College (again), Avoiding Burnout

[TopHatFox]

Do you have any stats that support that philosopher baristas become excellent computer programmers? Because the research I've seen correlates humanities-type degrees with an increased chance of living at home, an increased unemployment rate, and a lower median income and higher debt levels for life. Here's one article:

https://www.earnest.com/blog/humanities ... raduation/

I'm not saying you need to study nuclear engineering if you absolutely hate it and could never see yourself working in it. But there are tons of viable, employable careers that actually have good earning potential. Surely a flexible 18 yo can like at least one of them. For example:

1. Doctor
2. Dentist
3. PA
4. Nurse or Nurse Practitioner
5. Accountant to CPA
6. Plumber
7. Carpenter
8. Electrician
9. Mechanic
10. Computer Networking
11. Cybersecurity Certificates
12. Long Haul Trucker
13. Welder
14. Chemist or Chemical Engineer
15. Geologist or Petroleum Engineer
16. Computer Science or Computer Engineering
17. Materials Science or Mechanical Engineer
18. Really most types of Engineer
19. Psychologist if you're planning on at least getting an MS, ideally a PhD
20. Speech Language Pathologist
21. MBA if it's at a tier 1 school
22. Law if it's at a tier 1 school
23. Joining the military (free everything, but cost of freedom and potentially life/limb)

That's a pretty extensive and varied list that will lead to an in-demand job somewhere. I wish people were beating me over the head with this list instead of choices such as sociology, literature, astrology, art history, and so on for four years. The brainwashing I received at my liberal arts college has fucked me up --and many of my friends -- to this day. I'm sure like us, tons of college grads from places like Middleburry or Vassar are getting similar results. I'm just hoping this PSA helps an 18 yo to make clear choices most likely to lead to success so he or she doesn't have to be an outlier in a stinted pool.

[chenda]

astrology, art history, and so on for four.

You could study astrology ?

[TopHatFox]

I think it was astronomy lol, but with its post-college employment rate, it may as well be astrology

[TopHatFox]

@psych, because it's a marketable skill, albeit a low-paying one compared to say, geologist or petroleum engineer. Your skill is counseling and you can dish it out by charging for counseling over the internet or in person. If I were 18 again, I'd likely pick a PhD in psych as the path to go down, but now I'd much rather do one year to get an MS in geo and make more than a psychologist.

If you major in sociology or any other liberal arts degree with no clear job at the end, your skill is...I don't know, writing and left-leaning rhetoric(?), and you can dish it out by getting a PhD and becoming an adjunct. Or, alternatively, getting a non-profit, entrepreneur, or corporate job you can get with any BA.

@friend, yeah, I've suggested to her to do exactly that, but she hasn't yet for years because she's trying to live on her own and adding "learn in-demand skills" to that is hard. This is why it's absolutely crucial to make an in-demand major choice when you're 18-22. It's just 10x easier then logistically. The catch is that nobody will tell you this and will in fact tell you the opposite: major in whatever, you have time, college is not for employment, blah blah blah.

[shadow]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have come to a (preliminary) decision on statistics. I don't have time to respond to everyone individually but here are some thoughts:
@THF and others with similar arguments, I agree that a marketable skill is a good thing to look for in a college degree. I believe that statistics is in a way between the "pure skill" and "studies" degrees. In my clearly uneducated view, it is a wide subject that can go in multiple different in-demand paths, suiting it to someone like me with wide interests. But at the same time from looking at the required courses I could think of several positions that need this type of technical knowledge. I will look to supplement my hard skills with computer science courses (my college is actually considering starting a data science undergrad major which is interesting). This was informed by looking at the courses necessary for my degree as well as job ads. The BLS also has promising statistics on the job growth of statisticians, data analysts, and related fields. I also looked at an annual survey that provides information on job placement and salary right out of college.

@The Old Man
Thanks for this gem, this is another valuable source of gauging demand. I will talk to my school and see what the deal is there.

[TopHatFox]

If you’re gonna choose stats, I’d recommend something with a skill at the end of it in tandem or instead, such as actuarial science or programming. The key is to graduate with something with a tangible skill and job at the end. Programming > Math and Nuclear Engineer > Physics and Actuarial Science > Stats

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Also, one contrarian internet board can’t withstand the might of 4 years of remote indoctrination camp with reverberating and compounding ideas, day in, and day out. I’m lucky to have even majored in STEM at Amherst.

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Also also, for every liberal arts grad that learned to code, there are probably a lot more that are underemployed. You can learn philosophy from the library; college is an investment in the certifications needed for gainful employment in work you at least like.

[shadow]

What do you think about data science/ a programming minor? I understand that "statistics" itself is not a discipline but it seems to me like it would give me knowledge that is hard to acquire outside of school.

[TopHatFox]

I think the degrees that have a crystal clear, in-demand skill are better than the ones that have general skills, such as math or stats.

If I had to choose, I’d go full on programming, computer science, or actuarial science rather than statistics or math or minoring in any of the three. You want to be able to clearly articulate what your value is to an employer: nothing says that faster than « I’m a programmer » or « I’m an actuary.» you can say « I’m a statistician, » and that’s good, but it still leads to the question « so what do you want to do with that?, » which is a bad sign.

You’re doing way better with stats than say sociology or Art history, but if you’re gonna go STEM, just go all the way to a clear, employable skill in STEM rather a general STEM field.

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I’m not exaggerating when I say choosing a good major now is one of the single most important decisions in life, along with choosing the correct LT gf or bf or a place to set down roots. Try out some classes in three and interview people that have your potential STEM or trade job, but do get one, and DO NOT get cajolled into thinking easy, non-skilled based, general degrees are worthwhile. Searching « XYZ degree Bureau of labor Statistics » is a good proxy for a field’s employability.