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Unless you go STEM, I feel that learning a skilled trade is the way to go. A friend of mine got a ba in psychology and was stuck working low paying social work jobs in the $12 an hour range. He went to an apprenticeship program and became a licensed plumber making either six figures or close to it.
Computer science is a pretty hot major right now. But if you can't do math, don't even bother.
Mike Rowe, the host of the television show, Dirty Jobs, says there are 5.8 Million jobs that require technical school, and many of the employers can't find enough applicants with the required skills. He has testified before congress twice about this issue.
He started a foundation to address the disconnect between available jobs and the skills gap. Profoundly Disconnected
What's interesting about this is that here, the local community college used to have a technical school wing of the facility, but it was closed down some years back - don't remember why. A local businessman donated a large sum of money to restart at least the automotive portion, and then the rest of the trade programs were added on later.
Local employers were furious the school canceled the programs as this is mainly a blue-collar area. I'm sure the backlash had something to do with it.
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Originally Posted by RamenAddict
Keep in mind that private schools often have more money to give out in need-based grants than public schools. Many do better at actually graduating people in 4 years than the public schools as well. The problem a lot of public institutions have is that while the public institutions on their face appear to be cheaper, people often take longer than 5 years to finish. That's not the case for ALL private schools- my sister went to one that was super stingy with aid- but then again it is #1 in the field and the people there tend to transition easily into top tech firms so it's a trade off that people have to decide whether they want to make.
The point is that high school students need to examine all options and select the one that is best for them. I know some people who have done 2+2 and have had great luck with that. I know others who were able to finish at a private university in 3 years. I know others who went to a public university and took 5 years and lost their scholarships after year 1.
In some fields, prestige still matters very much. If you are in that field, then you need to consider the type of school you attend. In other fields, any school that gets you a degree will do.
Like I mentioned upthread, I dropped out of the state university back in early 2008 to kind of sort out some problems in my personal life. I applied for admission to a private, religious, liberal arts college, was admitted, and was going to start that fall. Sticker price was somewhere close to $30,000 annually, even back then, but after aid it was like $10,000 annually. That was still double the state university, but it was more in aid proportionally.
I didn't spend a lot of time at that liberal arts college - ultimately, I decided against it due to cost and went back to the state university. Still, I made more friends and connections among my peer group in a few weeks than I did in my other five years at the state university.
That's one of those things in life I regret not seeing how it turned out now.
The 2+2 gets messy here. The closest community college to me in TN has transfer programs for various programs to various colleges. If you want to do to business school at UT-Knoxville, select this program. If you want to do at ETSU, here's a second option. If you're going to MTSU, here's option three. I just checked their website and was surprised at how many programs there were.
Last edited by Serious Conversation; 05-10-2017 at 06:29 AM..
Unless you go STEM, I feel that learning a skilled trade is the way to go. A friend of mine got a ba in psychology and was stuck working low paying social work jobs in the $12 an hour range. He went to an apprenticeship program and became a licensed plumber making either six figures or close to it.
Computer science is a pretty hot major right now. But if you can't do math, don't even bother.
Lots of people have had to retool when they couldn't find a job in their preferred field. Recent college grads are no exception, especially if you have a degree in a low demand profession. Exceptions would be those aiming for a career in academia where advanced degrees are preferred.
That diploma is not a certificate to a job, it is an asset to add to what you may offer an employer to convince them to hire you. The area of specialization or generalization needs to be considered well before graduation, a degree by itself is worthless. You are buying knowledge, it is a product that you purchase, it needs to be something you want as with any consumer good. Are you buying it as a tool to use to get a job, or are you buying it for decoration because it looks good hung on your wall? If you don't know what to do with your degree, once you have it, then you failed to learn the most important part of higher education, how to apply your knowledge.
Although I finished college decades ago, I do know that state universities have changed pretty dramatically over the years. They have become quite competitive, as admissions officers realize that the state university might be the only somewhat-affordable school for lower/middle class students, thus the standards have risen. It used to be common for some state schools to accept almost anyone in the top half of their high school graduating class, and that's just not the case anymore...
It depends on the school.
