Anonymous wrote:If you are going to do the hard work, get the engineering degree over physics or math. Trust me on that one.

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.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Hello fellow English major! What is your career now?

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 wrote: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.

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.

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 wrote: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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you are going to do the hard work, get the engineering degree over physics or math. Trust me on that one.

Engineering, hands-down. Physics, perhaps because it's certainly not pragmatic but seems to be sparsely joined. Math.

Anonymous wrote: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?

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

Petroleum Engineering $97,900 / $155,000

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

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).

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.

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?