Schadenfreude
Lifer
Hah; I'm a Philosophy major!
Beat that!
Beat that!
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Why did I major in history in college?
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no dude, about 2 years ago in h.s. i asked my math teacher what he gets paid an hour he said $37, by now im guessing he shoulda have couple of raises...
and i doubt he was lying, he was an honest teacher... besides that was in NY, ive seen those teachers with nice mustangs and bm's... either way they get a good pay.
darkxshade
Lifer
I'm guessing your math teacher sucked or you could've done the math yourself. 😉
HombrePequeno
Diamond Member
They do get 3 months off in the summer, all weekends off, and all holidays off. The pay not be great but considering how much time you get off, it isn't horrible.
But they definitely aren't making $40/hour.
KarenMarie
Elite Member
If you don't mind me asking... why did you decide to major in Philosophy? What can someone do with a degree in that?
darkxshade
Lifer
Think outside the box and become a politician.
RaynorWolfcastle
Diamond Member
India > CS majors 😉
tennisflip
Golden Member
Yup. Most of my electives were science courses so there wasn't much to make up. I just got accepted into the major and start clinicals in May. Funny thing is that I see many 2nd degree students from the liberal arts trying to get into nursing. One of my lab partners was an English major and another Anthropology.
Depending on if they're also Department Heads, Coach, or do other things on the side, they can definitely get up there.
One of the older professors I had in HS was making at least $80,000 a year while being the Head of Science for the District (5 schools in the district; 1 HS, 1 Middle School, 3 Elementary Schools).
Also, NYC pays crap compared to out on the Island. It also depends if they're teaching in public schools vs. private schools. Private schools pay substantially less than public schools.
Pepsi90919
Lifer
teach others about history to continue the ponzi scheme.
Schadenfreude
Lifer
First of all, of course I don't mind! 🙂
Second, I took it because I went to college with the intent to, I suppose this is rather naive of me, better myself as a person; not necessarily so that I'd have a piece of paper so I could market myself for better jobs.
Lastly, a philosophy degree is suprisingly adapt precisely because it is not so specialized - a lot of it consists of thought experiements and constant discussions (I hesitate to call it an "argument" beacuse the word is too emotionally saturated) where it simply boils down into advanced critical thinking. Of course the danger to that is breaking down to semantics (which is sometimes necessary because we are communicating with language, after all).
Simply put, it's not so much the degree that's important in the major, but what you get out of it, IMO.
On the flip side, to quantify a little more, people with degrees usually go on to higher degrees - usually onto philosophy and law (logic, politics and ethics are usually one of the bigger parts of philosophy) but a lot of them (including myself), opt to get a degree in another field, but have relatively little trouble because of the critical/analytic nature of Philosophy.
Chaotic42
Lifer
GIS seems to be a hot field right now. I'm a math major and I hear crap everyday about how useless it is.
I work with two history/geography majors who both make way more than I do at the same job, though I don't think the history part mattered to our boss at all. It's unfortunate that the really interesting, deep majors have little demand.
I guess if I had to go for a "practical" major, it would be aerospace engineering.
I work with two history/geography majors who both make way more than I do at the same job, though I don't think the history part mattered to our boss at all. It's unfortunate that the really interesting, deep majors have little demand.
I guess if I had to go for a "practical" major, it would be aerospace engineering.
One of my friends teaches junior high level English and she makes about 47-48K a year. She's only 22 and just started teaching this year. I don't think that's bad at all. You have to keep in mind that while teachers may make $40/hour, they don't work for the full year.
In response to the topic, I don't think that people should major in certain fields just to make money. You have study a subject that you actually like. If you're actually decent at what you do, then you'll be able to apply your skills to something.
I was an art major but I also minored in CS. I always surprised people in my CS study groups when I told them that I was an art major, because I often did better than they did in the CS classes. I was able to combine my CS and art degree to do web design/development and I'm finding that I have a lot of flexibility because of my art major.
I'm now working at a high profile design firm that makes websites for TV/film studios in Los Angeles.
KarenMarie
Elite Member
Thank you!
next question... can you make money with a degree in philosophy?
montanafan
Diamond Member
You could indeed teach with a degree in history. Most likely you could start out right away substituting even without an education degree or teaching certificate if you are in one of the states with a teacher shortage. Substitute teachers are usually paid an hourly rate which is close to what a first year certified teacher with a Bachelor's degree would make if you broke down their salary to an hourly rate. You probably would not be eligible for any insurance or other benefits. To continue as a substitute or become a full-time teacher, you would be required to sign a contract agreeing to complete at least 6 hours per year toward receiving a degree in education and then pass the examinations to receive your teaching certificate.
