Should I stay in school?
February 24, 2010 5:35 PM Subscribe
Halfway through my BA and not terribly happy. Is it worth it to stay in school?
I am 21, Canadian, and partway through my second year of my BA in history. I'm doing pretty well in college; most of my marks are in the A range and my profs seem to like me quite a bit. I picked history because it was a passion of mine. Everyone told me to "do what I love" and I saw myself either becoming a history professor or going into law school. My future seemed pretty damn good.
However, I do not even remotely enjoy academic history. I love reading history books, but I am bored to death at the papers we read. I write good essays, but I hate writing them; my heart is not in it, and the topics feel boring and useless and hokey to me. I'm not a huge fan of my classes in other arts-y subjects, either - literature, anthropology, sociology, psychology were not for me. The only classes I've enjoyed were philosophy, and what the hell would I do with that?
Now I'm a terribly unhappy woman. I went for my passion, and I found out I hate it. I have no idea what kind of career I want. I was a straight-A student in high school and everyone told me how far I was going to go, but I have no idea what direction. I'm an INTP, and everything I look up on INTP careers suggests that we're prone to confusion and career-switching.
My main interests are history, philosophy, literature, and languages, none of which translate to a useful major or career. If I get a BA in, say, philosophy - then what? A liberal arts degree is, according to all I read, pretty useless. I worked hard to save up this money, why waste it?
I don't want to be a prof, I hate kids too much to be a teacher, and while I'd have the marks for law school I doubt I have the social skills. Sometimes I entertain the thought of becoming a pharmacist since I'm interested in drugs, but I never took chemistry or physics and am only decent at math. I've thought of doing some sort of government/public service work since I'm fluent in French, but I have no idea where to go with that. I know VB and C++ from high school, but I'm not particularly good and can't see myself coding for a career.
What the hell do I do now? Stay in school? Drop out? Travel? Become a hunter-gatherer? How does a bored, confused, slightly depressed 20-year-old find her path in life?
I am 21, Canadian, and partway through my second year of my BA in history. I'm doing pretty well in college; most of my marks are in the A range and my profs seem to like me quite a bit. I picked history because it was a passion of mine. Everyone told me to "do what I love" and I saw myself either becoming a history professor or going into law school. My future seemed pretty damn good.
However, I do not even remotely enjoy academic history. I love reading history books, but I am bored to death at the papers we read. I write good essays, but I hate writing them; my heart is not in it, and the topics feel boring and useless and hokey to me. I'm not a huge fan of my classes in other arts-y subjects, either - literature, anthropology, sociology, psychology were not for me. The only classes I've enjoyed were philosophy, and what the hell would I do with that?
Now I'm a terribly unhappy woman. I went for my passion, and I found out I hate it. I have no idea what kind of career I want. I was a straight-A student in high school and everyone told me how far I was going to go, but I have no idea what direction. I'm an INTP, and everything I look up on INTP careers suggests that we're prone to confusion and career-switching.
My main interests are history, philosophy, literature, and languages, none of which translate to a useful major or career. If I get a BA in, say, philosophy - then what? A liberal arts degree is, according to all I read, pretty useless. I worked hard to save up this money, why waste it?
I don't want to be a prof, I hate kids too much to be a teacher, and while I'd have the marks for law school I doubt I have the social skills. Sometimes I entertain the thought of becoming a pharmacist since I'm interested in drugs, but I never took chemistry or physics and am only decent at math. I've thought of doing some sort of government/public service work since I'm fluent in French, but I have no idea where to go with that. I know VB and C++ from high school, but I'm not particularly good and can't see myself coding for a career.
What the hell do I do now? Stay in school? Drop out? Travel? Become a hunter-gatherer? How does a bored, confused, slightly depressed 20-year-old find her path in life?
Definitely stay in school. You don't have to love your major, get straight As or graduate cum laude, but having a college degree will make the rest of your life better. Look at all the career ideas you mentioned- you're going to need a degree to go down those paths.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:43 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:43 PM on February 24, 2010
If you drop out now, imagine how depressed and lost you might feel in two years time when all of the options open to you with a "useless" degree are gone because you didn't finish school.
Options include a plethora of graduate degrees that lead to great careers like law, social work, education, and marketing. Not to mention the great careers in non-profit management, publishing, PR, and public administration that will be difficult to break into when you're battling it out with people your age with a degree.
Absolutely travel (I did, obsessively), but wait until you've got that BA. Trust me, it's NOT useless - I didn't just pull these career paths out of a hat. I went through the list of my friends in these areas who all gained their BA in humanities at a Canadian university. (I did too - feel free to MeMail me!)
posted by meerkatty at 5:47 PM on February 24, 2010
Options include a plethora of graduate degrees that lead to great careers like law, social work, education, and marketing. Not to mention the great careers in non-profit management, publishing, PR, and public administration that will be difficult to break into when you're battling it out with people your age with a degree.
Absolutely travel (I did, obsessively), but wait until you've got that BA. Trust me, it's NOT useless - I didn't just pull these career paths out of a hat. I went through the list of my friends in these areas who all gained their BA in humanities at a Canadian university. (I did too - feel free to MeMail me!)
posted by meerkatty at 5:47 PM on February 24, 2010
For practical purposes, I don't think a degree in history is different from a degree in philosophy: they both demonstrate that you have the skills to think critically, write intelligently, and stick to something reasonably difficult. That is the point of a college degree, and I think it's worth it to you to stick it out. Actually, philosophy will demonstrate that better than most other liberal arts degrees, because it hones your critical thinking and writing skills to an extremely fine point. You can do a lot with one; you definitely don't have to become a philosopher.
tl;dr: change your major if history is not for you!! You did right by following your passion - discovering that it wasn't what you originally envisioned is fine. Now follow your new one.
posted by forza at 5:47 PM on February 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
tl;dr: change your major if history is not for you!! You did right by following your passion - discovering that it wasn't what you originally envisioned is fine. Now follow your new one.
posted by forza at 5:47 PM on February 24, 2010 [5 favorites]
You are in school and you need to finish. College is just proof that you are competent. I would suggest switching majors if you are able to afford it, but if not stick it out. You are obviously an intelligent individual, EVERYONE goes through this while they are in school. Especially midway through. How did you feel about school while you were on winter break? Is that different now?
If you drop out now you will not go back.
That being said I can't offer much in terms of career direction but I'm sure a bunch of other mefites will be able to help you out.
posted by EsotericAlgorithm at 5:50 PM on February 24, 2010
If you drop out now you will not go back.
That being said I can't offer much in terms of career direction but I'm sure a bunch of other mefites will be able to help you out.
posted by EsotericAlgorithm at 5:50 PM on February 24, 2010
It's absolutely worth it. You don't have to have a career path in mind for when you get out, but it's better to be clueless about your future with a slip of magic paper in your pocket.
