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I have higher aptitude for math than most things. Yet I didn't particularly like the STEM classes even though I did well. Combine that with the fact people in the STEM classes at my school were evil and hyper-competitive. Think of things like if you asked to borrow notes from a class you missed they'd intentionally give you the wrong days notes.
It wasn't for me, and I decided to follow my interests in society and culture instead.
You can do well financially if you learn how to translate what you are good at into marketable skills.
The owner of one of my contractors and I were talking the other day about his daughter. She graduated at the top 1%. Her major was non-profit business. Went to an expensive school out east. Her counselors told her she didn't need an accounting class for her degree, so she never took any. Heck, I'm a engineer and they made us take an accounting class. Anyway, she's been looking for the last 5 months and she can't even get an interview going.
All these dreamers are just wasting their parents' money by pursuing useless degrees.
She might not need an accounting class because frankly most non profits rather just hire an auditing firm then do something in house (see 990 forms).
Ask her to get experience in Raisers Edge and/or Salesforce.com
Last edited by mdovell; 09-15-2014 at 06:32 PM..
Reason: adding more
I have higher aptitude for math than most things. Yet I didn't particularly like the STEM classes even though I did well. Combine that with the fact people in the STEM classes at my school were evil and hyper-competitive. Think of things like if you asked to borrow notes from a class you missed they'd intentionally give you the wrong days notes.
It wasn't for me, and I decided to follow my interests in society and culture instead.
You can do well financially if you learn how to translate what you are good at into marketable skills.
I encountered this as well. Many were anti-social and downright rude. A lot of these "nerds" are incredibly insecure and hide behind their intelligence. I learned the best thing to do was borderline bully them. I hate to say I chose that path, but it worked. They were incredibly submissive when challenged.
The main reason why people get useless degrees is because the curriculum is easy and basically a joke. The fact of the matter is that not everyone has the intellectual capability and commitment to get a degree in engineering, accounting, or computer science.
Common graduate programs that people with useless degrees tend to purse is JD, PsyD, MBA, Master in useless subject.
If you have a useless degree and don't want to do sales, what are your options at a good paying white collar job?
I do not agree with the premise that everyone who has a modicum of intelligence should get a STEM degree in order to find a good job. Those subjects may make it easier to find one nowadays. However, there's always a need for talented people in non-STEM fields. I cannot imagine what the world would be like without the contributions of librarians, fashion designers, musicians, teachers, historians, writers, artists, university professors, film makers, animators, farmers, judges, etc.
Everyone has talents and something different to contribute to society. We cannot have a society that consists only of scientists, engineers, and doctors.
I'm quite sure I could have gotten a degree in engineering, accounting, or computer science if I had wanted to since I've always been good at math and sciences. But I didn't. The STEM subjects held no interest for me.
I fit the pattern you describe above. My undergraduate degree is in what you'd consider one of the "useless" subjects, political science. I loved it, and my curriculum was not easy at all nor was it a "joke." Not everyone can read hundreds of pages of materials (weekly) per course, remember it all, and be prepared to analyze and discuss it (or write about it) intelligently and at length in small seminars. The bullsh*t level in these classes was always zero, as there's no way to pretend to understand something if you are in a class of six students. In such settings, lack of preparation is noted within one minute. Exams and papers required the understanding of volumes of information digested down to well-thought-out 25-50-page papers about very difficult and controversial topics, the points of which were to be supported by copious amounts of research and analysis, and an understanding of other disciplines such as history, religion, anthropology, etc.
My choice of major and personal ambition landed me good internships. The skills that I developed from my major helped me in my internships a great deal, as I was required to do a lot of research and report writing. Those internships were stepping stones to a good career.
It is not impossible to create a decent career with non-STEM majors. But there has to be a career goal, and a plan on how to reach it. I think the mistake that most people make is that they graduate without a goal or a plan, and then wind up taking whatever job they can get just so they can put some money in their pockets. The STEM majors tend to preclude that since the courses of study are so specific that students generally know exactly what their career goal is once they graduate, e.g., electrical engineer, physician, chemist, etc.
It is also very strange that the "superior" STEM students always attempt to judge the aptitude and quality of the social science curriculums based on the junior and entry level classes. There is a huge difference between upper and lower level classes.
You no longer have to study Engineering or get a degree at all to declare yourself an "Engineer." Just learn some php and javascript to make online shopping carts and you are now a "User Experience Engineer."
Me personally, I don't think a degree in say, English or history is easier than a degree in a STEM field. I don't have the patience to sit there and read hundreds of pages and write these long essays. I'd rather spend my time performing calculations.
Nonsense. This is not true for all bachelors degrees. Sure, if you get a bachelors degree from a diploma mill like Penn State University, that pumps out thousands of uneducated graduates every year, sure. However, bachelors degree from a decent university program will take you much farther than a HS diploma.
Oh, there aren't any "diploma mills" in New Jersey? You had to go west to Pennsylvania to find one? And you pick Penn State, whose undergraduate program is ranked ranked 37th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report's 2014 American's Best Colleges, 8th among Top Public Schools in the United States, and has a College of Engineering that is ranked 19th on the nationwide list of Best Engineering Undergraduate Schools for 2014? In 2010, when the Wall Street Journal surveyed 479 corporate recruiting executives and asked them to identify "whose bachelor degree graduates were the best-trained and educated, and best able to succeed once hired," Penn State came out on top.
No, I did not attend Penn State. The only occasion I have ever had to visit State College was to watch my niece play against Penn State in women's soccer. Also, I used to teach at what is possibly Penn State's biggest in-state rival. But I will not sit here and let someone call that university a "diploma mill."
Oh, there aren't any "diploma mills" in New Jersey? You had to go west to Pennsylvania to find one? And you pick Penn State, whose undergraduate program is ranked ranked 37th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report's 2014 American's Best Colleges, 8th among Top Public Schools in the United States, and has a College of Engineering that is ranked 19th on the nationwide list of Best Engineering Undergraduate Schools for 2014? In 2010, when the Wall Street Journal surveyed 479 corporate recruiting executives and asked them to identify "whose bachelor degree graduates were the best-trained and educated, and best able to succeed once hired," Penn State came out on top.
No, I did not attend Penn State. The only occasion I have ever had to visit State College was to watch my niece play against Penn State in women's soccer. Also, I used to teach at what is possibly Penn State's biggest in-state rival. But I will not sit here and let someone call that university a "diploma mill."
Why do you feel there aren't any "diploma mills" in New Jersey? I'm going to have to disagree with you there. There are many schools across the nation that are diploma mills.
Take a look at the grant proposals that are awarded from the NSF and alike. Penn State is hardly anywhere near the top.
I'm very familiar with Penn State, btw. I didn't attend but I have taught there, peer reviewed papers there, and evaluated the university for regional accreditation.
Last edited by NJBest; 09-15-2014 at 10:18 PM..
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