How did you guys decide on your majors?

I feel like a dog chasing cars...

I have a few ideas in mind.. but I can't make a solid decision, and when I think I have, I change my mind the following week when I keep thinking about what careers it leads to

I enjoy working with computers, so I was thinking about something in the IT field as a career choice, but then I also think I'd enjoy graphic design, and designing things in general (packaging, adverts)

So I'm stuck between Marketing, Advertising, and IT.. It's only my first semester so I do have some time to decide

I'd like to end up in a good career that makes something like 50-80,000$, but I can't decide where to go or what will make me happy

Help?

 

Prof with the biggest hooters.

 

Sounds very much like... Guyland. But hey, you're just starting out. Remember to keep things in perspective.

 

Pick something you like to do, not for the money you will be making, I assure you, the money is a good thing, but you will be ***ed if you choose the wrong thing. In reality you'll learn from your mistakes, but your not going to be making mistakes, just huge errors that in turn cost more money. I'm in Industrial Design @ ASU and my money just went down all the way, so basically I am broke, living off my parents money, while I wish I could pay them back, it won't happen any time soon. For your professors, check out: RateMyProfessor.com ; I have saved myself lots of time by that website.

Also remember, college students change their major 4+ times before settling down, you have some time, just go undecided for now, and maybe sit in some of the classes, or enroll in them. Good luck!

 

Don't fret about it too much. Chances are VERY good you will NEVER work in your major unless to pick a professional field, med, dent, law, some finance, etc.

I got a worthless TV Production degree and never worked a day in the field. The education has come in very handy tho on many occasions as a US Army Officer/Dept of the Army Civilian. Funny how that works ..............

About 90% of my friends NEVER worked a day in their chosen fields (major area of study) either and some of them make $h*tloads more $$$$$ than I even did or will.

 

Take a few intro classes for the majors you are considering. Should give you a better idea of what is involved. Don't think about the money, if you love it, and are good at it, the money will come.

It took me 2 years to decide what I wanted to do, Architecture, unfourtinately I would have had to transfer to an out of state school and things just weren't going to work out. Decided to get a business degree, and to pursue architecture later in life.

 

Major in Environmental Engineering. Good solid education and discipline of engineering programs with the ability to work out in the field and not be stuck shotgunning a terminal


See, that was easy wasn't it.

 

You'll ultimately not do what you major in.

I just chose Gen. Business. Had no clue what I wanted to do. And I still don't.

 

In my opinion, if you want to do either Marketing, Advertising, or IT... pick the IT major.

I say this because if you want to get into IT, just about every job requires a related degree. However, advertising jobs could care less, as long as you have a solid portfolio. In fact, they might think it's great that you have an IT background. One of my ex gf's majored in International Relations and works in advertising.

And I agree about not chasing dollars. Do whatever comes naturally for you, and you won't ever feel like you are working. The dollars will follow.

 

If I was doing an undergrad I'd go for Finance bcus that lets you know where the $ is, how to get it, how to manage it etc

after that I'd get a minor in whatever else I wanted

 

agree 100%...most of the people working in mktg/advertising don't have business degrees...communications, liberal arts, etc. If you want to work in IT, having the IT degree really makes a difference at least for the first few jobs.

Agree even more here...I have an undergrad in finance and economics (with a sub-minor, if you will, in sociology). Enjoyed econ/sociology a lot more but finance was more practical. Even if you don't want to work in finance, this is America...money matters, and understanding how it works is invaluable.

now I'm working on a masters in counseling...go figure.

 

I think I changed my major five times and went to three different schools. Just stick with it and after taking more classes you'll figure out what you want to major in.

and like agup48 said, the money doesn't matter if you don't pick something you like. I had a boss that was a CPA and the world's most miserable person. He actually got fired for being an ass*%^$ if you can believe that! One day he admitted to me that he really wanted to go into oceanography but the pay wasn't as good, and so he went into accounting.

 

Damn, well thanks for the advice guys, sucks that most people don't work in the field they major in

I think I'm going to look into that IT major..

