Yep, I Changed Majors

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-11-19 09:55am

After a year of Aerospace Engineering, I've decided to change majors. Not because I 'failed out', I was doing pretty well actually, but because I've found out that engineering just isn't what I want. So, I've decided to go with the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm currently indecided between History and Political Science. Now, what I want to do afterwards, I'm not sure. I've considered going to law school maybe, and working for, say, something like the CIA, or working as either a field historian or maybe a historian in a museum (Air and Space Museum or Air Force Museum would kick major arse...).

Anyone else here a Poli Sci or History major?

Death from the Sea · Post by **Death from the Sea** » 2003-11-19 11:54am

I used to be a History Major, but changed before I got too far into it. I didn't want to take the 14+ hours of foreign language requirements here. That and I didn't want to teach, which is what 99% of the people in that field go on to do. Ironically though I switch to a major that alot of teachers also have Agricultural Development, but this major is much more broad and diverse so it allows me to take almost anything I want. Which has been every law class my school has seeing as we don't have a law program here.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-11-19 11:58am

Poly sci majors are usually sophistic bullshitting idiots (go ahead, flame me, but just try to look around a poly sci classroom and tell me I'm wrong; my residence in university was full of poly sci people and the concept of objectivity or rational analysis was simply beyond them).

Both history and poly sci have the interesting distinction that you can waltz into an advanced course in either subject and do well with no background training, as long as you pay attention and know how to write persuasively. Did I ever mention the time I took a third-year history course as an elective and got an A with no prior university-level history courses, just to prove that point?

Poly sci and history are very interesting, fun courses to take. But "interesting and fun" don't necessarily make them more useful.

Sir Sirius · Post by **Sir Sirius** » 2003-11-19 12:26pm

One less future Engineere in the world, time to fly a flag at half-staff.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-11-19 12:26pm

Are you really committed to doing law? If not, it may not be a good idea to get a history or poli sci degree, because those degrees don't have a lot of market value.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-11-19 12:32pm

Law school literally sucks the life out of you past the point of death.

Just keep that in mind...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-11-19 12:32pm

Durran Korr wrote:Are you really committed to doing law? If not, it may not be a good idea to get a history or poli sci degree, because those degrees don't have a lot of market value.

And with that, Durran wins the Understatement of the Year award

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-11-19 12:34pm

If I were you, I would've liked to do history, but as it is, I suck at the subject no matter how much fun I can get out of it. I had the teachers, just not the grasp of dates and names.

Political Science? Sounds too pseudoscientific to warrant the "science" half of the title, the only true sciences are the Big 3 and we all know what those are, plus their branching areas. This may be the case, but it could also be interesting, so it's your call.

I would rather do engineering, I originally wanted to do aerospace engineering whilst being sponsored by BAE Systems. Alas, maths is not my niché so I chose biology which has far less of the stuff (annoyingly, it still has it when I don't want it).

Don't know about anywhere else, but the UK has a vacuum in the engineering market so we need everyone we can get.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-11-19 12:36pm

Durran Korr wrote:Are you really committed to doing law? If not, it may not be a good idea to get a history or poli sci degree, because those degrees don't have a lot of market value.

What would you say to a girl I know who's doing Creative Writing as a degree at a polytechnic?

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2003-11-19 12:37pm

Darth Wong wrote:Poly sci majors are usually sophistic bullshitting idiots (go ahead, flame me, but just try to look around a poly sci classroom and tell me I'm wrong; my residence in university was full of poly sci people and the concept of objectivity or rational analysis was simply beyond them).

<FLAME ON> Thou shalt not mock the major comprised of 90% hot chicks </FLAME OFF>

Field Historian? Who are you trying to be? Jack Ryan?

But I think Political Science might be okay if you're going to go maybe for law enforcement or a Masters in crimonology or something. Perhaps law school.

But if you want the CIA.. do something mathematical or know how to kill people real well

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-11-19 12:42pm

Trytostaydead wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:Poly sci majors are usually sophistic bullshitting idiots (go ahead, flame me, but just try to look around a poly sci classroom and tell me I'm wrong; my residence in university was full of poly sci people and the concept of objectivity or rational analysis was simply beyond them).
<FLAME ON> Thou shalt not mock the major comprised of 90% hot chicks </FLAME OFF>

Field Historian? Who are you trying to be? Jack Ryan?
But I think Political Science might be okay if you're going to go maybe for law enforcement or a Masters in crimonology or something. Perhaps law school.

But if you want the CIA.. do something mathematical or know how to kill people real well

I got news for you, pal, my course has more hot girls than any other damn one available. I see that as a bonus, lecture bores you, just check out the wildlife.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-11-19 12:45pm

Georgia's business school has some beautiful women. Last year's Accounting TA...*drool*

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-11-19 12:47pm

Gah, nothing's more distracting than a pretty TA or professor...

