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.
College is WAY oversold in the USA-most HS guidance counselors should be sued for malpractice !
Unless you are one of the 2-3% of the american population that have genuine
intellectual interests a liberal arts degree is worthless.If you are one of that tiny minority however it is priceless.
Still in college, but my "trades" in this sense are high intermediate knowledge of Spanish (after spending next semester abroad in Mexico, I should be fluent), leadership and community organizing, and.. umm.. copying? I'm only a sophomore so I only did my first internship so far, but that puts me ahead of oh, the 99% of college sophomores who did not do an internship after their freshman year.
Fluency in Spanish isn't a trade. There are 12-year-old kids in Southern California who are more fluent than you can hope to be (nothing personal, it's just brain development) in both English and Spanish.
Leadership and community organizing? I'm not even sure if those count as trades.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charolastra00
I hate this advice, it's assuming that everyone would be perfectly happy in one of those careers. The types of careers I want to go to don't have that sort of formula, major in this and you will get this job type. If you want to be a nurse or a teacher or a computer programmer, great! Don't major in politics. But not everyone wants to go into those fields and it's poor blanket advice like that which leads people into careers that they dislike. I have too many friends who graduated in such "vocational" fields because their parents beat it into their heads that they would never get a job otherwise, and they hate it. With meaningful internships, study abroad experiences, research, college leadership positions, and a clear goal and realistic expectations, a liberal arts degree will never be worthless.
I have friends who graduated with Engineering degrees who went on to do a load of different jobs. Getting a degree in a technical field does not 'doom' you to work in that profession. But it does provide a great base of knowledge and gives you a fall back position.
No matter their career goals, I would not advise any student entering college to get a degree in liberal arts.
An employer deciding between two students for a job in, say, political consulting, is going to favor the girl with a degree in Biochemistry over the guy with a degree in Poetry.
No matter their career goals, I would not advise any student entering college to get a degree in liberal arts.
An employer deciding between two students for a job in, say, political consulting, is going to favor the girl with a degree in Biochemistry over the guy with a degree in Poetry.[/quote]
Very true.Ant-intellectualism is so all pervasive in the US that very few want any one around who might have a thought or two.
I have my undergrad/ grad degrees in Fine Arts with my focus in Photography and a minor in medical photography...I suppose that is a specific trade that I earned with my college degrees??
I have a degree in economics, which can mean a lot of things. However, my program was pretty good in that it focused a lot on the applied or technical aspect of economics, which made it pretty easy to get a job. As far as a trade or skill, I suppose mine would be data management and statistical/econometric analysis, as well as application of empirical results to theory or public policy recommendations. It's something that I suppose you could learn on your own, but is very difficult to do so.
My father ingrained the "trade" or "skill" aspect in my head, so while I majored in whatever I wanted I went about it with the further goal of a career in mind.
College is WAY oversold in the USA-most HS guidance counselors should be sued for malpractice !
Unless you are one of the 2-3% of the american population that have genuine
intellectual interests a liberal arts degree is worthless.If you are one of that tiny minority however it is priceless.
Fluency in Spanish isn't a trade. There are 12-year-old kids in Southern California who are more fluent than you can hope to be (nothing personal, it's just brain development) in both English and Spanish.
Leadership and community organizing? I'm not even sure if those count as trades.
I have friends who graduated with Engineering degrees who went on to do a load of different jobs. Getting a degree in a technical field does not 'doom' you to work in that profession. But it does provide a great base of knowledge and gives you a fall back position.
No matter their career goals, I would not advise any student entering college to get a degree in liberal arts.
An employer deciding between two students for a job in, say, political consulting, is going to favor the girl with a degree in Biochemistry over the guy with a degree in Poetry.
LOL, love the fluency in spanish thing!
But, it is a selling point for the girl.
I would never ever recommend a liberal arts degree.
My BA is in Geography, concentration in Global Studies. It is practically worthless, except that I can say I am a college graduate.
When saying "trade", yes, I guess that means some special skill that makes you more marketable than the next guy.
I highly recommend that anyone who is in college take an internship. Because when it all comes down to it, every job I ever got came through people I knew, in addition to what I knew. So the more students are out in a professional environment, the better. Kick ass and take names. Always act professional and keep in contact with whoever you are working with/for. You never know who might be able to help you down the line....
As for my kids, I will push them toward somethign that will pay off for them in the future. No offense to all the 16-19 year olds out there (those of you entering college or about to), but most of you don't know what the hell you want to do with the rest of your life nor are you equipped to make that decision. And while I think it is not beneficial for you to "take time off" first before going to college (way too many people get sidetracked this way), it is better to have some guidance in this area. More guidance, that is than your high school guidance counselor, who yes, some of the SHOULD be sued for Malpractice, including the one who allowed me to take study classes instead of chemistry because chemistry wasn't "required" (only would have been extremely useful once I got to college). Anyhow, I will be pushing my kids toward a certain occupation that will make them money. Later if they don't like it, at least they will be able to afford to change career paths. It's kind of hard to change career paths when you dont even have a career.
btw, my sister in law did not finish college and was making more money after 4 years than any college graduate I knew. same for my little brother. on the other hand, my older brother took 4 or 5 years to finish his degree as a single dad, and has been employed at one place or another for years, (with a stint in Iraq in between), doesn't have a specific career path, and continues to struggle. so a bachelors degree is not a magic bullet. its almost like you need gimmick to sell yourself (kind of like a trade, i guess)
My trade is that I'm starting community college in Canada for health information management. And after 2 years of work experience I'm going to Ryerson university for my BHA in health info management
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.
