Anonymous wrote:Most people I know who have “made it” professionally with a humanities degree have something else going for them - elite law school, college athlete or in top frat/sorority, wealthy/connected parents, attractive, etc. STEM is much more democratic. I think English majors can be successful, but it seems to the exception, not the norm.

English majors have to "market themselves more" than say a CS or Mech Eng major. Nobody posts jobs at businesses that say "needed One English major"---ok, not many do. They likely are looking for someone who can communicate, write well, manage a project, etc....so many majors are capable of doing this. So you have to work a bit harder to find the job for you---stem it's easier to just apply to someone who needs a Mech Eng degree.

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Anonymous wrote:Must we have this discussion for the 40 thousandth time on this page? Let your kid major in that they want, are interested in, have a passion for and a talent for. End of story.

In college, I discovered that my true passion was to not work, and I had a talent for doing what I wanted to do, instead of doing anything that was required. Unfortunately this wouldn’t pay the bills, so I majored in something that I disliked but helped me live without financial worry. But my dream is still to quit and follow my dream of not working at all.

Don't be an idiot. Majoring in Lazy is not something. However, if you have a passion for art history, major in that, learn to write, communicate, critical thinking skills and use it to launch yourself. You may not work directly in something relating to Art history or you might, but the skills you learn are all good for getting a job.

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know who have “made it” professionally with a humanities degree have something else going for them - elite law school, college athlete or in top frat/sorority, wealthy/connected parents, attractive, etc. STEM is much more democratic. I think English majors can be successful, but it seems to the exception, not the norm.

Didn’t have any of that and am doing very well thank you very much.

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Anonymous wrote:In some circles, humanities majors are thought to be future Starbucks baristas. For the middle of the road school, not as many jobs for soft science.

Former barista

It may not have worked out for you, but humanities majors are very much in demand in some circles.

In what circles? Unless you are planning on a lucrative grad school degree, there's no reason to get one.

Anonymous wrote:Most people I know who have “made it” professionally with a humanities degree have something else going for them - elite law school, college athlete or in top frat/sorority, wealthy/connected parents, attractive, etc. STEM is much more democratic. I think English majors can be successful, but it seems to the exception, not the norm.

+1 STEM is much more of an egalitarian field because if you mess up, the ramifications are much bigger. So, companies want to hire based on ability, not based on who your daddy is.

Most people I know who have “made it” professionally with a humanities degree have something else going for them - elite law school, college athlete or in top frat/sorority, wealthy/connected parents, attractive, etc. STEM is much more democratic. I think English majors can be successful, but it seems to the exception, not the norm.

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Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/19/college-majors-computer-science-humanities/

That’s expected. But in the future, if there are too many CS graduates and too few English and history graduates, the supply and demand relationship might change.

Why would it change? Why would English and history majors be in demand unless it's for teaching English or history?

Law school?

There are too many lawyers and not enough jobs for them all.

definitely don't need more lawyers.

There will always be demand for new good lawyers, but if you're kid would do it just because they can't think of anything better to do and probably will only be mediocre, then it's definitely not worth it. Of course, the same advice applies to lots of fields.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Must we have this discussion for the 40 thousandth time on this page? Let your kid major in that they want, are interested in, have a passion for and a talent for. End of story.

In college, I discovered that my true passion was to not work, and I had a talent for doing what I wanted to do, instead of doing anything that was required. Unfortunately this wouldn’t pay the bills, so I majored in something that I disliked but helped me live without financial worry. But my dream is still to quit and follow my dream of not working at all.

+1. I remember telling my mom at age 16 that I wanted to retire at age 18 and just go up college for fun.

Anonymous wrote:Must we have this discussion for the 40 thousandth time on this page? Let your kid major in that they want, are interested in, have a passion for and a talent for. End of story.

In college, I discovered that my true passion was to not work, and I had a talent for doing what I wanted to do, instead of doing anything that was required. Unfortunately this wouldn’t pay the bills, so I majored in something that I disliked but helped me live without financial worry. But my dream is still to quit and follow my dream of not working at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/19/college-majors-computer-science-humanities/

That’s expected. But in the future, if there are too many CS graduates and too few English and history graduates, the supply and demand relationship might change.

Why would it change? Why would English and history majors be in demand unless it's for teaching English or history?

Law school?

There are too many lawyers and not enough jobs for them all.

definitely don't need more lawyers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/05/19/college-majors-computer-science-humanities/

That’s expected. But in the future, if there are too many CS graduates and too few English and history graduates, the supply and demand relationship might change.

Why would it change? Why would English and history majors be in demand unless it's for teaching English or history?

Law school?

There are too many lawyers and not enough jobs for them all.

Anonymous wrote:I majored in CS in the late 90s when no one wanted to do it, particularly women (like me).

Now it’s saturated so I probably would steer my kids to other fields (not discourage but not encourage either, I guess), although one wants to major in engineering and I’ll let her do that because I think it’s a good choice for her skillset.

BTW I minored in English and toast year I got a job based on that minor….my boss told me it was what differentiated my application.

I majored in CS in the late 90s when no one wanted to do it, particularly women (like me).

Now it’s saturated so I probably would steer my kids to other fields (not discourage but not encourage either, I guess), although one wants to major in engineering and I’ll let her do that because I think it’s a good choice for her skillset.

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Anonymous wrote:Must we have this discussion for the 40 thousandth time on this page? Let your kid major in that they want, are interested in, have a passion for and a talent for. End of story.

It’s advice like this that has caused the student loan crisis

Major in what you want, but do it somewhere that you can afford---ie with only student loans and cash flow/from your college savings. No need to take more than $27K in loans for anyone. Student loan crisis is cause by kids with any major having their parents taking loans to put them thru schools they can't afford---it's not the major, it's the loans.

Anonymous wrote:Must we have this discussion for the 40 thousandth time on this page? Let your kid major in that they want, are interested in, have a passion for and a talent for. End of story.

+1000

But do not take Parent loans for undergrad, and certainly not if you are a humanities/social science major. While you may make more later, it will be hard to pay $1000+ in loans each month if you are only making $45K/year. So study what you want, but be financially smart and dont go into major debt when your starting salary might not be 6 figures.