What is the most bullshit college major?

Also business, although certain business majors are harder than others.

Sociology

Art History

Which I majored in a undergrad

Education is notorious for attracting mediocre students and producing mediocre educators.

Education isn’t a major

Art history is quite difficult, r3, especially compared to majors such as communication ...

Communication has always seemed like the biggest bullshit major. I mean, communication?

Women’s Studies obvi

Art history

Hello....philosophy.

Really, r10? Philosophy majors tend to score highest on the LSAT (along with physics majors). It's far from a bullshit major

At this point I'd say a generic business degree is worthless. Tons of people have those. Obviously a Masters in Actuarial Science would be a bit more valuable but even that has become overcrowded.

Business

Criminal Justice

If we're talking about graduate degrees, then the doctorate in Education. The undergrad degree leads to a license to teach, whereas the doctorate attracts mediocre, mid-career teachers who want to be called "doctor" in their professional lives.

Theatre and Performance Studies.

My cousin's wife majored in Communications. Dabbled briefly in Website design after graduation. (San Francisco). Then landed some job doing I do not know what, making over $ 125,000. She is 26. He makes similar pay. Did I mention how hard I try not to hate them? (Jk)

[quote] Communication has always seemed like the biggest bullshit major. I mean, communication?

Depends on what you mean. Speech pathology is a good major, working with mainly kids - most schools have one. I think Journalism gets stuck in with Communication, and that can be ok - though less so with each passing year (and each closing newspaper).

Can't think of what the other subsets would be - disc jockeying? acting? Still more practical than sociology - I guess.

Education is actually a good one if you get certified to teach, especially in fields with shortages: stem, elementary ed, especially special needs education. One of the few things that won't soon be automated. I guess the other good ones are programming and anything in healthcare. And that's it?

After watching an interview of a group of women who had graduated from Brigham Young, and noting that they didn't understand some very simple words, I looked at their website. One can get a B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. One of the credited courses is "Preparation for Marriage." Wasn't this called Home Economics in high schools in the 1950's?

Business, no question. Refuge for morons with nothing to offer the world.

Physical education is at the bottom of the education major barrel.

r17 well, it's Brigham Young. What did you expect?

That sounds so stupid R17. The only practical major that I can think of that would be related to that would be Social Work. Or possibly Nutrition. Which both have real-world applications.

Do high schools even have "home economics" classes anymore? It's a pretty sexist concept - I'd think ppl wd be shying away from that sort of thing.

Home Economics used to be a serious (and stringent) major. Purdue and the U of Alabama had the most difficult programs.

Well, probably the bottom of the barrel when it comes to the type of people - but there's a fairly healthy demand, I would think. The worst imo is "Social Studies"

Oh that was for R19

Criminal Justice...total waste of time

Why R25? Aren't the better law enforcement jobs accessible if you have a degree? Like you could be a detective instead of a patrol officer (who just do those 2-year license things). Kind of like the military - the ordinary recruits get the shit jobs, like domestic violence calls and traffic accidents - and the degreed ones (4 yrs or more) get to run investigations and have cushy offices instead of out in patrol cars all day and night, getting shot at and wrangling drunks and violent sociopaths.

people get doctorates in education to move into administration, r13. not me mind you, but people I know. the best people.

A doctorate in education is one of the most bullshit things in academia

also, at my university nearly all of the “important” athletes major in communication studies.

Another vote for sociology.

LOL R29. I can't imagine a worse demographic than athletes to be in "communications." But really, with the most "important" athletes, it probably doesn't make any difference whatsoever in what they major in - so maybe that's the go-to easy-for-morons major. I figured it would be something in phys ed, to set them up for coaching.

Lubchenko learn nothing!

Varsity athletes ought to be required to major in Personal Finance or Basic Life Management, because when their short careers are over, they're like 12 year olds, facing life completely unprepared on even the most basic level.

Business Administration is hard folks. I know because that’s what my degree is in.

Physical EducAtion is a joke.

"Art History" majors (and double majors and masters) - Y'all think Sotheby's and Christie's are just waaiiting for you.

Hey that's what they could turn Home Economics into. Teaching jocks (and spoilt brats of all descriptions) how to do all the basic things they never had to do - how to be frugal enough to afford the essentials, how to invest if you do have any windfalls (that won't be coming on into your years), how to get along with other people, "marriage and family", advice on addictions, mental health hygiene, just basically how to function as an ordinary person, because they live like freaks.

A college roommate was majoring in Communications. I asked what she could do with that after graduation and she said that she didn't know. I got a degree in Criminal Justice and after two terrifying years of applying for government jobs, got a great one with retirement at 55. This was in the mid 1980's, and when I first heard complaints about how college students cared too much about what jobs they could get out of college, and not about 'learning'.

Education is gonna change in a major way soon. Who needs it when you can Google?!

I truly hope r39 is being facetious

I even minored in Business and I still don't get what it's for. Economics courses were completely irrelevant to anything anyone will ever do, imo. Marketing? Management? Can you really learn that shit? You either have a talent for it or you don't. It's like how they don't really teach teachers how to manage classrooms - just the stupid subject matter that anybody who can read could figure out without any classes in it (unless it's math or science). I did sort of understand the point of Accounting - in the 1970s - but now? Surely it's automated/done by programmers.

How to scam people and elbow you way to the top - I guess that's the point. It's so damned aggressive. Do everything you can do to squeeze every nickel from yokels anyway you can. Just teach them to be better psychopaths - that would be probably be the best thing to produce successes in the godawful "business world"

Business. Half of all students now study it in some form.

Economics

and our own speciality in the UK: Politics, Philosophy and Economics - specifically at Oxford University - which half of our ruling class have studied.

I'd ban them all from entering into politics, law AND banking for the next 25 years.

Sports Medicine

[quote] Education is gonna change in a major way soon. Who needs it when you can Google?!

But parents need those kids watched over - and "doing something". I can't see schools disappearing for a long long ways yet. Even if a lot of it - maybe most of it - is a stupid waste of time. What else would you do? Everybody "homeschooling" or "unschooling"?

Kids need the socialization of school, too. The homeschooled kids at my small LAC were incredibly awkward.

One's college major is unimportant. Attending a top university is less important than attending class, doing the work, paying attention, and graduating, from whichever college one attends.

The problem today, is that college graduates think they are experts in the subject of their undergraduate major. They are not. One does not earn a BS in Biology and call oneself a "Biologist." Certainly there are majors that lead more smoothly to tertiary education in many fields, such as that Biology BS preparing a person for medical school, but even people with BA's in Comparative Literature can and do go to medical school. The point is, somebody with a bachelor's degree in anything will earn a far more in their lifetime than somebody with anything less. (Associate's "degrees" are not degrees; they are vocational certificates, at best.)

PS: R28 is correct. The EdD is a joke in academia. Shameless products of diploma mills.

