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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was an English major at a "cute liberal arts" college, and i also had a second major in an even less practical liberal arts field (to remain unnamed so as not to identify me) because I truly loved it.  I have had a successful and fulfilling career as a lawyer. As others have said, it doesn't really matter what you major in, as long as you can think critically, express yourself well, and, most of all, write well.  Also I think it is important to major in what you really love, because you are more likely to shine in that area and  get the kind of one on one attention from professors that advances learning (and gets you good recommendations).  If you are worried about her having an "impractical" major, consider finding a school where she can double major in a "fun" subject she loves and something you think is more marketable in case she doesn't want to go to grad school right away.  Good luck!  I feel sorry for all these kids whose parents are steering them toward STEM or business because "that's where the jobs are."  If a kid doesn't have an interest or aptitude in these areas, it seems unlikely she will be very happy or successful in the long term[/quote]

It does matter what you major in, just in case her DD decides by the end of undergrad that she doesn't want to be a lawyer.[/quote]

Whether it matters what you major in is a separate question for whether it makes sense to switch your major away from your area of interest into something you perceive as more lucrative. Interest and intrinsic motivation are a key part of becoming successful.

I also think its pretty easy to overstate the significance of your undergraduate major. The average mid-career salary for a philosophy major is similar to the average for someone who has an undergraduate degree in computers (it is moderately higher than someone who has a computer engineering degree but moderately lower than someone who has a computer science degree). That's obviously not because philosophy is a particularly useful major, it is because it attracts a relatively intelligent group of people who eventually figure out a way to make money. It is much more important to have a bright, motivated child than a child who chose a major based on Bureau of Labor Statistics projections.[/quote]

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