You say the topics feel "boring, useless and hokey" to you, which makes me think that you are actually being too passive in pursuit of your passion. Try thinking of your own topics; get face time with professors and advisers to get them to help you find your path. If you tell them you want to read lots of history books and write papers about them, I think they will be happy to help you continue in academics.
Also, I recommend challenging yourself more. Take a lower-graduate level course to get a taste of what things are like at the higher level where they respect/expect more self-guidance with students.
But you know, even if it all doesn't click, I still recommend gutting it out, since you're halfway through.
posted by fleacircus at 6:04 PM on February 24, 2010
You say the topics feel "boring, useless and hokey" to you, which makes me think that you are actually being too passive in pursuit of your passion. Try thinking of your own topics; get face time with professors and advisers to get them to help you find your path. If you tell them you want to read lots of history books and write papers about them, I think they will be happy to help you continue in academics.
Also, I recommend challenging yourself more. Take a lower-graduate level course to get a taste of what things are like at the higher level where they respect/expect more self-guidance with students.
But you know, even if it all doesn't click, I still recommend gutting it out, since you're halfway through.
posted by fleacircus at 6:04 PM on February 24, 2010
Hi there, Professional Philosopher(tm) here. When you're done reading this, feel free to MeFi mail me.
First, if you do not have an absolutely unquenchable, irrational, God-and-His-angels-cannot-stop-me desire to be an academic, then you absolutely should not even consider the professorial track. I have seen more friends burn out along the way, wash out even after they finished their degrees, or end up in grinding, overloaded, underpaying jobs than I can bear to recount. If you can imagine yourself doing anything else, or even hesitate to imagine yourself doing academic work, DO NOT PURSUE IT.
That being said, there are plenty of directions people with philosophy degrees go. If you take a few courses, you may find yourself drawn in more specific directions. If you find yourself enjoying more analytical courses and maybe even an advanced logic course or two, you might want to go on to look at work or graduate school in information technology. (Had things gone worse for me, that would have been the way to go.) A lot of schools are also doing more to integrate philosophy with pre-law and pre-medical programs, where the statistics suggest that coursework in philosophy makes graduates surprisingly successful in those fields.
With all of this being said, there is no direct path into an entry-level job that immediately applies the knowledge that you acquired as an undergraduate. But very few majors do that, aside from overtly pre-professional programs like education and some forms of engineering (and even there, there's an expectation of ongoing training in the early years). I promise you, you will be hunting around for a job no matter what your major may be, and the uncertainty of that may be weighing on you at this stage. You're certainly not alone in that, nor unreasonable in worrying about it in uncertain times. But unless you have a direct line into a long-term career in hand (some skill you haven't mentioned here), some desire to be in a career that works through certification programs (e.g. dental assistants, network technician), or you could imagine yourself being happier doing retail or manual labor, I don't think leaving school altogether is likely to help you. I've known students who left early or just barely finished and then had to fish around for a few years to decide what would be best for them, then returned to finish their BA or took a very different turn going into grad school. Maybe you're one of those people. But above all else, I would say that your anxiety sounds very normal. Don't panic. Do what you do well, stay open to new things and keep going forward.
posted by el_lupino at 6:08 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
First, if you do not have an absolutely unquenchable, irrational, God-and-His-angels-cannot-stop-me desire to be an academic, then you absolutely should not even consider the professorial track. I have seen more friends burn out along the way, wash out even after they finished their degrees, or end up in grinding, overloaded, underpaying jobs than I can bear to recount. If you can imagine yourself doing anything else, or even hesitate to imagine yourself doing academic work, DO NOT PURSUE IT.
That being said, there are plenty of directions people with philosophy degrees go. If you take a few courses, you may find yourself drawn in more specific directions. If you find yourself enjoying more analytical courses and maybe even an advanced logic course or two, you might want to go on to look at work or graduate school in information technology. (Had things gone worse for me, that would have been the way to go.) A lot of schools are also doing more to integrate philosophy with pre-law and pre-medical programs, where the statistics suggest that coursework in philosophy makes graduates surprisingly successful in those fields.
With all of this being said, there is no direct path into an entry-level job that immediately applies the knowledge that you acquired as an undergraduate. But very few majors do that, aside from overtly pre-professional programs like education and some forms of engineering (and even there, there's an expectation of ongoing training in the early years). I promise you, you will be hunting around for a job no matter what your major may be, and the uncertainty of that may be weighing on you at this stage. You're certainly not alone in that, nor unreasonable in worrying about it in uncertain times. But unless you have a direct line into a long-term career in hand (some skill you haven't mentioned here), some desire to be in a career that works through certification programs (e.g. dental assistants, network technician), or you could imagine yourself being happier doing retail or manual labor, I don't think leaving school altogether is likely to help you. I've known students who left early or just barely finished and then had to fish around for a few years to decide what would be best for them, then returned to finish their BA or took a very different turn going into grad school. Maybe you're one of those people. But above all else, I would say that your anxiety sounds very normal. Don't panic. Do what you do well, stay open to new things and keep going forward.
posted by el_lupino at 6:08 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Sometimes I entertain the thought of becoming a pharmacist since I'm interested in drugs, but I never took chemistry or physics and am only decent at math.
Just try it!
I was in roughly the same position as you (but interested in a different science-y field), and I switched from a BA to a very specific BSc program. The lack of prerequisites really isn't a big deal, provided you start taking those prerequisite courses ASAP.
Considering your current grades, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be able to make the transition. Why not try it out? At worst, you'll end up with some credits that you don't really like. At best, you end up with a major and career that you're much happier with.
posted by ripley_ at 6:11 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Just try it!
I was in roughly the same position as you (but interested in a different science-y field), and I switched from a BA to a very specific BSc program. The lack of prerequisites really isn't a big deal, provided you start taking those prerequisite courses ASAP.
Considering your current grades, it's almost guaranteed that you'll be able to make the transition. Why not try it out? At worst, you'll end up with some credits that you don't really like. At best, you end up with a major and career that you're much happier with.
posted by ripley_ at 6:11 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
One thing people who drop out of university/college in the first two years don't know, or don't believe: the classes get a *lot* more interesting in 3rd and 4th year as the classes get specialized. You also get more choice in what subjects you can take. So if you can get through the drudgery of this year's classes, you may find you enjoy next year's. I did two bachelors degrees (music and computer science) and I found this to be the case with both.