I minored in the Classics (study of Ancient Greek and Latin, as well as the history of the ancient world) and it is as useless as they come, though I studied the subject because I enjoyed it. I didn't think it would really help in the real world (though I have to say having a basic understanding of Latin and Greek is very helpful for learning other languages later on - which I did).

I think there is a difference between "bullshit" and "useless" r48. Of course, as someone with a degree in the humanities, I may have a different definition of "useless" ...

Gender studies. It actually makes you far LESS employable than a high school GED, because it announces to HR that you are a touchy snowflake who will likely demand accommodations for real and imagined infirmities, and sue at the microaggressive drop of a gluten-tainted office potluck spoon.

If you're looking for an ironclad guarantee that you'll never be able to work a day in your life, try the trifecta: A major in "Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies."

Criminal Justice/Criminology

How about telecommunications lol

paranormal studies

Paranormal Investigations and Technology: Where Ghosts and Gadgets Meet.

Any major can be bullshit if the programme sucks.

VCR Repair

The university where I teach offers only one doctoral program - in leadership studies..... Enough said

I agree with some of the posters above. Completing an undergraduate degree "proves" to a future employer only a few things that make them employable - that a person has persevered, knows how to jump through required hoops, understands the concept of deadlines. In terms of subject matter and the difficulty of it, some degrees are much more intense than others. Philosophy, math, chemistry or biochemistry, languages, these demand a lot of time and intellectual commitment. Others, such as English or communications, physical education, and the like, can be passed with very little commitment, or someone can invest a lot of time and energy in them and learn more. I have always assumed that communications is supposed to prepare someone to be a radio or TV announcer/newsreader, whatever you call those professions.

I was quite interested in communication major when I was in College. I am a STEM graduate though

Recreation and Leisure Studies. We had this department in my university and I could not imagine telling your parents, who are funding your education, that you are majoring in Rec and Leisure Studies.

Liberal arts college degrees are not supposed to be useful: you go to a vocational-technical college for "useful" degrees (like refrigerator repair or data processing). Liberal arts degrees are to stimulate critical thinking so you learn how to write and think critically.

Starting in about the 1980s it became a widespread notion that if you wanted to aspire to a good life in the US you needed a liberal arts degree, and so there were far too many people majoring in them. Now there are fewer. But that still doesn't mean that they're not important and serve a purpose. Not everyone should be a philosophy major, but not everyone should be a major in Gun Repair or Learning the Personal Computer either.

I have an AD double major in English and Corporate Law (accelerated curriculum), complemented by perfect scores in each.

Because I have expertise in writing, editing, and interpreting contracts, supported by international experience in international finance, they are FIGHTING over me!

Korean literature....

R58, I am a STEM graduate as well. We used to despise all the art related majors in the college

Communications is not a bullshit major especially not nowadays. However, you have to understand what communications is. It is primarily writing, which is a skill often overlooked but essential. A good writer is a key asset in crafting a company's message no matter the communication vehicle. So many people do not know how to put together a grammatically correct sentence let alone write a speech, brochure, news release, annual report, newsletter, direct mail piece, etc. A expert in communications is also a strategic thinker, manager and someone who can effectively implement and execute an public relations and marketing campaign.

Communications is essential to a company's success and role in local, regional, national and international campaigns. I don't know why people put communications down; however, it's usually those who wouldn't know an effective communications plan if it hit them in the face and wouldn't know how to write about it if faced with the responsibility.

Apparently, Atmospheric Science

Former TV weatherman, atmospheric science graduate now gay porn star Steven Lee

r31 that was my implicit point - the jocks choose Comm Studies because it has a reputation for being easy.

we also offer Recreation and Leisure Studies, and even a PhD in Exercise and Sports Science.

I have to say, R56, SS is really impressive in that clip. That's a ton of copy and at a fast pace! Not easy.

UCLA, I think it was, has a "World Arts and Cultures" major and I knew someone who had done a concentration in "folklore and mythology." As a MAJOR.

Lord R65.

Porn is one of those professions that you need to go big or go home. Either you make enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life (which is probably very difficult these days), or just don't do it (as it will limit your professional job prospects considerably in the future).

English Major or a Psychology major.Undergrad is totally useless. Oh. Anthropology.

Gender Studies

Undergradute - Management. You can't teach managerial skills to someone that can't legally rent a car.

r72 true managerial skills can’t be taught. either you have the ability to understand and coach people or you don’t.

Are cultural studies valid, or bullshit? Hunter College in New York offers a degree in it.

The Africana & Puerto Rican/Latino Studies Major

Career Possibilities

The Department prepares students for careers in government, education, and community organizations; for entrance to professional schools such as law, social work, and urban planning; and for graduate study and research in the social sciences and humanities. Graduates of the department have followed careers in journalism, counseling, teaching, social work, law, and medicine. Some work in museums; others have entered politics; still others have careers in private industry or in human services, as self-employed professionals.

Criminal Justice, though nobody really wants to pursue this as a career: just give me a degree!

Thank God The DL doesn’t mean jack squat or i’d Say I wasted my time in college.

Finance

Leisure Studies

As a former HR Specialist, if I saw a candidate with a degree in Criminal Justice, I figured they just went to school to party. Total waste of years and money. I wouldn't hire them. I was not working for the Police Dept., the FBI or even a security guard company.

Sociology

Anthropology

History

Fine Art

Philosophy

Religious Studies

I remember in high school, R80, a bank president (a local bank, not Chase or anything), gave her spiel, and she said she had a degree in history, As others have said, for most jobs (sans science/medicine) no one gives a shit.

Any of the Victim Studies programs..

Though I find it facisnating and would have loved to majored in it Genocide Studies has got to have a limited appeal in the work force.

Someone at work got promoted today. He has a Bachelors in History and A Masters in Sports Science... apparently he's working on his MBA. I was laughing for a minutes until I realized I should've studied something meaningless because in the US people don't seem to care what your degrees are in.

I did not major in art history, but I took approximately 5 or 6 classes. I actually enjoyed learning history via what was going on in the art world. I hated regular history classes, but when you look at the art that was being created contemporaneously with what was going on politically, it's interesting.

I studied Computer Science and envied people who majored in the Liberal Arts. I had to plough through reams of dry textbooks and most of my exams where math-heavy, three-hour written tests, combined with gruelling programming assignments. The Liberal Arts students often only had to write an essay or paper (which they usually wrote the night before the deadline) in order to earn their course credits.

r82 = Jordan Peterson

I wish my advanced degree in VCR Repair were more useful. I can repair the shit out of a VCR.

Film Studies

Laughing at the way people's backgrounds and values colors their definition of "bullshit"

FWIW, art history and philosophy are academically rigorous and offered at most top colleges. There aren't many (any?) jobs as "Philospher-in-Residence" out there, but the intellectual rigor is good preparation of anything.

"Business" and "Communications" OTOH, are the domain of lesser state colleges and community colleges, where they serve as vocational courses. Little if any intellectual rigor and an emphasis on practical pre-professional training.

