An observation on college majors & grades

[Anonymous]

^^not that I wouldn't have been able to do the reading--I love to read, and I appreciate great literature. But identifying and articulating themes and such? Nope. I never caught the symbolism in anything, just liked the reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somebody I knew in college got an MBA from Columbia with a solid C average--and said she did better with job offers out of the gate than her peers. She had a liberal arts undergrad degree.

Holy cow! I earned my MBA from Columbia and it's almost like you'd have to TRY to get such a low GPA. Did she just never show up to class? Never turn in an assignment?

[Anonymous]

Personality wins in many interviews. I think it is much better to be an outgoing and interesting candidate with a lower GPA than an awkward genius that fails to connect. Many entry level jobs will be based upon fit and potential.
and people skills are an important part of that equation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate when people deride "easy" majors. Not everyone wants to do STEM. Not everyone cares about how much money they'll make. Sometimes people are really passionate about something and they follow that and they find deep personal and professional satisfaction in that field and don't care about the prestige or if they make high 6 figures.

I started off in a STEM major, yes, looking down my nose at "soft" majors. And then I struggled my butt off in advanced math; meanwhile, a professor told me I was a gifted writer and encouraged me to at least consider that as a minor. So I switched. I majored and writing and eventually added history as a second major.

I turned that into getting a MA in International Relations at a top 10. I wrote and published a book, and have a slew of newspaper, magazine, and journal clips. I do work I love every day. No, I am not wealthy. I'm hardly even what DCUM would consider well off. But I am happy with how my life has turned out. I have a roof over my head, people who love me, and I like to think what I do makes the world a slightly better place.

Maybe my pursuit and satisfaction of simpler things is not for you. Fine. But stop, for the love of god, with this suggestion that those of us who studied English or history or anthropology or childhood education are nothing but a bunch of slackers who were only looking for the easy way out and our job prospects being and end with "Welcome to Starbucks, how may I help you?"

fine but the reality is you got lucky. It is very hard to have solid income/job prospects in your field.

Most of DCUM would not say I got lucky. My income by the standards of people who post here is laughably low. I just have a different set of standards by which I judge success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter earned a 2.5 the first two years of colleges & a 3.3 the second two years to end up with a GPA around 2.90 when graduating. She started off as a Chemistry major, really struggled, switched to being an Economics major, and still only did okay and had really work hard for her grades. Fast forward two years since graduating, and she has a relatively well paying job as a financial analyst. She got shut out from elite firms because of her GPA (and probably some grad schools too), but one thing she recently told us is how how happy she is with majoring in Econ. A lot of her friends with great GPAs (3.7-3.9) that studied interesting topics such as Sociology and English are struggling now professionally post-grad. Many are underemployed or working jobs that only require associates degrees. As a parent, especially of a daughter, I would suggest now that sometimes classes that are difficult are worthwhile in the long run, and that earning the highest grades possible shouldn't be the goal. Just my unsolicited two cents as parents have kids going off to school soon.

My Dd is proudest of her b- in chemistry ap that she took after leaving sped courses , she worked hard and she was only American in a classroom filled with Asians at Langley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter earned a 2.5 the first two years of colleges & a 3.3 the second two years to end up with a GPA around 2.90 when graduating. She started off as a Chemistry major, really struggled, switched to being an Economics major, and still only did okay and had really work hard for her grades. Fast forward two years since graduating, and she has a relatively well paying job as a financial analyst. She got shut out from elite firms because of her GPA (and probably some grad schools too), but one thing she recently told us is how how happy she is with majoring in Econ. A lot of her friends with great GPAs (3.7-3.9) that studied interesting topics such as Sociology and English are struggling now professionally post-grad. Many are underemployed or working jobs that only require associates degrees. As a parent, especially of a daughter, I would suggest now that sometimes classes that are difficult are worthwhile in the long run, and that earning the highest grades possible shouldn't be the goal. Just my unsolicited two cents as parents have kids going off to school soon.

My Dd is proudest of her b- in chemistry ap that she took after leaving sped courses , she worked hard and she was only American in a classroom filled with Asians at Langley.

Um, she should be proud of her accomplishment, but I'm pretty sure there were other Americans in her class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter earned a 2.5 the first two years of colleges & a 3.3 the second two years to end up with a GPA around 2.90 when graduating. She started off as a Chemistry major, really struggled, switched to being an Economics major, and still only did okay and had really work hard for her grades. Fast forward two years since graduating, and she has a relatively well paying job as a financial analyst. She got shut out from elite firms because of her GPA (and probably some grad schools too), but one thing she recently told us is how how happy she is with majoring in Econ. A lot of her friends with great GPAs (3.7-3.9) that studied interesting topics such as Sociology and English are struggling now professionally post-grad. Many are underemployed or working jobs that only require associates degrees. As a parent, especially of a daughter, I would suggest now that sometimes classes that are difficult are worthwhile in the long run, and that earning the highest grades possible shouldn't be the goal. Just my unsolicited two cents as parents have kids going off to school soon.

