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"Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:05 am
by sprezzatura
Some majors, like the English one I'm currently pursuing, are useless outside of getting me into law school.
What are some more useful ones? (Engineering, pre-med, things like that?)
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:13 am
by scionb4
It's all about majoring in Latin. That'll take you places.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:16 am
by eudaimondaimon
scionb4 wrote:It's all about majoring in Latin. That'll take you places.
Bwahahaha. Classics major here. So Latin AND Ancient Greek.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:17 am
by BioEBear2010
sprezzatura wrote:Some majors, like the English one I'm currently pursuing, are useless outside of getting me into law school.
What are some more useful ones? (Engineering, pre-med, things like that?)
A major is what you make of it. I'm an engineer, but I have failed at acquiring a summer internship in biotech for two years in a row. Meanwhile, some my English and Mass Communication friends have landed prestigious consulting jobs.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:17 am
by TTH
Pretty sure pre-med is useless other than for getting into a Med School, no?
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:18 am
by vespertiliovir
eudaimondaimon wrote:Bwahahaha. Classics major here. So Latin AND Ancient Greek.
Me too!

Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:21 am
by someones alt
Psychology teaches you the fine art of conjecture
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:23 am
by slider
Accounting & Finance majors seemed to have an easier time finding jobs straight out of undergrad.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:26 am
by eudaimondaimon
vespertiliovir wrote:eudaimondaimon wrote:Bwahahaha. Classics major here. So Latin AND Ancient Greek.
Me too!

Haha. I went to UF so I had a "wait, do I know you?" moment when I saw your avatar. It took me a second to realize that it's making fun of that blubbering idiot.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:37 am
by vespertiliovir
eudaimondaimon wrote:vespertiliovir wrote:eudaimondaimon wrote:Bwahahaha. Classics major here. So Latin AND Ancient Greek.
Me too!

Haha. I went to UF so I had a "wait, do I know you?" moment when I saw your avatar. It took me a second to realize that it's making fun of that blubbering idiot.
Hahaha sorry, no gator here

Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:46 am
by sudoku
Philosophy tied for <a href="
http://taxprof.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341 ... wi">second place</a>. This is a pretty neat little list.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:48 am
by UFMatt
TipTravHoot wrote:Pretty sure pre-med is useless other than for getting into a Med School, no?
It's also useful for other graduate degrees (e.g. MPH, PhD, PharmD, PA, etc.), but without an accompanying grad degree it is pretty useless. You'd be lucky to crack $40k with just a B.S.
If you want a decent job with just a bachelors, I'd recommend engineering or computer science.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:55 am
by eudaimondaimon
I love that every time I see one of those lists "Criminal Justice" sits right at the very bottom.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 12:59 am
by sudoku
UFMatt wrote:TipTravHoot wrote:Pretty sure pre-med is useless other than for getting into a Med School, no?
It's also useful for other graduate degrees (e.g. MPH, PhD, PharmD, PA, etc.), but without an accompanying grad degree it is pretty useless. You'd be lucky to crack $40k with just a B.S.
If you want a decent job with just a bachelors, I'd recommend engineering or computer science.
Computer science is, IMHO, a moderately worthless degree. I work at a successful internet company (fail to disclose for admissions purposes), and only two developers out of maybe twenty scored computer science degrees--and they landed mere junior development positions. The senior developers majored in math, education, philosophy, etc--anyone can learn to program. Not everyone can apply the logic behind the programming necessary to succeed in the industry, hence the success of the math and philosophy majors.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:10 am
by dextermorgan
Social Work is pretty useful. Accounting/Finance/Econ isn't bad.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:12 am
by Ragged
Accounting. Great job security and now you are more versed at reading financial statements.
Finance. Introduces you to basic financial concepts like time value of money which can be quite useful in the outside world.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:15 am
by UFMatt
sudoku wrote:UFMatt wrote:
If you want a decent job with just a bachelors, I'd recommend engineering or computer science.
Computer science is, IMHO, a moderately worthless degree. I work at a successful internet company (fail to disclose for admissions purposes), and only two developers out of maybe twenty scored computer science degrees--and they landed mere junior development positions. The senior developers majored in math, education, philosophy, etc--anyone can learn to program. Not everyone can apply the logic behind the programming necessary to succeed in the industry, hence the success of the math and philosophy majors.
I largely based my comment on the immense number of IT positions offered at the government job site (USAJobs). They seemed to pay quite well and were available pretty much everywhere. I assumed they required computer science degrees, but perhaps I was mistaken.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:17 am
by Hopefullawstudent
ECONOMICS. Go to M.I.T. or the University of Chicago and study economics. It is a life changing major and it really enhances the way you see the world. Also, economics is intimately infused with the law. I'm utterly surprised it has taken so long for the Law and Economics area to blossom.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 2:36 am
by fortissimo
UFMatt wrote:sudoku wrote:UFMatt wrote:
If you want a decent job with just a bachelors, I'd recommend engineering or computer science.
Computer science is, IMHO, a moderately worthless degree. I work at a successful internet company (fail to disclose for admissions purposes), and only two developers out of maybe twenty scored computer science degrees--and they landed mere junior development positions. The senior developers majored in math, education, philosophy, etc--anyone can learn to program. Not everyone can apply the logic behind the programming necessary to succeed in the industry, hence the success of the math and philosophy majors.
I largely based my comment on the immense number of IT positions offered at the government job site (USAJobs). They seemed to pay quite well and were available pretty much everywhere. I assumed they required computer science degrees, but perhaps I was mistaken.
Computer science is pretty useless because there are tons of EECS (electrical engineering computer science) majors who are more qualified for the jobs CS majors target.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:29 am
by ApexChaser
I've heard Music Therapy is going to explode like Nursing programs. Plus, you go to "Hot Hot Hot" for the degree.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 8:43 am
by Iuvo
Medieval Art. Or Art. Anything that ends with "Art" or "Arts".
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:25 am
by kittenmittons
Dentistry is TCR
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:40 am
by MC Southstar
Should've gone to vocation school and learned how to do a real job.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 9:49 am
by BLi
sprezzatura wrote:Some majors, like the English one I'm currently pursuing, are useless outside of getting me into law school.
blatant anti-Starbucks trolling.
Re: "Useful" majors
Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 10:16 am
by MC Southstar
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