At better colleges, "communications" becomes "Rhetoric" or "Journalism" (both under the aegis of the English Dept.) while "Business" becomes "Economics" or "Finance"

Sociology has a reputation at better colleges for being an easy major, but that's because it's mostly theory and because it's often the domain of flaky professors but it doesn't have to be.

It isn't your major that matters. What you do with the opportunities presented in your major is far more impressive to future employers. Even better, you create your own opportunities.

Gender Theory/Studies

Intercultural Studies

Queer Theory/Studies

Education isn't a bullshit major - we need teachers - and not that many clever people want to be teachers - so best you teach them human and cognitive development and learning theories. Sure it could be improved but it is turning out teachers who are workers and some of them are good enough. Queer theory/studies will ONLY turn out navel gazers.

Communications isn't particle physics but if the department and school are good, there is no reason it can't produce effective workers for a number of jobs.

I don't really think teaching can be taught, r92. One either has it, or they don't.

I'd much rather have been taught by someone who majored in biology or physics or history or literature than "education"

I majored in art with a focus in oil painting in college. If that isn't the most damn useless degree ever I don't know what is. I wish someone had sat me down to explain that it wasn't the Renaissance and oil painting is not a valid career choice

[quote] I wish someone had sat me down to explain that it wasn't the Renaissance and oil painting is not a valid career choice

Would you have listened, R94? Or would you have insisted on following your passion?

[R95] I probably would have continued to follow my passion. Can you really tell anyone anything at age 18?

Any degree where you have to study is, like, totally useless?? My daddy got me my job and it's mine for however long I want it.

That's just not true at all R93, especially for younger grades.

All beauty pageant contestants seem to be communications majors.

Behold, the major designed for football linemen, Sports Psychology:

What Does Psychology Have to Do With College Sports? Most of the careers in psychology that you are familiar with may seem like they have nothing at all to do with college sports, but that isn’t exactly true.

First of all, sports psychology is interdisciplinary, which means it pulls knowledge from multiple fields. This also means that you will have a lot of options should you decide to pursue a career in this field at any point in your life.

The major itself focuses on the link between the mental and physical aspects of an athlete’s performance. This includes an in-depth look at anatomy, physiology and kinesiology as well as studying how various mental states can help or hinder competitive performance. Sports psychologists can practice with professional athletes, college or high school athletes or in a clinical setting. Some even do consultant work or act as part of a wellness team for groups of athletes.

In addition to these useful skills, as a psychology student, you will gain a considerable amount of practical knowledge that can help you become a better athlete throughout your career.

Marketing for those who find Business to challenging.

Elementary teachers do not need deep knowledge of their subjects because most of them teach several subjects. Only art, music, need specialized knowledge. Elementary teachers need learning theories, pedagogy, and Child development - both cognitive and social. Elementary Education is a valid major. We should throw MORE money at it and get better teachers and pay them more! Lord know parents and the culture aren't educating much anymore.

Home Decor

My nephew changed his major from accounting to Ancient Greek and Latin. His parents were apoplectic. They threatened to stop paying for college. Now, architecture restoration companies send my nephew to European archeology sites to translate difficult writings they discover. He usually makes five or six visits to Europe and the Middle East per year, and makes six-figures annually. They pay all of his expenses for the month or so he works for them, including airfare, travel, lodging and food. He gets to travel throughout Europe and the Middle East as well.

His parents aren't upset anymore.

Women's Studies ( or Wimmin's Studies)

Gay or Queer Studies

Theology

ANYTHING with the word "studies" at the end.

[quote]Home Decor

I'd actually RATHER see 10,000 interior designers pumped out of uni every year than an army of vengeful, resentful, intersectionalist religious freaks.

At least the decorators would try to bring some order and beauty into our lives instead of just outrage and moral condemnation.

Purses

R108 good point. I agree.

R93 The state of California (and a few others) agree with you. To be a high school (Biology) teacher, you have to have an undergraduate degree in the (Biology) field. California universities do not even offer undergraduate degrees in secondary education. You get a BA/BS in a field, then a MS in Education, which is usually coincidental with the state teaching credential, to be able to get a teaching job in the field.

K-8 teachers, as somebody mentioned, do not require a degree in a particular field. So there are elementary education degrees for them.

[quote] K-8 teachers, as somebody mentioned, do not require a degree in a particular field. So there are elementary education degrees for them.

Yes, the California State University schools have "Liberal Studies" majors for them.

Learning to learn is far more important than choice of an undergraduate major. A solid, liberal arts education is, in my opinion, the best preparation. I recently hired a comparative lit major who is hard-working and breathtakingly brilliant.

Liberal Studies, as a major, is offered at every university, always as a BA, and sometimes with names such as General Studies or Independent Studies or Interdisciplinary Studies.

R113 - critical thinking - is a point (and a luxury) lost to 50% of the USA and quite a bit of the world, except for some elite universities. The pity will be if the really elite American liberal arts majors continue with victim studies graduates who do NOT have critical thinking, and some "distance" from their studies, to know its an intellectual game. They will NOT turn into the workers of the meritocracy. Their intellects are being damaged.

Whoreology

I’m an elementary teacher and I was a liberal arts major. After that, I had to do a year of student teaching and more specialized coursework geared toward how to teach reading and math. I also have my master’s degree in education with an emphasis on curriculum and instruction, which my district rewarded with a significant pay increase.

Talk all the shit you want, but I was well prepared to teach. I’m glad I had varied courses rather than one subject area.

Earrings

Caftans

I'm glad a lot of people have said Business, which is often overlooked in these type of stupid majors lists.

If you actually want to get a nice job in the business world after you graduate, you should focus on learning some marketable skills in your studes, which usually aren't taught in an undergrad business degree. Puts you the same as million others.

Art.

Anything to do with acting, directing, music. These can easily be taught in a trade school setting.

Education. It doesn't prepare you to teach but includes a lot of pseudo social science. Many of the people who write on education haven't stepped in an actual classroom.

My college education was living away from home, interacting with other people outside of my family. Learning how to do things on my own while still in the structure of a college setting so that made things easier.

I had one great year: landed a part in a play, played touch football with the guys (never in a million years did I think that would happen; one kind soul said to me in a huddle, 'there's no way they think we're going to throw the ball to you.' I said, right. he said, 'So I'm going to throw it to you. every. single. time.'

I did great.

Made friends, studied something I liked, learned that life could be good. It hasn't always been, but if can be.

Bible studies

I had a Twitter fight recently with one of those Sarah Palin 'bots who hate Bill Nye. They were quoting her diss of Nye, who recognizes climate change as real, claiming that he's not even a scientist (he's a mechanical engineer). I pointed out that Sarah must know her shit...she IS a scientist after all, with a Bachelor of Science in 'communications'. They thought that was just fine.

I've had tons of jobs in the past. The best boss/supervisor I ever had was a college graduate with a Business Admin/Management degree. I would have thought that was a BS-type of degree. Ever since having that person for a supervisor, I think it's a respectable degree. I also think there's more to teaching than just knowing the subject.