Also, friends of mine who don't have a degree can find it harder to get work, because sometimes their resume will be automatically discarded by hiring staff. That's not always the case, but it can happen. In the case of a liberal arts degree, it seems it doesn't matter so much what your major was, but that you have the degree; at least, that's what I've been told.
posted by sinderile at 6:11 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Also, friends of mine who don't have a degree can find it harder to get work, because sometimes their resume will be automatically discarded by hiring staff. That's not always the case, but it can happen. In the case of a liberal arts degree, it seems it doesn't matter so much what your major was, but that you have the degree; at least, that's what I've been told.
posted by sinderile at 6:11 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
It's pretty much common knowledge that you can't do too much with a BA in anything non-technical. And I don't see why you think you can do more with a degree in history than philosophy...both of the things you named—professor or law school—are the two main things people do with philosophy.
The general thing most people do, I'm assuming, is get the old liberal arts degree and something usually falls into their path.
I am quite similar to you, actually—I am 19 and I plan to major in philosophy, so I'm about to face your very decision!
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 6:12 PM on February 24, 2010
The general thing most people do, I'm assuming, is get the old liberal arts degree and something usually falls into their path.
I am quite similar to you, actually—I am 19 and I plan to major in philosophy, so I'm about to face your very decision!
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 6:12 PM on February 24, 2010
If you drop out now you will not go back.
I have no idea what this means. Millions of people return to school every year.
I had a somewhat similar experience: Loved writing, so majored in English. Realized what an English major was and hated it, switched to Psych. Graduated with a BA in psych but realized grad school wasn't for me.
I won't say I *regret* finishing the degree, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I hadn't. I ended up going into a line of work (programming) where no one cares very much what degree you have, if you can do the work. And I'm still trying to be a writer on my own.
So, just think it over and decide what sounds best. If there's another major that intrigues you, give it a try- what do you have to lose? But there's no shame in dropping out, it doesn't mean you'll never get a job, and you can always go back later.
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:15 PM on February 24, 2010
I have no idea what this means. Millions of people return to school every year.
I had a somewhat similar experience: Loved writing, so majored in English. Realized what an English major was and hated it, switched to Psych. Graduated with a BA in psych but realized grad school wasn't for me.
I won't say I *regret* finishing the degree, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world if I hadn't. I ended up going into a line of work (programming) where no one cares very much what degree you have, if you can do the work. And I'm still trying to be a writer on my own.
So, just think it over and decide what sounds best. If there's another major that intrigues you, give it a try- what do you have to lose? But there's no shame in dropping out, it doesn't mean you'll never get a job, and you can always go back later.
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:15 PM on February 24, 2010
I think you should stick with it, and also see someone for the slight depression before it increases. My Canadian university had pretty good resources for depressed students, I suggest you take advantage of yours. I think you'll get a fresh perspective when the depression lifts.
University is tough, in terms of academics and life, no point in going through it without support that's very easily available.
posted by sid at 6:21 PM on February 24, 2010
University is tough, in terms of academics and life, no point in going through it without support that's very easily available.
posted by sid at 6:21 PM on February 24, 2010
The public service loves graduates with good marks in liberal arts degrees: someone needs to write accurate, concise, frank briefs, and ensure correct reports. They don't care if you're a philosopher, or a historian, or a performance art major, they just care that you can read and write and think critically about important but potentially dry subjects. If you're Canadian, yours recruits from here.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:29 PM on February 24, 2010
A liberal arts degree is, according to all I read, pretty useless.Your sources are unreliable.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 6:29 PM on February 24, 2010
My main interests are history, philosophy, literature, and languages, none of which translate to a useful major or career. If I get a BA in, say, philosophy - then what? A liberal arts degree is, according to all I read, pretty useless. I worked hard to save up this money, why waste it?
A BA is almost a prerequisite for getting a job today, and a lot of opportunities might be closed off to you if you don't have one. You don't need to go into history or anything, and you don't need an MA or PhD. A BA isn't a waste, but a good investment.
so maybe try experimenting and switching majors? It's not too early. Many, many students struggle with not knowing what they're going to do or with not enjoying their major. Alternatively, look into graduating early? One more year isn't tough.
I just think dropping out might really come back to bite you later.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 6:30 PM on February 24, 2010
A BA is almost a prerequisite for getting a job today, and a lot of opportunities might be closed off to you if you don't have one. You don't need to go into history or anything, and you don't need an MA or PhD. A BA isn't a waste, but a good investment.
so maybe try experimenting and switching majors? It's not too early. Many, many students struggle with not knowing what they're going to do or with not enjoying their major. Alternatively, look into graduating early? One more year isn't tough.
I just think dropping out might really come back to bite you later.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 6:30 PM on February 24, 2010
Do you actually want a career? You know, you don't have to have one... life is full of many possibilities and you are only young once. On the other hand, showing the world that you are capable of wading through useless crap to obtain the golden ring at the end, your degree, makes it easier to find jobs doing useless crap in return for money and security. It's totally true, dropping out will likely make your life harder. On the other hand, you can probably go back to school if you ever find out what you really love, that isn't history.
For myself, I decided I would either drop out, or pursue a field of knowledge that I had thought was totally inaccessible because of my lack of training and prerequisites. Don't become a pharmacist if you are interested in drugs, become a molecular biologist or an organic chemist. Make drugs, delve into the ideas behind it all, don't limit yourself because you think you need an easy job after graduating.
Or don't and make life a lot easier for yourself.
posted by ennui.bz at 6:38 PM on February 24, 2010
For myself, I decided I would either drop out, or pursue a field of knowledge that I had thought was totally inaccessible because of my lack of training and prerequisites. Don't become a pharmacist if you are interested in drugs, become a molecular biologist or an organic chemist. Make drugs, delve into the ideas behind it all, don't limit yourself because you think you need an easy job after graduating.
Or don't and make life a lot easier for yourself.
posted by ennui.bz at 6:38 PM on February 24, 2010
Let me rephrase myself: doing what you love, what you really love, requires you to have the stomach to fail and fail hard. But maybe it's worth it?
posted by ennui.bz at 6:40 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by ennui.bz at 6:40 PM on February 24, 2010
I'd have the marks for law school I doubt I have the social skills.
I'm not sure what you mean by this. What social skills do you think you need to succeed in law school? Are you thinking that a lawyer needs to be a charismatic public speaker? There are many, many lawyers who do not litigate (i.e. stand up in a court to present arguments). It can be a pretty asocial job, based on what I've seen.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:51 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure what you mean by this. What social skills do you think you need to succeed in law school? Are you thinking that a lawyer needs to be a charismatic public speaker? There are many, many lawyers who do not litigate (i.e. stand up in a court to present arguments). It can be a pretty asocial job, based on what I've seen.
posted by mr_roboto at 6:51 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
The advice above is all good. Among other things, your university will probably afford you free psych services if you are experiencing depression unless, of course, you Canadians get that for free anyway ... freakin' Obama.
