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Help me decide on a major
#31
RE: Help me decide on a major
(September 24, 2013 at 11:00 am)AtheistCreed Wrote: Yeah but I'm 25, I did college for a year when I was 18 and then got my life experience and still don't know what I want.

I know that I want more money than I've been able to get without college.
Then pick something that earns money, like business or finance or pre-law. You can take science and literature and philosophy courses, too, for fun and well-roundedness. It's a sensible course. Once you have made a fortune, you can always go back to school to study something else later if you discover a great passion for early modern poets or quantum mechanics later in life.
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#32
RE: Help me decide on a major
(September 24, 2013 at 11:12 am)Zazzy Wrote:
(September 24, 2013 at 11:00 am)AtheistCreed Wrote: Yeah but I'm 25, I did college for a year when I was 18 and then got my life experience and still don't know what I want.

I know that I want more money than I've been able to get without college.
Then pick something that earns money, like business or finance or pre-law. You can take science and literature and philosophy courses, too, for fun and well-roundedness. It's a sensible course. Once you have made a fortune, you can always go back to school to study something else later if you discover a great passion for early modern poets or quantum mechanics later in life.

Yeah, I have been thinking a lot about that and it seems like the logical approach given the economic times.

I imagine if I get an epic BS in Biochem that I'll not get hired for a role I want for a long time or ever... and struggle to make money (which is essentially the main problem for me).

I've been Googling which degrees have the best earning potential and job outlook after graduating.
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” - Marcus Aurelius
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#33
RE: Help me decide on a major
Good luck. This sounds like a sensible plan. Just remember to save some room for fun classes- college is like a buffet, which can make it hard, since you want to eat EVERYTHING.
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#34
RE: Help me decide on a major
(September 24, 2013 at 11:40 am)Zazzy Wrote: Good luck. This sounds like a sensible plan. Just remember to save some room for fun classes- college is like a buffet, which can make it hard, since you want to eat EVERYTHING.

Yeah... lol...

I already have 21 credits, I took honors' philosophy: society and the individual (this was awesome, I love philosophy but the degree wont pay off imo), women's psych, public speaking, oceanography (boring), some history and u.s. government...

I love learning, but I want to make sure I utilize my time wisely, it's time to get on track, I look at others my age who have MASTERS degrees and I feel so underachieved and envious it sickens me.

Economics vs Finance vs Business Management vs ?????
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” - Marcus Aurelius
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#35
RE: Help me decide on a major
I'll chime in with my $.02 .

Unless you come from a rich family, or plan on becoming a trophy wife, the MOST important criteria in degree/career selection is income earning potential. While money can't buy happiness, living on the margin with no retirement, driving crappy cars, living in bad neighborhoods and no future sucks big time.

You read those horror stories about college grads being unable to find a good job, because it is true - you will have a hell of a time getting hired in an environment where your competition is people from India with double Masters in the exact field the employer wants.

Look at what the hot fields are today: IT, Health Care, Natural Resources (Oil and Gas, Mining), whatever. If you get what I call a frou frou degree (history, poly sci, psych, sociology, art, music, etc. ), good luck getting hired in a field that will pay very well. Data point: a guy I know graduated recently with his History degree from a nice private school. Spent 12 months trying to find a job -- nothing to be had. Ended up working as a greeter at a restaurant for minimum wage and few tips.

Now, he's going back to school to become an RN. Outcome of history degree? A waste of four years and $50K. He is lamenting the fact "no one told me!" frou frou degrees are essentially worthless in today's job market. He had to find out the hard way.

Sure, you can stay in school and get a PhD in psych (pretty much required to practice on your own). Can you afford the cost of school as well as the opportunity cost of *not working* during this time? Figure out the cost of school plus the cost of not making $60-80K/year in a decent field for another 4 years. On top of that, you need to be an entrepreneur; something many are not. Who's going to pay for all this? How much will it cost? What is the pay back time? You better know that going in or you might put your economic life at risk.

These days, even a business degree is less useful than before. Note: I have a BA in Business with a concentration in Finance. Do I use it in the IT field? Not much and these days, everyone I interview and hire in IT has at least a BS in Comp Sci. *Most* have Masters in Comp Sci or an MBA as well.

Times have radically changed from the era when I went to school, where most any degree was worth something. From all personal experience as a long time hiring manager in IT, that doesn't seem to be true any longer. Unless you plan on living in poverty, working crap, low-level jobs, you must choose wisely and based on market demand.

If you can combine what the job market needs with your personal skills/desires, you are a lucky person.

College is extremely expensive and for most of us, you only get one, maybe two shots (like my history major example) to do it right. If you choose wrong, it is expensive and difficult to change course.

All of the above is the macro picture. Sure, there are niches here and there and exceptions. But, you need to play to the strongest strategy and that is to select a degree in a field in high demand now and into the future.

