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College majors

C

chrisms

Diamond Member
I don't know what to major in. What college major is the best, in the following catagories?
1) Best salary
2) Most opportunities
3) Most rewarding (travel, working outdoors, etc.)

I don't plan to major in basket weaving but most of the basic stuff is equally as interesting to me. Aerospace engineering, chemical engineer, and most all forms of engineering seem neat, as well as economics or phsyics. I absolutely suck at math but damnit I can learn.
 
if money is your sole goal, then I would say Ibanking.

Not that I ever majored in it, but there's a fairly common stigma than I-bankers will essentially trade away 20-30 years of their life for oodles of cash and I Figure...the stigma had to come from somewhere.
 
Originally posted by: chrisms
I don't know what to major in. What college major is the best, in the following catagories?
1) Best salary
2) Most opportunities
3) Most rewarding (travel, working outdoors, etc.)

I don't plan to major in basket weaving but most of the basic stuff is equally as interesting to me. Aerospace engineering, chemical engineer, and most all forms of engineering seem neat, as well as economics or phsyics. I absolutely suck at math but damnit I can learn.
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(3) is highly subjective. Most equivocate (1) to (3).

Edit: I'll probably end up teaching somewhere. That wipes out (1) and probably (2) but makes up for it by being very rewarding.
 
I definately want to do what I like, but many majors spark my interest. I'd just like to know which ones provide me with the best future emotionally and financially. For example, I think I could get just as excited with aerospace engineering as I could with biology, but whichever gives me the best future would be my choice.
 
Originally posted by: chrisms
I definately want to do what I like, but many majors spark my interest. I'd just like to know which ones provide me with the best future emotionally and financially. For example, I think I could get just as excited with aerospace engineering as I could with biology, but whichever gives me the best future would be my choice.
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Do what you love. If you go into a field because of the money and very little love for what you do guaranteed you will make a career switch/have a midlife crisis at some point.
 
I appreciate the advice but I don't think some of you understand what I'm saying.. I want to major in something I love, but I haven't really pinpointed what that is yet. Also, even if I do love something I don't want to major in it unless it is a viable career choice. I won't major in philosophy, although I do find it very interesting, because I don't see myself making a career as a philosopher.
 
If you want to work outdoors, ecology is good, and probably pretty rewarding. A lot of ecology is probably tedious... Recording data, cutting plants to measure biomass, etc etc.
 
Originally posted by: chrisms
I appreciate the advice but I don't think some of you understand what I'm saying.. I want to major in something I love, but I haven't really pinpointed what that is yet.
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And we're supposed to know if you don't? 😕 When you ask the question "what do I like doing?" to someone other than yourself, these are about as helpful answers as anyone can give.

Also, even if I do love something I don't want to major in it unless it is a viable career choice. I won't major in philosophy, although I do find it very interesting, because I don't see myself making money as a philosopher.
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Philosophy majors almost always move on to law school. Lawyers make money.
 
Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
If you want to work outdoors, ecology is good, and probably pretty rewarding. A lot of ecology is probably tedious... Recording data, cutting plants to measure biomass, etc etc.
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I've been looking into those types of majors, things like biology, agriculture, and forestry, because it seems as though some people get jobs just going out int othe wilderness to do their work. I'm not sure how good the job market is for such majors, though
 
Originally posted by: chrisms
I appreciate the advice but I don't think some of you understand what I'm saying.. I want to major in something I love, but I haven't really pinpointed what that is yet. Also, even if I do love something I don't want to major in it unless it is a viable career choice. I won't major in philosophy, although I do find it very interesting, because I don't see myself making a career as a philosopher.
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Many people make a living as academics. I think the question to ask here is: "How much do you want to make?"

Then you can choose.
 
Originally posted by: TheLonelyPhoenix
Originally posted by: chrisms
I appreciate the advice but I don't think some of you understand what I'm saying.. I want to major in something I love, but I haven't really pinpointed what that is yet.
Click to expand...

And we're supposed to know if you don't? 😕 When you ask the question "what do I like doing?" to someone other than yourself, these are about as helpful answers as anyone can give.

Also, even if I do love something I don't want to major in it unless it is a viable career choice. I won't major in philosophy, although I do find it very interesting, because I don't see myself making money as a philosopher.
Click to expand...

Philosophy majors almost always move on to law school. Lawyers make money.
Click to expand...


No, I'm not trying to ask you what I like. Just tell me what you think the most valuable majors are, and from there I can look into them and see if it would fit me. So if you said "Foreign language majors get to move to exotic locations to become translators and they make a good salary," from there I would see that this major would be intruiging to me.

This thread has been made too confusing
 
if you like physics, computers, electricity, mechanics -- then go for engineering.
if you like to be outside, in nature, doing labs, then maybe a life science like biology
if you like to argue and think about logic, then maybe law
if you like to know about the human life, then maybe pre-med
if you want to deal w/ medicine, but not go all the way for pre-med, guys have an advantage in nursing school
also, if you want something that is a "book major" meaning no labs, no hands on, only research and reading, then get a ph.D in math, history, english, etc etc, and teach.
 
Just a quick thing: 2/3rds of people get a job that is not related to their major. Engineering is the main exception because engineering is more of a professional school...that and you don't bust your ass for 4-5 years only to go be a real estate agent 😉 (though my friend is actually doing that...Material Science Major and he plans to get a MBA and enter the real estate industry...funny part is he has all As also 😉 )
But in general, what you major in doesn't relate to what you will do as a career.

But how about my major, Biomedical Engineering. Fairly new, industry is growing and potential for $$$.

And if you suck at math...you better plan on learning 😛 You won't get far if you struggle in math in ANY engineering discpline.

And if you really want money, don't be an engineer. We peak faster than other majors, but in the long run other majors make more.
 
Once again, you're using HIGHLY subjective terms like "valuable" to describe a major. You want to make money - that's what you mean by "viable," right?
Here you go:

Biology/Biochemistry
Business
Law
Medicine
Economics
Basically, anything with a B.S., not a B.A.

Humanities majors make jack squat and the majority of degrees (sans econ) are worthless without a Master's or PhD.
 
Originally posted by: MadCowDisease
Once again, you're using HIGHLY subjective terms like "valuable" to describe a major. You want to make money - that's what you mean by "viable," right?
Here you go:

Biology/Biochemistry
Business
Law
Medicine
Economics
Basically, anything with a B.S., not a B.A.

Humanities majors make jack squat and the majority of degrees (sans econ) are worthless without a Master's or PhD.
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My finance and MIS degrees are BAs. and I found a job I'm really happy with.
 
I wouldn't do engineering if you don't like math. It would be one heck of a rough 4 yrs. Business majors usually have a lot of flexibility. Anything like Finance or Accounting.
 
I would definetely vote for Accounting. As long as you get a good GPA, you can get a great internship from any of the big 4 and then get a job with one of them upon graduation. From there, get your CPA and you are sitting very pretty.
 
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