UMass-Amherst? Yep. When I was applying to colleges in the 1970's, that was my emergency backup school. It's now a two tier university. The top tier is there because of the economics. In-state, it's a $25K per year school. It also gets lots of very average students who keep up the old ZooMass reputation. If I see a UMass resume for a technical degree, I don't toss it in the dumpster like 30 years ago but I still have to screen carefully. At the satellite/commuter parts of the system in Boston, Lowell, and Dartmouth, I have to screen even more carefully since it's more like 1 in 10 are strong students who are there because they couldn't afford dorms and a meals package at the flagship state university.
UVM is way off from where it was 40 years ago. It used to be a university where prep school kids who couldn't get into the Ivys went and required much higher grades and SAT scores to get admitted. It's nowhere near as academically strong now. At $50K for out of state students, it's not competitive and the strong ones now go elsewhere.
I screen and hire about a dozen tech workers per year. I prefer the top-tier state universities to the "party" schools or the obscure, artsy small colleges. I haven't seen a resume from a top, private school (Ivy or near) in years, so I would probably grant an interview out of curiosity if nothing else.
It's also astonishing to me how many candidates have degrees from the online diploma mills or unverifiable foreign institutions. More than half of the resumes I see are like that. Those generally go into the circular file.
If the resume is strong and if the degree checks out (maybe 10 in 100), I'll do a phone screen. About 3 of the original 100 then qualify for a face-to-face.
Unless you go STEM, I feel that learning a skilled trade is the way to go. A friend of mine got a ba in psychology and was stuck working low paying social work jobs in the $12 an hour range. He went to an apprenticeship program and became a licensed plumber making either six figures or close to it.
Computer science is a pretty hot major right now. But if you can't do math, don't even bother.
You do Know there are alternatives like Computer Information System and Information Technology Majors/Degrees right?
I took Computer Information System as my major and got a degree in it. Less math and programming and still IT
There are plenty of jobs in the Computer IT Field always
They're inexperienced, and I'm certainly not saying they aren't. An adviser or professor may be able to offer generalized advice that's useful. Maybe.
I don't think so.
College Students are adults not minors they need to do a lot of intensive research on what kind of major/career they pick and be realistic about their job outlook and salary.
During your years in college its okay to have fun and all but its also very important to build work experience with Internships, part time jobs, volunteering etc.
As someone who major in Computer Information System, it was very important for me to get IT Related work experience in my field. Otherwise I probably would be overwhelm by the job market graduating with no experience and no clue what im doing
Even something as simple as being a computer lab assistant, help desk tech at a government office, desktop intern, etc can give you an advantage in getting a Full time IT job out of college
in IT you generally start your first job doing some sort of IT Customer support position or Jr Programmer
I don't trust professor or advisors they tell you what you want to believe but they don't tell you the real reality of the world
I was told you can start off making 60k to 100k a year out of college but I personally believe that is BS.
There are also some IT grads that expect to be immediately a system admin with just a degree but no experience or certs but thats really not realistis
Choose a major that is in demand where you can expect a decent job outlook for a while and get internships while in school
Something like woman studies i don't even know what you can do with that degree
Everyone I know who majored in computer science, engineering, and accounting all had job offers BEFORE graduation often 70k or more a year. And yes, they all live/work in major metros.
Majoring in women studies, and refusing to leave a rural area/small town is most likely career suicide.
Going to work in a big metro area may seem like a good idea but a lot of young folks never make enough money to get ahead. Common single family home prices in Urban cities are atleast $400k+, it'll take a college grad atleast 7-10 years to make enough for a downpayment assuming they are paying market price for rents and living expenses.
The new trend is jobsites in rural areas seeking tech workers for cloud providers and datacenters. I constantly get job requirements in the middle of the country that I don't want to go. The pay is below my min but good for college grads or folks with limited experience.
It may actually be a better idea for college grad because those towns have much more affordable cost of living you can buy a house cheaper than urban areas. Some places like SC, GA have good potential since Amazon and Apple are building big datacenters there providing good future job growth there.
Women's studies??? And what sort of work did she think that degree would prepare her for?
This is the problem with following your passions and dreams. You end up unemployed with a degree in Women's Studies. Maybe that would be a great choice for a trust fund baby who knows they will never have to compete in the real world for employment.
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