What should I declare my major in? Do you have any advice?
Once I finish my GE credits at my community college, I'm going to need to my finish a BA degree... However, I'm debating on double majoring or choosing one or the other. Which is Art and Business. Because if I were to go the Art degree route, I would try and get into Grad school so I could become a secondary elementary school teacher (teaching Middle School specifically). But I also love the idea of working Hospitality or Marketing. The thing is though, I'm not so sure how I would do (all day) being around young kids. I know it might be a long shot, but I've always wanted to be an animator somewhere (either Nickelodeon, or Disney). And then teaching could be my back up plan if I didn't get work after a internship (right?). I know majoring in Art isn't really a secure field. But I've always loved it. Should I give it a shot? My dad thinks I should major in Business, because I could then get a job right away (If I got hired somewhere of course) out of school. But I know even with a Business degree it's still hard to get jobs out of school. Should I go with my gut here and major in art? I'm finishing my Associates in Computer Science, and then transferring to a University. Thanks in advance for the help. Should I major in both? Or apply just to Art school?
What major should I choose?
Choosing a college major is not as big of a deal as most people make it out to be unless you want to peruse a technical field. For instance, if you want to become a doctor, you better pick a major that will allow you to take medical school pre-requisite courses or have room in your schedule that will allow you to take them. Or if you want to be an engineer...might help to major in the field of engineering that appeals to you most.Picking a major based solely on today's market demand is a short-sighted. Yes, almost every study coming out right now will tell you that Computer Science majors are getting the most job offers straight out of college. BUT, guess what? Not everyone has what it takes to be a great software developer or programmer. Nor does everyone find those subjects intrinsically interesting enough to dedicate their entire college experience and life's work to. Labor demands change as time goes on. Flexibility and the ability to continue learning new skills will keep you employed - not what you chose to major in college as an 18-year-old.Choose something to major in that you genuinely care about.Money will follow passion, and I know plenty of brilliant, gainfully employed liberal arts graduates to prove it. If you choose something in the arts, humanities, social sciences, etc. you need to make a point to take advantage of every opportunity to involve yourself beyond just what you learn in class. Internships, undergrad research opportunities, school leadership positions, campus groups, part-time jobs, etc. are all great ways to get apply what you're learning in class to a real-world setting, and build a resume so you can actually wrangle a job once you get your diploma. This is true of any major, to be honest, but "soft sciences" business students, and the like need to work harder to stand out from the pack to employers.
What is it like to major in math?
Other answers do a fantastic job describing on what your brain will look like by graduation. That's what it's like to have majored in math. :-)But what does the work itself consist of? Most of my time as a math major was spent doing two things:(1) Making sense of my notes from lecture. "Sure, anyone can see that the proof from the blackboard is valid, but why is the theorem really true? Why was it necessary to limit the statement of the theorem in this way? What are some examples and counterexamples that will help me get a better intuition? Can I visualize them? Based on these explorations, what other conjectures can I make? Can I prove them? Can I rewrite the blackboard proof to expose more clearly what's going on?" Usually from a 1-hour lecture, I would spend about 3 hours trying to really understand the behavior of the mathematical objects. I wanted them to feel like familiar physical objects with predictable behavior. The goal was to get to the point where the theorems felt like intuitive answers to natural questions, and where I understood the main insight or trick behind each proof (enough to reconstruct the rest of the proof easily). In other words, could I get into the mental state of the person who developed these ideas in the first place?(2) Doing problem sets. These often involved establishing additional results that were not presented in lecture, because they were easier and less foundational.As a kid, I did a lot of recreational mathematics -- reading books, solving puzzles, even writing puzzles for math team in high school. Problem sets are not so different. The main difference is that recreational math is broader, with each puzzle being relatively unique and requiring fresh insights but little background knowledge. A math course tries to take you deeper into a subject with many problems that build on each other.
Should I major in Chemistry?
I m a high school student who is primarily interested in getting into pre-med, but I m not quite sure what the best major for that is. I find Chem quite interesting and people say I m very good at the class (I got a 99 average in AP chem last semester and another 99 this last grading period; everyone, even the teacher herself, says the class is hard, but I just don t really seem to find the class exceptionally difficult). Is this a good sign that I should try majoring in chemistry or is that a terrible idea?
Should I major in business if I don't know what to major in?
As a business graduate, absolutely not.First, let me state that business subjects are fantastic. They teach you useful life skills (accounting, negotiation, etc.), management techniques (organisational behaviour, leadership, etc.), and business strategy (planning, entrepreneurship, etc.). I found my business degree incredibly interesting and useful.With that said, business degrees are (relative to other degrees):Easy. A few hours of work and study per week are generally enough to perform at an above average level in exams and assessment.Dense. Business lecturers generally recognise their content is simple and cram a lot of studies / readings / other content in to compensate.Substitutable. If you're great at public speaking or report writing, for example, that's a few extra marks right there.This makes it incredibly easy to do enough to get by, which you will probably end up doing if you're not passionate and engaged with the subject! Sure, you'll learn some useful skills by force, but that's probably not enough to make it worthwhile as a major.However, I would absolutely recommend you major in business if you intend to get the most out of it. This doesn't mean aim for a high GPA - it means get the most practical learning possible. For example, you don't just learn leadership theory to pass the course and get a degree; rather, the next time you work in a team, you go back to your notes and apply what you learned.It's very easy to say "yeah I'll do that", but ask yourself if that's truly the sort of thing you would do. If there's even a glimmer of hesitation, choose another major. If you don't consciously attempt to use your business major in future, it will be forgotten and useless.
Should I major in psychology or Business?
I'm going to do something that would really piss off my former advisor. I am going to tell you that majoring in Business and minoring in Psychology is probably your best choice. I majored in Psychology and yes, it was fun to study and very interesting, but unless you want to go all the way to get a PhD in this field, you will definitely not be making much money at all! With just a Bachelor Degree in Psychology, all I can really do right now is be a mental health aid, youth counselor, or social service assistant. I currently only make 11 dollars an hour and I work my *** off! 11 dollars an hour when I owe over 40,000 for my undergrad schooling is not nearly enough. I went out-of-state to what I thought was a much better school, but in the end it wasn't worth it! With a Bachelor Degree in Business, you can work in Human Resource Management, Retail Management, Accounting, etc. and you will get paid very well. There are just so many more opportunities at that lower level if you choose Business. Plus, if you go on to get an MBA, the job/career fields expand that much more and you could be "rolling in the dough". Now, there is a field in Psychology called Industrial/Organizational Psychology. These people work as Business Consultants, Human Resource Managers, etc. and can do it with just a Masters Degree and make about 60,000 per year, but a major in Psychology as an undergraduate is not even necessary. Most colleges just require 12 credits in Psychology and when I discussed this profession with one of my professors he told me that he majored in Business as an undergrad and then did the Masters in I/O Psych. Definitely major in Business, you'll be happy you did!
Should I major in mathematics?
When people find out I have a degree in math, they usually follow up with “what kind of calculus did you study”? It always makes me laugh because after differential equations, it was almost exclusively pure mathematics (analysis/proofs). I found those much more interesting and a much better representation of what higher level mathematics are about. My thoughts for you; aside from the tedious busywork of equations, do you enjoy the logical thinking that goes into math? Do you find yourself looking at those equations and ever ask yourself “Why”? If so, then you might want to give a degree in math a thought. Just a bit of advice though, no matter what degree you decide to pursue, you’ll find tediousness in the course work. Good luck with whatever you choose!