What is a "smart" major to choose in college? what would you urge your kid to do/not do? (employed, fund)
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WHat about innate aptitudes?
Pharmacy requires a lot of chemistry (my nemesis being algebra). Computer Science, I gather, has a lot of engineering in it. Or something. You can't just select a whole field of study based on its job potential, although I am the first to say that I would have to consider my job future in any course of study.
The actual job of a retail pharmacist requires very little chemistry (though you do have to take OChem to become one, but you're not under similar pressure as the premeds who have to get A's). Remember this is pharmacy, not pharmacology. What pharmacy requires is patience and putting up with impatient customers, arrogant nurses and doctors who couldn't be bothered to confirm a dosage, incompetent corporate policies, and the dregs of society who harass you for narcotics and calling you all sorts of names for denying their forged prescription. You probably work at a Walgreens drive-thru and your job is to fill as many scripts as you can in a given day (thousands). You have little time to eat lunch or even take pee break, and when you leave the store every night, you have CVS employees without high school diplomas searching you and your bags for stolen medication. It's not a glamorous job. To make it worse, CVS and Walgreens are constantly undermining you, and hoping to someday replace you with a machine. As a pharmacist, you exist only because there are laws requiring a licensed pharmacist to be present at every pharmacy.
And if your nemesis is algebra, you've got more problems than you think.
I'm with the belief that unless you're going into quantitative linguistics (and go work for Google), learning a language should only be perceived as auxiliary advantages. It will help you get into say the Goldman Sachs office in Shanghai, but only because you're also excellent in economics and math and would kick ass as a banker.
Outstanding point. Unfortunately the media is about 10 years behind when it comes to measuring just how abundant the market is for foreigners in China.
The actual job of a retail pharmacist requires very little chemistry (though you do have to take OChem to become one, but you're not under similar pressure as the premeds who have to get A's). Remember this is pharmacy, not pharmacology. What pharmacy requires is patience and putting up with impatient customers, arrogant nurses and doctors who couldn't be bothered to confirm a dosage, incompetent corporate policies, and the dregs of society who harass you for narcotics and calling you all sorts of names for denying their forged prescription. You probably work at a Walgreens drive-thru and your job is to fill as many scripts as you can in a given day (thousands). You have little time to eat lunch or even take pee break, and when you leave the store every night, you have CVS employees without high school diplomas searching you and your bags for stolen medication. It's not a glamorous job. To make it worse, CVS and Walgreens are constantly undermining you, and hoping to someday replace you with a machine. As a pharmacist, you exist only because there are laws requiring a licensed pharmacist to be present at every pharmacy.
And if your nemesis is algebra, you've got more problems than you think.
Lol. You sound just like some people on this pharmacy forum I visit. Are you talking from experience?
I know that the job doesn't seem like the best in the world, but I was hoping to be able to open an independent. I've read some pharmacists talk about how they opened one right down the street from a cvs/walgreens and still get plently of scripts.
In the long run, skills and work experience are far more important than your major.
For example, my husband majored in mathematical computer science. He has also always had an interest in business. He originally started out as a computer programmer for a trading firm. After a couple of years, he became a trader (using software he wrote). He taught himself accounting to help a family member who is a mechanic and owned an auto shop. He enjoyed going to the shop and working with people and cleaning up the books. Eventually, he helped the family member sell the shop and then bought another shop with him. He did a couple of minor home rehab jobs and gradually transitioned into real estate.
He knows plenty of IT people who have been laid off and plenty of traders who haven't made any money the last couple of years, but he's continued to learn new things and work for himself using his math, computer and business skills.
One of the previous posters who talked about ownership had it right. In the long run, the key is to be able to create your own "job." Don't rely on a corporation to pay you a salary. And keep learning.
In the long run, skills and work experience are far more important than your major.
For example, my husband majored in mathematical computer science. He has also always had an interest in business. He originally started out as a computer programmer for a trading firm. After a couple of years, he became a trader (using software he wrote). He taught himself accounting to help a family member who is a mechanic and owned an auto shop. He enjoyed going to the shop and working with people and cleaning up the books. Eventually, he helped the family member sell the shop and then bought another shop with him. He did a couple of minor home rehab jobs and gradually transitioned into real estate.
He knows plenty of IT people who have been laid off and plenty of traders who haven't made any money the last couple of years, but he's continued to learn new things and work for himself using his math, computer and business skills.
One of the previous posters who talked about ownership had it right. In the long run, the key is to be able to create your own "job." Don't rely on a corporation to pay you a salary. And keep learning.
