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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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choosing a goddamn major
#7895143 - 01/17/08 09:55 PM (16 years, 15 days ago) |
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I am having a hell of a time choosing a major. I was certain that I had chosen one, that I was going to double major in anthropology and environmental studies, and move to a nearby city to do it. But when I think about it, I worry that it's not the right choice.
My fear is based on the idea that once I choose something it sets me in a certain direction-- a direction that moves me away from other paths. I am wondering if this fear is at all rational, or if I should stop worrying about it and just get my damn degree in something interesting. I know that I have to choose SOMETHING sooner or later, or I'll end up choosing NOTHING which is the worst possible choice. My problem is that it seems to me that choosing a major for a bachelor's degree is basically choosing what I'm going to be doing for much of my life. Has anyone who's gone through the system got any insight into this? Am I being a total drama queen in worrying about it? I'm afraid that I'll choose wrong, simply for lack of awareness of something I'd rather do. I also have vast, diverse interests and the prospects of having to specialize to get any substantial comprehension of a subject is scary. On the one hand, I don't want to be such a generalist that I don't know a significant amount about anything... but on the other I don't want to be so stuck in a little keyhole that I can't view the world beyond the constraints of my area of expertise.
Once you have a bachelor's degree in one field, is it difficult to move into a different field? How do you choose only ONE of several broad and divergent passions? Am I really making a bigger deal of this that I need to?
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dcstar500
Just starting onthe path...


