The most useless university degrees

Dutch Uncle said:
You like your coffee like your women? Cold and bitter?

If there's a PhD behind the counter, he's studying how idiots who can't even zip up their pants can earn a BS in engineering and still pay $5 for a Starbucks coffee.
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No doubt he'll study that for the next 35 or 40 years. Meanwhile, those who can, do. :D
 
Cypress said:
My philosophy is, I would rather have some creative and intellectual autonomy, and enjoy what I do, than make my life's focus about money and material possessions.

We all have a baseline of income we desire to be comfortable, but after that making our lives and careers meaningful depends on intangibles beyond mere money. I would not have traded what I did even if someone offered me three times the salary for something I considered less palatable.

If asked, I never advise a young adult to focus on engineering, computer science, or medical school, unless they have a strong interest in it.

If I am reincarnated, I will pursue a philosophy or oceanography degree in my next life!
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Agreed, but I've seen a lot of people go for the money and only the money. Always buying the newest car, the biggest house, etc.

A few years ago I was on an overnight trip to exciting Manhattan, Kansas. The hotel, a nice one, was next to the University and most of the staff were students. Our van driver/desk clerk was a med student. He was trying to decide between cardiology or sports medicine. I told him exactly what you just pointed out; go with what makes you most passionate. You'll make enough money either way.

That advice goes for any career path, not just the STEM ones. Bankers and teachers can be unhappy too as well as anyone else who went down a path for money, not passion.
 
China Joe said:
No doubt he'll study that for the next 35 or 40 years. Meanwhile, those who can, do. :D
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LOL. Great job stereotyping. College is expensive. Most students graduate with $150-200K (a mistake IMO). No one can really afford to be a professional student unless Mommy and Daddy are footing the bill all the way to keep junior away from the Country Club.
 
Cypress said:
My philosophy is, I would rather have some creative and intellectual autonomy, and enjoy what I do, than make my life's focus about money and material possessions.

We all have a baseline of income we desire to be comfortable, but after that making our lives and careers meaningful depends on intangibles beyond mere money. I would not have traded what I did even if someone offered me three times the salary for something I considered less palatable.

If asked, I never advise a young adult to focus on engineering, computer science, or medical school, unless they have a strong interest in it.

If I am reincarnated, I will pursue a philosophy or oceanography degree in my next life!
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I had a fine career that made a difference without needing the monetary wealth some people lust for. If I had to do it over again, I often think I would pursue teaching as a career. Thise were dome of the people who made a difference in my life. I remember their names and how they affected my life 50+ years later.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
LOL. Great job stereotyping. College is expensive. Most students graduate with $150-200K (a mistake IMO). No one can really afford to be a professional student unless Mommy and Daddy are footing the bill all the way to keep junior away from the Country Club.
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I went to a State school and my tuition was reasonable. It was only the study part that was difficult. I noted that many of my fellow classmates had far easier courses. