Seeking advice about "the college major"

[G&T]

I think next semester all I'm going to do is take general education requirements and electives from various areas that I'm interested in.

 

This is essentially what I did when I was your age and confused. I took all my pre-reqs and decided on a major based on the pre-req that I enjoyed the most. I had an awesome history prof and I ended up with a History degree.

This has another benefit. When you do figure out what you want to do, you will have all the garbage classes out of the way and your last couple years in school will be much more enjoyable.

[Y2HH]

This is essentially what I did when I was your age and confused. I took all my pre-reqs and decided on a major based on the pre-req that I enjoyed the most. I had an awesome history prof and I ended up with a History degree.

This has another benefit. When you do figure out what you want to do, you will have all the garbage classes out of the way and your last couple years in school will be much more enjoyable.

 

This is very true. I loved classes that involved discussion groups/classes as they added to the learning process. I was never a fan of pure lectures, I found them boring and mundane. I was also lucky enough to be one of those guys who shows up with no books, doesn't bother highlighting anything in said books (like TONS of people do), and I only studied if I thought I needed an A, as I was happy not studying and getting B's.

 

Yea, I was that annoying guy who hardly ever showed up to lectures and still got B's or A's.

Edited March 11, 2009 by Y2HH

[False Alarm]

you may be right about being an English major; however, I just am not seeing the connection between me hating reading and talking courses that are based around reading.... I have always been intrigued by the prospect of being...an editor.

you'd probably hate your job.

[The Beast]

you'd probably hate your job.

Yes, I probably would hate a job of reading and interpreting text, but I probably wouldn't hate a job of reading and editing copy. This is why I'm taking a variety of courses and I probably won't get into that field.

 

I think the phrase "like your job" and save "love for family and friends" makes more sense than "love your job."

[Texsox]

My almost foolproof method of picking a major.

 

1. Get out the catalog and list every course that seems interesting to you.
2. See what department most of the classes are in.
3. Done

[The Beast]

My almost foolproof method of picking a major.

 

1. Get out the catalog and list every course that seems interesting to you.
2. See what department most of the classes are in.
3. Done

The problem that I see with the communication major is that people have said Communication is a bulls*** major like philosophy and I could only get a retail job.

 

I guess I am intrigued by areas of business, writing (journalism, not interpreting text), and psychology. UIC offers Communication, Marketing and Psychology. I think that this semester it might be beneficial to start on the Foreign Language requirements and knock out gen eds before considering what I should do. I probably should have had most of those hammered out when I was at EIU, but they had really crappy advising that forced me into the English cirriculum. So, instead of a complete waste of money for my sophomore year, I was thinking that I could stick with Communication and take business courses as well as English courses. OR, I could get out of Communication and save myself the Foreign Language requirement bull crap by going into Marketing. It's a fun situation.

 

Maybe I'll try that method.

Edited March 14, 2009 by The Beast

[Texsox]

The problem that I see with the communication major is that people have said Communication is a bulls*** major like philosophy and I could only get a retail job.

 

I guess I am intrigued by areas of business, writing (journalism, not interpreting text), and psychology. UIC offers Communication, Marketing and Psychology. I think that this semester it might be beneficial to start on the Foreign Language requirements and knock out gen eds before considering what I should do. I probably should have had most of those hammered out when I was at EIU, but they had really crappy advising that forced me into the English cirriculum. So, instead of a complete waste of money for my sophomore year, I was thinking that I could stick with Communication and take business courses as well as English courses. OR, I could get out of Communication and save myself the Foreign Language requirement bull crap by going into Marketing. It's a fun situation.

 

Maybe I'll try that method.

 

It all depends on how you want to live your life. For myself, working a job I do not like, is never worth the money. It took me several decades to understand that, a serious amount of time wasted. I did not need the country club and vacations to have a happy life, I needed the country club and vacations to survive my unhappy, but lucrative, job.

 

Make the most of every class, even the ones that you are struggling in. The most interesting people I know can speak on a wide range of topics and subjects. They seem to enjoy life more.

 

Good luck

[knightni]

You should go into business psychology, then.

 

Be a consultant. Tell people your opinions and get paid for it.

 

http://www.thechicagoschool.edu/content.cf...al_program_psyd

[mr_genius]

go into anything that has something to do with health care. you'll be a frickin millionaire.

