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I'll say English because I have a BA in English. It honed my analytical, organizational, and problem solving skills..."real" skills, not book learnin' skills (not that there is anything wrong with that).
I am a healthcare analyst. Has served me well.
But really, job skills helped immensely and at a certain point employers want a degree, any degree, for jobs that are not in a clear category like science.
I knew a masters was in order after figuring out what I was doing. At age 22 I wasn't prepared.
I'm not good at science, computers bore me (love math though), and finance/business was too vague. Looooove literature and discussing it, so majored in that.
Schools can put whatever they want in their colleges, but in the college I work in computer science is definitely not a liberal art, nor is it one in any state university in two states that I have worked in. It's considered a technical/professional field, and is sometimes located in the engineering school. Liberal arts are academic subjects, NOT technical or professional.
We don't have any undergraduate programs in actuarial science, but there are actual actuarial schools, which would be a professional school and definitely not a liberal art.
Schools can put whatever they want in their colleges, but in the college I work in computer science is definitely not a liberal art, nor is it one in any state university in two states that I have worked in. It's considered a technical/professional field, and is sometimes located in the engineering school. Liberal arts are academic subjects, NOT technical or professional.
We don't have any undergraduate programs in actuarial science, but there are actual actuarial schools, which would be a professional school and definitely not a liberal art.
None of those degrees will say BA on them.
Computer science is the theoretical underpinning of the applied sciences like programming, database management, information technology etc. Coursework frequently overlaps, but then it does in most disciplines. When I returned to college, I went with the information technology curriculum, and took 1 theoretical course -- in project management. All the rest involved programming or other technical skills. The students in computer science were studying why computers could do what they do.
Students graduating with biology or physics or mathematics degrees get BS degrees, but those are all liberal arts. Most colleges consider the "liberal arts" to mean "liberal arts and sciences".
I'll say English because I have a BA in English. It honed my analytical, organizational, and problem solving skills..."real" skills, not book learnin' skills (not that there is anything wrong with that).
I am a healthcare analyst. Has served me well.
But really, job skills helped immensely and at a certain point employers want a degree, any degree, for jobs that are not in a clear category like science.
I knew a masters was in order after figuring out what I was doing. At age 22 I wasn't prepared.
I'm not good at science, computers bore me (love math though), and finance/business was too vague. Looooove literature and discussing it, so majored in that.
OP is looking for a marketable bachelors degree. If you had not gone back for a Masters, do you think just the bachelors would have led to a well-paying job? That is what OP is asking.
I found it interesting that philosophy majors have the highest GRE verbal scores.
Really, that fact alone made me respect the major more than I used to.
Philosophy along with Poli Sci, are great for entrance into law schools. I know my undergrad philosophy degree had an available track for law and I think business.
The degree does require great reading and analytical skills. You're constantly having to argue (in most cases) esoteric points in writing, and if you can do that sort of writing, that can easily translate to law or copywriting or even a technical field. I'd argue that it also forces you to argue different sides of arguments and isn't relegated to one subject, which can help with creativity.
Though, I wouldn't say its the most marketable degree, in combination with another degree like comp. sci., business, it can be a great addition.
OP is looking for a marketable bachelors degree. If you had not gone back for a Masters, do you think just the bachelors would have led to a well-paying job? That is what OP is asking.
OP said marketable LIBERAL ARTS, not any degree. Everyone went to marketable ones, which is logical but not everyone is bent that way.
Throughout my work life any degree is what employers want for an undergrad. I don't know anyone with just an undergrad that has a career in the field they studied, unless it is a non-liberal degree.
OP said marketable LIBERAL ARTS, not any degree. Everyone went to marketable ones, which is logical but not everyone is bent that way.
Throughout my work life any degree is what employers want for an undergrad. I don't know anyone with just an undergrad that has a career in the field they studied, unless it is a non-liberal degree.
So maybe the answer is: Doesn't matter.
I'm just saying, if you had to go back to get a Masters to get a good job, than your English degree was not that marketable as a stand-alone degree. OP isn't looking further than a bachelors.
Any liberal arts degree from an Ivy League school or top 10 school can be very marketable.
After all, a liberal arts from Yale is worth much, much more than a bachelors in science from DeVry or University of Phoenix.
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