 

Why? I'd rather be employed. Do you expect me to discuss life, world, reality, and everything inbetween and beyond while asking for tips with my philosophy degree? =)

Do what you enjoy. Do what clicks with you.

 

Read this if you want the top 10 Paying College Majors:
http://education-portal.com/articles/Top_10_Paying_College_Majors.html

Remember this is starting salary. I really don't know what intrigues you, you can't just choose a major that will be hot today, and will be dead in a couple of years. You say you enjoy working with computers, but there are plenty of options to choose from with computers. If I was in your position, and I liked working with computers (I do, but cannot stand the ever changing IT world) I would go with Marketing/Advertising, actually my sister just graduated from that, and you have opportunities to work with any company in the world, they all need advertising and marketing. Graphic design will not teach you the fundamentals of computer IT work. Again, you have time to decide, just don't rush and just say I'm doing IT, research it, and research it again, talk to the advisers.
My dad is a civil engineer and he also doesn't work for what he majored in. Now, he says he picked the wrong major and wanted to be an architect.

 

I wanted to be a geneticist in High School, so I majored in Biology. By the end of my first semester I was a Bio and Chem Double major. Graduated with the same double major and now work in Big Pharma as a sales rep and my Bio and Chem background helps me every day! I didn't have to do that major to do this job, but it sure gives me a leg up on my competitors...

Good luck... Pick something you enjoy and the same should be the case for your career. Pick something you like, otherwise everyday you wish you were doing something else. Do something you like and you won't mind working a day in your life, in fact if you like it enough you won't even feel like you are working!

James

 

What about a BA in Business? I'd like to have a versatile degree where I can get work at many different places ( Doesn't everyone? )

Can I do something like a major in Business and a minor in Marketing / Advertising? The "work for any company in the world" that agup mentiond really caught my eye

 

If you want to work for a company or start one up, the majority of the leaders come from finance or sales/marketing. What does that tell you?

 

To me "IT" is too broad a term and everything changes, from technical advancements to market reversals.

10 trends that will transform IT over the next five years

 

I'm a little bias, but my vote is IT. BUT, I kept it open to business by getting a business information systems (also known as management information systems) bachelor's. This included classes not only in IT, but finance, econ, HR, accounting, etc. Right now I'm a Program Manager and get a decent pay. I also recently got an MBA with an IT Management emphasis. Basically I'm trying to move a little further away from the technical side and into the management side of IT. If I ever have to leave the IT world, then I'll still have the business background and education.

 

Sounds like the best of both worlds then?

 

If you choose IT, also minor in Finance or some sort of business degree, because
folks are looking for IT folks that know something about business, not JUST
computers.

And, I don't encourage anyone to go into IT anymore, because you will be in
school basically the rest of your life.

I Know because I have been in IT for 25+ years now, and as soon as you learn
one thing, there is a new major version overhaul that requires you to know that, too.

Remember when 'everyone' knew Lotus 1-2-3 ? GONE.

Novell ?? all-but gone.

UNIX being the next big thing ? Not for a sole career.

LINUX ? Jury still out, not looking great at the moment. Linux has a place,
but nobody is sure where it is...

I remember when C was supposed to be 'big', then C++, then Powerbuilder,
then Visual Basic, now it's .NET

And you gotta stay on top of everything.

I would never do an IT-only degree, because the Programming and Sys Admin world continues
to be simplified every day: when a company hired a new employee, someone in IT loaded a PC,
someone gave them a logon, someone gave them security and rights to directories, someone
else 'set up' the workstation, 4-5 people created the work environment.

Today, it's not far away from someone in HR clicking on a few buttons in Oracle or SAP to do
almost all of that.

Look down the road, but before that, get a degree doing what you like to do, or it won't be fun for you in school.
And if you don't like a particular field in college, you won't like it when you are out in the real world, either.

 

computers are definitely here to stay, so it will be in demand for a long time to come. i'm majoring in business mgt, i've had my mind set on this major since a long time ago, i never really gave much thought to anything else. keep in mind that the average college student will switch his/her majors at least once.

 

Most of the time MIS is aligned under the college of business administration while other IT tracks are in the college of engineering and science.

 

Right when you graduate...undergrad?