[knightni]

go into anything that has something to do with health care. you'll be a frickin millionaire.

Business Psychology is 30% of all corporate healthcare.

[southsider2k5]

go into anything that has something to do with health care. you'll be a frickin millionaire.

 

Not after the government takes it over and slashed the entire cost structure out of it.

[Texsox]

Not after the government takes it over and slashed the entire cost structure out of it.

 

I'm surprised you would think that health care would be less lucrative after the government takes it over.

[southsider2k5]

I'm surprised you would think that health care would be less lucrative after the government takes it over.

 

For those providing the services, there is no doubt in my mind. The whole big thing here is what health care costs. The government's whole intention is to go in and make it cheaper for people to get health services.

[Y2HH]

For those providing the services, there is no doubt in my mind. The whole big thing here is what health care costs. The government's whole intention is to go in and make it cheaper for people to get health services.

 

The government will fail in this attempted overhaul, they will instead just subsidize the industry with enormous sums of taxpayer money, or newly printed money. Either way, they will have little effect on cost control. They've tried this many times before and it's always failed, and it will fail again.

[southsider2k5]

The government will fail in this attempted overhaul, they will instead just subsidize the industry with enormous sums of taxpayer money, or newly printed money. Either way, they will have little effect on cost control. They've tried this many times before and it's always failed, and it will fail again.

 

In this case the failure will be adding a ginormous amount of people to an already overburdened system. It will also cause people to not be interested in going into medicine because the reward isn't going to outweight the payout anymore.

[Texsox]

For those providing the services, there is no doubt in my mind. The whole big thing here is what health care costs. The government's whole intention is to go in and make it cheaper for people to get health services.

 

I agree, with surprises me.

[The Beast]

Alright, time to bump the thread.

 

I'll admit, I've been rather impatient just kind of waiting out the rest of the semester and just putting all of the strength I have into my academics. I've been thinking about different careers and such, and I've been debating back and forth about what to do. I think the city will prove to be a better place for me to go to school at. It's been rather tedious down here because I'm still unsure about what to do. I'm just happy that next year I'm going to be able to start fresh, try new things out, like joining running clubs and maybe even a catholic group on campus. I want to get involved, network and work my way up. Ultimately, I want to get a degree.

 

My concerns about what I've been thinking about are as follows:

 

Psychology---I don't know why I thought about Psych but I don't know if I could handle the day in day out emotions of the people I would be helping. I'm a caring person and I wear my emotions, so I'm not exactly sure if that would be a good job.

Business Administration---Marketing and Management would be something to consider. My problem is that there is Calculus (for business) required as a general education requirement and that kind of freaked me out since Mathematics has never been one of my strong points. I would just need a C to get through the class, and I would be willing to bust my ass just to get that grade and move right along.

Communication---I applied to the school as a Liberal Arts major, but in the end, I think it might be best to just go undecided and knock out gen eds. Communication is kind of broad, and I think if I focused on one area, it might give me a better chance in the job market. The major is 36 credits in addition to the rest of the general education requirements, but I'm not sure if I'd be interested in hearing a lot about theory. If they had something that was related to Public Relations or something of that nature, I might consider it.

 

I know that in the end I'll probably get a degree. I just want to be sure that I work with good people, that I am capable of doing a good job and overall that I can live a steady life.

[nitetrain8601]

Well I will say, for Business Administration at UIC, it's business calculus that you take. It's a whole lot easier than Calculus. Heck, it's a lot easier than Pre-Calc as well. Once you get through that, you're golden, especially if you could do Statistics.

[The Beast]

Well I will say, for Business Administration at UIC, it's business calculus that you take. It's a whole lot easier than Calculus. Heck, it's a lot easier than Pre-Calc as well. Once you get through that, you're golden, especially if you could do Statistics.

I think the only reason I've felt rather irrational lately is the fact that I'm still at EIU. Now that the semester is coming to a close, I'm going to be working this summer at a decent job where I'll have a lot of time to think. Today I was thinking about why I was thinking of going into teaching and it wasn't so much that I wanted to teach English, but I wanted students to be aware of the choices they make and why they think the way they do. I was inspired to write and teach from my high school teacher in radio and journalism. However, I didn't really care about reading for literature symbols.

 

The reason I'm thinking of business is because I think that I could do well in a business orientated environment. I get things done both well and on time. Ideally, if I got a communication degree, I would take writing and business courses to showcase what I can do for a company. This is why I'm thinking of being a business major over the communication major.