Anyway, one thing I haven't seen upthread: you seem to be fairly confident in your academic abilities. This probably means that if, for whatever reason, you're stuck with an area of study you don't like, you can slack off a little bit more and get similar grades. Take the time to take an extra three day weekend, get an internship or just have fun being in college for a bit.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:52 PM on February 24, 2010
Anyway, one thing I haven't seen upthread: you seem to be fairly confident in your academic abilities. This probably means that if, for whatever reason, you're stuck with an area of study you don't like, you can slack off a little bit more and get similar grades. Take the time to take an extra three day weekend, get an internship or just have fun being in college for a bit.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:52 PM on February 24, 2010
One more thing: If you feel like you'd like teaching but for the kids, think about community college as a route. Growing industry, lots of jobs (particularly in teaching introductory history, where you wouldn't have to worry so much about the ivory tower stuff), and you're teaching mostly adults.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:54 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 6:54 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Unless you're positive you want to completely shift gears and enter a pharmacy program (or something similar that would require you to stop your current program and enter another), complete your BA. A BA in history or philosophy or any other liberal arts area does not preclude interesting employment as something other than an academic or interesting graduate work. There are many kinds of jobs that have little to do with any major a person might pursue in college, and/or which don't in any way require a specific major. What these jobs do require, generally, is that a person have an undergraduate degree.
Also, it's hard to envision oneself in certain professions--it's easy for a college student to imagine being a lawyer or a professor, but it's hard to imagine being, say, a corporate trainer or knowledge manager. You are not limited to careers you know about right now, but you will limit yourself if you drop out.
At least among my peers in college, there was a lot of joking about and bashing of corporate jobs ("God, I could NEVER sit in a cubicle all day"). This is an easy, but foolish way of thinking. Consider, instead, determining what excites you the most--in your studies, in your extracurriculars, in your work or internship experiences. What do you love to do? Not necessarily the very specific interest ("Write about Byzantine history"), but the smallest components ("Solve research problems"). Consider that there may be ways to do whatever that is in the context of a job you might not expect. Some books (ex. Whistle While You Work) can be helpful for that, as can the career services office of your university.
One more thing--I got pretty burned out on my liberal arts BA (Art History). I still can't say "postmodern" with a straight face, and my current career ambitions have nothing to do with art. Instead of switching majors, I took a lot of electives that were of personal interest to me.
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:57 PM on February 24, 2010
Also, it's hard to envision oneself in certain professions--it's easy for a college student to imagine being a lawyer or a professor, but it's hard to imagine being, say, a corporate trainer or knowledge manager. You are not limited to careers you know about right now, but you will limit yourself if you drop out.
At least among my peers in college, there was a lot of joking about and bashing of corporate jobs ("God, I could NEVER sit in a cubicle all day"). This is an easy, but foolish way of thinking. Consider, instead, determining what excites you the most--in your studies, in your extracurriculars, in your work or internship experiences. What do you love to do? Not necessarily the very specific interest ("Write about Byzantine history"), but the smallest components ("Solve research problems"). Consider that there may be ways to do whatever that is in the context of a job you might not expect. Some books (ex. Whistle While You Work) can be helpful for that, as can the career services office of your university.
One more thing--I got pretty burned out on my liberal arts BA (Art History). I still can't say "postmodern" with a straight face, and my current career ambitions have nothing to do with art. Instead of switching majors, I took a lot of electives that were of personal interest to me.
posted by Meg_Murry at 6:57 PM on February 24, 2010
Switch to philosophy.
My son found the same as you in school-he was originally a history major. He wound up majoring in English and minoring in philosophy and when he is done with his commitment to the Air Force (or maybe even while he is still in, it depends) he plans on getting his advanced degree in philosophy.
If you decide on law school, philosophy is a great undergrad degree to have. Even if you don't, you will still have that training in analytical thought. Go talk to a career counselor at your school and find out what kind of options you will have-but go switch your major!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:07 PM on February 24, 2010
My son found the same as you in school-he was originally a history major. He wound up majoring in English and minoring in philosophy and when he is done with his commitment to the Air Force (or maybe even while he is still in, it depends) he plans on getting his advanced degree in philosophy.
If you decide on law school, philosophy is a great undergrad degree to have. Even if you don't, you will still have that training in analytical thought. Go talk to a career counselor at your school and find out what kind of options you will have-but go switch your major!
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:07 PM on February 24, 2010
There are many kinds of jobs that have little to do with any major a person might pursue in college, and/or which don't in any way require a specific major. What these jobs do require, generally, is that a person have an undergraduate degree.
Yes, this.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:08 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Yes, this.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 7:08 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Midway through your second year? You have plenty of time to change majors to anything you please. Don't get stuck on the four year thing -- most people won't notice and those who do will be perfectly fine with "I changed majors".
Sometimes I entertain the thought of becoming a pharmacist since I'm interested in drugs, but I never took chemistry or physics and am only decent at math.
I bailed on my literature major at the two year mark, because a) it was too easy and b) while I love to read, academic based literature study is definitely not my thing. I ended up in Computer Science, where I had to work my ass off.
I, like you, am only decent at math. I was surprised at just how many of my new classmates were at the same level as I was (or worse).
Definitely do not drop out, and definitely do go take at least one course for science majors. Who knows, you may enjoy a challenge in school rather than sleeping your way through a BA.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:22 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sometimes I entertain the thought of becoming a pharmacist since I'm interested in drugs, but I never took chemistry or physics and am only decent at math.
I bailed on my literature major at the two year mark, because a) it was too easy and b) while I love to read, academic based literature study is definitely not my thing. I ended up in Computer Science, where I had to work my ass off.
I, like you, am only decent at math. I was surprised at just how many of my new classmates were at the same level as I was (or worse).
Definitely do not drop out, and definitely do go take at least one course for science majors. Who knows, you may enjoy a challenge in school rather than sleeping your way through a BA.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:22 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you drop out now you will not go back.
Not necessarily. The OP won't be dropping out, she'd be taking a leave of absence with no academic or consequences. Anecdotal data: I took a year and a half off (with a set date for going back to school, but not sure what I'd be studying) after my freshman year. I was a music student, doing quite well, but my interest in pursuing that career was waning. Leaving meant that I lost my music scholarship and suddenly had to earn a living, but working at an entry-level programming/design job for a while left me very motivated to get that degree. Moving to a completely different city for a year, on my own, was fun too. Not necessarily a good idea, but a decision that later turned out to have been terrifically fortunate.
I ended up completing a biochemistry and cell biology major, with research honors and what not, in two and a half years despite my utter lack of any background in science - like you, I had never taken chemistry or physics or math beyond calc I.
