Loading
Categories, Archives and Tags

Lesson #3: College Majors
Posted by Kathy
August 11, 2009
Categories:  Randomness
9
comments

Lesson #3 - College Majors by Dante Shepherd

Lesson #3 - College Majors by Dante Shepherd

Ok, so I know today is Tuesday.  I was totally going to do the news.  I don’t know what I was going to do the news on, but I was going to do it.  I was at my computer, all ready to do the news.  Then my brother walks in and tells me I need to drive him to the bus stop.  Then my cousin walks in and tells me I need to drive him to Home Depot.  So we all pile into the car, off to the bus stop.  Then it turns out we don’t know what’s going on with the bus because it wasn’t coming.  So I – being the impossibly angelic sister that I am – drive my brother ALL THE WAY to Manhattan so that he isn’t late for his appointment.  My cousin and I eat lunch while waiting for my bro.  We ate at Fetch by the way – they’re not bad.  My cousin had the Philly Cheesteak (which was waaay better than the actual cheesesteak I had when I was in Philly) and I had the Cobb salad.  But my bro was still not done.  So we had dessert too – cheesecake for my cousin, carrot cake for me.  My bro was still not done.  So we had coffee.  Finally my bro was done.  Then we all pile into the car again, drive all the way back, go to Home Depot.  I walked through the door not long ago.

I am now very tired.  I need to sleep.  So instead of the news, I’m posting this diagram I saw a while ago.

I know many of you are about to leave for college if you haven’t already.  If you’re planning to work in the States and are wondering about college majors and such, my advice is to study what you want.  Really.  Choose something you will truly enjoy – something you will enjoy SO much that you won’t mind the hundreds of pages of reading you will need to do every week, the papers upon papers you will need to write every semester, the lectures upon lectures you will need to attend.  You’re going to pay lots of money for this privilege, so you might as well have fun with it.

The job market is what it is.  Unless you WANT to go into the sciences or the arts, the actual CONTENT of what you study is not important in the job market.  It’s not WHAT you study in college – it’s the WHO you become.

How successful you are in the job market depends largely on two things: 1) your social network, and 2) the skills you develop – things like time management, working on a team, communicating effectively, etc.  So if you love history, study it.  If you love literature, study it.  It’s a falsehood, for example, that if you want to become a doctor you need to major in biology or some kind of science.  Absolutely not true.  Everything you need to learn to become a licensed doctor you learn during medical school and the training afterwards.  That’s why there’s such a thing as medical school.  Similarly, everything you need to learn to become a licensed lawyer you learn in law school.  Professional schools exist for this very reason.  So don’t think about that stuff when you’re choosing a college major.  Just study what you love.

The link.

last post next post

You must be logged in to post a comment ·

G

August 11, 2009

Oy, Kathy it’s funny that you blog about this because I was juuust discussing such a thing with our dear Binks. What if you’re equally passionate about several things and can’t decide? Or you really want to go for something, but you’re afraid you won’t make it? That’s my problem lol.

Great post, btw!


Air

August 11, 2009

I beg to differ on the cheesesteak. There’s no way NYC makes ‘em better. No one makes a Philly better than Philly.

Oy, I’m in college, I have a major , but sometimes I’m not even sure it’s really what I want to do. Which is soo hard for so many people is trying to figure out what’s going to make you happy and live with that.

G, I would say talk to your school’s guidance counselor and if you have majors or careers in mind, see about shadowing these people around. And it’s okay to go to college and be undeclared, because colleges have so many resources to help you try and figure out your major/career. And, usually you can do an overnight visit or something and sit in on classes and that way you can talk to students in your major of interest and some of the professors as well. Also, sometimes you can combine majors to make a new one(I think that’s what it is) , at least that’s what my roomie is doing, but I guess that differs from school to school. And quite frequently you start out in a major and once you start taking those classes you realize it’s not for you.

And if you’re afraid you won’t make it, I guess you need to think about how driven and determined you are to achieve this goal and decide if it’s really something you’re passionate about and can make those sacrifices.


