Career tips : Not so useful Degrees

Not that I' m making fun of anyone, but I had recently talked with a freshman in college, and I asked her what her degree was in.

She said, "Film" I asked her what kind of job you can get with that, and she said, "Directing"

Anyone here, sorry to say, is the possibility for this young lady to succeed in being possibly another Steven Spielburg? (sp?)

Maybe she is majoring in Film because that is what she loves and what she wants to do.

If you still don' t "get it", maybe you should enroll at the local vocational/technical school.

There you can choose from various kinds of JOB TRAINING like:

Cosmetology

Automotive Repair

Plumbing

Carpentry

etc.

Yeah, I wanted to do something similar to hers...however, I had come to realize by my late 20's, that it wasn't practical.

So, you' re willing to give up a passion/dream for something that' s practical?

I guess my music degree wasn' t too practical, either, but I actually got quite a few decent jobs just because I had a DEGREE, no matter what in.

And, I was able to get into a graduate-level computer programming certificate program only because I had a Bachelor' s Degree -- in SOMETHING, ANYTHING.

I'm not dogging people out for pursuing certain degrees that won't get you anything (in your field)

I recalled a female friend of mine that got a degree in Marine Biology, and it got her no where actually. And she still wind up waitressing tables for so many years...she eventually decided to go into Physical Therapy instead (medical/health field....which there is a high demand for workers there).

I ....at first....was intending on going into Marine Biology, then I went on a seminar/trip to the Keys and spent about 3 days at sea (kind of similar to the "Semester at Sea" program) and the workers who I'd been talking to said Marine Biology isn't really all that lucrative, until MAYBE you get your Ph.D. Basically, it's fun playing with the sea creatures and all that, but the trade off is living dirt poor.

Not to bring a fictional movie into it, but in Start Trek IV, The Voyage Home, they meet this Marine Biologist who had worked at a Marine Institute in L.A. with two humpback whales....she had a PhD, but then I saw her Personal Vehicles....it was an old rusted out Chevy Pick-up....I was like "Wait, this woman is a Doctor, and she's driving a vehicle that's about to fall apart at the seams?" Just made me think if I made the right decision.

Then int the middle of the semester I c hangeed my degree to Environmental Studies, which seemed more practical...because there's so many Marine Institutes here in FL (rather limited)

It's just that I think some people enter some of these degree programs, not knowing that there's no market for it when they get out.

I think that Music would only be good for teaching,so you could teach music.

Some enter college picking the easiest major/courses, just so they can spend more time partying, and skating by with the easieste classes in college.

Beleive me there are some courses where the Prof gives you an A for just showing up and giving open booked tests. Or your grade is based more on projects than Exam taking.

Psychology was a popular "Easy"major

So here we had people with say Psych degrees getting 4.0 GPA's and then we have the hardcore Engineeering degrees where there are some squeaking by with a C average.

But I do agree that just having a DEGREE in general does indeed HELP, I can say that for sure. It can carry some weight...but it depends on the employer too.

I am always disappointed by people who think that an undergraduate-level education ought to be directly linked to an employment track. I am also disappointed by people who assume that the humanities and social sciences are easier to master than the hard sciences. These people are the typical anti-intellectuals of the American landscape, and although they may be correct about strict employability they' re missing the point of education, knowledge, and enlightenment. They' re craving money, and thinking monetary practicality alone qualifies a set of knowledge as worthwhile or not.

Sad. We have too many of these anti-intellectuals in America, and yet as a democracy we have to function on the basis of an informed electorate. I have no truck with people who assume psychology is "easy" -- at some schools, it might be; at others, it is quite difficult. I rejected majoring in Chemistry because (among other reasons) I found it "too easy" -- nothing but memorization and analyzation, no clear thinking or questioning of assumptions necessary.

Unfortunately for people who would share my position about education, nevertheless the job market does not necessarily agree with us. People who have technically oriented, job-specific training, which is perhaps nevertheless guised falsely as an undergraduate education, are much more likely to get higher-paying jobs, than people who simply have a true education. I' m sorry for this development in America. It rewards stupidity.

I' m sick of hearing that Engineering degrees are "hard" whereas other degrees are "easy".

That' s a bunch of baloney. Try doing your calculus final exam live, in person, in front of an audience, from memory, in real time, with no eraser. And that' s what you' re graded on. This is what a music performance major has to do. It' s as hard or harder than an Engineering major.

You don' t need a degree to teach piano, so having a Music degree for teaching is bull. In Music, one either goes on to become a performer, composer, conductor or pedagoge, OR they continue with advanced degrees and pursue an academic/university career alongside their musical endeavors.

Once again, you are treating college like a vocational school. It is not. You go to college to become educated -- NOT for job training. If you want job training, go to a vocational school. There is no such thing as a "useless degree". It represents your level of education in a certain area. Education is never useless. Developing your mind and spirit is never useless.

I used the phrase:

Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum

in an engineering memo today. Do you think I got any style points?

University is not job training. While some advanced degrees certainly prepare you for future careers and are required for those careers (some engineering, legal, medical) the first four years are really to prepare the student for life.....they teach you to think!

It is so unfortunate today that most Universities are not more rigorous in this. University students are coddled almost as much in their first two years as they were in high school. Bad behavior is tolerated and there are no moral clauses anymore, really to bad.

I still periodically take university classes when I can because I love the process and there is always something new to learn! The process of learning alone keeps your mind sharp. Sure some degrees are more useful than others out in the big bad world, but realistically the four year degree is not all that useful anymore.

I loved my first two years, that I repeated several times because I didn't want to graduate (ever). I went to university early and was paying for it myself so there was no on forcing me to graduate and get it over with. I got to explore all sorts of interesting things and would have stayed forever if I could have to continue exploring things that were interesting. The greatest benefit I got from my early years was the ability to absorb information, the ability to think and I mean truly think, the ability to write, and the ability listen with a open mind. Most of my early education at a university level had nothing to do with the work and career I eventually fell into but nearly all of it has benefited me in some way.

I guess you were considered a "Career Student".

Career Tips

Not so useful Degrees