R79 Human Resources major.

All most businesses want from those in HR is to be good at administration (pay people appropriately and on time) and mitigate risk. They aren't really interested in your wanky talk about 'engagement'. HR teams often have the highest turnover and the lowest productivity of any team, so why would you take advice from these bunch of over-educated wankers?

Someone HR people don't know the basic notion that if you treat people with respect you actually get better results from a team or business.

R101 Marketing / Human Resources for the stupid who want to hedge their bets. Both marketing and HR 'professionals' have the magical ability to be both dumb and arrogant / mean.

BusAd.

R5, What?! Education is an entire college! Unless you are being Jesuitical in distinguishing among the various education majors: Elem. Ed.; Sec. Ed.; Spec. Ed.; etc.

Is Pre-Law even a major? College students on Law & Order are always claiming that. What do they study? What do they do when they don't get into law school? Paralegal?

R27, "the best people"?! Oh, my stars! The worst and/or the least intelligent teachers go into Admin. It's a rare one who isn't in it for the money, never mind the power.

Semiotics.

R48, Being able to grasp another language easily because one is well-versed in Latin and Greek is hardly the result of a "useless" education.

The Humanities prepare the mind in thinking, in writing, in vocabulary, in cultural knowledge, in argumentation, in the understanding of symbols and signs, etc.

A university education was never meant to be strictly for job-training.

As for caliber of school: Anyone who thinks Princeton or Yale or Harvard aren't fast-tracks to major money, guess again.

"Life Coaching"

The easy track in any BA/BS degree, where you cannot qualified for graduate school. It is not the degree, it is the track, (ie the course work).

Biology. Unless you are accepted to med school/go into research, a bio degree is worthless. Research labs prefer masters and hospital labs require a separate bachelors degree. To the 700 students who took biology with me last semester, good luck finding a job!

Political Science, Home Economics, Art History.

There were many Biology, Chemistry, Law, and English first and second degree grads working in the tech writing industry because they couldn't find a job in their field.

Something can be both useless AND difficult at the same time. Prime example: Philosophy.

r133 i was being sarcastic.

English-What can you do outside of teach?

I was formerly a dean of Arts & Sciences at a University. In terms of earning potential and starting a viable career requiring a college education, the following majors tended to be least valuable: African American Studies Women Studies Queer/Gay/What-have-you Studies Religious Studies Most humanities majors Anthropology Sociology Psychology Biology (filled with so many wanna-be pre-med students who never make it)

What are the most valuable, r143?

I disagree with the notion that sociology is a bullshit major. It allows for critical thinking, understanding people and looking at the big picture.

Unlike other majors, a sociology degree is used very time we interact with another person or group.

I have a BA in English and happily work in tech R139 and R142. Not writing but programming. English lit was my passion, but I never was under the illusion that it was a career path.

R145 Sociology tends to loss its focus. I don't think it is big enough to encompass a major. Often it is more social psychology, economics, anthropology, philosophy and political science. It's a little too vague.

[quote] English-What can you do outside of teach?

I'm assuming you never went to college R142?

Law schools love English majors, as do marketing departments and strategy/product teams and Wall Street firms for their analyst jobs --just about any profession where you need to have above average writing skills.

It's actually one of the most valuable majors out there, especially if the degree is from a respected college.

I think there’s great value in the Liberal Arts, but, unless you’re exceptionally gifted, I’d advice anyone who doesn’t have a trust fund or doesn’t attend an Ivy, to major in something else. You can be an average STEM graduate f.i. and still land a good job.

Just to reiterate something that's been mentioned upthread: Smaller state schools and two-year colleges will have a very different set of majors than more prestigious private and state schools.

That's because the former are meant to provide vocational training, so they'll have majors like Pre-Law, Communications, Business, Human Resources, Public Relations, Television, Insurance, etc.

The latter are meant to provide a classical education in the old-fashioned sense, so you have more traditional majors like History, English, Chemistry, Political Science, Economics, Biology, Anthropology, Sociology, etc. Changing times have led many of those schools to add in things like Gender Studies, LGBTQWXYZ12345 studies, etc. and those are often gut majors because the staff isn't very qualified and is mostly happy to have students regurgitate the contents of their latest/only book for the exams.

Schools also often have one or two easy classes for people outside the major who need to fulfill a requirement (better US colleges often want students to take classes in a wide range of topics.) So there will be an easy geology class for English majors who don't like science (though the geology major itself will not be easy) and a class of modern film for physics majors who don't like reading novels.

Philosophy, which 99.9% of gays major in.

Women’s studies

R149, do not fall for the STEM myth. Try getting a job with a mathematics degree. Or a biology degree.

The traditional liberal arts majors tend to be more flexible in application than STEM disciplines, so they can be applied to a wider range of professions. For example, I used to work for a team of people with sociology degrees who ran a market research company. What can a bio major do without further training?

Someone upthread mentioned pre-law. I don't really know what pre-law teaches, but ironically, pre-law majors tend to have some of the worst scores on the LSAT.

So I'd say it's a rather useless major.

Also, RE: elementary teachers. I know we treat our teachers like shit in the US, but elementary education degree programs attract some of the least intelligent college students (based on SAT scores).

I still contend that I'd rather all teachers have a background in some other *real* academic discipline -- microbiology, chemistry, history -- than *just* a degree in education. Not because they'll be teaching microbiology to second graders, but because raising the standard will insure smarter people in general get these jobs.

r150 I think more people who are inclined towards the Liberal Arts should try to pursue STEM-fields, because the tech industry in particular has become a monoculture of disengaged Whizz-kids. We need more people who care about the culture in which technology operates and that technology influences.

R138, a degree in biology is more for than just being a doctor. Nutritionists usually have biology degrees.

[quote] Someone upthread mentioned pre-law. I don't really know what pre-law teaches, but ironically, pre-law majors tend to have some of the worst scores on the LSAT. So I'd say it's a rather useless major.

Please play along R154

As also mentioned upthread, "Pre-law" is only a major in vocationally-oriented colleges-- smaller state schools, often "commuter" schools with lenient admissions requirements.

Hence to lower LSAT scores

R143, psychology and biology have career paths beyond what you would think. For example, a degree in biology opens doors to environmental sciences and psychology is good for marketing and advertising.

You're also all forgetting the way America works in 2019.

It doesn't really matter what you major in, it matters who your family knows, so that they can get you those unpaid internships during the summers that you can then turn into an actual job upon graduation.

So you can be a biology major, but if your mother's tennis partner owns a marketing company... you've got a job in marketing.

I don’t agree with philosophy at all. I wish I minored in it at least.

R160, um, no. Understanding human behavior helps when you're selling crap to humans.

Not if you have a strong connection the company's owner and actually want to work in marketing R162

Welcome to the real world

[quote] One's college major is unimportant. Attending a top university is less important than attending class, doing the work, paying attention, and graduating, from whichever college one attends.

