Anonymous wrote:Forgot a few more:

Neighbor’s kid went to Harvard and majored in Philosophy. Yikes! He graduated a few years ago and moved to the PNW to be an “environmental educator” (whatever the hell that is) because he couldn’t get a real job post-grad.

But sometimes state school kids drop the ball. A friend’s DD is super smart. Turned down 3 Ivies for UMD on Banneker (donut family). She is majoring in Classics and English, and my friend told me that she wants to be an academic in the humanities. I told her that her DD should be prepared to not be able to find a job — the market for professors in the humanities is awful. And the kid wouldn’t even take my suggestion to at least minor in CS or Data Analytics (or anything useful!).

😳 Dear Lord

Anonymous wrote:You have a chip on your shoulder OP with your university of phoenix online degree. And, I am guessing you are a foreigner.

No OP is a wasp through and through. I know the type, calls you with too many personal questions, gossips about what everyone else is up to and never divulges anything herself.

Anonymous wrote:OP - you sound like a busy body. Stop worrying about how others choose to live their lives.

Agree. The level of detail OP seems to have amassed about other peoples' college student kids is strange. Almost gleeful, as if OP is weirdly curating what he or she practically hopes willl be disaster stories. These aren't even OP's relatives, I think. I get that close friends will dish this stuff with each other but OP seems oddly invested in collecting stories of students who aren't living up to what OP, who is not their parent or in any way connected to them, believes they "should" be doing.

So much energy, all of it negative, aimed at young adults and dismissing them as losers before they've even gotten started on their lives. But hey, OP was just trying to tell us all a cautionary tale so we'll do as OP does and dictate our kids' majors for them! Just trying to help us, right?

I have seen this, but it’s not irreparable. I think it’s because this area emphasizes grades and academic enrichment when kids are in school over practical experience. My own kids were at a loss regarding how to find a job, write a resume and cover letter, or even having a sense of why a firm would want to hire them. From their perspective, they had no job-specific skills. I had to convince them that most jobs are learned at the firm, but they are the raw material. Show up, ask questions, work hard, suggest solutions, and take responsibility. They’re all now doing fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot a few more:

Neighbor’s kid went to Harvard and majored in Philosophy. Yikes! He graduated a few years ago and moved to the PNW to be an “environmental educator” (whatever the hell that is) because he couldn’t get a real job post-grad.

But sometimes state school kids drop the ball. A friend’s DD is super smart. Turned down 3 Ivies for UMD on Banneker (donut family). She is majoring in Classics and English, and my friend told me that she wants to be an academic in the humanities. I told her that her DD should be prepared to not be able to find a job — the market for professors in the humanities is awful. And the kid wouldn’t even take my suggestion to at least minor in CS or Data Analytics (or anything useful!).

This child needs a Ph.D. before she knows whether she can make it. If she doesn't, she could teach in the public schools. It's a respectable job that has job security and great benefits, and there is opportunity to supplement teaching income with tutoring.

It would be sad to see such a bright girl end up as a public school teacher.

NP. Is that you, OP, or another deep-dyed snob posting this?

If she wanted to teach, at any level, that would not be "sad." It would be a gift to her students and to herself, if she is a person who values helping and mentoring others. But you would never understand that type of motivation because you cannot put a dollar sign in front of it and attach zeros to the end of it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy League lit major works the the PE firm which owns our company. She is 23 and probably makes $200k+ a year. LOTS of companies just hire smart people. Would they hire a Literature major from Maryland or William & Mary, no, but get your degree from Princeton and be ambitious and nothing is unattainable.

Wrong English majors are in high demand.

They can write.

My DD VT English major out of college six figures .

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?233921-Virginia-Polytechnic-Institute-and-State-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

VT English $41,550

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

Harvard English $43842

We go by real data

VT English is actually not bad compared to Harvard lol

I’d like to see the data for the median earnings of students who were forced by their overbearing and controlling parents to major in a subject in which they had no interest or aptitude. Then I’d like to know how happy they are.

The world is not black or white like that, but the data is objective.

