Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 17:15     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
I doubled in history/poli sci and graduated from a regional state school. After graduation, I did policy work for several years and have now been in government contracting for nearly two decades. My DH was a poli sci major, has an MA in Int'l Relations, and now works for the federal government. We are both very successful in our fields.

As someone else up the thread stated, there are many liberal arts grads in the corporate world. There is a ton of value in getting a liberal arts education, including critical thinking skills and writing skills that one might not get from other educational paths. I hire entry-level grads all the time and specifically look for people who are great writers, which often happen to be English/Policy/History majors.




Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 17:14     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Foreign language major here. Worked for an international NGO then decided to pursue journalism and went back for a masters. Have since worked in various radio, television, and other media/communications positions. My liberal arts major friends and family members are working in Human Resources, fundraising/marketing, school counselor and librarian, one is a travel writer and book author, public policy, social work, etc.

I personally think any liberal arts major with good writing, communicating, and critical thinking skills can do most jobs that don’t require technical expertise.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 17:10     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:College is for education, not for job training. Education comes in many forms, and liberal arts is a wonderful form. I was a classics major (Ancient Greek & philosophy). Got a masters in public policy. I now run a think tank about the digital technology. Lots of CS majors working with us! I think my education gave me a broader view that helps show the role that tech plays in our world.


That sounds lovely but is not reality for the vast majority of people.


Without meaning to be snarky or critical, this goes to the point. It actually could be the reality of people. There is no substitute for a broad education in terms of seeing more options, or even creating more options. Any liberal arts education that builds rigorous, critical thinking skills will help you in the job market. And more importantly, it will help you build the life you want.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 16:36     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
History major from a mid-tier LAC. Work for a federal agency as a analyst turned manager. Make a good salary and have 7 figures socked away already.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 16:14     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
History BA and English MA, PHD. I own an education products company and make more than my big law husband (who was also a History BA). My sister is an engineer and she out earned me in our 20s and a lot of our 30s. I just loaned her money to fix a problem with her house, which I was happy to be able to do. Money isn’t everything, but a liberal arts degree is not a life sentence to the poor house. Let your daughter find her own path.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 15:29     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My DH and I were both English majors - at different colleges.

He runs a very high profile TV production company. Until I started having kids, I represented TV writers, as an agent.

We did not meet through TV work, either.


are you guys conventionally attractive and or attended top schools?

Getting on the agent training program at caa, wme, icm, uta is NOT easy



yes

Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 14:42     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Two kids - one majored in History, the other in International Affairs. Both always had a passion for history, geography, politics, current affairs, etc. One is an intelligence analyst with the IC, the other is a competitive business analyst with a private company.

STEM is not for everyone, nor should it be. I think a lot of STEM majors miss out on the liberal arts.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 14:40     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You’ve said what she doesn’t like and want. But what classes does she enjoy? What activities does she do that she loves? Let her explore based on her interests and find the right fit for her.


HI again. What great responses! I am the OP. DD loves to read and does very well in her AP Lang and AP History and Government Classes. Loves the Media in Society class she is in. AS I said, she can do math but steers waaay clear of any AP courses in either math or science.

Her talent is that she has an excellent singing voice! She has taken voice and piano lessons since she was 8. Beautiful soprano voice. Loves choir, was one of the leads in the fall musical and loves musical theater.

WE would like for her to continue to enjoy voice and theater in college for sure! The catch is that we don't see much 'future' in it and don't want her waiting tables for years.

So, we would like to find college where she can major in something more useful than "musical theater" but have those interests as minors or extracurriculars.





Check out the Brown or Northwestern or Vassar, etc thread. There will be useful information in there for you. Other schools and musical theater programs are discussed. The OP also hopefully described what application process is like.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 14:00     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You’ve said what she doesn’t like and want. But what classes does she enjoy? What activities does she do that she loves? Let her explore based on her interests and find the right fit for her.


HI again. What great responses! I am the OP. DD loves to read and does very well in her AP Lang and AP History and Government Classes. Loves the Media in Society class she is in. AS I said, she can do math but steers waaay clear of any AP courses in either math or science.

Her talent is that she has an excellent singing voice! She has taken voice and piano lessons since she was 8. Beautiful soprano voice. Loves choir, was one of the leads in the fall musical and loves musical theater.

WE would like for her to continue to enjoy voice and theater in college for sure! The catch is that we don't see much 'future' in it and don't want her waiting tables for years.

So, we would like to find college where she can major in something more useful than "musical theater" but have those interests as minors or extracurriculars.





