284,000 College grads making minimum wage.

maybe its because i go to a lib arts college, that offers biz mgmt degrees but i am starting to view it as less valuable. The more i interact with "international business" majors, the less and less i respect their degree. it attracts to many people that dont have a passion for what they are studying or desire for learning and are simply choosing it as the easiest way out. i would way rather hire someone with a passion for what they studied vs a mgmt major that when it came time to declare a major took the easy way out.

that said i really do just enjoy learning, and if school were free ide probably collect a few degrees. haha
 
Fellow history major high five!

Huge companies like Google etc. want people who can communicate and think critically about the world. They always want people who can program and crunch numbers.

I chose to pursue an arts degree over an engineering one. I know my history degree might not have the largest job market, but it sure is much more adaptable than a chem-eng degree.

A bachelors degree in anything is basically turning into the new high school though. Grad school is the new university.
 
I'm not sure whether it's good or bad that no one talks about my major in these threads.

I'm finishing a 2 year "Environmental Technician" diploma this year, and then (hopefully) will be getting a degree in Environmental Management in 2 more years.

Anyone else in something similar?

 
want to make money get into a trade, everyone is set on university because thats what you were always told get an education well engineering is packed, no where near that many jobs available. Medicine is good but the average apprentice by the time a university student have spent 100,000 the apprentice has made that, getting paid to go to school whats wrong with that
 
i honestly dont know what that is?

i know some environmental studies majors, and aside from working for the national parks im not really sure what they intend to do with it
 
Is your only goal in life to get a high-paying job? If not, why is that the only criteria you use to decide what to major in?
 
there's a large boom in sustainability. whether it be in architecture, landscape, lifestyle, manufacturing or materials there is a lot someone with a lot of knowledge can do for various companies.
 
Some people major in some whack ass shit though.

At the same time I agree. I would have been a history major with some small business management/entrepreneurial type classes in there.

I fucking love history and it's my thang, and I like doing my own thing business wise instead of working a job i hate that pays more money. My whole life is pretty much about making my own way.

Unfortunately I neither had the loot or the will to sit through other bullshit classes that I didn't want. Fuck it, I can read books online or from the library fo free so take that college.
 
The only way you are getting a good job at a Fortune 500 or a financial institution with a liberal arts degree is if it comes from an Ivyleague school. So unless that BA in English is preceded by Harvard, UPenn, Stanford, Princeton, etc. you are shit out of luck.
 
I wonder if this is the same in Aus, I guess it would be better we have a lower rate of unemployment. Either way psychology probably wasn't a good choice haha
 
it also happens when a degree is so expensive that the price suggests quality and the school basically writes in the qualification profile that high-paying jobs are pretty much guaranteed. so they think "ok its expensive, BUT I FUCKING HAVE A 6-DIGITS JOB AFTER IT, GUARANTEED", without really thinking it through
 
Evironmental Studies is very different than Environmental Management. Its similar to a degree in Natural Resources Management.
 
Actually, that matters a shit ton. You can have the best work ethic in the world but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want without a degree. That's one of the most stupid posts I've read in a long time.
 
I think his basic message was that 1 degree should suffice as long as if you're motivated and know what you want to do
 
i dont read these threads much but the picture that i'm getting of America is that u pay a fuck ton to get a degree in college and then u cant get a job... so why the fuck are people still going to college? Im sure you could do something more productive with $50k other than just get into debt and a pretty piece of paper...

someone please explain it a little more for me?
 
"...The Center For College Affordability and Productivity reported that nearly half of the college graduates from the class of 2010 are working in jobs that don't require a bachelor's degree. A full 38% have taken gigs that don't even require a high school education."

OOF.

But seriously, I agree with a lot of what's been said. And being at Brown, I see a lot of really wealthy kids majoring in some bullshit, and then doing Teach For America while their parents pay the bills in their $1500/month Hell's Kitchen apartment so the kids don't have to suffer the consequences of not thinking realistically about their futures. That shit pisses me off. (Not that I have a problem with Teach For America, it's a great program, but a lot of kids go into it for the wrong reasons, such as delaying having to get a real job that pays well.)

