Quote Originally Posted by pharm_teg
The days of "do what you love and the money will come" are long gone.
You think so? Well, let me ask you this question then: What do you base that statement on? I'm willing to gamble and say that you personally don't have the work experience to come up with that hypothesis. So are you just reading this is off some brochure your guidance counselor gave you or what? Because I know quite a few people that are making 6 figure salaries AND LOVE their jobs, the majority of which don't even have a college degree. How's that work then????


I don't know how long it's been since you've been out of college
What's that got to do with it? Did you new young folks suddenly re-discover the wheel? Maybe found another planet that affects the earth's gravitational pull and changes the way REAL BOSSES THINK?? Maybe the rules at work have changed so drastically since I graduated that suddenly NOW you are given experience as part of your college curriculum?????

but money is a prerequisite in determining a major these days.

Then just like I explained in the other thread, you are going about your studies in the totally wrong direction. A degree, unless it's in something like Medicine or Law or something where you go to work directly for the gov't, doesn't guarantee you squat. You keep thinking that way and come talk to me when you graduate.


The number one major on the list in my other post is a generic degree IMO. Generic, meaning you can put that degree to use in any workplace, whether it be a Mcdonald's or a financial firm.

Gee, I wonder why it's NUMBER 1, yet by your definition is the WRONG one... Again, you're trying to re-invent the wheel. It is the most popular because it is a very USEFUL one. You think that there are soooo many HIGH DOLLAR jobs just sitting around waiting on newbie wet behind the ears graduates that are looking JUST for a simple degree as the ONLY prerequisite of employment?????? Wake up. Life is nothing like that. Pick up the paper every once in a while, talk to somebody who is actually in the field you are thinking about going into, talk to some grown folks that have been working longer than you've been out of diapers, and you'll see more often than not that I am right about this. Experience trumps a degree when the degree is the only thing you have. So therefore a more VERSITILE degree will be better for you than a specialized one in terms of employability, period. A specialized degree will only get you into possibly ONE job, whereas a generalized degree will qualify you for MANY. Unless your studying to be a Doctor, Lawyer, or the like....your "degree" will net you no more money than someone with a generalized degree. What you do once employed is what will set you apart from someone else, not your degree.


My point is, a degree needs to be very specific to your chosen career.
I just explained why it doesn't always need to.

My degrees will guarantee me a salary and I will have a job coming out of my last year, unlike some of the majors listed.
Really? I'll bite then, what kind of salary is it you're "GUARANTEED"???? What kind of degree(s) is it you're getting? What kind of "job" are you already counting on as "in the bag" when you graduate???


I've never witnessed a situation where a degree will keep you from getting more money. Perhaps it's the environment in which you are accustom to.
That's probably because you've not been in the real job market in your life yet. Maybe it's because you've never had to make the decision between one job applicant and another. Maybe it's because you want to believe so badly that your chosen course of study is the absolute right one that you are blinded to the possibility that sometimes a generalized one will work just as well for 90% of the people (hence it's popularity...hmmmm ).

"Environment I'm accustomed to"......are you trying to say that I have some menial job sweeping streets or something???? I hope you're not that dumb, are you??? Let me put it this way, anytime you wanna compare paystubs, I'll be happy to show you mine so your jaw can hit the ground and you feel uber stupid for thinking that I'm some kind of peon somewhere. You may wanna ask around my friend. I won't even have to say a word to brag on what I have. Some of your buddies right around here KNOW and can clearly tell you I'm far from a peon. So don't sit there and try to be smug and talk down to me when I'm the one that's been working in the same field for longer than you've even been ALLOWED to work.



I am a firm believer that an education is the key to success.

Change that to "one of the keys to success" and I'll finally agree with you.



There is a reason why enrollment for non-traditional students is soring. They know the education and "real world" experience they've obtained is not sufficient to compete with the 25 year grad student.

Newsflash, a 25yr old grad student doesn't know crap except what's been taught to them out of a book. Some of the most intelligent people in the world have never attended college nor gotten a degree.

The salaries posted are median numbers, so there is wiggle room. Incoming college students need to realize what will be in demand in 4-6 years and how they can work to make themselves more marketable now. Let's not make your personal experiences the gospel.

You or anyone else doesn't have to listen to me. I really could care less if you do or not. But keep thinking that you've got it made in the shade and are "guaranteed" this and "guaranteed" that when you get your little piece of paper.......you'll remember one day that you had this conversation with me I promise you. I too was arrogant and thought I knew it all at 20 something.......

Let me close by saying this: A specialized degree is only good for people who have ALREADY chosen their career without a doubt. A specialized degree is only good for those people that are going into careers that REQUIRE a specialized degree to remotely qualify, ie. doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, nurses, etc. Unless you have chosen a field in which a specialized degree is required, you are wasting your time and money in going after a "degree" because your mom's friend's sister's cousin read in her magazine that it would make you money.

Like I said, only a handful of degrees can safely say they'll earn you X amount of money minimum. After that, education is definetly great, but a degree doesn't "guarantee" you squat.