Daughter's major and minor

[Paige]

My daughter is a sophomore in college and started out not sure what she would major in. She has recently decided on an English major and a history minor and has no idea what her plan is with these. She is also three classes short of an economics minor and is kind of interested in getting a minor but since they are on semesters it is hard to fit in.

Anybody think an economics minor could help her in the long run? Should I encourage her and offer to pay for a couple of summer classes (she does have an internship now and a job for summer and is quite responsible). Any economics minors or majors out there? It just seems like there won't be much out there with just English and History (she is not intending to teach--at least in the K-12 system).

Or should I just offer once and leave her alone? (I think I know the answer.):|(

[rodeosweetheart]

My daughter is a sophomore in college and started out not sure what she would major in. She has recently decided on an English major and a history minor and has no idea what her plan is with these. She is also three classes short of an economics minor and is kind of interested in getting a minor but since they are on semesters it is hard to fit in.

Anybody think an economics minor could help her in the long run? Should I encourage her and offer to pay for a couple of summer classes (she does have an internship now and a job for summer and is quite responsible). Any economics minors or majors out there? It just seems like there won't be much out there with just English and History (she is not intending to teach--at least in the K-12 system).

Or should I just offer once and leave her alone? (I think I know the answer.):|(

I would definitely encourage her to get the econ minor if she is only 3 classes short. I think the econ minor would make her more competitive for all kinds of jobs, as well as some very interesting internships.

I have a BA in English along with some other graduate degrees, and my first job out of college was as a paralegal. The econ minor would be helpful, I think.

[redfox]

Econ will always be useful, and interesting, IMO! What does her advisor say? Is she interestedin grad school, and if so, how would this support her goals?

[Zoebird]

I was english major with women's studies and religious studies minors.

I had plenty of work available to me -- it's a great all-around degree. And, set me up to go to law school, etc.

Honestly, if she wants to get the econ minor, she should, and if she doesn't, then she shouldn't. I don't think it's ging to be any more or less important to employers, etc.

[SteveinMN]

As someone who found most of his career had almost nothing to do with his major, I don't know as I could recommend spending a lot of time/money on a minor (or major, for that matter) that didn't incite at least some passion. And once she gets her first job, her minor (or close-to-minor) isn't going to make much difference, either. If DD wants to go for it, I'd encourage it (financially, too, if you can). But if not I wouldn't push that rope.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I can't imagine an econ minor being that practical (heck an econ major isn't very practical!). So she should get it if she wants to take more econ classes and not if she doesn't. I dont' believe that it's easy to get into any field with any degree (uh no, I think it's hard to break into a field, you need credentials they want) but I just don't think econ is particularly job practical, but if it's an interest, or a path to future studies, that is it's own reason.

[Paige]

Well, good food for thought everyone. I will encourage her to talk to an adviser about it and ask for a clarification on the "passion" piece, which is mighty important, isn't it? Interestingly, as some of you said/implied, many times people don't get a job in their major or minor. She is currently interning at an environmental organization and also has a job with them through summer. She has always been an outdoors type but has avoided science like the plague. She is getting some much needed computer work with this internship and some reading/writing/research, which is her forte, too. Funny how things work....Thanks again.

[Tammy]

Degrees that are paired with licensure ... Nursing, teaching, social work ... Are generally a great lead in to a job. Degrees that are not tied to licensure, less so. Minors usually make no difference in a job search, from what I've seen.

[Florence]

Is your daughter currently working part time while she is in college? Or during summers? Does she have any volunteer experience? Sometimes work or volunteer experiences can help give a young person some ideas on what they want (or don't want) to do.

[Miss Cellane]

I had a double major in English and Communications, with a minor in Economics. The Economics hasn't helped me get a job, ever. The English, surprisingly, has helped me get jobs as an editor and proofreader.

What a good Liberal Arts degree can do is teach a person how to think. It was explained to me once that many corporations like to have a certain percentage of managers--people who know how to manage other people. A certain percentage of trained employees--architects in an architectural firm, engineers in an engineering company, teachers in a school, etc. And a certain percentage of people who were intelligent and who could learn to do a variety of jobs, and also who could take one idea and add it to another idea and come up with something useful for the company. It's the later category where the liberal arts major will come in.

There are many, many jobs out there that don't require tons of special training. What I'd suggest for your daughter is that she figures out what type of work she's interested in, and figure out how to use her English and History degree to get into that line of work.

[CeciliaW]

What Tammy said. She needs a marketable skill set. The news is full of people with useless degrees.

In my Mother's time what your daughter is doing was referred to as geting your MRS degree.