Registered: 02/12/07
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7895229 - 01/17/08 10:12 PM (16 years, 15 days ago) |
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NiamhNyx, you need to relax. You are already ahead of the game by simply having interest in a wide variety of subjects. Many college students come in with absolutely NO interest in anything in particular or no idea of what their interests might be.
I'm a junior in college right now, and it took me a year or two to decide I wanted to study psychology. I also am planning on applying to graduate school in psychology and have been learning alot about graduate school lately. I would like to tell you now, after learning so much about it, that your undergraduate degree doesn't matter too much for what you would like to go into. One thing that has been surprising is how many people that will be looking at your after college value DIVERSITY in education. For example: if you want to go into Law, it doesn't even matter what you study for your undergraduate degree. You could study geology and you would be just as competetive major-wise as a political science student. So, and you'll hear this a million times, just pick something that you are the most interested in and go with it. If you study physics and you don't end up wanting to get a ph.d. in physics, there is some flexibility. You might not be able to jump into a marine biology internship right away, but then again, it's possible. It's not like you are investing your entire being and life path into one area of acedemia by majoring in it, in fact, not even close. You are getting an education in that area, nothing more, and you may choose to study something else after that, or change to something else, and you'll be ok. Of course, if money is a big issue, switching around majors might not be as simple, but you tend to have flexibility after graduating. As long as you have your bachelor's in SOMETHING, you're on the right path.
If you do want to combine a few different passions, try researching and seeing if there is any profession or type of work that involves those. Going through college and learning about one or more of those subjects WILL help you have a better understanding if it is something you would like to do as a possible career. Don't fret it right now, just make a decision on one of the subjects and see what you like and what you don't like. Take it day by day my friend.
Goodluck!
-------------------- "And the alien anthropologists, after exhausting all possible explanations for the demise of the human race, were forced to settle on the only reason left: This species has amused itself to death." -Roger Waters
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: dcstar500]
#7895297 - 01/17/08 10:27 PM (16 years, 15 days ago) |
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Thank you! You said pretty much exactly what I needed to hear. I tend to get a little dramatic when it comes to decision making, but once I've done it and committed to it I'm usually fine. For a while I was completely certain I'd committed to the anthro/enviro double major but then doubts started to creep in. It isn't helped by the fact that I'm currently really excited by my english and philosophy classes, and that if I do the degree program I have planned I won't have any room for electives and will only be able to take courses from my two departments - for 5-6 semesters starting next January. I'm at the point now where it's time to choose. It feels like a major life decision--compounded by the fact that the plan I have requires moving cities. I'm a bit of a spazz case. I know it'll work out no matter what I choose.
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marshalldylan1
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7895364 - 01/17/08 10:43 PM (16 years, 15 days ago) |
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I am in the same boat as you man. I'm on my 2nd semester and I still have NO CLUE whatsoever what I would like to major in. I know I still have time but all the majors offered at my school don't interest me. It's really tough deciding because we have that "you're gonna do this for the rest of your life" attitude. I know that isn't entirely true, but it still makes deciding a major damn near impossible for me.
On a brigher note: it was the first day of classes for me and Im taking a music class. It really interests me and i'm considering it as a major but I'm still just not too sure.
Is a music major a realstic major? Someone told me it wasn't but I'm sure that was just there opinion. Anybody here major in music? What field of music, and what is your career today?
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7896162 - 01/18/08 06:20 AM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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> Once you have a bachelor's degree in one field, is it difficult to move into a different field?
Nope.
> Am I really making a bigger deal of this that I need to?
Yep. 
I don't remember the numbers, but a large majority of people in college change their selected major at least once. Pick something that you think you will enjoy and stick to "common" electives your first year or two. By your junior or senior year you will have a much better idea of what you want to do. You can always major in yet another field (or two, the second major is much easier than the first) and go for a phd in yet another field. Most important, don't tie yourself into anything when you start as your interests will change as you are exposed to new things.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7896884 - 01/18/08 10:30 AM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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Base your major on what you love. If you go only for cash you will be unhappy. If you love to do something, you will become good at it and a demand will be created that you will fulfill.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: Huehuecoyotl]
#7897496 - 01/18/08 01:46 PM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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Don't worry Hue, I'm definitly not tempted to choose a major for the money. If that was my concern I'd probably be preparing to step into my dad's company but I'm just not interested. I guess the central issue is that if I choose the major I have planned, it will mean moving to another city and going to a school I wouldn't otherwise go to. If I don't choose that, I stay in my current city and go to the school I always assumed I'd go to and be there with friends I love. So deciding whether or not this major is the 'right' one has higher stakes than just choosing between various majors and one school. I suppose I can always change my major, but moving is a big decision. If I choose to go there for one thing and want to do something else I'll be there doing something else that I could possibly have done where I am now.
Seuss, that's great advice for someone just starting college, but I'm well into my second year and am at the point where I really do have to choose. I can major in anthropology with the credits I have now and philosophy wouldn't require me to pick up too many more courses. I have other really attractive interests that I don't have the pre-req's for and so it kind of bums me out that they are lesser options just because of the course load I selected in the past-- I have many courses that count for nothing but electives. I don't want to take a decade to get my degree, and would prefer to have as little debt as possible, so choosing something I have a significant portion of the pre-req's for is a rationally obvious decision.
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ManianFH
living in perverty


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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7899025 - 01/18/08 08:20 PM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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just make SURE while you are experimenting with different courses that they APPLY to your major (whatever you think you might be most interested pursuing) in some way....
There are a TON of courses you can take that have nothing to do with a major but make sure they are on a list of classes that your college counts as applicable to your AA or BA....
Its ok to question which scholastic route you want to take, but you will save OOODLES of time by experimenting with courses that apply to a major you might be most interested in.
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Huehuecoyotl
Fading Slowly


Registered: 06/13/04
Posts: 10,685
Loc: On the Border
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7899675 - 01/18/08 11:00 PM (16 years, 14 days ago) |
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Go or stay it is all of the same. We aren't meant to be static. Just follow your heart.
-------------------- "A warrior is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. Once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment. A warrior is tuned to survive, and he survives in the best of all possible fashions." ― Carlos Castaneda
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Amber_Glow
Sat Chit Anand


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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7900989 - 01/19/08 10:12 AM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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I was unsure, and bounced around a lot the first year and a half. Eventually I decided on philosophy and I do not regret it. Will graduate after taking 2 more classes this semester. I gained the most out of my philosophy classes, as well as my spirituality classes through the honors program.
Do I know exactly what I'm going to do when I get out of college? No, but I am no longer so concerned. Philosophy is a good background for changing your perspective. It can reset your compass so that you have the courage to pursue what you truly want to. I cannot put a value on this type of education. The systematic tearing down of all your preconceptions and embedded "knowledge" about reality. No, you aren't actually going to learn anything, but at least you will have unlearnt a lot of crap, and perhaps be able to liberate yourself in some way.
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Cubie
Moderator