Use the information as you like

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy League lit major works the the PE firm which owns our company. She is 23 and probably makes $200k+ a year. LOTS of companies just hire smart people. Would they hire a Literature major from Maryland or William & Mary, no, but get your degree from Princeton and be ambitious and nothing is unattainable.

Wrong English majors are in high demand.

They can write.

My DD VT English major out of college six figures .

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?233921-Virginia-Polytechnic-Institute-and-State-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

VT English $41,550

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

Harvard English $43842

We go by real data

VT English is actually not bad compared to Harvard lol

I’d like to see the data for the median earnings of students who were forced by their overbearing and controlling parents to major in a subject in which they had no interest or aptitude. Then I’d like to know how happy they are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ivy League lit major works the the PE firm which owns our company. She is 23 and probably makes $200k+ a year. LOTS of companies just hire smart people. Would they hire a Literature major from Maryland or William & Mary, no, but get your degree from Princeton and be ambitious and nothing is unattainable.

Wrong English majors are in high demand.

They can write.

My DD VT English major out of college six figures .

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?233921-Virginia-Polytechnic-Institute-and-State-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

VT English $41,550

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

Harvard English $43842

We go by real data

VT English is actually not bad compared to Harvard lol

Anonymous wrote:You have a chip on your shoulder OP with your university of phoenix online degree. And, I am guessing you are a foreigner.

Hey!!! Get out of here with your xenophobia!

- foreigner who disagrees with OP.

Anonymous wrote:Forgot a few more:

Neighbor’s kid went to Harvard and majored in Philosophy. Yikes! He graduated a few years ago and moved to the PNW to be an “environmental educator” (whatever the hell that is) because he couldn’t get a real job post-grad.

But sometimes state school kids drop the ball. A friend’s DD is super smart. Turned down 3 Ivies for UMD on Banneker (donut family). She is majoring in Classics and English, and my friend told me that she wants to be an academic in the humanities. I told her that her DD should be prepared to not be able to find a job — the market for professors in the humanities is awful. And the kid wouldn’t even take my suggestion to at least minor in CS or Data Analytics (or anything useful!).

Why are you offering unsolicited advice to all of these people??? Let them live their own lives. These kids will be fine. They may flail around and try a few things for a few years, and invariably check back in with them at 40 and they are going to be living in Bethesda or Vienna with normal UMC jobs.

Anonymous wrote:I highly recommend the book Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be by Frank Bruni.

https://www.amazon.com/Where-You-Not-Who-Youll/dp/1455532681/

+1 Great book.

Anonymous wrote:It cut off. Here is the rest:

Example 2: A neighbor’s daughter is currently a senior at Princeton majoring in Comparative Literature. I would never let my kid major in that. Last winter, I told her that her daughter absolutely needs to find a summer internship before her senior year of college if she wants any hope of being employed after graduation. The mom told me that her daughter didn’t intern—she worked as a summer camp counselor instead. Not surprisingly, she is in February of her senior year of college and still doesn’t have a job offer after graduation.

This was me my senior year at Dartmouth. Check back in ten years.

You have a chip on your shoulder OP with your university of phoenix online degree. And, I am guessing you are a foreigner.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot a few more:

Neighbor’s kid went to Harvard and majored in Philosophy. Yikes! He graduated a few years ago and moved to the PNW to be an “environmental educator” (whatever the hell that is) because he couldn’t get a real job post-grad.

But sometimes state school kids drop the ball. A friend’s DD is super smart. Turned down 3 Ivies for UMD on Banneker (donut family). She is majoring in Classics and English, and my friend told me that she wants to be an academic in the humanities. I told her that her DD should be prepared to not be able to find a job — the market for professors in the humanities is awful. And the kid wouldn’t even take my suggestion to at least minor in CS or Data Analytics (or anything useful!).

This child needs a Ph.D. before she knows whether she can make it. If she doesn't, she could teach in the public schools. It's a respectable job that has job security and great benefits, and there is opportunity to supplement teaching income with tutoring.

It would be sad to see such a bright girl end up as a public school teacher.

No it would not. People crap on people that want careers in education all the time. It is an honorable career

OP - you sound like a busy body. Stop worrying about how others choose to live their lives.