What college majors should I avoid?

[disneysteve]

Than people I guess people like Bill Gates are the opposite of you..became super successful doing a job that usually requires a degree but he never got one.

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. Are you saying that people shouldn't go to college? If so, I strongly disagree.

Sure there are people who have become successful without college degrees. There are far more who haven't gotten a degree and are stuck in low-paying jobs as a result because most employers won't even look at you if you don't have a degree, even for positions that you wouldn't think need a college education.

[Eagle]

So, I'm still a bit confused. I thought this was going to be an easy question to answer, but it appears it's a bit more complicated than a black and white list.

It seems that the general opinion is to do something that I want to do first and foremost, but if I choose that path it may be a lot more difficult than choosing something where it's much easier to get a job.

The answer is... It depends.

It really depends on what field your considering going to undergraduate or graduate school in when considering a major and/or taking out loans.

So questions:

A. What is the field?

B. How much debt will you have by the time you graduate?

C. What impact will this degree have on your career or earning potential?

D. Have you considered moving to another state and/or living with family while getting this degree? What about going to community college for the first 2 years?

E. How much can you work to pay cash for expenses (tuition, room & board, books, etc.) while in school?

F. If you do take out loans, how long will it take for you to pay that debt back?

[Eagle]

@college

First, if you do plan on going back to school educate yourself on all available options. There's a lot of scholarships out there. Start with this website:

https://www.finaid.org

Second, consider website www.payscale.com like for comparing job profiles to the salaries of people with comparable skills and experience. Choose a potential degree that suits your interests and allows you to make a living wage.

Third, consider www.glassdoor.com looking up jobs by company and title. 

This will give you an idea of the potential income for entry level, mid-career, managerial, and executive positions in your field of interest. Also check out www.indeed.com to look average salaries by job title.

[Eagle]

@college

(Cont.)
Fourth, it is typically recommended that a student "keep their debt low enough that they don't have to spend more than 10% of their post-graduation pretax income on student loan bills." (Kim Clark, U.S. News 2009)

Fifth, it is a good idea not to take out more student loans more than your starting annual income. You should be able to pay back your student loans in about 10 years. "If your total student loan debt is less than your annual income, you'll be able to repay that debt in about 10 years." - Suzanna De Bacca, U.S. News 2012

[Eagle]

@college
On a personal level I got an MBA after college and it cost me about 20-25k. I went to a state school though. The program was supposed to be a 2 year program. It took me 5 years and I paid cash as I went. It was well worth it in 5 years since graduating I've almost tripled my income with a new job opportunity. Again typically it is recommended not taking out more debt than your first years salary worth of loans.

That said, I have an acquaintance who went to a very prestigious school who took out 150k worth of loans in 4 years for a business management college degree. She pays $1100 a month just in student loans alone. $1100! That's a house payment. That's before groceries, rent, utilities, gas, or anything else. And it will likely take 15-30 years to pay off unless there's a significant increase in her income, she wins the lottery, or she marries someone wealthy enough to pay off the debt. The excuse was her parents made her go to the university. My advice? Make your own decisions after doing some serious research.

Hope this helps!

[Singuy]

I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. Are you saying that people shouldn't go to college? If so, I strongly disagree.

Sure there are people who have become successful without college degrees. There are far more who haven't gotten a degree and are stuck in low-paying jobs as a result because most employers won't even look at you if you don't have a degree, even for positions that you wouldn't think need a college education.

My point to the person I replied to was that it's a fallacy to think a college education somehow magically can help the individual be good at a job that doesn't require a college education. I am saying it depends on the individual's hard work/job ethics and has very little to do with a college education(remember, we are talking about a job that normally DOESN"T require a college education here).

I am not saying to not attend college. I went to pharmacy school, you went to DO school, my wife went to Optometry school..and we are all very successful because of professional schooling. I do agree on skipping college if you are just going to study a bunch of nothing and come out with student debt working at job a high school student can get (which happens A LOT! I have 30 pharmacy technicians under me..and more than 50% of them have a degree in history/psychology/communications or other nonsense(the other 50% never went to college).

Also I know a LOT of college students (including my best friend) spend more than 4 years because they would constantly change majors. It usually happens like this:

Major is pre-med
Parties too hard..or just not used to the college 4 tests system(as in..no homework or extra credits to pad your grade like HS)..getting a F in chem 2 but doing well in physics
Drops class, change major to physics, diff equations is too hard
Loses interest, change major to art history..too much writing
Changes major to music theory
Getting a 2.7 gpa..needs to take Bowling and Running to pad GPA
before you know it, 4 years past..needs 6 more classes to get a psychology major
Need 4 more classes to get a history minor
Decides to stay another year to get both
Ends up working at the mall folding cloth.

^^-----this is what I call the college trap. You wander aimlessly, racking up credit card debts(because you are young and don't know any better) while taking the max out from the government to sponser your partying and poor decision making. Then people turns around and blames the credit card companies, blame the schools for being too expensive, blame the government for not creating enough jobs, and blame the banks for their student loan interests.

The real blame goes to the PARENTS and ONLY the PARENTS!

[GeorgeEastman]

Liberal Arts
Art
Women's Studies
Beyonce (this is a major at a college, I forget the name)

[bjl584]

I'd avoid anything too general or broad.

Anything in the Engineering, Computer, or Medical fields are probably your best bet.

And if college is out of reach or isn't your thing, then go to a trade school and learn something that is in demand. Plumbing, auto repair, HVAC, electrical, etc.

[GeorgeEastman]

Don't be one of those students that gets perfect grades and doesn't network either. Make connections.

Not what you know, it's who you know.

[awalk123]

Avoid philosophy it is a pointless major and you will not get hired anywhere with it.