As for the $40 an hour, don't I wish. I have an advanced degree and 27 years experience and I do not make anywhere near $40/hr. Salary for teachers varies widely from state to state and district to district. Some states pay teachers very well and that can be increased further by teaching in a wealthy district which adds supplements to the state's base pay through tax levies. Salaries can also be increased further by increments for years of experience and the advancement of your degree. You can also increase your income by taking on extra responsibilities for pay like, department head, mentor, coach, yearbook advisor, teaching summer school, participating in seminars that pay a stipend, etc. In some states all of these extras can result in a very nice income; in others, they just help you to get by. People in administrative positions - principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, etc. have a higher base rate of pay as well, though they are required to work around 20 something more days a year.
The above is the reason that you have so many differing accounts by people of what teachers are paid whenever the subject comes up. It just depends on where the person is teaching and what they do to increase their salary.
As for the $40 an hour, don't I wish. I have an advanced degree and 27 years experience and I do not make anywhere near $40/hr. Salary for teachers varies widely from state to state and district to district. Some states pay teachers very well and that can be increased further by teaching in a wealthy district which adds supplements to the state's base pay through tax levies. Salaries can also be increased further by increments for years of experience and the advancement of your degree. You can also increase your income by taking on extra responsibilities for pay like, department head, mentor, coach, yearbook advisor, teaching summer school, participating in seminars that pay a stipend, etc. In some states all of these extras can result in a very nice income; in others, they just help you to get by. People in administrative positions - principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, etc. have a higher base rate of pay as well, though they are required to work around 20 something more days a year.
The above is the reason that you have so many differing accounts by people of what teachers are paid whenever the subject comes up. It just depends on where the person is teaching and what they do to increase their salary.
Schadenfreude
Lifer
Simple answer: No. 🙁
Longer answer: It depends. A lot of people I knew i the department weren't so interested in making money (otherwise they'd be finance majors 😛), but the opportunities are there, IMO. But, from a strictly "they really want to benefit from the piece of paper that says I went to college" point of view, they really have to go on to a masters, or more likely, a PhD to really benefit from a pure 'on-paper' viewpoint (basically, to become professors), and that is precisely what they are doing is the impression I got from the other students in the department.
Let's put it this way; Philosophy translates to "love of knowledge" - it's the connection inbetween all the other disciplines;
- Logic is the connection to math, linguistics, etc.
- Ethics/Politics/Epistomology is the connection to law, sociology, psychology, history, etc.
- Metaphysics is the connection to Physics
- I would argue that Theology is even part of Philosophy
- Etc., Etc.
In my opinion; Philosophy is, more or less, 'reliant' on other fields to be applicable in "real life". But on the flip side, it is the end-all of the other fields as well.
I'll give you an example/personal anecdote:
Originally, I was on track to becoming a Psychology major; I was curious as to how the mind works. After all, who isn't? Anyhow, one of the requirements to getting my degree was that I had to take a few elective courses. Backtracking a bit, I don't know if this is pretty common among other universities, but a lot of the advanced courses in Psychology in my university is essentially a variation of pharmaceutical Neurobiology - anyhow, I took a philosophy course relating to the Philosophy of the Social Sciences.
One thing I found really significant that I learned in Philosophy; Psychology is dependent on the human mind being controlled by the physical brain, lest the medicines we use to "fix" mentally/emotionally unstable patients be placebos if this was not the case; this I found truly significant - after all, if the mind is completely contained in the brain, that means that;
- All of our emotions/actions/feelings are, ultimately, just a result of complex chemical reactions controlled by a big bundle of nerves.
- If that is the case, we are wholly dependent on the brain to make our actions; hence no free will.
- And of course, if there is no free will, such a thing as a 'soul' does not exist, and we are living in a world where all our actions/reactions are completely deterministic.
No! I wanted to disagree. I wanted to see if there were any explanations for "free will", such things as "souls" to exist, and most importantly, was completely awestruck by the fact that they talked about such things; they weren't constrained by such psychobabble as "if we stimulate nerve X this way, appendage Y will react in such and such a manner", always one "if p, then q" after another.
My conclusion? Psychology, and a lot of the other fields, is only about "how" the mind works - the reasons and ramifications of such a process is irrelevant. On the contrary, Philosophy taught me "why" something should be so - rather, it 'told' me in a logically sound way; the foundations of all the other fields, if you will.
The irony? After taking all the classes, I ended up being a hard determinist. 😛
Siddhartha
Lifer
Go to grad school.
mercanucaribe
Banned
Going to college to better yourself is foolish. The vast majority of the world doesn't have the opportunity to get a college education... It's a huge privilege and a degree for the sake of a degree is a bourgeois folly... If the knowledge is all that matters, spend four years reading books instead of spending many thousands of dollars for a degree.
Saint Nick
Lifer
You could go work for a museum? Or a library?
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