need help choosing a college major

[Keno]

I dunno if I'm misunderstanding, but you go to college for years to get paid $25k per annum? or is that only your first job? Also cost of living may be way cheaper in US (from UK btw)

That'll just be the first job right out of college. No one goes to college and then expects to be making $25k per annum for the rest of their lives. As a matter of fact, here in CA, most people make around $50k out of college and aspire to much greater salaries as they advance in their careers.

[Keno]

Well, now is as good a time as any to ask.

I am taking political science, planning to switch to psychology/political science by next year, and when i'm done with my bachelors degree, i plan to work on my juris doctorate. Anybody have any suggestions, or any experiences with these sort of studies?

Poly Sci is a crap major if you want to get your juris doctorate. Well, not crap, but Psychology is way better. If your ultimate goal is for the juris doctorate I'd recommend psychology or a science major as your undergrad, so you can specialize and set yourself apart once you get your JD.

[Talus]

If you're thinking you want to be a lawyer (not talking to OP), like 40% of applicants are government/political science majors, i.e. adcom's (admissions committees) see that shit all the time.

To the OP: you can't go wrong with accounting/business administration/management or finance. You can always get a job.

I think the worst possible majors are liberal arts majors because they don't really set you up that well unless you want to further your education in the discipline and end up teaching it.

[evilbau]

I'm really surprised at topics like this. Its fine that you are soliciting opinions but is it really going to affect your decision any? I know for something that affects your life this much (basically deciding your career), you want to get as much info as possible, but this is such a personal question that you should really figure it out yourself.

Maybe my story will help: I went to college as comp sci but wasn't sure if I wanted to do business/finance. For the first year, I tried to take some business classes which would fulfill my general requirements and/or a minor. I had a little extra wiggle room due to lots of AP tests so I took some other classes that were for a business major. I did figure out that I wanted to learn business, but not for 4 years at the university instead of a marketable skill like programming (I was also fascinated with computer science itself). In my case, it made a big difference starting pay wise when I got out of school. Now I spend a lot of my time reading up on business and building that knowledge (when i'm not gaming lol), as I work as a computer scientist, so I'll always have that to fall back on no matter what happens in my entrepreneurial endeavors lol Study something that interests you, have a plan for the future, and a back-up plan. Hope this helps...

[Tonko]

Nursing.

Insanely high demand, 2 years of schooling, great pay, and beneficial to your Karma balance.

[Iono]

In response to Bau. It can't hurt to get some ideas, then decide what you'd like to research.

As for me well, I got an EE degree then went into that field, kinda noticed it's not too steady. Got into two companies at the start and the first one was like walking on a thin line people were always getting laid off, and we were always wondering when we'd be next. And it was pretty f'd up, the only way you found out was if you slid your badge and a green light came up you were good. If a red light came up, then time to go home!

The irony in this job was that they ended up outsourcing to my home country of Thailand. I was offered a job, but unfortunately the pay wasn't enough to pay back my student loans and live. . .

Second job wasn't so good either, work was slow and got sent home a lot. They would've dispersed among the people who to send home. I always volunteered, saying that the other people have families, and I'm all by myself. (Truth is I wanted to go home and play FF XD)

Now I do ACAD at a civil eng company, and was planning to go back to school for civil. But now that I'm in iono if I like it. . . Or can even do it. . .

So I've come to the conclusion that if I'm to go back to college again, I should do something that I like. Unfortunately I'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. . .

[Intense]

OP: Have you considered Architecture?

I am taking political science, planning to switch to psychology/political science by next year, and when i'm done with my bachelors degree, i plan to work on my juris doctorate. Anybody have any suggestions, or any experiences with these sort of studies?

Id recommend majoring in English if you plan to get your Juris Doctor, but there is no set standard for this as law schools look for diversity when taking applicants.

[Creeps]

Engineering
Economics
Finance
Accounting

Edit: If you live in Florida, funeral director. Those fools make like 200k a year here.

[Intense]

Engineering
Economics
Finance
Accounting

An Economical Financial Engineer who loves Accounting!

[Priran]

Silly motherfucking Walks.

[Ddz]

Finance
Mortgage Broker
Real Estate

I personally am into marketing, but I work with a lot of people in these fields that make a ton of money for barely doing anything besides heavy delegation.

[Senoska]

I GOT IT:

Cosmology

or Theoretical physics!