A great GPA in a worthless major means nada if you can't write for s*** and can't hack a decent GRE/GMAT/LSAT score.

Tough majors are tough for a reason; they're marketable! Every year the list of highest paying majors is STEM. Every slacker is looking for a shortcut, so if you're paying tuition, demand your kid works their ass off in a tough major.

You can get a sociology or ___ studies degree from a local public library. Total waste of time and money at university unless your kid is an idle rich trust funder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter earned a 2.5 the first two years of colleges & a 3.3 the second two years to end up with a GPA around 2.90 when graduating. She started off as a Chemistry major, really struggled, switched to being an Economics major, and still only did okay and had really work hard for her grades. Fast forward two years since graduating, and she has a relatively well paying job as a financial analyst. She got shut out from elite firms because of her GPA (and probably some grad schools too), but one thing she recently told us is how how happy she is with majoring in Econ. A lot of her friends with great GPAs (3.7-3.9) that studied interesting topics such as Sociology and English are struggling now professionally post-grad. Many are underemployed or working jobs that only require associates degrees. As a parent, especially of a daughter, I would suggest now that sometimes classes that are difficult are worthwhile in the long run, and that earning the highest grades possible shouldn't be the goal. Just my unsolicited two cents as parents have kids going off to school soon.

A great GPA in a worthless major means nada if you can't write for s*** and can't hack a decent GRE/GMAT/LSAT score.

Tough majors are tough for a reason; they're marketable! Every year the list of highest paying majors is STEM. Every slacker is looking for a shortcut, so if you're paying tuition, demand your kid works their ass off in a tough major.

You can get a sociology or ___ studies degree from a local public library. Total waste of time and money at university unless your kid is an idle rich trust funder.

guessing you are asian lol

STEM is for asians pay is really pretty low overall

you should really major in business which requires actual people skills and the income potential is much higher

also a liberal arts major is great for consulting and/or sales which also pay much more than STEM degress and are much easier in college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Somebody I knew in college got an MBA from Columbia with a solid C average--and said she did better with job offers out of the gate than her peers. She had a liberal arts undergrad degree.

Hooked urm. No doubt about it. That's not reality for the rest of our kids, unless they're a hooked urm.

[Anonymous]

"major in business" yeah sure, if you're sending your kid to some cattle call public university, study marketing and accounting like all the other middle class sheep.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard Econ described as a hard major before. OP it just sounds like your kid wasn't a great student but found her footing and worked harder. Glad she's doing well out of college but the rest of your post is kind of nonsense. Observation bias mixed with Monday morning quarterbacking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard Econ described as a hard major before. OP it just sounds like your kid wasn't a great student but found her footing and worked harder. Glad she's doing well out of college but the rest of your post is kind of nonsense. Observation bias mixed with Monday morning quarterbacking.

Its not difficult, but it’s not easy. You need to pass Calculus, Econometrics, etc. You don’t just write papers and do group projects like some majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personality wins in many interviews. I think it is much better to be an outgoing and interesting candidate with a lower GPA than an awkward genius that fails to connect. Many entry level jobs will be based upon fit and potential.
and people skills are an important part of that equation.

An actual genius might make it through. But an awk. person with a higher than most GPA has a hard time. Most of those ppl think they are geniuses; they are not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never heard Econ described as a hard major before. OP it just sounds like your kid wasn't a great student but found her footing and worked harder. Glad she's doing well out of college but the rest of your post is kind of nonsense. Observation bias mixed with Monday morning quarterbacking.

Its not difficult, but it’s not easy. You need to pass Calculus, Econometrics, etc. You don’t just write papers and do group projects like some majors.

+1 to this. I was a history and econ major in college (and no slouch in math). I did fine in all the intro and midlevel econ classes, including statistics. Hit a wall with econometrics. Very tough topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter earned a 2.5 the first two years of colleges & a 3.3 the second two years to end up with a GPA around 2.90 when graduating. She started off as a Chemistry major, really struggled, switched to being an Economics major, and still only did okay and had really work hard for her grades. Fast forward two years since graduating, and she has a relatively well paying job as a financial analyst. She got shut out from elite firms because of her GPA (and probably some grad schools too), but one thing she recently told us is how how happy she is with majoring in Econ. A lot of her friends with great GPAs (3.7-3.9) that studied interesting topics such as Sociology and English are struggling now professionally post-grad. Many are underemployed or working jobs that only require associates degrees. As a parent, especially of a daughter, I would suggest now that sometimes classes that are difficult are worthwhile in the long run, and that earning the highest grades possible shouldn't be the goal. Just my unsolicited two cents as parents have kids going off to school soon.

My Dd is proudest of her b- in chemistry ap that she took after leaving sped courses , she worked hard and she was only American in a classroom filled with Asians at Langley.

Not sure why you had to say the last part. Most of those Asian kids are as American as your daughter. I mean, seriously, do you think they are “true” Americans??