QFT. There really isn't many bona-fide "safe" majors or careers these days.
I say something that teaches you a specific concrete skill. Accounting, engineering, nursing, etc. Don't pick anything that is broad. Work experience is more important than the degree when it comes to broad majors because truthfully on paper you do not have a specific job-related skill. Sure, you learn a lot about your subject but there HAS to be a skill there at the entry level unless you want to be someone's assistant until you learn some on the job skills to complement that broad degree.
I originally posted this in my "What will happen to the 10%+ unemployed in this country...?" thread but decided to make a whole new thread altogether.
What would you guys suggest for a high school senior who will be going to college next year (University of Texas at Austin) to pick for a major?
I got accepted to the McCombs School of Business but might actually want to pursue a Computer Science PhD. The future seems so nebulous to me that I fear that whichever way I go, I will end up regretting my decision.
It seems that computer science, especially at higher levels such as research, will be more exciting and meaningful, but it also seems that "the future of computer science for Americans" is such a controversy these days. Should I just play it safe and go with a BS/Masters accounting(and CPA later down the road)? I also do not wish to cause my parents trouble and pain later on in life if computer science really does turn out to be the wrong choice.
I think this is a no-brainer. I think you should pursue Computer Science. You seem to be interested in it AND I think it's still a relatively "safe" major despite the "controversies" you may be hearing about. The world is always going to need a fair amount of CS majors to implement and maintain software systems. I don't think that is going to go away anytime soon. So I think it's a safe bet. I finished my CS degree 3 years ago and have been working since then. I've been looking for a new job lately. Sure, there aren't as many positions available out there, but that's because of the recession, not the CS field itself. You say you're going to go for a PhD. I suppose you just want to teach it or just do research work for it? I think the above still applies in that case. The bottom line is that I think this would be the best choice for you given that you also seem to actually want to do this one anyway.
I am in the process of this with my kid. She entered college last September undecided, thinking she might want to go pre-med.
She has always loved languages, though, is nearly fluent in Spanish and studied Latin in her first semester, which she could have used toward the pre-med.
Now she knows she wants to learn multiple languages and also study linguistics and that biology, etc., is interesting but not really what she wants her main focus to be.
I AM encouraging her to learn either Russian or Chinese (and she is very interested herself), because those two languages, in addition to a few other Middle Eastern and African languages, are in demand both in business and government and not enough Americans are learning them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GaBison2007
Honestly why not encourage your child to learn Arabic as well which is really high in demand? She doesn't even need to waste her time with Biology(and save you money by not doing pre-med lol) if she can become a professional interpreter, esp for the government. Interpreter salaries depending on which company/org she works for and which language she chooses can be VERY very nice....(on average $80,000 a year for federal employees as determined by bureau of labor statistics)....sometimes I wish I would have gone down that path and paid more attention in foreign language classes ...my friend is a freelance sign language interpretor and loves the standard of living she has now and the fact she gets to travel so much (all expenses paid)
She has considered Arabic and may not have completely ruled it out. She is interested in the Chinese culture, however, as well as the language.
I too wish I had learned a second language. I can read Spanish on the signs in the subway and in advertisements for the most part, but I can only speak the most common phrases. Oh yeah, and as with some other languages, I know most of the food words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guineas
The problem with learning Chinese is that there are many Chinese-Americans who are fluent in both Chinese and English (more fluent than most others would ever be from taking university language classes). At the same time, unlike Spanish, the market for Chinese is small in the US. It's a hard language to learn well, and there are limited uses for the language unless you're also good at something else (like finance, medicine, industrial engineering, manufacturing). Russian has even less going for it, except maybe in the energy industry.
I'm with the belief that unless you're going into quantitative linguistics (and go work for Google), learning a language should only be perceived as auxiliary advantages. It will help you get into say the Goldman Sachs office in Shanghai, but only because you're also excellent in economics and math and would kick ass as a banker.
She's already nearly fluent in Spanish and often reads in Spanish, but since there are already so many Spanish-speaking residents, especially where we live, she wanted to learn something different in a completely different language family.
Yes, good point in the second paragraph. She hasn't lost her interest in medicine, she just doesn't want to be a doctor. Possibly looking toward a career in public health. And she may not necessarily be looking to work in the US. She's not interested in a business career at all.
This is just my random Q for people who think liberal arts degrees are useless.
Are you saying even Harvard graduates with say, American Studies major can't secure a job in current economy?
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...my friend is a freelance sign language interpretor and loves the standard of living she has now and the fact she gets to travel so much (all expenses paid)