You can do anything you want to do, even if you don't know exactly what it is yet. It doesn't have to happen right now.
posted by halogen at 7:35 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not necessarily. The OP won't be dropping out, she'd be taking a leave of absence with no academic or consequences. Anecdotal data: I took a year and a half off (with a set date for going back to school, but not sure what I'd be studying) after my freshman year. I was a music student, doing quite well, but my interest in pursuing that career was waning. Leaving meant that I lost my music scholarship and suddenly had to earn a living, but working at an entry-level programming/design job for a while left me very motivated to get that degree. Moving to a completely different city for a year, on my own, was fun too. Not necessarily a good idea, but a decision that later turned out to have been terrifically fortunate.
I ended up completing a biochemistry and cell biology major, with research honors and what not, in two and a half years despite my utter lack of any background in science - like you, I had never taken chemistry or physics or math beyond calc I.
You can do anything you want to do, even if you don't know exactly what it is yet. It doesn't have to happen right now.
posted by halogen at 7:35 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
I will turn 70 this year. The one thing I regret more than anything else is the fact that, although I had 160 units for a 125 unit degree objective, I left university nine units short of my degree. A job, kids, required travel and other circumstances kept me from going back for those last three classes. Ever since, I have been "just a high school graduate."
Stick with it and get a degree of any kind. Then, look around. There will be any number of opportunities that are not apparent today and will not depend on any particular degree. Jump in and enjoy the swim. Having that degree will just give you a chance to get through the door.
posted by Old Geezer at 7:49 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Stick with it and get a degree of any kind. Then, look around. There will be any number of opportunities that are not apparent today and will not depend on any particular degree. Jump in and enjoy the swim. Having that degree will just give you a chance to get through the door.
posted by Old Geezer at 7:49 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
I understand that NOT going to college is an eliminator in far too many professional fields, but why?
The ability to focus on and accomplish a goal over a 4+ year period is valuable. It shows maturity and a sense of purpose.
That is why for a lot of professional fields it doesn't really matter what you get your degree in as long as you have one.
As far as the practical reasons are concerned:
Unemployment rates for people like you.
Salary Calculator
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:00 PM on February 24, 2010
The ability to focus on and accomplish a goal over a 4+ year period is valuable. It shows maturity and a sense of purpose.
That is why for a lot of professional fields it doesn't really matter what you get your degree in as long as you have one.
As far as the practical reasons are concerned:
Unemployment rates for people like you.
Salary Calculator
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:00 PM on February 24, 2010
"If you drop out now you will not go back."
Sorry to pick on this one comment, but I would say that if you drop out, you'll only go back. You'll go back in 5 years or 10 years, but you'll go back. To a certain extent, your life will be on hold until you do.
posted by 517 at 8:02 PM on February 24, 2010
Sorry to pick on this one comment, but I would say that if you drop out, you'll only go back. You'll go back in 5 years or 10 years, but you'll go back. To a certain extent, your life will be on hold until you do.
posted by 517 at 8:02 PM on February 24, 2010
You sound a lot (seriously) like my (Canadian) (INTP) husband who did his undergrad in PoliSci/Philosophy minor, started a grad degree in same, realized he just wasn't that into it, almost on a whim went for a library tech diploma, and is now working as a L.T. for the federal government, while studying to be a librarian (grad degree). He was/is interested in law, and is having the chance to work in that area, combined with his other interest areas. He says, "Don't give up, stick it out, and you will have many options when you graduate, probably ones you haven't even considered yet. Also, our friends in law school don't have (normal) social skills." ;)
Feel free to MeMail me, if you would like to talk more with myself or mr. purlgurly.
posted by purlgurly at 8:05 PM on February 24, 2010
Feel free to MeMail me, if you would like to talk more with myself or mr. purlgurly.
posted by purlgurly at 8:05 PM on February 24, 2010
Have you considered journalism? I went through a similar problem, but during my Ph.D. (awkward), and now I'm in journalism and love that I get to learn about whatever strikes my fancy. And my liberal arts degree is serving me damn well in my new profession.
Caveat: I'm only in journalism school so I have no idea if I'll be able to get paid for this particular career.
posted by stargazer360 at 8:09 PM on February 24, 2010
Caveat: I'm only in journalism school so I have no idea if I'll be able to get paid for this particular career.
posted by stargazer360 at 8:09 PM on February 24, 2010
Does your school offer a co-op program? If so, I would strongly recommend checking that out, especially if you have interest in the public service. I, like you, got halfway through a degree (in communication), and was starting to have doubts about it. I got a co-op position doing media relations, which is the career I thought I wanted after graduating, and while I worked for great people in that job, the job itself wasn't for me.
I went back to school after that semester, and declared a second major in geography, which was always an interest of mine. I then got a second co-op job, where they were looking for someone who could write (yay, communication), but who also understood environmental issues (yay, geography). That second job changed my life - they kept me on after my co-op term ended, and I finished my double-major while working part-time. Five years later, I'm still employed at the same place, and am on leave while completing a Masters' degree directly related to my field of work.
If I'd been asked at 21 where I thought I'd be when I was 26, I never would have guessed I'd be doing anything remotely like what I am doing now. And I owe it all to the opportunities I had through co-op to test out my majors in real life.
posted by just_ducky at 8:26 PM on February 24, 2010
I went back to school after that semester, and declared a second major in geography, which was always an interest of mine. I then got a second co-op job, where they were looking for someone who could write (yay, communication), but who also understood environmental issues (yay, geography). That second job changed my life - they kept me on after my co-op term ended, and I finished my double-major while working part-time. Five years later, I'm still employed at the same place, and am on leave while completing a Masters' degree directly related to my field of work.
If I'd been asked at 21 where I thought I'd be when I was 26, I never would have guessed I'd be doing anything remotely like what I am doing now. And I owe it all to the opportunities I had through co-op to test out my majors in real life.
posted by just_ducky at 8:26 PM on February 24, 2010
Don't drop out of school unless you have something else that you plan to drop into. I agree that a degree is just a piece of paper that gets far more respect than it deserves in real life, but the college experience itself gives you the chance to experiment with a lot of different ideas at relatively low consequence. At the same time, ideally you leave the place with some type of job skills in a work area that you think you may enjoy.
This doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision: you can have your cake and eat it too if you're willing to put in work. Example: you could do a double language, literature and/ or philosophy and/ or history. Especially if your college offers a particularly difficult language (Asian or Middle Eastern is usually in high demand) and this is the type of thing that you're interested in, you could try to work towards a translator position, which might in turn give you the chance to travel on someone else's dime. Make your interest in history a hobby while you go, and you can check out all of the places in the world that the rest of us most likely won't ever get to see.