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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7901002 - 01/19/08 10:19 AM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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Quote:
NiamhNyx said: I am having a hell of a time choosing a major. I was certain that I had chosen one, that I was going to double major in anthropology and environmental studies, and move to a nearby city to do it. But when I think about it, I worry that it's not the right choice.
My fear is based on the idea that once I choose something it sets me in a certain direction-- a direction that moves me away from other paths. I am wondering if this fear is at all rational, or if I should stop worrying about it and just get my damn degree in something interesting. I know that I have to choose SOMETHING sooner or later, or I'll end up choosing NOTHING which is the worst possible choice. My problem is that it seems to me that choosing a major for a bachelor's degree is basically choosing what I'm going to be doing for much of my life. Has anyone who's gone through the system got any insight into this? Am I being a total drama queen in worrying about it? I'm afraid that I'll choose wrong, simply for lack of awareness of something I'd rather do. I also have vast, diverse interests and the prospects of having to specialize to get any substantial comprehension of a subject is scary. On the one hand, I don't want to be such a generalist that I don't know a significant amount about anything... but on the other I don't want to be so stuck in a little keyhole that I can't view the world beyond the constraints of my area of expertise.
Once you have a bachelor's degree in one field, is it difficult to move into a different field? How do you choose only ONE of several broad and divergent passions? Am I really making a bigger deal of this that I need to?
botany/mycoligy
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: Cubie]
#7902001 - 01/19/08 02:26 PM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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Botany/mycology require I do sciences which require I do calculus and that just ain't gonna happen. I'm definitly on the arts side of things. If I move and do this major I have planned in the other city I'll likely develop a focus towards ethnobotany. They're the only school around that I can get this specific environmental studies program -- and it's excellent. I don't know. It seems like the right thing to do, but I always doubt myself when I'm making big decisions. I also fear closing doors...
Does anyone know much about getting a second bachelors? Would you just go and do the upper level coursework -- the last two years? Or if you want to change fields for your master's work -- would you just have to fill in the pre-req's?
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Veritas

Registered: 04/15/05
Posts: 11,089
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7902034 - 01/19/08 02:36 PM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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It really depends upon the college. At my university, you can get a second bachelor's by fulfilling the requirements for the major, and your original "core" classes are applied to the second degree.
If you want to pursue Master's work which is unrelated to your Bachelor's major, you may need to take undergrad classes in order to fulfill pre-requisites.
To your original question: I don't think that your major is as important as you may think. While you may limit the fields open to you after college, the main thing to accomplish through undergrad studies is learning HOW to learn. You can take on new skills and knowledge at a later date as long as your knowledge acquisition abilities are well-developed.
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BrAiN
Art Fag


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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: Veritas]
#7902508 - 01/19/08 04:56 PM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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I started CompSci and decided to switch, considering everyting frmo music and art to chemistry. I settled for Information Systems which was stupid seeing as how art was my real passion. I tried to change my major at the end but didnt want to stay in college another year or so so I settled for an art history minor.
I would have been a much happier person if I had majored or gotten in the field of art.
The big thing is.. whatever you chose to do.. MAJORS or JOBS.. make sure you have interest in it. Don't be like me, racking up all this experience is something you're good at, but despise.
Before you know if you have a mortgage payment, car payments, tons of debt and you're 10 years into a field you can't stand. That's why I got out of the corporate bullshit and started my own business in the field I hate. In the words of the NIN song title.. "The only way out is through", at least for me. I'm using what I despise to make enough money as fast as I can and get my credit up there so I can get out as fast as I can and get a loan from the bank to start my own bar.. and never touch a god damn computer ever again. You only live once and my 30's are coming up in a couple years and I'll be DAMNED if I'm going to spend another decade communicating through code more than I do through English.
Moral of the story... DON'T MAJOR IN BULLSHIT YOU DON'T LIKE just because you think there's money in it or because you think it's what you 'should' be doing.
As long as you realize that, you'll be fine. There's a lot to pick from out there and it's easy to tell off-the-bat if you're not going to like a field.
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fazdazzle
Wanderer


