Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Actually, a lot of people majoring in the liberal arts plan on continuing their studies in graduate or professional school. Many I knew planned on entering law.
People need to be careful with law school though. It is extremely hierarchical, with the well-paying jobs going to graduates of the top 25 or so schools or to those who graduated in the top percentages of their class. (And that's in a good economy).
Otherwise, it can be just another "default" career path that doesn't amount to much for most people.
Last edited by BigCityDreamer; 11-02-2011 at 10:15 AM..
Funny, I would rather have a good job then no job. I need a job to support myself and family.
I feel focusing on getting a well paying job I enjoy is more important then a degree. Seems people fail to realize a degree is a tool to get you a job.
Here is a hammer, use it to paint your house... Doesn't work so well, just seems stupid. You may like hammers alot, but its the wrong tool for the task. You may be better then the guy that has no hammer at all, but you both will have a difficult time painting. One difference is you have a credit card bill for a hammer, and already wasted 4 hours buying the hammer. The other guy can get a head start and doesn't have a credit card bill.
A wrong tool that doesn't do the task that is required, is worthless.
A degree that doesn't help you get a job, is worthless.
Ideally you would spend the money, and 4 hours getting a paint roller.
Also if you can't learn and ponder things before college, you aren't going to start.
Sent from my autocorrect butchering device.
Whether some people on here want to believe it, agree with it, digest it or not, this is about the best way to put it.
It's not that your degree is "useless" per say, but it can be "useless" if it's not the right tool for the job.
There's the fools that completely dismiss math and science... and then there's the fools who hold math and science as the greater academic areas to study. An individual with a liberal arts degree from a good program is pretty damn well rounded. Sure, they might only have to take 2 or 3 lab sciences and maybe just 2 college level (calc or equiv) classes... but they take a lot of classes in other areas that help them be, well, well rounded.
My engineering degree effectively requires 7 liberal education courses. It works out to something like 2 English, 2-3 social science, 1 arts, 1-2 non-STEM elective.
How the hell are philosophy and psychology majors going to figure out how to keep starving Africans alive by building more effective irrigation systems?
How are you going to figure out how to reduce our energy costs by making more efficient cars and homes
How are you going to come up a cheaper, better concrete that third world countries don't have their entire nations destroyed the next time there is an earthquake (which is a problem we had been warning them about, for years, because we HAD DONE A STUDY telling us it would happen, and what the effects would be).
Who do you think it has been warning the nation about the problems with our infrastructure and what the effects on our safety and economy would be?
You think it was a liberal arts major, or engineers going out and doing research?
My engineering degree effectively requires 7 liberal education courses. It works out to something like 2 English, 2-3 social science, 1 arts, 1-2 non-STEM elective.
Would you consider that well-rounded?
It shouldn't matter what anyone else considers. How do you feel about it? Do you feel like you took anything away from those classes? Education is a unique experience for each individual. Some people take away from it much more or much less than others.
It shouldn't matter what anyone else considers. How do you feel about it? Do you feel like you took anything away from those classes? Education is a unique experience for each individual. Some people take away from it much more or much less than others.
Thanks for the support, but I'm not looking for approval. I want clarification on NJBest's post and it was easier to use myself rather than invent a hypothetical example.
With the stupidly high cost of college education these days, liberal arts degrees and even some advanced degrees are not feasible to obtain unless you want to be a debt slave for life.
You will never be able to escape that debt racked up studying. Also you can pursue the topics or learn about them for free on the internet or library....
With the stupidly high cost of college education these days, liberal arts degrees and even some advanced degrees are not feasible to obtain unless you want to be a debt slave for life.
You will never be able to escape that debt racked up studying. Also you can pursue the topics or learn about them for free on the internet or library....
Wife and I racked up about $90k in debt, I don't even have a degree.
We will both have it paid off within 10 years, maybe faster. In that time we bought a new car and now a house.
We aren't slaves to debt, sure make some concessions in life, but we made sure to pick a good path to go down.
With the stupidly high cost of college education these days, liberal arts degrees and even some advanced degrees are not feasible to obtain unless you want to be a debt slave for life.
You will never be able to escape that debt racked up studying. Also you can pursue the topics or learn about them for free on the internet or library....
Or you can choose to go to a school that doesn't put you into debt. My university has a "no loan" policy. They provide grants in lieu of loans.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