Then maybe come back and do a guest lecturing or adjunct professor-ing (all the fun of teaching, none of the headaches of the publication game) and actually try to make learning history interesting to other people, if you like.
posted by _cave at 8:37 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
This doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision: you can have your cake and eat it too if you're willing to put in work. Example: you could do a double language, literature and/ or philosophy and/ or history. Especially if your college offers a particularly difficult language (Asian or Middle Eastern is usually in high demand) and this is the type of thing that you're interested in, you could try to work towards a translator position, which might in turn give you the chance to travel on someone else's dime. Make your interest in history a hobby while you go, and you can check out all of the places in the world that the rest of us most likely won't ever get to see.
Then maybe come back and do a guest lecturing or adjunct professor-ing (all the fun of teaching, none of the headaches of the publication game) and actually try to make learning history interesting to other people, if you like.
posted by _cave at 8:37 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
Please graduate! take some online courses and have a chat with your advisor; then narrow your options. Am 31 working on my 2nd bachelors, and do not regret a bit. Good luck.
posted by Tropical at 8:43 PM on February 24, 2010
posted by Tropical at 8:43 PM on February 24, 2010
Here is why liberal arts degrees are so useless: You have professors that almost universally have never stepped out of the academic life. You won't have professors that remind you to take a practical internship, that remind you to update your resume, look for jobs, learn how to interview. Instead they encouraged me to take classes relevant to my interests, let me know when certain speakers were coming to town, organizations and activities that might interest me.
My advisor was a graduate student finishing their PhD. He asked me if I was considering law school, and to remind me to take the LSAT. When I said that I wasn't interested in law school, he shrugged signed off on my graduation and let me leave.
I'll admit I was naive. I was a Political Science major who was active on campus, active in politics getting all these great life learning lessons. And I didn't really stop to think about the difference between school and work. Most of my professors assumed their students would be going to law school, academics or figure out something on their own. It was never really advertised that I would actually need to figure something out. It was about 18 months between graduation and my first real job.
On the flip side, most of my friends in the Business college were required to attend mock interviews, they receive letters for employer mixers and recruiting events. They're required to have an internship for graduation. The classes were incredibly dull, assuredly designed to make someone like me drop out of school. But they also made sure that few students graduated without a job in hand.
The good news is that your school actually has these resources, and they're open to everyone. You just need to be aware they exist and take advantage of these resources now.
posted by politikitty at 9:24 PM on February 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
My advisor was a graduate student finishing their PhD. He asked me if I was considering law school, and to remind me to take the LSAT. When I said that I wasn't interested in law school, he shrugged signed off on my graduation and let me leave.
I'll admit I was naive. I was a Political Science major who was active on campus, active in politics getting all these great life learning lessons. And I didn't really stop to think about the difference between school and work. Most of my professors assumed their students would be going to law school, academics or figure out something on their own. It was never really advertised that I would actually need to figure something out. It was about 18 months between graduation and my first real job.
On the flip side, most of my friends in the Business college were required to attend mock interviews, they receive letters for employer mixers and recruiting events. They're required to have an internship for graduation. The classes were incredibly dull, assuredly designed to make someone like me drop out of school. But they also made sure that few students graduated without a job in hand.
The good news is that your school actually has these resources, and they're open to everyone. You just need to be aware they exist and take advantage of these resources now.
posted by politikitty at 9:24 PM on February 24, 2010 [3 favorites]
I see a great deal of advice in this thread that I received when I was in college, viz. that a BA in any field is valuable, and that it doesn't particularly matter what you major in because having a BA just proves that you're employable/smart/hard-working/able to tolerate bureaucracy/pick any or all of the above.*
Before you take that advice too seriously, I would encourage you to take a look at real-world job ads for the kinds of jobs you might be interested in, and remember that most employers will take their "Minimum Qualifications" section quite seriously. When employers receive 100 applications for a single open position, they use any criteria they can to weed out applications and get the ones they really have to look closely at down to a manageable number, and if a job requests a degree in psychology or sociology or criminal justice, but you have a degree in history, your application will end up in the shredder.
I don't know how it works in Canada, but a liberal arts degree from a nonselective university in the U.S. often provides little or no long-term income advantage over a high school diploma once 4 years of lost productivity and the cost of education are taken into account. For the better public and private colleges and universities, this is less true, both because an education from one of these schools is perceived as better, and because there are often better opportunities for networking, internships, and nepotism there. The point being that if you make best pals or room with Janey Oldmoney at an elite school, you might not have to worry as much about your liberal arts degree not passing muster in that first weed-out of applications: Janey can just pass your c.v. on directly to her dad, or aunt, or family friend at FancyCo.
So before dropping out or slogging on, it might be worthwhile to take stock of where you are and whether a BA from your school will allow you to do the kinds of things you might like to do in the future. Where have other history grads from your school ended up? Are the ones who've found interesting and lucrative employment reasonably common, or are they the rare exceptions? Although it may be difficult to afford it, an alternative to sticking it out or dropping out might be transferring to a more prestigious university, especially if your grades are good where you are.
Don't be too hard on yourself about not knowing what you'd eventually like to do, or being unsure about school. Career-switching and confusion aren't INTP traits, they're 21-year-old traits. Very few people your age have it all figured out, and most of those who think they do will be surprised by life in the next few years. Part of the problem is that we're encouraged to follow our dreams, or our passions, or to figure out what we love to do in life, and then figure out a way to get paid for it. In reality, for a variety of reasons, few people are able to do that. For those of us who are not among that rare species of bird, a reasonable salary in exchange for a reasonable commitment and a reasonable level of stress are what we accept for 40 hours a week: we pursue our passions (and sleep) in the week's other 120ish hours.
So if you decide to do something like pharmacy (and not being a math and science rockstar is no bar to education and employment as a pharmacist, as long as you're willing to put in a lot of effort), remember that the way you earn your paycheck doesn't have to be your life's passion. Do think twice about dropping out altogether, though: it can be difficult to pursue your own interests when you spend most of your "free" time every week dog tired from working a shit job for peanuts.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
*I'd like to point out that my college pal who made this argument with the most confidence had graduated with a BA in Anthropology and, after failing miserably in finding sufficiently remunerative employment, had returned to school to pursue a degree in communicative disorders in order to become a speech pathologist. It's a pity that I apparently didn't have a sufficiently developed sense of irony back then.
posted by jingzuo at 10:29 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Before you take that advice too seriously, I would encourage you to take a look at real-world job ads for the kinds of jobs you might be interested in, and remember that most employers will take their "Minimum Qualifications" section quite seriously. When employers receive 100 applications for a single open position, they use any criteria they can to weed out applications and get the ones they really have to look closely at down to a manageable number, and if a job requests a degree in psychology or sociology or criminal justice, but you have a degree in history, your application will end up in the shredder.