Thank you, R47. I teach at a small, private university. When I first started teaching there, there were a large number of communications majors, who simply did not do the work. I believed it was the major. The I taught a few students who were communication majors who were among the most thoughtful and hard-working students.

Today, most students are flocking to majors in the STEM fields, because technology and number crunching jobs are on the increase. I'm an historian. Majors in history and the humanities are way down. A major in the humanities can give you the skills to become critical thinkers, which can set you up for more fully rounded careers in any field, rather than as mere drones for a company.

Communications is the most bullshit college major. It's so non-specific that even the name "Communications" communicates nothing in particular. There's a deep irony there, but who needs it? Irony is everywhere.

psychology majors are pretty useless. I know a few of them who are driving ubers and lyft and working at starbucks.

How could anything top ‘general studies’

R163, it my get you an interview. If the parents have a name or connections that can bring in accounts then it will get you a job. Otherwise you are not an economic benefit.

R87, thanks for the compliment.

R82

I've worked in positions for years where I'm involved in the interview and hiring process, but I'm not in HR. In most positions, I've always found analytical skills, critical thinking, and good writing/communication skills to be common in the best employees. I always look for these in job candidates. People who majored in English, a foreign language, history and philosophy tend to be the best candidates for these skills, and they are also on average more ethical. I find business majors to be the most limited and on average the most unethical.

Unfortunately these days, because businesses don't want to spend the time training, they'd rather look for someone who has done the exact job before or has a related major (usually something in business). I'd rather take someone who has the necessary skills and train them in the job.

Consider if you will the rise of the MBA - it's what is destroying corporate America.

R156 I agree, but those people usually don't care about the technologies themselves. Technology is a technician's work. If your mind goes beyond that of a technician, you shouldn't be doing technician's work. Now bridging the gap between philosophy and technology, there's the real challenge. Two universes that refuse to communicate yet both need one another in a modern world.

As a foreign language major, I appreciate that R170!

R171, I completely agree about MBAs, which is masters for business majors, so you basically get the same types who lack analytical and critical thinking skills. I hate when HR hires a MBA. They're usually gone within 2-3 years.

R173, what was your minor in? I find foreign language students with history/poli sci/philosophy or some other minor that requires a lot of writing to be particularly good at critical thinking, research, and analysis.

[quote] Philosophy, which 99.9% of gays major in.

Where did you come up with that nonsense? I work in a philosophy/religious studies department and I could count the gay majors we have had since I have been here on one hand,

r142 – I have a Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from a well-respected University.

r153 – If you go into STEM and pick the wrong area or go into STEM unprepared to do some serious work, it’s not for you. Most engineering and computer science majors will have plenty of opportunities once they graduate. And if they keep their education up to date, will not have difficulty keeping gainfully employed.

Is Biology the “shake out” class for pre-med? Many times, a degree program has classes to shake out those that aren’t cut out for their field. In engineering, Calculus and Physics tends to eliminate those that aren’t cut out for engineering or are unwilling to work hard.

Why is HR almost exclusively women and gay men?

Gender Studies

[quote]Why is HR almost exclusively women and gay men?

They're the ones that are the most bitchy.

Musical Theater. Not even Drama. Musical Theater. A degree in PIPPIN. A degree in BYE, BYE, BIRDIE.

Each year, CCM recruits the QUEENIEST young men in all of American higher education. Hands down.

^^^ Missed it, what is CCM?

Here you go, R181.

[quote]Missed it, what is CCM?

Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, the Julliard of the Midwest

I have a degree in Philosophy because I didn't know what to major in and went to a Catholic university. It was useful for developing reading, writing and critical thinking skills.

Um, hellloooo?

--Darren Criss, graduate of the Musical Theater department at the University of Michigan

[quote]Where did you come up with that nonsense? I work in a philosophy/religious studies department and I could count the gay majors we have had since I have been here on one hand.

First off, R175, assuming you’re in the U.S., LGB people make up only 5 percent of the population. Second, not everyone is “visibly” homo or out-of-the-closet, so you probably don’t really know how many LGB students are philosophy majors, despite you being an “out” gay person with excellent gaydar (another assumption on my part). Finally, if religious studies play a large part in your philosophy department, that alone might thin the herd because of religion’s pernicious effects on LGBT people, so your anecdotal evidence is weak, IMO.

Philosophy and Psychology can be good majors if you really want to (or need to) 'go deep' into the meaning of life - or the ins and outs of your mental condition. You can turn Psychology into a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology and end up as a therapist or counselor of some kind - there's a growing demand for that.

With Philosophy, assuming you're the serious type of person which they usually are, you will have likely nailed down what you want to do with your life - and you can go for a master's degree in whatever that field is - or start over and get another bachelor's - whatever. You'd likely be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to pay for it.

In any case, I don't think either is wasted - if taken seriously. Better than business or communications, imo, because you can still go for similar jobs, even with just a B.A. in philosophy, and you will have learned about how to live - or at least will have given it serious thought. And that's my head-in-the-clouds answer but still... lives can be long and dreary -- getting a handle on who you are and what you want is a pretty good first step along the way.

An undergraduate degree in psychology from my state’s universities screams “I’m not smart enough for a real degree. And even if I have a 2.0 average, I’ll get into a school of social work where they will give me life credits for having had a job at applebee’s.”

What are the "real degrees" though? Just STEM? And even that needs to be narrowed down: a math or science degree, like "biology", doesn't get you a job - you need more. And with psych, you need more - like social work, as you say, or clinic psychology.

Still just as practical as any of the humanities - plus business, communications, and a few more vague ones.

[Quote]What are the "real degrees" though?

To make you employable?

The engineering degrees, computer science, statistics.

Those majors you the most enticing in the modern economy.

I don't disagree R190 but not everybody is good at that stuff - and some of those who could be, wouldn't be happy in those fields.

So that makes just about everything else ok - none of them are "practical" so why not pick something you like, and figure your life out from there. That's why I think Psych and even Philosophy are good choices - on the assumption you've ruled out the three useful ones (and I'm not sure about "statistics" - is that really viable, on a large scale?) I even know two engineering majors, one with a PhD from Boston University, who haven't found jobs: one works in a video game store and the other in an ice cream shop in Boston (not kidding!) The ice cream shop PhD was offered a management job at his shop and he didn't want the hassle - just wanted to be a regular employee scooping up cones. The PhD nearly caused a mental breakdown (or maybe did?)

Anyway, I don't even think engineering always works out, unless you know the job opportunities, or know people to get you interns and in the door, etc. Programming is great - but only IF you are great, because the job application process involves sitting down and proving you're quick and talented (while they watch you).

Healthcare jobs will always be there but I guess don't require a bachelor's - I think you can even go to med school by just taking the required pre-reqs and going straight into it. Nurse practitioner or "D.O." is getting more important (and easier/cheaper to accomplish than M.D. degree). Nursing and the other healthcare stuff doesn't usually need a 4-year degree - except maybe lab research kind of stuff?