Sounds like a SLAC would be a great fit and she could spend her first year or two exploring different classes before declaring a major.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 13:58     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You’ve said what she doesn’t like and want. But what classes does she enjoy? What activities does she do that she loves? Let her explore based on her interests and find the right fit for her.


HI again. What great responses! I am the OP. DD loves to read and does very well in her AP Lang and AP History and Government Classes. Loves the Media in Society class she is in. AS I said, she can do math but steers waaay clear of any AP courses in either math or science.

Her talent is that she has an excellent singing voice! She has taken voice and piano lessons since she was 8. Beautiful soprano voice. Loves choir, was one of the leads in the fall musical and loves musical theater.

WE would like for her to continue to enjoy voice and theater in college for sure! The catch is that we don't see much 'future' in it and don't want her waiting tables for years.

So, we would like to find college where she can major in something more useful than "musical theater" but have those interests as minors or extracurriculars.



Or let her major in musical theater (which doesn't lend itself very well to minoring) and then double or minor in something else: arts or nonprofit management can be a good complement. So can education if she wants to teach (although the coursework for that is very involved and would require significant planning). Or communications, marketing, or journalism. There are so many reasonable ways to add additional skillsets to the arts.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 13:55     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Hi! Just curious if you were any of the above majors, could you tell me what you do now. Or if your child is studying any of the above things, what do you think they will do with it.

DD simply arbors math, physics and thinks she hates any kind of science. Sad, she had a really lousy biology teacher freshman year at her school and is so turned off. Whatever.

Doesn’t want to be a lawyer, teacher, or librarian. Teachers are so horribly treated theses days and I am a librarian and they finish lowest on the totem pole in my federal agency. Unappreciated and underpaid.

I am asking because we are trying to choose colleges that might have additional areas that she can minor in to make such a degree more marketable.

Wish I had a stem kid. But I don’t! Sweet kid. NO STEM.


So.... that's truly terrible
I majored in philosophy, then worked at an investment bank, then got my master's, now work in consulting. Not from a T25 or highly regarded SLAC.
Humanities/social science majors pose no issue in job security for a student that is adept at representing themselves/communicating well.


+10. Thank you philosophy major! I love people like you. What did you get your masters in?


Public Policy. I could have stayed at the Investment Bank I worked at after college. I probably would have moved up and probably my earnings would be better at this point, but I wanted to do something different. I still do fine and have a great WLB so no regrets.



NP
Is Public Policy good major for humanity students with great writing skills?


It’s ok.

Public policy majors in 2022 without strong data analytics skills are kinda not competitive unless you go to a top top school or have lots of connections



+1. Public policy majors need to know their way around SAS or some other statistical software package.


The original poster with a MPP here. Is Public Policy good major for humanity students with great writing skills? Yes. I think so. I did a lot of writing getting my grad degree and I do a lot of writing now. I was a TA in the public policy department and for that class, I graded papers- with no stats involved. For my coursework, we took Stats at two levels and used a program in grad school which I knew then reasonably well but I do not know now at all and have never needed to in my 15+ year career. I'm sure some people with public policy degrees have data heavy jobs, but definitely not everybody or even the majority. People here on dcum like to present monoliths. I guess that makes them feel smart, Idk.

Hope that's helpful.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 13:47     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
Anonymous wrote:You’ve said what she doesn’t like and want. But what classes does she enjoy? What activities does she do that she loves? Let her explore based on her interests and find the right fit for her.


HI again. What great responses! I am the OP. DD loves to read and does very well in her AP Lang and AP History and Government Classes. Loves the Media in Society class she is in. AS I said, she can do math but steers waaay clear of any AP courses in either math or science.

Her talent is that she has an excellent singing voice! She has taken voice and piano lessons since she was 8. Beautiful soprano voice. Loves choir, was one of the leads in the fall musical and loves musical theater.

WE would like for her to continue to enjoy voice and theater in college for sure! The catch is that we don't see much 'future' in it and don't want her waiting tables for years.

So, we would like to find college where she can major in something more useful than "musical theater" but have those interests as minors or extracurriculars.



Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 12:53     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
I majored in Spanish language and literature. I’m a tax attorney.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 12:52     Subject: Re:English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
In the past 25 years I’ve been: journalist, editor, teacher, librarian. Middle class wages, but good companies and universities. If your child hates STEM, they’re not going to excel in a STEM field. Better to land somewhere that fits them and grow from there.
Anonymous
Post 04/05/2022 12:39     Subject: English/ History/ Foreign Language majors? Talk to me!
People should include what school they attended and what year they graduated.