OCS GPA vs. Major

[MasterBates]

My wife is a prime example of "study what you want".. She has an Ivy League bachelors in something she found interesting, and a Masters from SUNY in something else she also finds interesting.

She's currently a preschool teacher at a private Jewish school. Not related to either degree. Worked as a Nanny post graduation, because she couldn't find any work in either field. Owned her own business, again not related to jack and squat that she studied. Luckily for her, aside from about $10k, her mom paid for college. But I know lots of people who are $100k+ in debt, because they were told "go to college, follow your dreams" or some such other hippy feel good BS (remember, I'm from the Boston area) and I have plenty of friends with Ivy or other "Prestigious" degrees that are working as carpet installers, plumbers, mechanics 10+ years post grad, and because they are so slammed by their student loan payments, they can't go back to school for something more useful.

 

[LET73]

My wife is a prime example of "study what you want".. She has an Ivy League bachelors in something she found interesting, and a Masters from SUNY in something else she also finds interesting.

She's currently a preschool teacher at a private Jewish school. Not related to either degree. Worked as a Nanny post graduation, because she couldn't find any work in either field. Owned her own business, again not related to jack and squat that she studied. Luckily for her, aside from about $10k, her mom paid for college. But I know lots of people who are $100k+ in debt, because they were told "go to college, follow your dreams" or some such other hippy feel good BS (remember, I'm from the Boston area) and I have plenty of friends with Ivy or other "Prestigious" degrees that are working as carpet installers, plumbers, mechanics 10+ years post grad, and because they are so slammed by their student loan payments, they can't go back to school for something more useful.

All true. "Study what you want" is bad advice if it's going to lead to a degree in something useless (I'm also from the Boston area, and know plenty of people in that exact boat--or else, ten years out of undergrad, they've finished their PhDs and are now trying to find jobs as professors in their fields). "Get a tech degree" can be equally bad advice, if it's going to lead to a 2.1 GPA. "Think about a tech degree" is good advice; so is "Look at the kinds of jobs people who major in X typically end up in after college," or "What are you going to do with that?"

 

[exNavyOffRec]

My wife is a prime example of "study what you want".. She has an Ivy League bachelors in something she found interesting, and a Masters from SUNY in something else she also finds interesting.

She's currently a preschool teacher at a private Jewish school. Not related to either degree. Worked as a Nanny post graduation, because she couldn't find any work in either field. Owned her own business, again not related to jack and squat that she studied. Luckily for her, aside from about $10k, her mom paid for college. But I know lots of people who are $100k+ in debt, because they were told "go to college, follow your dreams" or some such other hippy feel good BS (remember, I'm from the Boston area) and I have plenty of friends with Ivy or other "Prestigious" degrees that are working as carpet installers, plumbers, mechanics 10+ years post grad, and because they are so slammed by their student loan payments, they can't go back to school for something more useful.

I am a little bit older and have friends in the same situation, they all graduated college when things were pretty good, however only one that has a non tech degree is working in the field of study (doing quite well), the others well, one is a long haul truck driver (english degree), another stay at home mom (psychology), home depot (history I believe), another bank teller now stay at home mom (general studies), and many more.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

He's got a good GPA, but it's in something totally worthless. Women's Studies.

I hope that degree at least was some benefit to him in college.

 

[MasterBates]

Judging from seeing him get shot down at the bar regularly, it wasn't of much benefit.

 

[Spekkio]

There are a significant amount of college graduates working in jobs that don't require a college degree, and a significant proportion of those people are working in jobs that don't even require a high school degree (e.g. bartender). The numbers are astounding but it's because students are being told by their advisors with an associates in, say, women's studies to major in what interests them. It might be interesting to learn about a topic, but not so interesting to work in the field following graduation. And if you don't work in your field, at least immediately following graduation, then you aren't going to make the money that your degree would normally be worth. On the other end of the spectrum are a large portion of undergrads who major in business administration or some other such topic that makes their post-graduation prospects difficult because they are in a large pool competing for a few spots.

 

[Calculon]

This is some bad advice.

An engineering degree does not mean you have take an engineering job. You will not be "stuck doing what you got your degree in." Top MBA and law programs are always looking for people with engineering backgrounds in their admissions processes. EE degrees are a particular favorite of Wall Street. When separating from the navy, an engineering degree will not close any doors to any opportunities out there; it will only open doors.

If you are spending close to 100k on your education, it should be in a field that will improve your employment opportunities.

Yep, believe it or not, top business consulting firms will often hire as many if not more people with engineering majors than traditional business majors these days. I've got a few buddies that even went the traditional engineering route out of college at places like Boeing but have gotten MBAs and now work at consulting firms.

Business is only getting more technical, and the pool of STEM graduates that are eligible to work in the US isn't growing at the rate a lot of companies desire... meaning big bucks and high demand.

 

[Vandyman]

Engineering (or STEM)... You also need to keep in mind that college doesn't teach you much... What I mean by that is you will forget the vast majority of what you cram into your head. What it does is teach you how to learn and study. Both beneficial in the real world. The added bonus of an engineering degree (or any technical degree for that matter) is the analytical and problem solving skills that are developed and sharpened. Most of my fellow engineers actually aren't even in engineering after college. Many went into consulting and finance. That is because there IS and WILL ALWAYS BE a need for analytical problem solvers in nearly every business sector. The real learning happens on the job not in the University (besides the basics). They just want to see that you can learn quickly and efficiently. Just my 2 cents

 

[Fallonflyr]

Best stick I ever flew with was an art history major.