The median annual wage for statisticians who work as actuaries for insurance companies: $100,000.

Well I googled and did find this, which both supports your assertion (that stats is great) and casts a bit of doubt on it (actual number of jobs available): Actuaries. Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 22 percent from 2016 to 2026, much faster than the average for all occupations. However, because it is a small occupation, the fast growth will result in only about 5,300 new jobs over the 10-year period.

5300 in 10 years? If I'm smart in tech and want a great job - I think I'd stick to programming.

[quote]Actuaries. Employment of actuaries is projected to grow 22 percent from 2016 to 2026

That's because they need so many to figure out when Baby Boomers are going to die.

Psychology = Self-medicating, academically

Philosophy = Lost Souls Who don’t know what to do with their life

Generally, the Second is more intelligent than the First.

You want a job 100% at graduation? Accounting!

What kind of foreign languages would translate (pardon the pun) into good jobs?

R197, Chinese!

r197 Arabic, for a government job

I don't understand the point of a foreign language major either except State Dept jobs, which are probably few and hard to get. I read they most need Arabic, Turkish, Russian and Chinese.

I guess if you want to live abroad, then learning that language makes sense. Otherwise, I think there are too many bilingual people who grew up with two or more languages - for interpreter jobs and such.

Comparative Literature

I used to think minority studies of any kind were BS, but I was wrong. I have STEM degrees and just didn’t understand.

Oops, also woman’s studies.

[quote][R197], Chinese!

Chinese will get you counter work at a full service laundry.

Maybe you can convince them that they only need one detergent. Calgon was always a ripoff because if the detergent didn't get your clothes clean, then you needed to try another brand.

Pantomime

Journalism for years now,.

World Poetry

This thread really shows off how provincial many DLers are.

[quote] so your anecdotal evidence is weak, IMO

I have to laugh at you for this. You are defending the notion that 99.9% of philosophy majors are gay with ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE and say my real-life experience is weak evidence.

Sure, Blanche.

Pharm.D. seems useful.

That's not an undergraduate degree r210.

R208 - What a clumsy sentence.

Art History and Philosophy are interesting but pretty much useless majors.

My friend with an MA in art history has a very cushy gallery job in Manhattan, r213

R214, You're friends with Charlotte York? That is SO COOL!

I went to Harvard, and met some of the smartest people in the world majoring in math, physics, and the hard sciences. But the Presidents' and billionaires' children have to major in something, and it certainly isn't physics. These are the best: --Folklore and Mythology --Visual and Environmental Studies

Arborology

Communications and writing were important in the 60s. Nowadays with computers nobody gives a shit how poor sentence construction and composition is. As long as it's of average quality its fine. I see DAILY terrible writing, even in magazines, or especially in magazines. Look at the second grade reading level of People and Entertainment. Look at stuff online. Bad writing. Nobody cares.

Seriously, r200? Companies that deal heavily with the public, like hospitals, need someone who can translate.

Maybe you're right R219 - but wouldn't all those companies get a better translator by hiring someone who grew up bilingual and is fully fluent - even with "street" level translating, like you'd need in hospitals, 911 dispatchers, gov't offices, etc? Don't we have a lot of bilingual people already in the country, fully fluent in both languages?

I can see 'some' need for monolingual people with degrees in a language - but surely a "native speaker" so to speak, would be better for actually dealing with the people.

Yes, I'm sure in places like New York where you have an abundance of native speakers, r220. But then you have call centers in the middle of nowhere Iowa.

That major where you learn about muscles and bones.

[quote] Oh. Anthropology.

Sadly, when I was in university I realized this, so I ended up minor-ing instead of majoring in it. I love the subfield of archaeology, but in order to be taken seriously, you need at least a Master's or a PhD, and to really be committed and willing to take a risk and invest in more education. If I could do it all over again, I would say fuck it, and would have gone that route. I tend to be more optimistic these days and I'm a firm believer that if you [italic] really [/italic] want to be successful in some career, you can. You just need gumption and single-minded obsession.

R222 Are you refererring to Kinesiology?

R224, yes. I'm too fucking lazy to look it up.

R216: Do you remember the kid who won the Hoopes Prize for his work in "Classical Armenian" before he was busted for faking it?

Otherwise: the thoroughly discredited field of Grievance Studies

Communications Degree = Public Relations, Corporate Communications, Social Media Management, Marketing etc.

Media Studies. Communication. Women's Studies.

I would say Ancient History but I have made a pretty good living from it.

"English-What can you do outside of teach?"

Well, here are some successful people who were English majors who did not pursue a career in teaching:

Sting

Conan O"Brien

Stephen King

Barbara Walters

Paul Newman

Steven Spielberg

Jodie Foster

Martin Scorsese

Paul Simon

Bob Woodward

Quentin Blake

Diane Sawyer

Dr. Seuss

Grant Tinker

Andrea Jung

Mario Cuomo

Michael Eisner

The graduate school of my PhD-granting institution made rules about the minimum amount of time one had to spend writing their dissertation (nine months or something).

This was because those getting PhDs and EdDs were writing their "dissertations" in three months.

What does that tell you?

Bachelor's in environmental design. It's BS because there's nothing you can do with it. Students think that they can just hang up a shingle as an architect without degree and I can't. So you're doomed to spend another three years in architecture school. Just get a Bachelors of architecture for God's sake.

Grievance studies is the perfect major for DL girls, the socialists, the green party, Bernie, Ocasio, Warren, in fact all of today's current democrats.

To actually use an English major you have to teach--unless some job just wants a warm body who went to college. And dearie, Stephen King DID teach English awhile.

r232 = Jordan Peterson

Mine. Art History

wow r229 16 people! How many English majors are there. That's like 0.02%. Incredible.

Postmodernism has made higher education into a sick joke.

r235, you sound exhausting.

[quote] Healthcare jobs will always be there but I guess don't require a bachelor's - I think you can even go to med school by just taking the required pre-reqs and going straight into it. Nurse practitioner or "D.O." is getting more important (and easier/cheaper to accomplish than M.D. degree). Nursing and the other healthcare stuff doesn't usually need a 4-year degree - except maybe lab research kind of stuff?

Are you drunk? While you can get into nursing without a 4 year degree, the BSN is what will make you competitive and earn you higher salaries.

It may be technically possible to get into med school (or a DO program) without an undergraduate degree, but getting into med school is very competitive and not having a degree puts you at an obvious disadvantage.

I have BA and MA in Geography. I ended up doing Emergency Planning and GIS. Some people I know went into teaching. Def not a waste. I love what I do.

235 - Your ignorance is overwhelming. First, "English" is actually English language Arts. Broken down, this includes the ability to listen attentively, speak with authority, read with analysis and interpretation, and write with scholarship. It involves the ability to create and support an argument,and debate others with civility, logic and expertise. It encourages the interpretation of both the literal and the figurative by helping us to identify symbolic use of language and imagery, as well as recurring themes and motifs in everything we see and do. Among the professions of "English" majors are writers, publishers, editors, lawyers, clergy, teachers, politicians, and people in the field of advertising. Any businessman who knows how to make a "sell" or deliver a presentation was most likely, at the very least, an "English" minor. Every book you've read, or film, TV show, play, TV show you've ever watched was likely created by an "English" major. In short, the theory you posit is a logical fallacy, unsupported by anything but an ignorant understanding of whet the English Language Arts do. Good luck with your pottery major!

