[goober-george]

Sorry, its another of those college threads but any Liberal Arts majors here? I remember telling one of my teachers I was going to major in liberal arts and he said do you not want a job? But I just laughed and shrugged my shoulders. Originally I wanted to major in Psychology or sociology but I hear you need a masters to get anywhere with Psych. But what I'd like to do is help the homeless or something.. anyways I was wondering if I could dodge the 8 years of college and still get a reasonable job with a Liberal Arts major, but what kind of careers can I expect? Music Therapy is also a very interesting major because I have a passion for music and would like to help people but I'm not sure what the job field is like with a major like that. I'm taking summer classes and will hopefully get my associates, anyways thanks in advance.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

get a degree doing what you want. if all else fails, go back and get a teaching certificate. that's what i tell everyone who is in your situation.

i'll be a freshman this fall. i want to major in an Interdisciplinary Study. But I also want to teach, but they won't let me get my certificate to teach with the study....aw hell.

 

[Steggy]

from what i hear from people with those majors is that liberal arts is just a major for people who don't know what they want to do. like, its a placeholder, such as undeclared.

 

[intoflatlines]

I am in my third year of B.S. in Psych, and I am really regretting it. Originally I was convinced that I would go on to grad school and eventually get a PhD and become a psychologist, but now I can't imagine going to more school after undergrad is done. Which sucks because getting a BS Psych degree won't help you with finding a job. I wish I would have done engineering like I originally was interested in, or even business.

 

[Uncle Erik]

My first degree was in English. Unless you want to teach, opportunities are limited. I did get the credential to substitute teach, but headed off to law school. I got a decent job after passing the Bar, but ended up going back to school for another in accounting. I'm happy where I am.

Funny thing is that at one time I wanted *nothing* to do with beancounting and calculus. But I had to take tax for the JD... and kinda liked it. Took all the tax and estate planning classes they offered and liked them.

Long story short, I enjoyed the accounting and got my highest grades in those classes.

The lesson is that you don't know what you like yet. You won't fully understand that until you're older, but don't rule out anything right now. You will change and might end up on the other side of the field.

 

[ZepFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goober-george /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry, its another of those college threads but any Liberal Arts majors here? I remember telling one of my teachers I was going to major in liberal arts and he said do you not want a job?

what kind of teacher says that? seriously..what a joke

 

[goober-george]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZepFloyd /img/forum/go_quote.gif what kind of teacher says that? seriously..what a joke

Well, he said it in a jokingly way, but still meant what he said. He was actually a pretty good teacher, I didn't take any offense to it.

 

[vcoheda]

liberal arts seems to work well for people wanting to go to law school.

 

[soloz2]

Yeah, honestly you can major in whatever you want. I have a lot of friends (both my wife and I included) that don't work in the fields we went to school for. And you can always go on for your masters in anything you want, you don't necessarily have to have done your undergrad work in the same field. it always helps to get a degree in what you know you want to do, but if you don't know I don't see any problems with taking classes you enjoy and learning what you want to learn. Mix and match. Double major, do a major and a couple minors.... it's only time and money right? lol

 

[LeftyGorilla]

Liberal Arts used to be this idea that the goal of education was to be educated. That there was something inherently valuable about understanding the human experience across time and cultures, employing the methodology of various disciplines - history, philosophy, religious studies, art, economics, language, political science, physical sciences, etc.

Now it's derided as something for the "undecided?" You want a 4 year education and at the end of it you're merely qualified to get a job?

Harrumph.

Well, you're likely to have many careers during your lifetime, so it might seem that a narrowly-focused trade-school approach to college might be once again a thing of the past.

You can get all sorts of jobs with any major. Employers don't look at majors. They look at relevant skills, overall competence, and experience. But don't decide what you want to be until you've shopped it around a bit...

Whatever you major in, make sure you know how to cook - and a little formal dance training goes a long way, too.


Disclosure: I majored in Philosophy, Religious Studies, and minor in Asian Studies. Not Liberal Arts, but close enough for "job" purposes. And I did a Masters degree in more or less Liberal Arts of the Indian Subcontinent. I now work in publishing and have held jobs in corporate education, intellectual property research, and, of course, cab driving.

 

[goober-george]

Interesting, because I love Philosophy and it was another choice of mine back then, but then I thought all I could be was a teacher, and I really don't want to be a teacher. I remember one of my philosphy teachers was telling me you don't go to college to learn you go so you can make money in the future, if you really wanted to learn you'd read about all kinds of subjects at the library for free. Nice, to see your job experiences must of been a fun ride heh.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif My first degree was in English. Unless you want to teach, opportunities are limited. I did get the credential to substitute teach, but headed off to law school. I got a decent job after passing the Bar, but ended up going back to school for another in accounting. I'm happy where I am. Funny thing is that at one time I wanted *nothing* to do with beancounting and calculus. But I had to take tax for the JD... and kinda liked it. Took all the tax and estate planning classes they offered and liked them. Long story short, I enjoyed the accounting and got my highest grades in those classes. The lesson is that you don't know what you like yet. You won't fully understand that until you're older, but don't rule out anything right now. You will change and might end up on the other side of the field.

how typical....English major with no job and going to law school after realizing having money is a good thing

nothing wrong with that really....just stating the facts

I hope OP is rich for law school because the average tuition for T10 is like $40k a year!!! for 3 years!!! WT#$ is wrong with these public schools....must be money crazy.

 

[ingwe]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeftyGorilla /img/forum/go_quote.gif Liberal Arts used to be this idea that the goal of education was to be educated. That there was something inherently valuable about understanding the human experience across time and cultures, employing the methodology of various disciplines - history, philosophy, religious studies, art, economics, language, political science, physical sciences, etc. Now it's derided as something for the "undecided?" You want a 4 year education and at the end of it you're merely qualified to get a job? Harrumph. Well, you're likely to have many careers during your lifetime, so it might seem that a narrowly-focused trade-school approach to college might be once again a thing of the past. You can get all sorts of jobs with any major. Employers don't look at majors. They look at relevant skills, overall competence, and experience. But don't decide what you want to be until you've shopped it around a bit... Whatever you major in, make sure you know how to cook - and a little formal dance training goes a long way, too. Disclosure: I majored in Philosophy, Religious Studies, and minor in Asian Studies. Not Liberal Arts, but close enough for "job" purposes. And I did a Masters degree in more or less Liberal Arts of the Indian Subcontinent. I now work in publishing and have held jobs in corporate education, intellectual property research, and, of course, cab driving.

*Very* well put.

 

[stuartr]

I completely agree with LeftyGorilla. I went a great liberal arts school and people out of our school have no problem getting hired in most of the fields they choose. Many teach, a lot are in the arts, but there are a ton in business or law. In fact, most of the investment banks recruit on our campus...I had a bunch of friends who were English or history majors who went directly from college into high 5 to low 6 figure jobs working at places like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan/Chase and Lehman Brothers (woe be unto them). Part of this is that the school is excellent, but to be honest, employers don't usually care too much about your major -- it is relevant skills, experience and your intelligence.

My disclosure: I doubled majored in Russian and history, did two years of Japanese and 9 classes in chemistry (I just had one more for the minor, but it was physical chemistry and I decided to just bag it). I was in a PhD program for history, but now I am in photography. Believe me, no one gives two bits about my major, they just want good photos.

 

[DanTheMiataMan]

I am in my Undergrad of Sociology. My friend got his BS in Phyc and now works for Cisco before that he worked for some high and mighty ad firm in S/F and also got offers from Cnet and other places. Another friend has a Soc degree too and works in the business world.