I don't know how it works in Canada, but a liberal arts degree from a nonselective university in the U.S. often provides little or no long-term income advantage over a high school diploma once 4 years of lost productivity and the cost of education are taken into account. For the better public and private colleges and universities, this is less true, both because an education from one of these schools is perceived as better, and because there are often better opportunities for networking, internships, and nepotism there. The point being that if you make best pals or room with Janey Oldmoney at an elite school, you might not have to worry as much about your liberal arts degree not passing muster in that first weed-out of applications: Janey can just pass your c.v. on directly to her dad, or aunt, or family friend at FancyCo.
So before dropping out or slogging on, it might be worthwhile to take stock of where you are and whether a BA from your school will allow you to do the kinds of things you might like to do in the future. Where have other history grads from your school ended up? Are the ones who've found interesting and lucrative employment reasonably common, or are they the rare exceptions? Although it may be difficult to afford it, an alternative to sticking it out or dropping out might be transferring to a more prestigious university, especially if your grades are good where you are.
Don't be too hard on yourself about not knowing what you'd eventually like to do, or being unsure about school. Career-switching and confusion aren't INTP traits, they're 21-year-old traits. Very few people your age have it all figured out, and most of those who think they do will be surprised by life in the next few years. Part of the problem is that we're encouraged to follow our dreams, or our passions, or to figure out what we love to do in life, and then figure out a way to get paid for it. In reality, for a variety of reasons, few people are able to do that. For those of us who are not among that rare species of bird, a reasonable salary in exchange for a reasonable commitment and a reasonable level of stress are what we accept for 40 hours a week: we pursue our passions (and sleep) in the week's other 120ish hours.
So if you decide to do something like pharmacy (and not being a math and science rockstar is no bar to education and employment as a pharmacist, as long as you're willing to put in a lot of effort), remember that the way you earn your paycheck doesn't have to be your life's passion. Do think twice about dropping out altogether, though: it can be difficult to pursue your own interests when you spend most of your "free" time every week dog tired from working a shit job for peanuts.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
*I'd like to point out that my college pal who made this argument with the most confidence had graduated with a BA in Anthropology and, after failing miserably in finding sufficiently remunerative employment, had returned to school to pursue a degree in communicative disorders in order to become a speech pathologist. It's a pity that I apparently didn't have a sufficiently developed sense of irony back then.
posted by jingzuo at 10:29 PM on February 24, 2010 [2 favorites]
Re. jingzuo - things are a little different in Canada, as far as "prestigious" and "non-prestigious" universities. Because all universities are public, there is much less of a gap between schools than there is in the States. There are a few schools (University of Toronto, McGill, Queen's, etc.) that are usually "up there" in the rankings, but the quality of the actual undergrad education (I say this as someone who did one year at Queen's, didn't like the atmosphere, and transferred to a smaller, less homogenous university) arguably isn't any "better" than that at the "lesser" schools. For most programs (as long as your grades are reasonably good) it doesn't particularly matter where you do your undergrad, in terms of future opportunities.
posted by purlgurly at 3:49 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by purlgurly at 3:49 AM on February 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Push on through and get the ticket punched. A liberal arts degree is about critical thinking, writing, research, self-starting, and project completion, not necessarily about a particular career path. It's totally normal to feel the way you do. It passes.
I read somewhere that not finishing college ranks way up there as a huge life regret as Old Geezer said previously. Seek out people who have dropped out, and see how it worked out. Ask those who don't regret it how they did it and what they recommend. Ask Mefites in a separate question how things worked out if they did drop out. Meanwhile, here are some possible options:
--If you haven't started your history major, then switch majors to philosophy or find the most exciting electives your university offers.
--If you haven't started your major, you don't know that upper-level courses are usually far more interesting and engaging than prequisites. Search out the best profs in whatever major you decide on. Sit in on some of a few of those classes now and ask students about their upperclass experiences and plans with that major.
--Double major in philosophy and history.
--If you have started your history major, and things aren't clicking, then take a summer or a possible semester/year elsewhere just to do prerequisites for a new major.
--If you're pretty far into your history major, take a semester or year abroad in the very best history program you can find.
--If you do take time off, have a plan, a job, or some specific goal in mind. Keep in mind that when you return, people you know will have moved on, graduated, and that you may wind up in classes with younger students.
Good luck!
posted by Elsie at 5:39 AM on February 25, 2010
I read somewhere that not finishing college ranks way up there as a huge life regret as Old Geezer said previously. Seek out people who have dropped out, and see how it worked out. Ask those who don't regret it how they did it and what they recommend. Ask Mefites in a separate question how things worked out if they did drop out. Meanwhile, here are some possible options:
--If you haven't started your history major, then switch majors to philosophy or find the most exciting electives your university offers.
--If you haven't started your major, you don't know that upper-level courses are usually far more interesting and engaging than prequisites. Search out the best profs in whatever major you decide on. Sit in on some of a few of those classes now and ask students about their upperclass experiences and plans with that major.
--Double major in philosophy and history.
--If you have started your history major, and things aren't clicking, then take a summer or a possible semester/year elsewhere just to do prerequisites for a new major.
--If you're pretty far into your history major, take a semester or year abroad in the very best history program you can find.
--If you do take time off, have a plan, a job, or some specific goal in mind. Keep in mind that when you return, people you know will have moved on, graduated, and that you may wind up in classes with younger students.
Good luck!
posted by Elsie at 5:39 AM on February 25, 2010
First of all, you've got a lot of good advice upthread.
Here's my $0.02 --
1) Go to your college's career center. Set up an appointment and talk with the people that work there. It can go a long way towards figuring out what kind of things would be a good fit for your personality and talents. Go in there with an open mind though; it sounds like you're just automatically crossing off a lot of possible later options for you because of some ideas that you have about what a certain job is like (even though you probably have no idea what that job is REALLY like.) It's going to be a lot easier for you to make appropriate academic choices if you have at least some idea of where you want to be in five or ten years.
2) Switch your major if you hate your major. I switched my major twice and still got out in 4 years. One was a really big switch (creative writing to biopsychology). I worked my ass off, but I ended up with a degree that actually gave me a hope in hell of employment.
3) You can take courses, or even have a minor or major, that really interest you in undergrad, even if it doesn't make you more employable, but you need to double it up with a "useful" major. For example, I have friends who double-majored in creative writing and biology, or art history and East Asian language studies, or philosophy tailored to a pre-law education, or music performance and economics. They are, to a person, happier in their life (due to having jobs that let them pay off their loans, get married and have kids, and not live with their parents) than the friends who JUST "followed their passion," majored in really cool but ultimately unemployable fields, and now work at Starbucks five years after we graduated.
