Advice on switching majors

[WCUgirl]

That's the thing. All the poli sci majors I knew who weren't planning on going to grad/law school (or who couldn't get in) couldn't find jobs. One of them became a substitute teacher until he could find something better. Another one married somebody rich.

[preciousjeni]

The OP is trying to find a terminal bachelor's degree that will put her in a position to enter the workforce upon graduation. Thus, the issue with getting a "workable" degree and then heading off to grad school. It's not an option.

[moe.ron]

I'd say go for either an engineering or an accounting degree. Computer science is another one.

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by AXiD670
The problem w/ poli sci as a major is that if you don't get into law school, what can you fall back on for a job?

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. I am so sick of hearing this. Sorry.

It does not matter what your degree is in. A liberal arts degree, even on in political science can open many doors for you.

I know so many people that have degrees in political science. Some work for the government, some work in the private sector in communications, HR, markerting, you name it. Your major means nothing. Employers are looking for well rounded, educated employees.

[valkyrie]

As mentioned above, do not bother changing your major to political science if you want to someday go to law school. It is absolutely not necessary. My undergraduate degree is in English and psychology, which I think is much more on point for law school success than political science -- I learned how to really figure out people and what they wanted to hear (professors) and how to say it really well. That is key. You'll learn all the substance you need to know in law school, but you have to already know how to write well.

Also, if you're not CERTAIN you want to be a lawyer, don't think about law school yet. I know you mention being a band teacher, but have you ever thought about being a science teacher? At least where I am, they can't get enough science and math teachers. You might be able to advise band on the side or do something with a music-related club, but anyway I don't think band teacher jobs are that plentiful right now since arts/music/drama programs are the ones getting cut when school districts are short on money.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by Lady Pi Phi
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. I am so sick of hearing this. Sorry.

It does not matter what your degree is in. A liberal arts degree, even on in political science can open many doors for you.

I know so many people that have degrees in political science. Some work for the government, some work in the private sector in communications, HR, markerting, you name it. Your major means nothing. Employers are looking for well rounded, educated employees.

YES, YES, YES, YES.

-Rudey
--The truth hurts

[kddani]

Originally posted by Rudey
YES, YES, YES, YES.

-Rudey
--The truth hurts

kind of have to agree with Rudey here. Liberal arts degrees mean crap and are a dime a dozen. Liberal arts degrees are all about reading and writing. Which aren't bad skills to have. But if you have a degree in something more specialized- such as computers, math, accounting, science, nursing, even business etc. you are much more marketable because you have that more specialized knowledge. Most people with liberal arts degrees either go to grad school or get some random job that they hate, that doesn't pay that much, and that there's not a whole lot of opportunity to advance. Eventually they may get sick of that and get a graduate degree.

If you know for certain that you want to go to grad school, a liberal arts kind of degree isn't bad for a lot of fields. For law, it's pretty good because reading and writing skills are important. But then again, if you do something science related, you pair that with a law or business degree and you can do something more specialized that other people can't

[TristanDSP]

Originally posted by kddani
kind of have to agree with Rudey here. Liberal arts degrees mean crap and are a dime a dozen. Liberal arts degrees are all about reading and writing. Which aren't bad skills to have. But if you have a degree in something more specialized- such as computers, math, accounting, science, nursing, even business etc. you are much more marketable because you have that more specialized knowledge.

What about General Communication majors? Same thing?

Unlike the Journalism specific major like myself

[FSUZeta]

i have to agree with rudey and danielle. general liberal arts degrees and $4 will buy you a latte at starbucks(and that's about all it will get you) i was in banking and many clerks, loan processors, lower level loan officers were people with liberal arts degrees. one young woman had a masters in education but was only a credit department clerk, while others with accounting, finance or business bachelors degrees were starting as credit analysts(higher pay). if you are not sure what you want to major in, have you considered taking some time off from school-perhaps you could get a job in one of the fields you are considering as your new major, before you make the time and credit commitment investment in the new major?

