CNN just now discovers that most athletes may not be getting good grades!

[Ksandra]

I think most people would say a degree in drama is worthless

And again, it is not worthless. Those who say so don't know what they are talking about. And there isn't some mass movement to have it removed.

Do you really think if kids got out of HS and didn't perform sports on a national scale through college they will have an easier time getting on a professional team? Just look at how many sports players start in college. They are showing and honing their skills just as much as everyone else in other degree fields.

[Meresgi]

And again, it is not worthless. Those who say so don't know what they are talking about. And there isn't some mass movement to have it removed.

Do you really think if kids got out of HS and didn't perform sports on a national scale through college they will have an easier time getting on a professional team? Just look at how many sports players start in college. They are showing and honing their skills just as much as everyone else in other degree fields.

Degree =/= connections.

Yes they are fostered through college, some better then others (which is the prime reason for attending Stanford/Harvard or for joining a frat). But connections can also be established in many other areas, though I guess that's not true for sports since talent scouts only look at college players for picking drafts.

[Ksandra]

Degree =/= connections.

Of course not. The difference is a drama student goes to college and primarily take classes related to the job they are trying to get, which in theory if they can't pass probably shouldn't be going for that job anyway.

Sports players go and pick some random degree that will often have them primarily taking classes completely unrelated to the job they are trying to get, and therefore doesn't reflect on their job capabilities.

[edit] I wouldn't want wannabe actors being forced to get something like a business degree either.

[hey]

I think most people would say a degree in drama is worthless, much like a liberal arts degree lol.

Because most people falsely believe that college is for job training. It's not. It's for education for the sake of education.

[Jaybar]

How is that any different than a lot of art degrees?

And again, it is not worthless. Those who say so don't know what they are talking about.

Take your own advice. Art degrees aren't "Go in, get A" like "GoodAtSports".

[Ksandra]

Take your own advice. Art degrees aren't "Go in, get A" like "GoodAtSports".

wait, wat?

I don't think art degrees are useless.

[Jaybar]

wait, wat?

I don't think art degrees are useless.

Thought that's why you were quoting the "GoodAtSports" degree considering the thread mentality.

[Ksandra]

Thought that's why you were quoting the "GoodAtSports" degree considering the thread mentality.

lol naw, my point was that art degrees aren't useless in the same vein as getting a sports degree would also not be useless.


And that people aren't stomping their feet to have art degrees removed, but people laugh at the idea of creating a sports degree.

[thetruepandagod]

But art degrees are worthless.

[Acevalefor]

But art degrees are worthless.

They can be useless. There just aren't enough ways to make money with "art" for the number of people that think they can make a living painting or drawing.

In the last 2 years I have had at least 5 people with Graduate degrees work under me. I do not have a degree in anything but still run the production and design departments. The job I hire these guys for is a minimum-wage cardboard stacking job. Masters in Glass Blowing, Masters in Stone Art and a few others that I can't remember. WTF kind of degree is that? Why is it ok to get a degree like that but laughable to get a degree in whatever sport you are pursuing?

[Ksandra]

They can be useless. There just aren't enough ways to make money with "art" for the number of people that think they can make a living painting or drawing.

While true, this can be said of many many degrees.

Why is it ok to get a degree like that but laughable to get a degree in whatever sport you are pursuing?

This is essentially my point. I do think there are values in getting an art degree, as hey said it's not just about a job, it is also about learning. The fault tending to be that, as you said, too many go in with the expectation of getting a job with that.

But yes, why are they ok, but a sports degree not? It just makes logical sense to me that if someone goes to college with their primary goal to focus on a sport, that they should be taking classes that focus on sports.

[Moss]

The idea is that if Hingle McCringleberry gets a business degree, he has some job prospects when he doesn't make an NFL roster, which is reality for the vast majority of college athletes

[Ksandra]

The idea is that if Hingle McCringleberry gets a business degree, he has some job prospects when he doesn't make an NFL roster, which is reality for the vast majority of college athletes

How is that different than any other person going to college?

[edit]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...o-their-major/

Second, the authors estimated that just 27 percent of college grads had a job that was closely related to their major. It's not clear that this is a big labor-market problem, though — it could just mean that many jobs don't really require a specific field of study. (You can find Abel and Dietz's longer paper here, and note that they are excluding people with graduate degrees in this second chart — so no doctors, lawyers, college professors, etc.)

[Moss]

because there are far fewer NFL (or whichever applicable professional sports league) roster spots available than other professions

[Ksandra]

because there are far fewer NFL (or whichever applicable professional sports league) roster spots available than other professions

Do you seriously believe that is true?

Masters in Glass Blowing, Masters in Stone Art

My college has a puppetry degree.

http://www.websterpost.com/article/2...FESTYLE/?tag=1

There is a college with a Adventure Sports Management degree (backpacking).

etc. etc. (oh hey, my college is on that list lol)

And again, these sports players are getting these degrees without earning them.

[Moss]

Your argument is that there should be a "football degree" for guys on the football team, and for all other sports, because they are training to become professional football players.

What happens to all of the players that don't make the league or wash out in a few years? Their degree is useless. Citing other "useless" degrees does nothing to prove the point that a football degree should exist.

[Ksandra]

Your argument is that there should be a "football degree" for guys on the football team, and for all other sports, because they are training to become professional football players.

What happens to all of the players that don't make the league or wash out in a few years? Their degree is useless. Citing other "useless" degrees does nothing to prove the point that a football degree should exist.

My point is what happens to all the other art, English, puppetry majors that don't get a job in their field?

It is absolutely no different than what you are saying.

That is the risk you take going to college for a degree that's in a saturated field.

Should philosophy majors also get a free business degree because the chances of them getting a job is low?

Free management degrees for everyone not in a computer or science field?

[Moss]

Citing other "useless" degrees does nothing to prove the point that a football degree should exist.

.

[hey]

What happens to all of the players that don't make the league or wash out in a few years? Their degree is useless.

Who cares? If that's what they want to study, why shouldn't that be an option?

College is about learning for the sake of learning. It's about improving your understanding of the world, yourself, and whatever else you want to study. The degree may be useless (it's not really), but what was done to earn it is not. Even if the knowledge you gained will never earn you a single penny. It's not useless. Knowledge is power. A football degree WILL improve your life in some way. Just because there's no simple get degree -> get job doesn't mean it's useless.

[Blubbartron]

In an ideal world, I would agree with hey - learning for the sake of learning is the goal. However, we don't live in an ideal world. A college degree is like an admission slip to a job. That is its purpose today. If the degree in question doesn't fulfill that purpose, then it has no purpose.

For the record, I think degrees in the Arts are stupid. It's like getting a degree in advanced video game playing. Shit's a hobby, not a career/field of study.