Yep, I Changed Majors

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-11-19 01:39pm

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

Come to the professional writing course I'm on

Yesterday we managed to work out that the cultural reason for so much good porn in the netherlands is simple, someone spotted a girl with her finger in a dyke are realised it'd make a great idea for a story

Bertie Wooster · Post by **Bertie Wooster** » 2003-11-19 01:41pm

Science and math kicked my ass so much in High School I was a poli-sci major in college like my father and grandma.

I also took a lot of history and psych. classes

Zoink · Post by **Zoink** » 2003-11-19 01:52pm

The thing about an Aerospace Engineering degree is that you can *really* do anything with it. A guy I talked to at Pratt & Whitney (they make aircraft engines) got his first job designing air conditioners. He got his experience doing that, then later got a job doing what he wanted.

The career path might get a little mixed up. A friend from university started right away at Bombardier. They stuck him in a room doing the same thing over and over. I haven't talked to him recently, but he'd have been a prime target for one of their cycles of job cuts.

I myself went through the aeronautical option, but my aerodynamic courses are going to waste since the majority of my work is designing helicopter structural components. I had only one course in aircraft structures, I really could have went for the "design" option instead.

Many of my friends had a hard time getting a job, but they all applied to the big companies. I went for a slightly smaller one, got hired before I graduated and I'm doing OK. The helicopter industry is doing rather well (for us), especially with all the forest fires in the U.S.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-11-19 02:30pm

Darth Wong wrote: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?

By being a sophistic bullshitting smartass instead of a sophistic bullshitting idiot.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-11-19 03:19pm

If you can't decide between the 2 get yourself an interdiciplinary degree that combines both if your university offers it. My GF has such a degree (International Relations, Law, & History, I think) and she's doing quite well for herself right now. She's over in Nepal doing fieldwork and co-ordinating environmental & economic impact studies for a major bank.

However, she's an exception to the rule, almost every other poli-sci or history person I know is either unemployed or working at Starbucks or some other low-end job. Thing is you really have to stand out to go anywhere in these fields without a post Grad degree, and even then it's iffy. For instance my GF 1)graduated from Princeton, 2)spent a year in Boston doing an internship similar to her current job, 3)had the help of various organizations and connections at Princeton, and 4)she's one of those people who excels at anything they dedicate themselves to, she has the drive to make things happen.

IMO, if you're just going to coast through and get the degree, forget about it. Do it only if you're willing to completely commit yourself to it, meaning you'll be doing lots of extra work, chasing down & working internships & temp jobs in your field, and getting a bunch of job prospects & connections nailed down well ahead of time. This is true of any field you wish to go into, degrees ain't worth much these days.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-11-19 03:37pm

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

Trust me when I say that having a doctorate in history is not useless.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-11-19 03:59pm

Hmm, I have an interview scheduled with the Washington DC
electricians union, I might be the $20 dollar an hour peon who
makes your fancy shit work in real life at one point

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-11-19 05:11pm

aerius wrote:IMO, if you're just going to coast through and get the degree, forget about it. Do it only if you're willing to completely commit yourself to it, meaning you'll be doing lots of extra work, chasing down & working internships & temp jobs in your field, and getting a bunch of job prospects & connections nailed down well ahead of time. This is true of any field you wish to go into, degrees ain't worth much these days.

I definitely wouldn't coast through it. I'm a competitive person by nature, and would see it as a matter of personal pride to succeede. I'm already working on getting contacts through professors and the like. Yes, the more people you know, the better off you are.

Joe Momma · Post by **Joe Momma** » 2003-11-19 07:09pm

Darth Wong wrote: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?

Along the same lines, I just finished a Masters in History in a year without having any previous undergrad History classes.

(Don't fucking ask how I ended up there -- I'll do that rant in off-topic sometime, but suffice it to say you shouldn't plan your education around your relationships. Bottom line though was I just wanted to get the fuck out of that particular school ASAP and still have something to show for it. I'm starting a Masters in a different subject this winter at a different university, which should be much more satisfying personally and professionally.)

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

Agreed. I count myself lucky that the history department at my school placed a heavy emphasis on sound methodology, which is a painful rarity among the social sciences in my experience.

History can be useful, but not as broadly so as some degrees. I'd only suggest it to someone who has a specific compelling interest in the area. In fact, most of my history professors advised their students to seriously consider what they planned to do after graduating and make sure that a history degree was the best approach precisely because the job opportunities are somewhat limited.

-- Joe Momma

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2003-11-19 07:14pm

I should add that I planned on teaching from the beginning, so a history degree made perfect sense for me (it was that or education, and I didn't feel like spending 4 years doing that). Also, for most of my time as a double major, my studies complimented each other. With the exception of some time spent with the Roman Empire, most of my work was on American political history spread across two different departments.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2003-11-19 08:56pm

Darth Wong wrote: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?

Yes, grandpa, you've told us that story a hundred times!

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2003-11-19 09:09pm

Nathan F wrote: 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.

Well, if you're smart and competitive.. they'll be coming after YOU regardless of the situation in the industry. My friend's best childhood friend graduted from Berkeley with a degree in engineering and she was snatched up REAL quick by Boeing. Hell, during the summer she was earning $20/hr in their internship which was nothing more than a recruitment period.

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

Yes, probably.. but *ahem* You took ENGINEERING classes did you not? I bet you anything female was probably a grad student fron China, huh?

Oooh.. I love competing for my grades with M.D.'s from China who decide they want a PhD as well and then come here and wreck the curve. Wow, this one doctor blew away our neuro curve. I sat there with a 85, third highest score.. the next was an 86. The doctor's score was a 96. Pisses me off she can read the questions better than we can

Strate_Egg · Post by **Strate_Egg** » 2003-11-20 08:28pm

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.

You are entitled to your opinion, and its equally as good as anyone's. It may not be right, but its ok. The reason you did well is probably because you are intelligent? Did you ever think of that Wong?

Strate_Egg · Post by **Strate_Egg** » 2003-11-20 08:34pm

Although, You are generalizing quite a lot. By no means can you be stupid to do well, especially at advanced level. You are not using a good analogy. You are highly intelligent.