3) A liberal-arts education isn't useless at all. I have a liberal-arts education and it got me into a top graduate program. True, I'm probably not actually going to use said graduate education in the way it was intended, but I still have a lot of good career opportunities. Most of all, a broad academic background is good for your personal intellectual development. Sure, that doesn't necessarily translate to massive amounts of consumer luxury goods, but knowing at least a little bit about history, politics, various forms of art and literature, science, economics, psychology, etc., goes a long way into being able to see past the ten-minute news cycle and actually apprehend the world in a way that (at least to you) is meaningful and true. And IMO, that's a lot more likely to lead to your living a happy life than finding an easy job that will still let you afford a house in the burbs and a flat-screen TV. I'm not saying that a liberal-arts education is the only way to broaden your intellectual horizons, but it works very well for that. Undergrad is a great time to figure out where your interests really lie, and a liberal-arts education forces you to take a variety of classes so it's hard to NOT figure out what really interests you. If you need it, professional school is your time to specialize.
4) If you want to be a pharmacist, go to your career center. Talk with the people about what the job actually entails vs. what you think it entails, to see if it's a good fit for you. See if you can chat with any alumni of your college who ARE pharmacists. Figure out what courses you would need and take them. Then apply to pharmacy school. It doesn't matter that you aren't awesome in math and science -- for crying out loud, I'm getting a Ph.D. in what most people would call a "hard science" and I am terrible at math! I flunked out of Calc II, I only know the statistical methods that I need to use, and I need to use a calculator for everything except multiplying/dividing by powers of 10. I have a friend who was AWFUL at biology, had real trouble understanding the difference between a gene and a chromosome at one point, but worked her tail off and is a successful RN.
posted by kataclysm at 7:32 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
Here's my $0.02 --
1) Go to your college's career center. Set up an appointment and talk with the people that work there. It can go a long way towards figuring out what kind of things would be a good fit for your personality and talents. Go in there with an open mind though; it sounds like you're just automatically crossing off a lot of possible later options for you because of some ideas that you have about what a certain job is like (even though you probably have no idea what that job is REALLY like.) It's going to be a lot easier for you to make appropriate academic choices if you have at least some idea of where you want to be in five or ten years.
2) Switch your major if you hate your major. I switched my major twice and still got out in 4 years. One was a really big switch (creative writing to biopsychology). I worked my ass off, but I ended up with a degree that actually gave me a hope in hell of employment.
3) You can take courses, or even have a minor or major, that really interest you in undergrad, even if it doesn't make you more employable, but you need to double it up with a "useful" major. For example, I have friends who double-majored in creative writing and biology, or art history and East Asian language studies, or philosophy tailored to a pre-law education, or music performance and economics. They are, to a person, happier in their life (due to having jobs that let them pay off their loans, get married and have kids, and not live with their parents) than the friends who JUST "followed their passion," majored in really cool but ultimately unemployable fields, and now work at Starbucks five years after we graduated.
3) A liberal-arts education isn't useless at all. I have a liberal-arts education and it got me into a top graduate program. True, I'm probably not actually going to use said graduate education in the way it was intended, but I still have a lot of good career opportunities. Most of all, a broad academic background is good for your personal intellectual development. Sure, that doesn't necessarily translate to massive amounts of consumer luxury goods, but knowing at least a little bit about history, politics, various forms of art and literature, science, economics, psychology, etc., goes a long way into being able to see past the ten-minute news cycle and actually apprehend the world in a way that (at least to you) is meaningful and true. And IMO, that's a lot more likely to lead to your living a happy life than finding an easy job that will still let you afford a house in the burbs and a flat-screen TV. I'm not saying that a liberal-arts education is the only way to broaden your intellectual horizons, but it works very well for that. Undergrad is a great time to figure out where your interests really lie, and a liberal-arts education forces you to take a variety of classes so it's hard to NOT figure out what really interests you. If you need it, professional school is your time to specialize.
4) If you want to be a pharmacist, go to your career center. Talk with the people about what the job actually entails vs. what you think it entails, to see if it's a good fit for you. See if you can chat with any alumni of your college who ARE pharmacists. Figure out what courses you would need and take them. Then apply to pharmacy school. It doesn't matter that you aren't awesome in math and science -- for crying out loud, I'm getting a Ph.D. in what most people would call a "hard science" and I am terrible at math! I flunked out of Calc II, I only know the statistical methods that I need to use, and I need to use a calculator for everything except multiplying/dividing by powers of 10. I have a friend who was AWFUL at biology, had real trouble understanding the difference between a gene and a chromosome at one point, but worked her tail off and is a successful RN.
posted by kataclysm at 7:32 AM on February 25, 2010 [2 favorites]
I understand that things are tough for you right now, dealing with depression and lack of interest in your subject is not easy. I would suggest you get some counselling or talk therapy. This can help clarify your thoughts and maybe help you figure out your next step. Also talking to your professors about your specific interests can help.
With regard to school, my sincere advice to you is not to quit college. Having a Bachelors is the most basic of qualifications in the job market. Also, not having a degree may stop you from pursuing other passions you make discover in the future.
Again, it is not necessary to graduate Magna cum laude but to graduate with a decent average 3.0 is a must.
Best of luck in your endeavors.
posted by VickyR at 9:29 AM on February 25, 2010
With regard to school, my sincere advice to you is not to quit college. Having a Bachelors is the most basic of qualifications in the job market. Also, not having a degree may stop you from pursuing other passions you make discover in the future.
Again, it is not necessary to graduate Magna cum laude but to graduate with a decent average 3.0 is a must.
Best of luck in your endeavors.
posted by VickyR at 9:29 AM on February 25, 2010
Whatever you do, make sure you graduate from college. You should do so on time, also, unless you switch majors and absolutely *must* take extra time due to the changed major. I say this from the perspective of finding good employment and also from the perspective of not getting into a habit of not finishing major life goals.
posted by lorrer at 12:04 PM on February 25, 2010
posted by lorrer at 12:04 PM on February 25, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
It sounds like you discovered that your original life plan is not going to work for you. That's fine. Change your major. Nothing wrong with philosophy (how do you know you're not interested in academia?).
Almost no matter what you choose to do next, finishing school is going to pay dividends. You wanna be a hunter-gatherer for a few years? That's cool. But when you come in from the cold, it'll be good to have the degree. And if there's even one subject that you really enjoy -- and there is -- you're way ahead of the game.
posted by grobstein at 5:42 PM on February 24, 2010 [1 favorite]