If you can handle the math -- get a strong background in IT, math and stats, become a data scientist, collect large paycheck. Read up on what is going to happen in the next few years as far as the volume of data collected from network connected devices. The field is so new, no degrees are offered yet. But they will be.

Choose carefully grasshopper!
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#36
RE: Help me decide on a major
(September 23, 2013 at 11:59 pm)AtheistCreed Wrote:
(September 23, 2013 at 11:46 pm)Captain Colostomy Wrote: It's actually clear as a bell, but you're a young'un still. You can curse me in twenty years when upon reflection it suddenly makes sense.

My heart says "well it would be cool to be a psychologist, to sit in your office and discuss people's problems, help them cope with life, find happiness... it would also be cool to earn $100,000 working at a financial establishment in charge of their records... or business management and start my own business or assist in someone elses... oooh but I love science, what if I could be a cosmologist and learn about the origins of the Universe and assist in the research that makes breakthrough discoveries, but how much is that going to pay.... maybe a college professor but that is long term requires PhD etc... argh how about a computer science degree? That does sound like something I enjoy, I type very fast but I'm not sure ... maybe biology? working in a lab, a science degree... decent salary... but would I be exposed to a deadly virus and the government assassinates me to keep it under cover?"

Then my heart takes a breath and begins some more...

Don't forget that not everything in life is about how much money you make. Nor does the endless pursuit of money or a 'good job' lead to happiness. As cliche as it is to say that nobody seems to actually realize that it's true. What do you want out of life? What do you enjoy doing? Those are more important questions than picking a major.
[Image: dcep7c.jpg]
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#37
RE: Help me decide on a major
(September 23, 2013 at 10:04 pm)AtheistCreed Wrote: I want a good salary but a relaxed lifestyle, I don't want to be forced into long hours unless I WANT long hours.

That is what I liked about Psychology, if I ultimately ended up running my own clinic I can have other doctors in the office and I can take as many or as few clients as I want, etc...

Of course that would require a PsyD, which is extra time and money.

Yeah, if you want a "relaxed" lifestyle I wouldn't go with psychology. Like you said, it really takes a PhD to do anything with it and a PhD program is anything but relaxed. It also takes on average, about 6-8 years to complete. Then there is the fact that dealing with people who are experiencing tremendous pain, suffering, abuse and all sorts of terrible things are going to look to you to help them. It can be highly stressful.

I don't know where you live but in the US, in my state, one can run their own practice without a doctor, with as a LISW which just requires a Master's in Social Work. This is the route I was going to go but it's expensive and for now I'm doing a Master's in Zoology that focuses on public education and conservation. I may in the future go back to psychology but for now, I'm here and then after this I want to be a mom. So, that's going to be WAY down the line.

If you are worried about finances and getting a job, I would considering something in engineering.
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#38
RE: Help me decide on a major
Thank you ALL for your responses and non-judgmental attitude, I appreciate it really.

Thank you JesusHChrist for that awesome post. I agree with you, I want money, lots of it.

What do you think about getting a Business Administration transferable associate's degree to get into a 4 year for BS in Finance?

You said that a degree in business isn't what it used to be, but I heard finance is still strong from some Google sources.

I'll look into the data scientist route you mentioned... as long as I don't have to do any programming. I really don't think I'm cut out to learn a programming language, I've tried it on my own and it just did not catch my interest at all.
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” - Marcus Aurelius
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#39
RE: Help me decide on a major
You're welcome AC. I hope it works out for you.

It's good you are asking these questions before committing and it gets to be too late to change your mind.

I don't know how strong finance is now. When I graduated back in the 80s, I went into IT because it paid a lot better then. I think that is even more true now, but I don't know for sure. Turns out I liked IT work better than finance so it was good choice for me.

On the data scientist route, here's a link as an example of the field's "hotness". Programming skills frequently come in handy though, so you might find it required. Programming also helps one think logically, clearly and completely.

http://www.technologyreview.com/news/513...-new-role/

Quote:Cloudera’s education program director, Mark Morissey, says a skills shortage is looming and that “the market is not going to grow at the rate it currently wants to.” That has driven salaries up. In Silicon Valley, salaries for entry-level data scientists are around $110,000 to $120,000.
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#40
RE: Help me decide on a major
You're probably sick of my input now, but one more thing: whatever you choose, you have to excel in it. Don't be one of those that just sort of "pass" the class. Those that are getting bad grades in the hot fields will have a lot of trouble getting jobs in the future, because the fields that are in demand right now are really competitive. I don't recommend getting a degree that you're just not good at just because it earns a little more, because your chances of finishing with a nice transcript is significantly lower. It's better to find what you are capable of doing and find a degree that's worth getting that's within those limits.

I'm around undergrads and recent graduates so much that I've seen so many who are struggling or getting a worthless degree or some other things that they could have avoided with better planning, Big Grin good luck!
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