Most useless college majors? (nursing, medical, requires, experience)

[LauraC]

How about this? When you are a senior in high school, ask a few companies that you like, what kind of college education they look for in their entry level positions and then, make sure you take those applicable classes. You might see a pattern in the responses.

I'm thinking right now a language minor in one of the middle east or chinese languages might pay off along with your business/science/foreign affairs/International relations major.

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by LauraC

ask a few companies what kind of college education they look for.....might pay off... science

Sure they will tell you science. What they won't tell you is they love having a glut of scientists they can pay $15-$20 an hour without benefits. Look for what they want and are willing to pay a reasonable rate for.

[FFestus]

I think the mistake a lot of people make is expecting their college degree to be a ticket to a great job. As most of us already know, college degrees are not worth anything nowadays. If you are a college student looking forward to joining the job market, and if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to participate in extracurricular activities and demonstrate leadership skills. You want to show that you can do more than one thing at once. If possible get a part time job. And you also need very good communication/interview skills as well as a network of college friends who might help you find jobs. When you have a college degree but you are missing those things, your degree is pretty much useless.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by proudmommy

I would think most things "science" are in higher demand by employers than most things "arts".

These majors as stand alone, I wouldn't think are in high demand. Now, if someone used their poly sci degree to go to law school then that is a different story.

Art
Art History
Humanities of different sorts
English
Psychology (BS, but good at MS or PSyD or PhD)
Political Science
Sociology
Chicano Studies
Black Studies

High demand majors

Engineering
Biology
Physics
Math
Business
Economics
Computer Science

Although I agree somewhat with the useless list, it really boils down to how a person market themselves. I would consider business to be some what useless due to the fact that it is an oversaturated major with way too many students pursuing it. Ultimately, it is a combination of education and work experience that will determine whether somebody is likely to be successful or not.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by FFestus

I majored in a subject that falls in proudmommy's list of "high demand majors", but it's proved to be useless.

That's because even the high demand fields are becoming oversaturated. The key is distinguishing yourself from the competition and that is through a combination of education achievement and work experience. I am currently working in a very competitive field that is way oversaturated but I am striving to look for new ways of distinguishing myself in my part-time jobs, which is why I've been getting demand for my work. Eventually all this hard work will pay off and I will obtain a full-time position, but for now I'm enjoying the money.

[calvinbama]

I disagree about math. Although it doesn't teach too many useful job skills it is still a basis for many important graduate degrees, and shows employers that you are intelligent. I have an Economics degree and it hasn't gotten me too far. It allows you to understand vastly important concepts, but all I can do with this knowledge is talk about things intelligently. Here is my list

Useless:
Political Science
Art History
Communications

Useful:
Engineering
Management Information Systems
Accounting

[Chatteress]

Frankly, all of this is really relative. I have known people to be successful with a so-called useless major and I have known people who have struggled to find employment with a so-called useful major. What it boile down to it the fact of how a job seeker is marketing him or herself. Right now we are in challenging economic times. The key is to set yourself apart from the competition and recognize the fact that there are more job seekers than there are jobs.

[kattwoman2]

Originally Posted by calvinbama

I disagree about math. Although it doesn't teach too many useful job skills it is still a basis for many important graduate degrees, and shows employers that you are intelligent. I have an Economics degree and it hasn't gotten me too far. It allows you to understand vastly important concepts, but all I can do with this knowledge is talk about things intelligently. Here is my list

Useless:
Political Science
Art History
Communications

Useful:
Engineering
Management Information Systems
Accounting

I wouldn't write off Communications. Also, I'm surprised you didn't bother to mention English or Theater before Communications. I would originally agree with you, but I'm meeting more people who found full-time jobs and have a Communication degree than I do people who majored in Graphic Arts or Computer Science. Maybe the people who I know are different because they are networking and doing internships instead of seeing Communications as a lazy major. I also know a few people who have Theater degrees and Political Science degrees who are working, though not in the best job fields to be honest.

Originally Posted by Chatteress

Frankly, all of this is really relative. I have known people to be successful with a so-called useless major and I have known people who have struggled to find employment with a so-called useful major. What it boile down to it the fact of how a job seeker is marketing him or herself. Right now we are in challenging economic times. The key is to set yourself apart from the competition and recognize the fact that there are more job seekers than there are jobs.

I completely agree.

[Chatteress]

Originally Posted by kattwoman2

I wouldn't write off Communications. Also, I'm surprised you didn't bother to mention English or Theater before Communications. I would originally agree with you, but I'm meeting more people who found full-time jobs and have a Communication degree than I do people who majored in Graphic Arts or Computer Science. Maybe the people who I know are different because they are networking and doing internships instead of seeing Communications as a lazy major. I also know a few people who have Theater degrees and Political Science degrees who are working, though not in the best job fields to be honest.

my undergraduate major was in mass communication and I found a job within 2 months of graduating. The only reason why I am working part time right now is because I'm trying to make it in another field that is highly competitive. Ever since finding my 1st job out of college in 1999, I have never been unemployed (although I briefly was underemployed this past year).

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Chatteress

I have known people to be successful with a so-called useless major and I have known people who have struggled to find employment with a so-called useful major.

This is pretty irrelevant. Your personal experiences, a few dozen people really don't matter, it doesn't represent the big picture. The fact is there are some majors such as engineering, business, the sciences that are in significantly higher demand than "soft" majors such as English, Art, and Poly Sci.

It's a lot easier for someone to change his personal marketing than it is to change his major.