many are actually quite artistically talented so it wasn't that they sucked or weren't smart enough to do something else so they had to pursue other jobs.
I think it's a reality that much of the rest of the world knows that is now coming to light here in the US. We have lived the ideal, the luxury of finding yourself and pursuing your passion. But the reality for much of the rest of the world is to pursue the degree (if you are fortunate enough to be able to go to school) that will provide the most opportunities to get a good, stable job. And I will say that, yes, there are immigrants who are not geniuses and have a hard time in STEM majors but manage to get masters degrees because they know they have no other choice. They have to get it to have some hope for a better life here or go home and continue the cycle of living in poverty. Maybe the passion finds you rather than you finding it. |
Anonymous
not medicine. Medical school is about $75k/year (tuition only) right now and reimbursements are continually shrinking and work hours increasing. I'm a physician and I'd never want my kids to go into medicine. Becoming a nurse practitioner/PA is probably a much wiser choice--the education is a fraction of the price and length. |
Anonymous
| Business school....Computer Information Systems. Even if you don't use the degree, it shows competency in IT and competency in the business because you have to take all the business classes as well. It's such a broad base, you can do a lot with it. |
Anonymous
I agree completely with this. I'm in a technical field, and the people who got degrees (assuming they actually got them) but aren't interested in the material aren't very happy and they don't do particularly well. I'd suggest finding a fields that has reasonable or better prospects that they're really jazzed about. |
Anonymous
|
If you are only getting a bachelor's degree, I'd suggest engineering. If you plan on getting advanced degrees, there are many to choose from that provide a comfortable salary and job flexibility later in life.
I do wonder how an M.D. will be impacted if we move toward a more socialized medicine model of health care delivery. ? Will salaries stagnate? I have no idea. |
Anonymous
Hello fellow English major! What is your career now? |
Anonymous
Agreed. Take it from a physics phd. I am gainfully employed and my career prospects are stable but physics is dead and the engineering fields are way easier and more lucrative. |