Started By
Message
Impractical degrees/studies
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:05 pm
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:05 pm
A lot of degrees and majors get shite on for being impractical or useless-- things like gender studies or 'interdisciplinary studies', but if you could study or work in one of these fields without having to worry about money, would you do it?
I got my degrees in economics and German, which by themselves aren't great (I'm in law school now), but I've always been interested in linguistics and philology-- specifically of ancient Germanic languages. I think being paid just to learn about that stuff would be pretty awesome.
I got my degrees in economics and German, which by themselves aren't great (I'm in law school now), but I've always been interested in linguistics and philology-- specifically of ancient Germanic languages. I think being paid just to learn about that stuff would be pretty awesome.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:44 pm to AllbyMyRelf
i would love to have a degree in History. i took a few as electives in college because i enjoyed it so much.
I'm sure it can be useful, but outside of teaching i don't know what it is.
I'm sure it can be useful, but outside of teaching i don't know what it is.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:50 pm to AllbyMyRelf
quote:
A lot of degrees and majors get shite on for being impractical or useless-- things like gender studies or 'interdisciplinary studies', but if you could study or work in one of these fields without having to worry about money, would you do it?
If livelihood wasn't an issue I would've majored in Art History. About the only things you can do with that is work as a curator in a museum, teach (and even at that you'd need additional certs), or work as an appraiser. Curating a museum would be awesome but you have to be very well connected to pull that off. Art Restoration would be a possibility with further degrees but I don't know that I'd have the patience for that either.
This post was edited on 8/9/16 at 12:51 pm
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:55 pm to 3nOut
Use a history degree to get into law school you could also use it to work for one of the states.
My undergrad degree is useless (Industrial Psychology) as it is meant for business applications but really nobody wants it when hiring anymore.
My undergrad degree is useless (Industrial Psychology) as it is meant for business applications but really nobody wants it when hiring anymore.
This post was edited on 8/9/16 at 12:56 pm
Posted on 8/9/16 at 12:57 pm to BluegrassBelle
quote:
I would've majored in Art History
I go on iTunes U and watch lectures on Art History sometimes. My favorite movements are baroque and enlightenment period movements. I don't know much art history outside of western civilization though.
This post was edited on 8/9/16 at 12:58 pm
Posted on 8/9/16 at 1:20 pm to AllbyMyRelf
I took a couple of American Studies classes I loved. Not sure if you can get a degree in that(I think you can though) but I would have loved to take more of those classes, and money no concern I would definitely have majored in it.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 1:22 pm to 3nOut
I have a history degree. After some work experience people stopped asking about it. Then I got my MBA and undergrad never comes up.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 1:27 pm to Back to the Future
quote:
Basically any science degree is worthless.
Wouldn't that depend on the reason for studying it? Is it worthless if your goal was to learn about that science?
Posted on 8/9/16 at 1:44 pm to Back to the Future
Stop hijacking the thread. People who believe what priests are saying at face value are no less idiots than those who listen to scientists. Everyone should look into and test what they've been told-- no matter the subject.
This post was edited on 8/9/16 at 1:45 pm
Posted on 8/9/16 at 2:35 pm to Back to the Future
quote:
Back to the Future
You have issues.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 2:45 pm to TbirdSpur2010
Is this Stacked with an anti-Stacked troll?
Posted on 8/9/16 at 2:46 pm to Back to the Future
quote:
Basically any science degree is worthless.
We have really missed your antics, stacked.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 2:54 pm to AllbyMyRelf
I hope this IT degree I'm working on is worth something
Posted on 8/9/16 at 3:01 pm to AllbyMyRelf
After thinking about it, I honestly believe I would have ended up in the business school all along
Posted on 8/9/16 at 3:48 pm to LewDawg
quote:
I hope this IT degree I'm working on is worth something
What do you want to do with it?
Posted on 8/9/16 at 5:09 pm to LewDawg
quote:
I hope this IT degree I'm working on is worth something
I work in IT and I'm rich.
My degree is in communications and advertising but nobody cares.
Posted on 8/9/16 at 7:27 pm to AllbyMyRelf
Undergrad degree matters for your first job and stops mattering for every subsequent job. Pursue a major you can personally identify with; applying for that first job is a total crapshoot, anyway (unless you have a connection via family or an internship, you're probably going to submit ~50 to 100 applications before landing a solid fulltime position). Use your work experience and opportunities in that first job, then, to guide the direction that you want to go in. Your undergrad experience simply gives you life experience needed to get through those first 3 years when you will inevitably struggle in some way.
The so-called "practical" degrees (Business, Engineering, pre-Med, etc) are considered so because they are vocational in nature. The double-edged sword of those degrees are that they can result in lower levels of intrinsic fulfillment in the career field which leads to quicker burnout inside of 5 years. That doesn't mean that everyone that selects those majors gets burnt out or hates their job, just that simply majoring in Business or Engineering is not a decent default option because not everyone is cut out to work in those fields for the next 30-40 years of their lives. Students can save themselves a lot of frustration by selecting a major based more on personal fulfillment as opposed to potential for immediate monetary gain.
The so-called "practical" degrees (Business, Engineering, pre-Med, etc) are considered so because they are vocational in nature. The double-edged sword of those degrees are that they can result in lower levels of intrinsic fulfillment in the career field which leads to quicker burnout inside of 5 years. That doesn't mean that everyone that selects those majors gets burnt out or hates their job, just that simply majoring in Business or Engineering is not a decent default option because not everyone is cut out to work in those fields for the next 30-40 years of their lives. Students can save themselves a lot of frustration by selecting a major based more on personal fulfillment as opposed to potential for immediate monetary gain.
This post was edited on 8/9/16 at 7:34 pm
Popular
Back to top
Follow SECRant for SEC Football News