How Did You Choose Your Undergrad Degree?

[icelandic_iceskater]

Fall break 2010--this is when I more or less need to decide my major. Once I return from that temporary relief from insanity, I will be registering for spring classes. Since I have most of my required courses out of the way, I will either have to start taking classes within my major or take whatever sounds good and give up the possibility of a double-major. The problem is, I really have no idea what I actually want to do with my life. I'd love to major in quite a few different things if I could, but actually entering the working world sounds less than exciting. Hmm deedle dum

My question to yall is:

1) How did you decide what you're undergad degree was?

2) How did this fit into your career?

[MIKolbe]

I took an advertising/marketing type class in High School, and really liked it.

I wanted a degree that was broad (I was a little apprehensive about paying all this $ for something I may not like in real life application) I chose Business Admin with a concentration in Marketing. Pretty much from R&D to advertising, to pricing, to product research, to channel distribution was what I saw marketing as...

I am a Marketing Director for a promotional products company. I help develop product, I have had a purchasing role in the past, I develop catalogs, advertisements, train people in the company about our products, manage our tradeshows, and like do a whole bunch of other stuff I am too tired to remember. LOLOL

So, my major has been reasonably relevant to my career path so far.

[CatherineM]

I made a common mistake. I picked a major that was fun to study, but it wasn't a field that I could realistically do as a career. I loved studying forestry, and the people I was in school with, but I had a very bad knee, and doing field work wouldn't have been something I could have done for extended periods of time. I would have been a good teacher, but at that time it was very difficult for women to get graduate postings, or teaching slots for that matter, in that field. I ended up in law school partly because it was something I could do. They don't care what your undergrad degree is in. Law was slightly more accepting of women then.

Obviously, you are going to want to pick something you'd like to do. However, the usual 18 year old hasn't been exposed to everything in the world they might like or be good at. Being raised in Oklahoma, I wouldn't have been exposed to something like oceanography, which now I think I would have loved. Also, just because you are good at something doesn't mean you are going to like doing it for several decades. I was horrible at the study of law, but I was very talented at the practice of law. I just hated it, or rather hated how it made me feel. I loved winning cases, but I could be ruthless in the courtroom, and hated feeling that way. I remember talking to my mom once, and she interrupted me and said that she was my mom, and I was to quit talking to her like I was cross examining her in my lawyer voice.

You should also consider your ultimate vocation. If you want to marry and have kids, do you want to be a stay at home mom? Do you want to homeschool? Both can influence your major. Some states require you to have a teaching certificate to homeschool, and that may increase. If you are going to interrupt your career for a decade or longer for kids, you need to look at careers that can be stopped and started. Something where the technology changes quickly would be a bad choice unless you will be diligent in staying current. If you plan to have kids but keep working, you still need to pick a career that you can occasionally take off from. Kids get sick.

Lastly, just remember that whatever you choose, it isn't in stone. I changed my undergrad major from Zoology to Forestry in the first place. In my grandparents' time, you stayed with one career, one company for your entire life. That doesn't happen today. Be flexible, and well rounded.

[fides quarens intellectum]

Great to see you around, icelandic!

honestly, if you make high grades, it really doesn't matter as much as you'd think what your undergrad major is in when you are out trying to get an entry-level corporate job. unless, of course, you're looking to be a teacher or something that is degree-specific. Catherine M already made some excellent points, so i'll just answer your questions:

1. for my undergrad, I picked my two favorite subjects and went with them as majors.

2. they didn't. what mattered was that I scored well, won a few awards that I could place on my resume, and that was enough to get me in the door.

i am sure through prayer and such you'll figure out what is best for you.

[mcts]

You could study the art of toll-booth working

Edited September 19, 2010 by mcts

[rachael]

i took broadcasting all throughout high school...


also, choosing a major doesn't define your life and you can always change it later

Edited September 19, 2010 by rachael

[the_rev]

1) How did you decide what you're undergad degree was?

2) How did this fit into your career?

I thought God was calling me to be a priest, the diocese said I needed to major in Philosophy, and well I'm only 30 credits away from a Bachelors degree in Philosophy in May 2011!