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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#7904050 - 01/19/08 11:30 PM (16 years, 13 days ago) |
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Hey I can relate buddy..its shitastic
I don't really buy the "oh it's easy as key lime pie to switch fields!" bit. I'm majoring in chemistry and I've gone through the whole ocean of possible studies and even considered dropping out completely and focusing on music, even though I'm only a year and half or so away from graduating.
I am in the exact same boat when you say that you're afraid it will tie you down...I just can't escape it...I am having such a hard time rationalizing one focused direction. At the same time, which I think may be causing this fear, is that I don't have an immediately recognized direction of focus.
Lately I am thinking I should just graduate and figure out from there, but I've been thinking lately that psychology might suit my pursuit better...and if I graduate with a degree in chemistry there is almost no way I'd get a psychology focused job. If I graduate in chemistry the field that I choose to work in will utilize my chemistry knowledge, end of story. How is it even possible to go to graduate school for something you basically nothing about? you wouldn't have the background whatsoever. Well, that's how I feel anyway...but I havn't gone through it so I can't at all say whether that's true or not... man this sucks !
I almost feel like the whole idea of "well do something you love or you will be grinding away at a job you hate for the rest of your life" has given me this indecision...yikes!
It's really like there's this whole cloud of thunder saying, "Well, do what you love, IMMEDIATELY!" wtf?! how is that even fucking possible.
Kif, we have a conundrum!
Edited by fazdazzle (01/19/08 11:33 PM)
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All We Perceive
Sea Cucumber



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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#8029145 - 02/15/08 08:40 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I too majored in philosophy with a minor in psych ... graduate in the fall w00t w00t! Bounced around from accounting to psychology to finally philosophy. It really teaches one how to learn and think critically - plus the teachers are smart as fuck... makes classes fun. My philosophy is that one should not take classes in something they could just learn on their own out of a book. Thus, philosophy has worked out well for me. In any case, as far as a job goes, most people do not end up working in the field they majored in... thus, as everyone else said, study what you love!
Heading to law school next fall... trying to specialize in environmental law ... just gotta take the LSAT first... goddamit
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"plus they atually think jambands are good or sumthing, so they clearly know absolutely nothing about music, clearly lol" -Bassfreak
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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I think it really is gonna be anthropology/environmental studies but I have to say I'm sad that I won't have room for philosophy with my heavy double major. I guess I could always do a major and two minors, or a major, a minor and a few electives... I love philosophy, but I don't want to take all the courses required for a major- I'd rather pick and choose what's relevant to me. Maybe they'll let me design my own degree... hmm...
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hankydanky2k
member

Registered: 01/19/04
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#8031045 - 02/16/08 12:26 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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I haven't read any of the above posts, just chiming in. The three majors that shroomerites usually succeed in are chemistry, psychology, and philosophy. Anybody who is into this site at all is most likely to be happiest choosing between one of these three, and double majors are not really worth it at all unless you just want to be rich. I am doing psych right now and it is the best decision I have ever made for myself. I changed from Comp Engineering, to Film school, to this. No matter what I do in the future I will always consider myself a psychologist.
-------------------- The above post is fictitous, and any coincedence between it and real people, places, or events is unintentional.
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NiamhNyx
I'm NOT a 'he'


Registered: 09/01/02
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: hankydanky2k]
#8031084 - 02/16/08 12:39 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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Double majors are worth it if you want to study ethnobotany with the best professor in the field, but you can't major in her department without also majoring in something more 'traditional' that you also happen to be really passionate about, and which strengthens the 'ethno' side of the 'ethnobotany'.
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Coaster
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Re: choosing a goddamn major [Re: NiamhNyx]
#8032019 - 02/16/08 05:55 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
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choose math high demand
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