How did you choose your major?

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by DubaiSis

For a while after college I was pretty bitter about how worthless my education was, but I am a true believer in getting a good solid liberal education, particularly if post-grad education is in your plans.

I wanted to point out to any current undergraduates that a lot of us have gone through something similar. For me, I knew I wasn't going to stop at my bachelor's degree, but I still struggled to find a career path. I didn't truly know what I wanted to do until I was 31.

Most of my friends couldn't believe how much writing I had to do in college, usually a paper every 3 days. But on the other hand, one semester I didn't have a single text book and did not take a single final test.

I had a very similar experience. For the non-writing majors, students would have to take a handful of writing-intensive courses to ensure that they could string words together coherently. I had a lot of friends who would think I was exaggerating about the amount of reading and writing I had to do until they took one of the writing-intensive courses. lol Then those same people would be at my door asking for help with their so-called writer's block...yeahhh right.

Originally Posted by DTD Alum

The point is that I think the days of going to college for purely academic purposes are over. I think you need to be incredibly careful that there is an immediate practical application for your major. It doesn't have to be the career you spend your entire life in, but it does have to be something that can support you for the first three to four years until you get enough work experience that your major becomes irrelevant.

With precious few exceptions, I'm afraid you're right. At the very least, people who select majors that have very little immediate practical application should know that they're going to need further education in a career-oriented field.