Perhaps she should take a year or two off and work in different fields before you spend any more money on 'insert shrug here'.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Of course a marketable skill set is different than credentialing. Or it's not quite to the point that only credentials are marketable. A mere accounting bachelors might for instance be marketable (although in this job market the definition of that term is forever shifting, it's not something objective, it just depends on how high the unemployment rate is where you are!). It's not credentialing in the case of accounting until you have the CPA. Most credentialing is not obtainable with a mere bachelors degree. And takes closer to the equivalent of a masters level of eduction, plus sometimes requires a set number of years of actual job experience in addition to this additional education.

How one can try out all these these different fields without any degrees is a mystery to me (really I'd like to know the secret - I'd love to do that). Seems to me if the fields were that easy to break into without a degree (OR experience, mostly aquired in better times), degrees would be kinda unnecessary in the first place (at best they might provide a raise or promotion or something).

[JaneV2.0]

...
How one can try out all these these different fields without any degrees is a mystery to me (really I'd like to know the secret - I'd love to do that). Seems to me if the fields were that easy to break into without a degree (OR experience, mostly aquired in better times), degrees would be kinda unnecessary in the first place (at best they might provide a raise or promotion or something).

The secret is--more than ever--connections. The old "who you know" thing. If you've got friends in key places, nothing else really matters.

[mschrisgo2]

With my daughter, I had to take a very hands-off approach. She was very opinionated, and well practiced in making her own decisions by the time she was 18. She went to the junior college for a semester (got A's in all 4 classes), then called me to say she wasn't going back until she knew why she was there. She continued to work as a hostess in a very large, very busy restaurant for the next year. Then she signed up to take some career choice seminars. In short order she honed in on "pharmacy technician," found a 4 month, 8 hr/day program, and got herself a scholarship and enrolled. When it came time to do internships, she went right out to the local large PPO, walked in and asked the pharmacy manager for an intern position. He gave it to her on the spot! She got her national certification and has been working for the same hospital for 8 years now.

What's really interesting about this is that I'm an educator myself, and I could never picture her in a 4-year degree program. She's just not the "I love school, student type" even though she is very smart. Her skills lie in sales and dealing with people. She's never been sorry she didn't get a degree, and just a couple of weeks ago she mentioned that she was so glad that I let her "find her own way."

Right now it seems like there are so many young people in school, mostly majoring in DEBT, aimlessly waiting for something to click for them. I advise everyone to focus on "correct fit" for career happiness, before doing more schooling. Heavens knows, I'd sure like to spare others of the fate I backed myself into: over-qualified and over-degreed for many of the current jobs in education.

[SteveinMN]

Seems to me if the fields were that easy to break into without a degree (OR experience, mostly aquired in better times), degrees would be kinda unnecessary in the first place (at best they might provide a raise or promotion or something).
I was lucky to end up in the computer field. While things are changing rapidly, it still is possible to start a long successful career in IT without any relevant formal education or certification. I worked with people who were electronics techicians in the service as well as people who had biology or music or math or MIS degrees. It's what you knew and what you could learn...


The secret is--more than ever--connections. The old "who you know" thing. If you've got friends in key places, nothing else really matters.
... and networking. A friend of mine has, in her last three jobs, been a real-estate agent, an advisor/mentor/kinda-social worker to women recovering from chemical abuse, and a cobbler. She knows lots of people -- apparently, the right ones.

[jennipurrr]

I think there is a lot of value in an econ minor, especially since it really seems different than her other interests - presents a unique set of knowledge/skills. I would encourage her to get it since she is so close. I think it is always good to have a strong base of education to fall back on. Econ lets potential employers know that she has a variety of quantitative skills in addition to her writing ability.

[Zoebird]

i have to agree with mschrisgo2.

i really think that the path to true success is knowing what the heck you want to do and be supported in doing it. Ultimately, getting my english degree and law degrees are fine -- but i haven't actively used them.

I would have been much better served to have done what I proposed when I was 19: switch to a community college near-by getting a degree in business while certifying in yoga and massage. It would have been much less expense and less debt, a degree that can go into regular work if needed, and also just allowed me to get a better handle on business earlier.

This is why, now, I'm not concerned about DS going to university right away or whatever. i feel like -- he can and should do what he wants. And if he has to find a way to pay for it himself, then that's all the better (for the record, we do have an account for him to use as he will, but we will decide how it's spent, really. Travel is an option; starting a business; education; etc.). Mostly, we don't care what he grows up to be and does, we just want him to do what he loves.

And that could be anything. It could require schooling; it might not. I just don't know. :)

[iris lily]

I think there is a lot of value in an econ minor, especially since it really seems different than her other interests - presents a unique set of knowledge/skills. I would encourage her to get it since she is so close. I think it is always good to have a strong base of education to fall back on. Econ lets potential employers know that she has a variety of quantitative skills in addition to her writing ability.

That's what I was thinking, too. I had a friend. Econ isn't for pansies.