I work at a college and they are introducing Anthropology as a major next year. It was just a minor in the past. In this day and age, when robots will probably be taking over soon and even people with marketable majors will have difficulty finding work, I can't believe they would be introducing such a useless major.

Someone has to do the focus groups and market research. Who will do it other than Anthropology majors?

(I knew a bunch of anthro majors and most of them went into marketing, polling, or public relations after graduation.)

^^The point being that the skills of an anthropologist are used in business and government. I am not sure that any other major would provide qualifications to do this kind of research with any authority.

If you want to draw a short straight line from commencement to full employment in a highly paid job, then pretty much all of the undergraduate programs are useless. They are all an exercise in boredom and sitting your fat ass in a chair for four years while pretending to be listening. (Though that is a useful skill in a corporate job.

My undergraduate degree is in Dance. And it really did prepare for me a performing career which I had and then relinquished, as one usually must. But those skills that I learned have never failed me. Discipline. Hard work to achieve mastery. Ownership of your work. How to present yourself. I have NEVER walked into a job interview sheepish or intimidated. My undergraduate degree still gives me the ability to walk into an interview and take command of the room and then impress, impress, impress. If I don't do well in an interview, it's because I'm not a good fit for the job. Not because I shot myself down.

Any degree that can teach you to think and work and achieve is a worthy degree. The idea of education being solely job preparation is Republican clap trap and should be shouted down at every turn by every person who can independently think and reason.

The big thing that would change all of this would be two years of compulsory National Service for every person in the U.S. starting shortly after they graduate or drop out from high school. You want to find yourself? Fine. Don't borrow a quarter of a million dollars to do it. After every young person had a two years of adult work experience, most of their choices, about their education as well as about everything else, would be better informed and more thoughtfully reasoned.

If you have critical thinking skills, then you don’t really need a degree. The idea that college is at all necessary or even desirable is a Slaveocrat lie that is bankrupting this country along with years of brainwashing by Bill Cosby to believe that only white-collar jobs are real jobs.

You can major in business management OR a accounting!

Anything the SJWs major in.

The median income of undergrad philosophy majors is higher than undergrad business majors. Don't underestimate the power of having solid critical thinking and analytical skills, and also knowing how to bullshit your way to winning virtually any argument.

Anything with the sexist homophobic unword g*nd*r in it.

Communications - it's for dumb people.

[quote]What is the most bullshit college major?

Whatever the hell mine was.

It's been over 40 years.

I studied for a semester at the Sheboygan Conservatory of Music.

Communications

Anything with "studies" in it

Gary Conservatory of Music. Gold-medal Class of aught-5.

Associates degrees. Get the full fucking B.A., asshole.

Just look to see what the football players are majoring in.

r256:

Sociology.

Sports management.

Physical Education degree with certification to coach all sports.

My idiot cousin got that degree. But I don't think he ever got a permanent teaching job. Just substituted and covered a few full semesters before drifting back into the military. I don't think he could even teach Driver's Ed.

History

“Leadership” - someone I know is majoring in this, never heard of it before.

Comparative Literature

r259/r261

No.

Yes.

The History of Comparative Literature

Media Criticism

Went to a major private university. Philosophy majors there are now lawyers, journalists, professors, among other things.

R244, thank you for such great advice. Even in middle age, it is advice I can use.

From my experience as a history professor, there are intelligent students across the majors. Earlier in my career, I thought communications was a ridiculous major until I encountered a communications major in one of my courses, who was far more intelligent than I. He had an inquisitive and perspective mind, and he had read a wide variety of authors. He taught me humility.

Now, when I have students from such recent majors as "Homeland Security" and "Health Studies" in a course, I take the opportunity to try to expand their horizons and understanding of an issue. For example, there will be a number of the "Homeland Security" majors in a course I teach that covers more recent conflicts. With that in mind I'll assign works ranging across the spectrum, fiction and non-fiction, (Mohsin Hamid, John Lukacs, Chomsky) so that they are at least exposed to ideas and perspectives other than their own. What they do with the ideas is up to them. That's where the advice of R244 comes in. You should learn discipline, hard work, and how to present yourself from your education as a whole.

Gender Studies.

You could basically study any component of it in a better-established discipline (history, literature, philosophy, law, etc).

Also, it's been taken over by the third wave and isn't really about women anymore.

communications by far.

Sociology is a strange one.

Wasn't its subject matter already covered by economics, social anthropology, geography, social psychology, and political science?

I've heard bad things about Gender Studies, and frankly cannot think of a viable field outside gender-focused nonprofit work where it would make a difference. I have a graduate degree in English from a well-respected school and have found trouble seeking employment, so I'd say it too is an iffy one. In the program I was in, it was well-known and communicated to us by faculty that finding jobs in academia was nearly impossible, and it seemed the program was trying to groom the cohorts for careers in other fields. The humanities in general seem to be undergoing a serious identity crisis seeking relevance in contemporary culture. Theology/philosophy strikes me as an even more difficult major, unless you are planning to join religious clergy.

My mother wanted me to get an accounting degree. Oh, how I wish I had listened to her but I thought accounting was too boring so I got a degree in Media and Communications instead - and I now work for a mortgage company.

I have three degrees in music composition and now work for a finance/tech company.

So I'd have to vote for music composition.

'Business' typically isn't a major. Unless you're referring to General Business which is not a common major among business school students.

Typical business schools provide majors in accounting, finance, supply chain management, marketing, management, computer information systems, economics, and quantitative business analysis. Data analytics is a more recent addition at some schools. Most of the above degrees have application in the real world, unlike women's studies and communications.

R41, Accounting automated? Are you referring to bookkeeping? How would you automate auditing?

The big accounting firms don't seem to have gotten that memo considering the armies of accounting resources they employ.

Business

Education (doctorates)

Anything "leadership"

Unless you're a trustafarian and are pursuing education for education's sake, all the liberal arts degrees are worthless shit which you should not incur one nickel of debt to acquire.

Communications majors were punchlines when I was a university. Considered the bottom of the academic barrel.

R99, Business is the domain of 'lesser schools'? Tell that to Wharton, Kellogg, and HBS.

If you want to 'learn critical thinking skills', no need for a 4 year liberal arts degree. A single class in formal logic (which falls under the umbrella of philosophy and happens to be the underpinning of computer science) should suffice.

R158, pre-law is, in fact, a major at many large universities.

R229, you're cherry picking outliers. That's like using Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg as examples to argue that dropping out of college is a great decision.

Supply chain management? That is a major? If it is, that is the kind of bs business degree people make fun of. It prepares you to manage supply chains....and what else?