 

I've also thought about being a high school counselor or a life coach of some nature. Who knows what I'll do? I'm just glad I'll be in a more academically orientated environment.

 

As for business calculus, that sounds good. I'm not a math major or even that good at math but I can do some algebra and equations.

[Texsox]

If you go Psychology you will need a Masters degree at the minimum. Most people will tell you to plan on a PhD. There are a lot of fields in Psychology, Industrial for one, Sports Psy for another, where you are not dealing with "problems" but more enhancements.

[nitetrain8601]

I think the only reason I've felt rather irrational lately is the fact that I'm still at EIU. Now that the semester is coming to a close, I'm going to be working this summer at a decent job where I'll have a lot of time to think. Today I was thinking about why I was thinking of going into teaching and it wasn't so much that I wanted to teach English, but I wanted students to be aware of the choices they make and why they think the way they do. I was inspired to write and teach from my high school teacher in radio and journalism. However, I didn't really care about reading for literature symbols.

 

The reason I'm thinking of business is because I think that I could do well in a business orientated environment. I get things done both well and on time. Ideally, if I got a communication degree, I would take writing and business courses to showcase what I can do for a company. This is why I'm thinking of being a business major over the communication major.

 

I've also thought about being a high school counselor or a life coach of some nature. Who knows what I'll do? I'm just glad I'll be in a more academically orientated environment.

 

As for business calculus, that sounds good. I'm not a math major or even that good at math but I can do some algebra and equations.

 

I think you would succeed at business calculus, even if it's at EIU. I stunk at Calc and I was able to pass prettty easily. The best thing you could do is find a group of people in class that you talk to or that you could see talking to(basically people you think you would hang out with on a regular basis, even though you don't have to do this) and helping each other out. It's much easier in class when there's someone on the side of you in which you could ask a question and stuff. I guess it makes you feel like you're not in this alone. Other classes that you struggle in would be better if you did the same in those classes. You may develop a friendship or two. Just make sure you don't get people who are lazy or who always ditch class. By always, I mean 75%.

[The Beast]

I think you would succeed at business calculus, even if it's at EIU. I stunk at Calc and I was able to pass prettty easily. The best thing you could do is find a group of people in class that you talk to or that you could see talking to(basically people you think you would hang out with on a regular basis, even though you don't have to do this) and helping each other out. It's much easier in class when there's someone on the side of you in which you could ask a question and stuff. I guess it makes you feel like you're not in this alone. Other classes that you struggle in would be better if you did the same in those classes. You may develop a friendship or two. Just make sure you don't get people who are lazy or who always ditch class. By always, I mean 75%.

I probably could succeed at business calculus, though it isn't going to be at EIU. I'm not coming back here next semester. I'm better made for a more urban environment and I just couldn't see that when I was looking for schools. I never visited ISU and I kind of would like to attend a school that is in the city and isn't ungodly expensive. One thing that I have to realize is that I'm a transfer student, and that I do not meet a lot of the pre-requisites for the Business Administration program at UIC. I do not have coursework in statistics or business calculus. In addition, I applied as a Liberal Arts major, and they responded by inserting into the department as undeclared, stating that "this is based off the coursework you have achieved thus far and depends on your future academic success." Well, I'm doing fine in my classes, so that isn't going to be an issue. I'm going to discuss my situation with the academic advisor when I go to the transfer orientation program and try to explain that I'm not sure if what I want is possible. At the moment, I need to hammer out some general education requirements that UIC has, and if I go into the Liberal Arts college, I'll need to begin on the foreign language requirement. I want my counselor to know that I'm thinking Communication with business coursework is probably what will benefit me the most, and that I'm either thinking of changing to Business Administration or I'm going to get my MBA in business administration.

 

The way things are looking in the economy and where my skills are at, I think that I'll need to get a Liberal Arts degree or obtain a business degree. Hopefully the answers to my questions will come sooner than later. I'm just glad to be starting over at a different university that isn't College of DuPage. (Which isn't a bad start to your college education.)

 

Edit: Alternatively, it's articles like these that make me have hope: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi...,0,693487.story

It allows me to see that there's no set path and that change can be good. So, I think transferring from EIU to UIC can be a good thing.

Edited April 6, 2009 by The Beast