College Majors That Are Useless

Jason P

The top five:

1) Agriculture
2) Fashion Design
3) Theater
4) Animal Sciences
5) Horticulture

I'm guessing Journalism is on the decline as well.

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/most_useless_degrees.htm?kid=1KWNU

photogirlliz

I have a B.A. in Art History and a B.S. in Anthropology (and I'm a paper away from having my Master's degree in Applied Anthropology)...given my experiences, they can be added to this list as well

81

gf has one of those...

she works in purchasing.

Jamminonthe1

Jason P wrote:

The top five:

I'm guessing Journalism is on the decline as well.

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/most_useless_degrees.htm?kid=1KWNU

I would have to disagree with that. Newspapers are stronger than people think, the internet has tons of news and writers that would otherwise not be employed and there has been a huge focus on hyper-local news. Plus there are many other avenues a journalist can explore.

I'm not saying I make a ton of money as a journalist or that I'll ever be able to retire, but it's just not as bad as you think.

DeLukin

Marketing.

Indifference71

A lot of them are useless.

JaneNY

My daughter's friend is getting a degree in English. Plain old English. Why?

F Me In The Brain

JaneNY wrote:

My daughter's friend is getting a degree in English. Plain old English. Why?

I got a degree (double) in English Lit and Language.
Why? Because it was what held my interest and stood a chance against booze and drugs. (A delicate balance throughout college! )

I never had any intention to teach but originally thought I would go to law school and it was as good a path as any...turned out that I was so sick of school by my junior year that I never even applied for grad school.
Got into Sales after graduating, then Operations Management for a number of years before becoming a Director. I have held Director level positions 2 times and now am back in Sales (more money) and I apply some of the things that I learned on a daily basis.

Learning to think critically and apply environmental influences (especially when they are not your own) was the biggest skill I formed during college. I think that most liberal arts degrees focus on teaching this and I am happy to say I am much more successful nearly 20 years into my career than many of my Business School (MBA, etc) friends.

I will say that if I had it all to do over again I would become a doctor. A number of my friends did and they are living high currently!

Mcam55

F Me In The Brain

Mcam55 wrote:

In fairness, his major is 'Basketball.'

FenwayFaithful

Communications
Humanities
Liberal Arts

Who Princess

Double post. Something's wrong with my laptop. :evil:

Who Princess

Who Princess wrote:

F Me In The Brain wrote:

JaneNY wrote:

My daughter's friend is getting a degree in English. Plain old English. Why?

I got a degree (double) in English Lit and Language.
Why? Because it was what held my interest and stood a chance against booze and drugs. (A delicate balance throughout college! )

I never had any intention to teach but originally thought I would go to law school and it was as good a path as any...turned out that I was so sick of school by my junior year that I never even applied for grad school.
Got into Sales after graduating, then Operations Management for a number of years before becoming a Director. I have held Director level positions 2 times and now am back in Sales (more money) and I apply some of the things that I learned on a daily basis.

Learning to think critically and apply environmental influences (especially when they are not your own) was the biggest skill I formed during college. I think that most liberal arts degrees focus on teaching this and I am happy to say I am much more successful nearly 20 years into my career than many of my Business School (MBA, etc) friends.

I will say that if I had it all to do over again I would become a doctor. A number of my friends did and they are living high currently!

I got both a BA and MA in English. I majored in the subject I enjoyed most. I figured if I spent the rest of my life doing things I didn't care about I might as well do something satisfying.

Never regretted it and it's never kept me from finding employment that I enjoyed. It's kind of amusing how much it impresses people. They seem to think that if you got a degree in the subject most people dread, you must be really, really smart. :think:

Go Beavers

Mcam55 wrote:

There's still many uncharted areas around the globe!

chadwick

smoking cigarettes

photogirlliz

Go Beavers wrote:

Mcam55 wrote:

There's still many uncharted areas around the globe!

SatansFuton

I've known a few people who majored in "Dance", and none of them went on to do anything dance related. In fact I'm not sure any of them went on to have careers, just become stay at home mothers. One of my friends mothers majored in dance in college, and she flat out said that she just went to college to "find a husband".

he.who.forgets

A lot of people would probably say my major is useless...I was a Recreation, Parks & Tourism major, but emphasised in event planning and facilities management. And that's exactly the career that I have. I did have all the jocks (mostly football players) in most of my classes, several of whom have gone on to the NFL. I'll admit, when I went into it (prior to that, I was a business major, then psych) I was really just looking for an easy, slack major, but I've actually applied it to my career.

DS1119

Most college majors are useless. College is effective in getting students to use and excercise their minds, but actually learning things to apply to a career in the real world...I don't believe so. For one example, how many business majors are there in the workforce who just shuffle papers back and forth each day? It's essential to the "machine" but was college necessary? Not at all. College has become big business in this country and just one more thing for people to aspire to obtain...take out ridiculous loans for..and then feel satisfied when obtained. I would say conservatively 80% of people in this country who have a four year degrees do not need the degree for the position they are currently holding. Think about it. You get hired by a company, they give you orientation, give you a mentor for a week or two, make you watch a video, and throw you in to do the job. Did you need a four year degree and 150K in tuition for that?

conman

DS1119 wrote:

Most college majors are useless. College is effective in getting students to use and excercise their minds, but actually learning things to apply to a career in the real world...I don't believe so. For one example, how many business majors are there in the workforce who just shuffle papers back and forth each day? It's essential to the "machine" but was college necessary? Not at all. College has become big business in this country and just one more thing for people to aspire to obtain...take out ridiculous loans for..and then feel satisfied when obtained. I would say conservatively 80% of people in this country who have a four year degrees do not need the degree for the position they are currently holding. Think about it. You get hired by a company, they give you orientation, give you a mentor for a week or two, make you watch a video, and throw you in to do the job. Did you need a four year degree and 150K in tuition for that?