It is why corporations (like the one I am part of) prefer to hire liberal arts and humanities people. You can plug them in anywhere and transfer them elsewhere in the org if you need to.

I think there are differing definitions of "bullshit" in this thread:

1) not a good choice economically but intellectually rigorous (art history, classics, philosophy, etc)

2) good economically but intellectually bankrupt (education, most business school majors, etc)

3) both (communication, most "studies" majors)

R283 is wise

Thank you r284

I have a BS & MS in engineering. When in school, called the College of Liberal Arts the College of Lost Ambition.

I have a BA in BS from the School of Hard Knocks.

I would say psychology. Only because those who pursue it think it's easy but then can't go anywhere with it unless they get a PhD. But truly a college degree is helpful. The majority of graduates don't have careers in anything related to their degrees. The worst part of having a degree is the debt but you can always get a job if you're not lazy or an arrested adolescent.

[quote]How about telecommunications lol

Why the lols? It's a great field. But speaking as a guy with telecom industry engineering certs, who was just shy of a BSEE, you really do want the degree.

R270, I think sociology is actually useful in many areas. It gives you a mental shorthand when dealing with people, allows for innovation in social programs, non-profits, business and education...all of the majors you listed are a bit different.

The people I know with sociology degrees are in marketing, product development, and a weird management niche of picking out what cities the corporation will expand in and which it will close down.

Communications

R282, Yes, supply chain management is a major and MIT's program is considered top tier, with graduates commanding six figure salaries at Fortune 500 companies. If you think it's a bullshit degree, maybe you should write MIT a letter. I'm sure they're waiting to hear your opinion with bated breath.

Graduate degrees in education are intellectually bankrupt.

Also, what's scary is that some of the stupidest students in college major in education. And these are the people teaching the next generation ...

Egyptology

I deal with a lot of younger people who get degrees in “Information Technology” instead of Computer Science. Its a waste of money. They’re completely unqualified for anything in the technology industry. They can’t develop software, they don’t understand core concepts in technology. They are *useless*.

I see that on a resume - it’s shitcanned.

I got a masters in social work after getting an unrelated degree in undergrad. My classmates were some of the stupidest people I've ever met, and I went to a highly ranked school.

That said, social workers can always get jobs, even if they're awful at it. There's just so much need.

R298 I taught at Columbia's School of Social Work 10 years ago as a policy specialist and have students who didn't understand what bipartisan meant. In fact the student body where some of the most ignorant people I've ever met. But schools of social work are cash cows for universities so they tolerate the stupidity.

^^ sorry about the typos above

A few years ago, a young man I know obtained a Master's Degree in "Non-Profit Leadership" from a prestigious university. It was really all I could do to congratulate him. He has been working in a well paid management position in a national non-profit for the past three years and is mired in frustration and disillusionment. He is already looking for a way out.

A program cannot hope to prepare its students for success in the non-profit sector if it is not honest with the students about the dysfunction found throughout non-profit and the problems inherent in the non-profit structure. So, yeah. My young friend got the most bullshit college major.

R293 - that major is for someone who can’t make it through industrial engineering (itself the easiest engineering major). Just like data science is for people who can’t hack statistics.

r296 completely tangential, but I know a crazy story from a friend of a friend:

About 20 years ago, a prominent Egyptologist at a top art history program began fucking of one his undergrads. Star Student remained at the institution after graduation and started a doctorate -- in Egyptology -- which she finished in under four years. Almost unheard of in the field.

During this time, Star Student was still involved with Prominent Egyptologist; in fact, they co-taught graduate seminars together and were generally obnoxious about their (technologically covert) relationship. But it was a small department, and people were afraid to report them. A year after she finished, the department ran an open search for a tenure track position, and she got it. And why yes, Prominent Egyptologist was on the search committee.

A few years later, Prominent Egyptologist's wife filed for divorce and went public with his affair. Star Student lost her tenure track and had to leave the university. Prominent Egyptologist got a nine-month suspension (or something similar) because he was involved in a sexual relationship with someone he helped hire.

And perhaps the craziest part: they do fieldwork in Egypt (they got married and are still together) and dress up like Howard Carter and Louise Brooks.

This was all public, by the way, when the story broke and they were disciplined by the university.

^ technically, not technologically ... obviously

I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Ancient History and even we used to laugh about the useless Media Studies and Communication Studies degrees, so that's pretty telling. I actually ended up using mine, but the idea that there was something less likely to be useful is funny.

OP should be satisfied with her high school diploma.

I have a PhD, r306

Post colonial studies. Gender studies.

R303 OH MY LORD I just saw them in a documentary about Luxor. And my thought was that the woman is a narcissist BITCH cray cray and I assumed the man was her assistant/servant. Completely insufferable. Also she looks OLD.

Haha r309. Small world.

She is quite active on social media, posting pictures of their Egyptian capers.

... in all their living glory.

Dr. Colleen Darnell? The series is Lost Treasure of Egypt - broadcast this year on National Geographic

OK thanks that's her

I posted snark about her shtick on some thread just weeks ago, but can't remember which one. Insufferable!!!!!

It's hard for a pair like that to be anonymous lol

He looks rather insufferable as well.

Do John is still a prof at Yale. And he lets her cram him into vintage colonial linens like this? My my. I would think the SJWs would rip him to shreds for such asshattery. She sure has him pussy whipped.

SO John....

It would be funny if they were making a joke sometimes with this shtick but they seem way way too into it.

I imagine they are both narcissists.

A friend of a friend was associated with the Yale art history department when all this went down. They apparently loved to flaunt their relationship, even when she was still a grad student.

If you take the easy track in any degree, it is BS. Ed.D, social work, business light/adjacent, communications/public speaking, all cash cow degree mills for universities, and also worthless.

Learning the Personal Computer

They say sociology had its heyday in the 1950s but I think that means the 1950 sociology students were somewhat brighter than today's.

I guess Asian Studies must have some stigma to it. I know someone who majored in that but lies and says he majored in Political Science. (then stupidly sent out linkedin invites which ratted himself out.)

[quote] Sociology

Most schools did away with sociology as a major in the 90s. Is it making a comeback for the dumb students to major in?

They should do away with psychology as a major because it’s what the stupidest students major in.

“What’s your degree in?”

“Psychology.”

“Ah, you were a Special Ed student.....”

What was your major, r325?

Retarded psychology majors like Mark Zuckerberg.

People who continue with psychology in grad school are generally smart (but crazy).

I agree with sociology. It doesn't attract the brightest ...

I've noticed a trend with my students: the ones who lack adequate college prep when they arrive on campus are generally sociology or communication majors. There is little, if any, gatekeeping in those disciplines. (Unlike, say, engineering or computer science.)

Getting into a good graduate Clinical or Research Psychology program is highly competitive. Most applicants (students) bomb out and end up in social work, the idiots of the mental health field.

What did M major in at Vassar? Theater?

Isn't social structures covered in anthropology?