[kddani]

Originally posted by FSUZeta
i have to agree with rudey and danielle. general liberal arts degrees and $4 will buy you a latte at starbucks(and that's about all it will get you)

you might be working in starbucks, actually.

And one of my sisters was a Communications- Journalism major. She was working at Blockbuster and making peanuts freelancing on the side last I talked to her.

[Lady Pi Phi]

I absolutely will still disagree with all of you. But perhaps things are different in the US.

Here, employers do want people with liberal arts degrees. So many people at my company who work in marketing, and communications have liberal arts degree. Many only have college diplomas. They are highly saught after people. In fact, the only people in my company that have sepcialized degrees are Counsel and those that work in the labs.

I don't think telling her to major in something she has absolutely no interest in just so she can get a job is bad advice. There are so many computer science major and engineering majors and business majors that do not have jobs. Those degrees are quite meaningless too.

To the OP, you need to do something that you are interested in. No matter what your major is, you will find a job. If you want a skill. Go to community college. If you want a degree, stay in university. It's quite simple. We need people with liberal arts degrees, because if everyone had a specialized degree like CS or engineering, or what have you, there wouldn't be any jobs left in those fields.

[kddani]

Things must be different up there. Like has been said, liberal arts degrees are a dime a dozen. Maybe even 2 dozen.

Maybe once you establish yourself in a particular field you'd be more sought after, but there's no one rushing to hire liberal arts degree students out of college or even for the first few years.

No one told her to major in something she has no desire to major in. But she doesn't seem to have a clue so we're all giving helpful suggestions, probably more realistic than any school academic advisor or career counselor is going to give her.

Liberal arts degrees here are the ones scraping after random low level office jobs at a random business, making pretty low wages. These are general trends, of course there are always those who end up doing something great that they want.

Whereas engineering, nursing/medicine, and business degree students, just to name a few examples, have a much easier time getting jobs.

My brother just graduated with a business degree from Pitt, which is an okay school for business, and he had fair grades, an not too much in the way of extracirriculars or leadership experience. He got a pretty good job with MVR as a project manager and is getting great pay for entry level and tons of perks, and will have a lot of room to advance, and after he's done with their training program will have headhunters calling him right and left.

Even if you're not sure what to do, i'd probably recommend a fairly general business degree over a liberal arts degree. You still know how to read and write, but you have business skills added to it that are useful in pretty much any market and most job fields. I'm actually having some regret right now for not doing a joint JD-MBA.

[preciousjeni]

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/..._june05_advice

Why Employers Like Liberal Arts Grads

Some college students simply prefer studying Monet over math and Freudian theory over physics. For them, it makes sense to major in a liberal arts discipline like history or philosophy.

But liberal arts majors get more out of college than an interesting transcript and the answers to Final Jeopardy; they also master the writing and communication skills experts say are crucial to success in almost any career.

[AGDee]

I think the best thing to do is 1. Figure out what you want to do after you graduate and THEN 2. Choose a major. You definitely won't be able to teach band with a liberal arts degree. You won't get a job in health care with a liberal arts degree (maybe in Human Resources, but nowhere else). You have to figure out what you want to do. Seeing a career counselor wouldn't be a bad idea because there are aptitute/interest tests you can take which may help guide you in figuring out what you really want to do. The job market is very very tight these days (especially in this area) and employers are looking for very specific things. I can't see a liberal arts major getting a marketing job in Michigan. There are too many people with marketing degrees. My dad had a degree in Sociology and ended up the Administrator of Marketing for the GM Parts Division, but he admits, 35 years later, that in this day and age, he would NEVER hire someone who came in with the credentials he started with. There are too many people with degrees out there. Times are changing. And, I think if you're really not sure, then a double major could be a good idea. An education degree with major concentrations in poly sci and music, so you can teach any of the above, or move into other arenas if you want to.

[Taualumna]

Originally posted by preciousjeni
http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/..._june05_advice

My presentation skills instructor gave us that article in class the other day. Liberal arts majors have the advantage of knowing how to write properly. Many math and science majors haven't written a proper essay since their generalized courses in first or second year, or even since high school!