:thumbup: exactly why i never went to college :?

DS1119

conman wrote:

DS1119 wrote:

Most college majors are useless. College is effective in getting students to use and excercise their minds, but actually learning things to apply to a career in the real world...I don't believe so. For one example, how many business majors are there in the workforce who just shuffle papers back and forth each day? It's essential to the "machine" but was college necessary? Not at all. College has become big business in this country and just one more thing for people to aspire to obtain...take out ridiculous loans for..and then feel satisfied when obtained. I would say conservatively 80% of people in this country who have a four year degrees do not need the degree for the position they are currently holding. Think about it. You get hired by a company, they give you orientation, give you a mentor for a week or two, make you watch a video, and throw you in to do the job. Did you need a four year degree and 150K in tuition for that?

:thumbup: exactly why i never went to college :?

I just re-read my post...not bad for a guy who has a serious alcohol buzz tonight and never had a grilled cheese sandwich!

iOnlyownMymind

I personally feel that news article is absolute BS except for the theatre major I disagree with the ag major being a waste. I've got a friend that just stepped into a great job straight out of college with an ag major. He had 3 or 4 companies recruting him and said his company is booming and adding several thousand jobs in the next year.

DS1119

iOnlyownMymind wrote:

I personally feel that news article is absolute BS except for the theatre major I disagree with the ag major being a waste. I've got a friend that just stepped into a great job straight out of college with an ag major. He had 3 or 4 companies recruting him and said his company is booming and adding several thousand jobs in the next year.

The question is though...could he do the job without the AG major? Put yourself at his desk...can that job be done by someone without an AG major? Can you do his job? Most positions in this country that "require" a degree can be done without the degree. It's just all part of the machine IMO.

F Me In The Brain

DS1119 wrote:

iOnlyownMymind wrote:

I personally feel that news article is absolute BS except for the theatre major I disagree with the ag major being a waste. I've got a friend that just stepped into a great job straight out of college with an ag major. He had 3 or 4 companies recruting him and said his company is booming and adding several thousand jobs in the next year.

The question is though...could he do the job without the AG major? Put yourself at his desk...can that job be done by someone without an AG major? Can you do his job? Most positions in this country that "require" a degree can be done without the degree. It's just all part of the machine IMO.

Understand your points and think they are valid -- even though I went to college and believe I learned a tremendous amount about myself and developed a critical way of thinking/evaluating information, my boss did not go to college and as much as I make he certainly makes money off from every dollar I make! [I am sure we all know plenty of people who are happy with where they are that both DID and DID NOT go to college.]

Shit sure is expensive these days, where I went is now 55k per year. (I paid 20k in loans after 4 years...rest was grants, scholarships, etc...)

CServant

Psychology seems pretty useless unless you get a Master's Degree. The Psych Major I know from college is selling coffee. I wonder how that relates to the ID/Super ID???

photogirlliz

So far, going to college has done nothing for me but get me further in debt. I appreciate some of the classes I took and people I met (especially considering I met my boyfriend, Joey, in grad school), but as far as getting me a job that I couldn't have had without it...not so much. Maybe my opinion will change one day, but right now, I'm so disillusioned with the education I've gotten.

Will Hunting (Matt Damon) said it best..."You blew $150,000 dollars on an education that you could have gotten in $1.50 in late fees from the library."

iOnlyownMymind

DS1119 wrote:

iOnlyownMymind wrote:

I personally feel that news article is absolute BS except for the theatre major I disagree with the ag major being a waste. I've got a friend that just stepped into a great job straight out of college with an ag major. He had 3 or 4 companies recruting him and said his company is booming and adding several thousand jobs in the next year.

The question is though...could he do the job without the AG major? Put yourself at his desk...can that job be done by someone without an AG major? Can you do his job? Most positions in this country that "require" a degree can be done without the degree. It's just all part of the machine IMO.

I don't know the ins and outs of his job, but I'd imagine he wouldn't have gotten the job without the major and his previous experiences. I think a lot of it comes down to having the degree on the application, whether it ends up being useful or not. I don't think somone with a degree in psychology would get the job he did.

F Me In The Brain

CServant wrote:

Psychology seems pretty useless unless you get a Master's Degree. The Psych Major I know from college is selling coffee. I wonder how that relates to the ID/Super ID???

My brother is taking night courses (and has been for a while) to get his Psych degree....he is a case manager (social worker) and needs to have an applicable degree or he is at risk in his position (which he has held for years.) So the degree will not help him do his job better necessarily but it will help him keep his job.

LikeAnOcean

If I were an employer, I would look at resumes with a college education over those with none.

It just shows ambition. College is not a life requirement, but high school is unless you are a high school dropout.


Any shmo can graduate high school. College takes some effort. It shows commitment.

mca47

SatansFuton wrote:

I've known a few people who majored in "Dance", and none of them went on to do anything dance related. In fact I'm not sure any of them went on to have careers, just become stay at home mothers. One of my friends mothers majored in dance in college, and she flat out said that she just went to college to "find a husband".

I was dating a girl in college who was a dance major.
She's some kind of yoga instructor now.

Johnny Abruzzo

he.who.forgets wrote:

A lot of people would probably say my major is useless...I was a Recreation, Parks & Tourism major, but emphasised in event planning and facilities management. And that's exactly the career that I have. I did have all the jocks (mostly football players) in most of my classes, several of whom have gone on to the NFL. I'll admit, when I went into it (prior to that, I was a business major, then psych) I was really just looking for an easy, slack major, but I've actually applied it to my career.

Why would anyone say that is useless? There's boatloads of money in tourism.

I majored in actuarial science, which was also useful.