Jenipher

August 12, 2009

@G: I guess sometimes we just have to take some risks?

Well, at least you got a nice meal from all this, right? LOL But the best part? At least you posted awesome geniusness here!

I totally agree with you on this one, although, I must admit it’s quite a risk that I’m very willing to take. I’ll be majoring in Human Resources and even though there are TONS of people studying the same I’m gonna try my hardest to be the best.


Kathy

August 12, 2009

@Air – I tell the truth. You know those 2 super famous cheesesteak places in Philly that are across the street from each other? I ate at one of those (I forget the name). I was SO excited, you have no idea. But the bun was cold, the meat was lukewarm at best and not well-seasoned, the onions were not evenly distributed throughout, and the cheese was barely melted. Very underwhelming. But the cheesesteak from Fetch had none of these problems. I wish it weren’t so because I was really looking forward to an awesome authentic cheesesteak, but it didn’t happen that day. Maybe I caught them on a bad day, who knows. Maybe you need to tell me where I need to go in Philly, yah yah? ;)

@G – Your second question is irrelevant. Please. Whatever you decide to do, you will do fabulously. As long as it doesn’t have to do with fire. Because I can see bad things happening there. ;)

As for your first question, I would look into places like Brown or NYU Gallatin – they let you create your own program of study. In other words, you make your own major. I’m sure there are other schools that let students do this.

I don’t know anyone from Brown, but I do know people who went to Gallatin. You can do things like business and film, immigration studies and film, psychology and literature,…you know, all sorts of stuff. The school is pretty amazing. They just did a whole bunch of renovations there as well because the school is becoming increasingly popular. The only thing is, NYU is crazy crazy expensive. Waa waaaaa.

You know what else you could do? Go to a university bookstore or check out the course websites for their reading lists and assignments, and read on your own. This doesn’t work as well for classes in which you have to do things like problem sets and stuff.

Or, another thing you could do is audit a class (if they let you). The great thing about auditing a class is that you get to sit in on the lectures and follow along, but since you’re not officially registered, you don’t have the pressure of working for a grade.

There are also all those online classes, with videos of lectures by college professors.

@Jenipher – Human Resources, eh? That means you’ll have all these people kissing up to you to get a job, eh? lol. ;)

Okay I’ll stop now.


robertrka

August 12, 2009

It’s not WHAT you study in college – it’s the WHO you become.

Hmm… as to say to study to become something a person must be prone to ideas as to what life as to offer meaning the chosen career path or goals through an educational life experience. Great insight. Thanks Girls By Design.


Air

August 12, 2009

@ Kathy: That would be Pat’s and Geno’s that are across the street from one another. I’m sorry you had a bad experience down in Philly with the cheesesteak. Pat’s and Geno’s are the popular joints because of their rivalry and they usually are pretty good. But, maybe next time you should try Tony Luke’s, he beat Bobby Flay on the Philly Cheesesteak throwdown, if that adds any weight to my suggestion lol.


Laurenelle

August 13, 2009

Great post! I definitely agree that you should explore and take classes that you enjoy in college and look at the big picture toward a career in the future instead of the label that goes on a specific major. I will say that being a science major does make it a bit more convenient to apply for med school because you can get pre-reqs done as a part of your and kill two birds with one stone, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t study something else that you enjoy!

Get some sleep, Kathy!


robertrka

August 14, 2009

Very informative website. Thanks.


ravetketh

August 17, 2009

Hey,
Very cool blog! I totally agree. Medical school never stated that students need a science major to be qualified for medical school. Not at all! They ask for simple requirements to take the MCAT test for medical school and that is all. I’ve been reading about the medical school requirements for different schools and they are all not the same, while some are. It also depends on the medical school as well. Some medical schools require more math classes to complete than other schools. While some schools require students to take an upper division English course. It varies with different schools. But they never mentioned that a science major has to be the major to be accepted to medical school. Although, majority of students are science majors. They would like a student to be well rounded and that is all! Choose what you love to learn about. And I believe that’s a great start!