[ardillacid]

Rolled a 36 sided die

[dominicansoul]

[quote name='MIkolbe' timestamp='1284856346' post='2174398']
I wanted a degree that was broad
[/quote]

why are you calling yourself fat?

[MissScripture]

[quote name='dominicansoul' timestamp='1284859473' post='2174429']
why are you calling yourself fat?
[/quote]






I chose my undergrad degree because it worked with what I wanted to go to grad school for, while also having (limited) possibilities for jobs should grad school not have worked out.

[SoonerCatholic]

I'm not yet in the career world, but I thought I'd chime in. I chose zoology as my undergraduate major, it wasn't my first choice though. I started out as a history major but I never took a history class my first year, I then changed to international and area studies, thinking I could study Latin and Spanish and study abroad, however I wasn't sure what sort of job I'd get with that and I wasn't passionate about Spanish as much as Latin. I changed to zoology after taking a zoology intro class thinking I could challenge myself with science and get a job in a medical field or research lab. After putting myself through organic chemistry and biochemistry and the like, I realized that I did not really want to work in a medical setting and a research lab seemed too academic and tedious. So, I went with my first love, books and reading, and applied for graduate programs in library science. Librarians do so much more than work in libraries, and there are many types of libraries, so I figured I would go for a non-traditional library job. We'll see how that works out. Library school is more like a vo-tech school, but requires an undergraduate degree. With a science degree I have a slight edge on other library school graduates who are usually English and History majors.

So, while I wish I majored in something l loved, lie classics, I'm glad to have had the challenge of science. I imagine that my library degree will be more relevant to my future career than my science degree, (unless of course I enter a convent, then neither will be immediately relevant, but that would be ok). Use your undergrad degree to major in something you like and then go to grad school in something more relevant to a career, if you have the stamina. Otherwise, best wishes in choosing a major.

[Chi Zhuzi]

[quote name='icelandic_iceskater' timestamp='1284854076' post='2174391']
1) How did you decide what you're undergad degree was?

2) How did this fit into your career?
[/quote]

Money. Money. Money. And social status. The fact that I could go anywhere in the world (meaning I won't need the United States) with the particular profession I'm pursuing, and the fact I could in a very physical and measurable way, help impoverished children or adults in so-called "third world" countries makes it all the more appealing.

But I'm still an undergraduate. So, we'll see. [knock on wood]

[TeresaBenedicta]

1) How did you decide what you're undergad degree was?

I went into college on a "spiritual high" from my conversion to Catholicism. So of course I wanted to study Theology!! And I loved the description of Philosophy ("What is the meaning of life? How do we know that we know? etc"). So I enrolled into Logic as a freshman and took a Theology elective. I quickly found that the Theology department at my school didn't have what I necessarily wanted from a Theology degree, so I dropped that to a minor and went full force into Philosophy (which I loved from the get-go).

2) How did this fit into your career?

Well, to be honest, I didn't think much about career when I was studying. I just decided to study what I loved and figured I'd worry about the rest later. Turns out, I discerned a call to religious life, and Philosophy and Theology are great precursors to it. Sadly, they also come with a hefty student debt, so I'm working until I can pay off my loans and enter. Thanks be to God I was able to get a job with the degree I have. I work for the Church as a DRE/Youth Minister.

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Make your education broad in undergrad, use grad school to "specialize," if need be :-)

[OnlySunshine]

I had the most trouble picking a major. I could not settle on one at all. There were so many opportunities and I couldn't figure out which one suited me best. I recently took a test that is supposed to help you determine your major (kind of like the Myers-Briggs) and it narrows it down to 5 fields. Music was the top major and creative writing was the second. I love both. I've got to take 2 more math classes before I can get my A.A. degree, and then I am thinking about transferring to the university to major in English. I have thought about becoming either a librarian or copy editor. I've always gotten pretty high scores in English and it's a broad subject so I could use it for anything. I'd most likely be forced to get a Master's though since it would make the job prospects a little better. I really would love to become a music major and I'm considering the idea, but I have a long way to go since it's been a while since I played music and I just now got restarted.