PREPARE FOR MINDFUCK

[Skyylya]

Only do psychology if you plan to do more schooling, a bachelors in psych will get you just about nowhere, as will almost any just bachelors these day's unless it's a fairly specifified bachelors like civil engineering.

Your best bet is some kind of engineering field as that market is huge right now and very good pay for starting out. Unless you get very lucky or make the right connections you can expect to make between 25-45 right after your bachelors, with 45 probably being a stretch for your first job out of college. high 20's and low 30's is probably more accurate.

Not sure how you figure business management ppl make more than neurosurgeons, I've been looking into the neuro field since I'd like to end up in it someday in about 10-15 years, but salaries in that field are about 300k+ if you have a few years under your belt and that's starting.

Really what you pick as an undergrad minor means very little unless it's a specific field you're trying to get into. If you plan on going to school for graduate, just pick a major with classes that'll let you pad your resume and grades to get into a good grad program. You don't need to have a BA in a specific field in order to get accepted into a masters/specialist program or combo program master/ph.d.

I got my b.a. in psych, i'm working for a financial company and working on starting a master of public health program which will hopefully get me able to apply to medical school (long shot, but it's what i wanna do). And if that doesn't work out, well my job i have now still rocks, and i was pretty lucky to spot it and apply when i did.

I don't know where you're from, but out here even a business or econ major can make 35-40k straight out of college. The engineers get 55-70k starting. Of course advancement in engineering is quite limited and about the most you can ever expect to make is 250k/yr, whereas other fields offer much higher opportunities. It's basically up to whether or not you have confidence in yourself and think you can advance through the workforce. If you think you can then get a business major of some type. If you're lazy and just plan on doing your job, go for engineering.

business type jobs I think usually do a little bit better. Plus I admit where I live sucks ass. Tallahassee is probably one of the worst markets in the country to get a good starting job in. This town is full of goverment dicks, lobbyest's, lawyers and about 9 million engineers. So the only really good job here is engineering straight out of school. Pretty much any healthcare job here starts you off at between 9 and 12 bucks an hour unless you have an advanced degree or advanced vocational degree and experience.

I was lucky to get my job, my pay right now isn't anything special as i'm on pace for something around the 30k mark. But, advancement in my company is very quick and i can expect to be promoted in like 2-3 months tops when i've only been here for like 2 months and at that point i'll start making a minimum of 45 in the first year and depending on what medical market i'm in i could easily be up over 80-100k after my first year.

But, I also wanna go back to school, just took the GRE a couple weeks ago and did well enough to get into pretty much any graduate/masters program. It's just a matter of picking one that'll suit what I want to do at the end of the road. Right now my eye's are set on getting an MPH in probably the behavioral and social health segment. but, I need to contact some medical school advisors to see exactly what i need to do to get into a med program. Neurology is where I wanna be at the end of the road, problem is getting accepted into a good medical school. Even, if that doesn't work out and I don't get in, an MPH is a great degree and my current job has long term potential. I just gotta get out of tallahassee.

[Octavious]

Engineering is an incredibly fun major, if your into the basics of engineering. If your the kind of person who likes fixing random things, figuring out why something works, and creating 'anything' pretty much, I'd look into Engineering.

I'm a CS&E Major Softwarer Engineer, and depending on your hobbies/things you enjoy, there's probably a field of engineering for it. I love the random stuff I always end up doing in my Engineering Classes, never a boring moment. It is a lot of work though, no joking on that.

Go with something you enjoy, then figure out what you need to do to turn that into your career

[Jujubie]

Hubby has degree in Mechanical Engineering job out of college @ 50k
Sister-in law has degree in Industrial Engineering out of college @45k
Cousin has degree in Supply chain management job out of college with Boeing @41k
Cousin has degree in Business marketing job out of college underwriting insurance @ 32k
Friend has degree in Business marketing, took a while to get a decent job (3 years ish), now a leasing manager at apartment complex making 35k plus free apartment.
Friend has a degree in Biology, never got a job that used her degree, was selling real estate.

I'd say if you like and are good at math, go for the engineering and stay out of the automotive industry for now.

PS i've heard chemical engineers do really well money-wise.

[Yangsing]

But what if you don't enjoy anything but playing video games?!

[Intense]

Manage a Gamestop..

[evilbau]

But what if you don't enjoy anything but playing video games?!

Read up on government programs and be prepared to leech off society while jumping from one dead-end job to another in an attempt to consistently qualify for them.

[Fyrie]

But what if you don't enjoy anything but playing video games?!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770

move to england and have 12 kids?