What it really comes down to is this: have a plan. Yes, the American higher education system is fucked and the job market is horrible. So account for that. Accept those things as obstacles to overcome. Don't just spend your time at college drinking your life away; taking bullshit classes; ignoring pragmatism; and suppressing the vague, distant feeling of dread that comes with the thought "what do I do after this?" College is supposed to set you up for the rest of your life, but it's not just going to do that for you. Getting in isn't all you have to do. Once you're there you have to do your own legwork, and make your own decisions, and think about what what you're doing right now is going to get you when you graduate and move on. Sure, a lot of this is the product of the down economy, but as long as you can't singlehandedly lift the economy back up to pre-2009 levels, you're just going to have to roll with the punches and work that much harder.

'The college experience' is so revered in American society—and perhaps even urban folklore—that people think of it as this magical thing with no bounding in reality. People forget that it is a learning and growing experience, yes, and it should be fun, but above all it is a means to an end.

 
qfe. My sister graduated from Temple for therapeutic recreation (pardon me for not knowing exactly what her credentials are at them moment). She was hoping (and still is) to have a job actually working as Rec Therapist. Turns out that she is now working at Lancaster regional hospital helping them to develop the program. Her job is less therapist and more administrator.
 
Sorry for the dub, but this was exactly how I felt. I jumped right into a community college to knock out general eds while i figured out what the fuck I wanted to do with the rest of my life. After the end of my first semester I knew that I didn't want to be there, but didn't know what else to do. It also became hard to talk to friends that are going to school for more "intellectual" degrees about school. They were pulling 3.7s while I could barely maintain a 2.0 because I hated it. Fast forward a bit to where I am now, an electrician apprentice. I'm looking at a great future without having to attend college.
 
1) You're right. College is increasingly becoming a less and less profitable investment. It's becoming more expensive and the benefits it affords you are diminishing. So, not going to college and just pursuing success out of high school is technically a better idea. However, it requires a lot of individual ambition, determination and work ethic which, let's face it, many people don't have. Plus, if it doesn't work out and you decide to go to college, it will be much harder to get in somewhere than if you applied right out of high school.

2) What is glossed over a lot in conversations like these is that if you do use college correctly, you really do learn things, things that are important and will increase your human capital—meaning basically that they make your brain better and more efficient, making you a better person and a better worker. If you're majoring in sociology and just doing the bare minimum to pass your classes, then maybe not. But if you're studying something even somewhat quantitative and you apply yourself, you can really learn a lot.

For example, I'm majoring in electronic music. Before you scoff at that, realize that being a music producer, an audio engineer, a sound designer for movies and commercials, a sound designer for theater, and a live sound engineer for concerts and shows requires a lot of specialized training, knowledge and experience. Yes, you can do it without a college degree. But being in my degree program, I have learned more than I ever could have possibly imagined, both about thinking creatively and expanding the ways in which I approach my work; and in direct, quantitative knowledge about working with all types of sound. I am nearly positive that had I not gone to this school and majored in what I'm majoring in, I never would have learned much of what I know now, and much of what I will learn in my next two years. I would have been, in short, far worse at what I do had I not gone to college.

So for me, college is a good investment. Yes, it's very expensive. And the degree doesn't matter much to me or to the field in which I want to be employed. But the knowledge and the experience I am gaining here will make me a vastly better candidate for employment, which will allow me access to better jobs faster and will hopefully help me climb the ladder of employment faster. It could also set me a notch above other applicants for jobs.

3) Facilities: this only matters for some majors, but things like recording studios, research laboratories, machine shops, etcetera are available for use for no extra charge at colleges. I have access here to two full-featured recording studios that I can use for whatever purposes I need. That is huge for me. Experience working in a real recording studio is invaluable in the audio industry. Similarly, science majors need labs to conduct research, and so on.

4) Networking: this is used as a cop-out argument a lot, but truly, going to a school means you gain access to a network of students who will one day be alums in the real world. You will make friends who will go on to (hopefully) do real things, and you will have an instant camaraderie with other alums of your school, even if they have never met you. They will be more inclined to help you out. This mutualistically beneficial web of connections is helpful, especially in a down market where there are scores of overqualified workers gunning for the same job.

So, those are some of the reasons.
 
I mean after the bachelors they stay in school as a grad student and TA for a number of years. They don't just enter the workforce like some other majors.
 
The trades are doing pretty well right now due to the current misallocation of labor. Enjoy it while it lasts, because once the unemployment checks run out for those currently on it, they'll be competing for those basic skill jobs. Most of those jobs can be had with an AA from a community college.

I'm not trying to downplay the practicality of learning a trade, but careful with your expectations.
 