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-11-19 12:49pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Gah, nothing's more distracting than a pretty TA or professor...

Tell me about it. She was there for all the tests.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-11-19 12:54pm

I had a molecular cell biology lecturer in her mid-twenties from Texas and she was damn cute. She even took my blood pressure for me in the practical, hell, I'd let her do a full physiological check-up on me anytime!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-11-19 12:57pm

All of my profs were ugly. If I wanted to look at chicks, I did it outside the classroom.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-11-19 12:58pm

Darth Wong wrote:All of my profs were ugly. If I wanted to look at chicks, I did it outside the classroom.

The glory that is the modern education system, I guess.

I'm also a cinema major whose taking mostly art and literature courses, so maybe that helps.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-11-19 01:06pm

Durran Korr wrote:Are you really committed to doing law? If not, it may not be a good idea to get a history or poli sci degree, because those degrees don't have a lot of market value.

In just a short search from careerbuilder.com and monster.com, I found ads from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, the CIA, the JPL, Raytheon, and Janes for BAs in Poli Sci for analysts positions. That was 2 minutes searching, without even looking at Historians positions.

Anyhoo, I'm still in the search, I've pretty much tacked down Poli Sci or History, but other majors are options. They are definitely no more of a limited field than Aerospace Engineering, which is hugely competitive and a tiny market.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-11-19 01:13pm

Nathan F wrote:
Durran Korr wrote:Are you really committed to doing law? If not, it may not be a good idea to get a history or poli sci degree, because those degrees don't have a lot of market value.
In just a short search from careerbuilder.com and monster.com, I found ads from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, the CIA, the JPL, Raytheon, and Janes for BAs in Poli Sci for analysts positions. That was 2 minutes searching, without even looking at Historians positions.

The question is not whether jobs exist for that degree; there are jobs for just about any kind of qualification. The question is one of supply and demand. It's just too easy to get poly-sci degrees, so there's a lot of people vying for those kinds of positions. U of T is just overflowing with people like that.

Anyhoo, I'm still in the search, I've pretty much tacked down Poli Sci or History, but other majors are options. They are definitely no more of a limited field than Aerospace Engineering, which is hugely competitive and a tiny market.

True, the problem with aerospace is that you live and die with the fortunes of the aerospace industry. There's not a lot of portability; it's not like being an electrical engineer, who can be useful in a lot of different industries.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-11-19 01:19pm

Darth Wong wrote:True, the problem with aerospace is that you live and die with the fortunes of the aerospace industry. There's not a lot of portability; it's not like being an electrical engineer, who can be useful in a lot of different industries.

And the aerospace field is definitely not a booming industry at the moment, and I doubt it will be within the next 5 to 10 years, either.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-11-19 01:19pm

If you want a major that's both easy and you'll get a good job with, consider Risk Management. Not the most engaging stuff in the world, but the most valuable majors don't tend to be particularly fun.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2003-11-19 01:21pm

Nathan F wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:True, the problem with aerospace is that you live and die with the fortunes of the aerospace industry. There's not a lot of portability; it's not like being an electrical engineer, who can be useful in a lot of different industries.
And the aerospace field is definitely not a booming industry at the moment, and I doubt it will be within the next 5 to 10 years, either.

A mate of mine, well, victorhadin to be exact, has just got a job offer for when he finished his course in aerospace engineering with BAE Systems. He's actually doing exactly what I intended on doing 5 years ago, only he's already got a practically guaranteed job position already!

Either he's lucky or they really want him. I'm hoping the former (lucky git).

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-11-19 01:25pm

Darth Wong wrote:Poly sci majors are usually sophistic bullshitting idiots (go ahead, flame me, but just try to look around a poly sci classroom and tell me I'm wrong; my residence in university was full of poly sci people and the concept of objectivity or rational analysis was simply beyond them).

*cough* Did I ever tell you I was one class away from my bachelor's in polisci? I would flame you, except to judge from my classmates, you're mostly right.

Anyway, Nathan, keep in mind that your options with a polisci or history degree (or both--they're related enough you can pull off a double major fairly easily) are basically limited to law and teaching, and for both fields, just a bachelor's isn't going to cut it. Believe me, I found this out the hard way, which I why I'm going to grad school this summer. Most of the other jobs in the field--analyist, archive historian, college professor, those kinds of things--will require at least a master's, too.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2003-11-19 01:30pm

If you think it's going to net you the cashie cash then go for it

I would have stayed in Aerospace though, if I were you

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-11-19 01:35pm

Well, he'll have a lot more fun now and a lot less stress. Engineering is not for the timid. On the other hand, he'll be sitting in polisci classes surrounded by sophistic bullshitting idiots, and those idiots will get the same degree he does, so how will he go about proving to a prospective employer that he's better than they are?