Some business majors... like business administration and crap like that.. Accounting is a pretty far cry from a liberal arts degree
 
When I say "business degree" I'm referring to those generalized ones. Obviously accounting and finance don't fall into that category.
 
Accounting and Finance degrees are definitely the only business degrees worth getting. If you're getting a business management, biz. admin, marketing, etc. degree, you're basically wasting your money imho. You might as well be getting a degree in underwater basket weaving. They're fucking worthless.
 
Lol at all the highschool nsers in this thread talking about their degrees and graduate school plans.
 
hahaha completely depends on the school. I'm a business management major and I've had 3 jobs offers for after graduation over $50,000. During school I've done whole semester projects with real clients (fifth third bank and Nestlé), where they gave us a business a problem and we collected data, analyzed, and proposed solutions. Real world experience. I would honestly say its completely based on the school. If you want to go into business, go to a school with a well known reputable business school. It's not that hard.

I would take my management degree from Miami over a accounting degree from a no name business school who has no shot of getting a job at the big four accounting firms. Other majors like supply chain management are in really high demand. And, as I mentioned earlier, if you get that degree from a well known school you can make bbaannkk.
 
truth i don't know anybody who sticks to their original plans, for hs kids though so easy to feel like you know it all when you have no idea...
 
Boo fucking hoo. So your Social Sciences or Women's studies major didn't net you a $60k/year job like you thought it would? Oh, so there isn't a job market for barely trained, mathematically incompetent engineers? Did you think people would be lining up for your Geology/Biology/Anthropology shit-tier degree? No. Of course they aren't because this is the real world and no one can make money with your quaint novelty specialty because it has no practical application for anyone. Ever. Sure you think rocks and archaeology are cool, but they are a money drain. You'll notice that there's a shortage of Chemists, Doctors, Computer scientists (re: not web developers), Mathematicians, Statisticians and Physicists in the world - especially females - and their median salaries start somewhere in the 80-100k range. Why? Because it takes skill, talent, and knowledge and has real practical application beyond academia. Do you know why more people don't get into it? Because it's hard, and when was the last time you heard of anyone going through college that was actually stoked to put in the effort to learn a difficult, technical field? Few. I think the number was somewhere
 
In the less than 5k/y range, and even fewer pursue a masters. Get over your degree. 90% of the degrees offered at universities are useless.
 
You sound like a scientist stating those kinds of facts.

You do know the majority of engineering degrees (real engineering acreddited engineering degrees) offer 80%+ placement rates right?

That figure doesn't include the 10-15% that go to gradschool+

 
It should've said Pure Sciences field. I messed that one up. That is Pure/Applied maths, Physics, and Logic.
 
Actually. You're totally fucking wrong about archaeology. It's still such a minimally sought out field that there is work available for bachelor's degrees and a hell of a lot of work for Masters/phds.

It's typically referred to as cultural resource management and involves a lot of survey work. There is both historic and prehistoric work available all over the US. Any time anyone wants to build, whether it is a highway or new housing complex, the land needs to be surveyed. They also usually manage the BLM land, there is also an archaeologist for pretty much every military base.

Even in college they paid us all $12 an hour (which didn't end up in our pockets, but went straight to the anthropology department) to do survey work. It's basically how our entire department was funded. There were also summer jobs available to any and everyone in the department who wanted a job.

Maybe not the highest paying field, but the work is there. The one other arch student in Mammoth has a pretty sweet job for the forrest service surveying land after controlled burns. Every year she say's there is a spot for me, but it isn't what I want to do, so they end up hiring a geo or bio grad and have to do a ton of training and they get paid less and blah blah blah.

But yeah, lots of work for the limited number of archaeology majors. There is even a website devoted entirely to dig jobs (the grunt work where you camp 3 weeks at a time and seriously just dig).

And.... as far as web developers go. I'm inundated with work. I turn so much shit down. There is a surplus in India, but here in the states... seriously, so much fucking work. Reason I'm able to live wherever I want, work when I want, and work as often as I want. And if I worked 35+ hours a week, I'd be in the 80 - 100k range.

So please do not refer to what I'm doing as "shit-tier." Thanks!
 
It's shit tier. What you do is not important and has 0 real-world application. The worst part is you're taking a portion of my tax dollars to fuel your Indiana Jones wet dream.
 
Nothx. I prefer actual sciences to your shit-tier applied pseudo-methodology and inconsistent stats education.
 
Engineers are the frat boy losers of the science world. Pair it with a math major and now we're really cooking with butter.
 
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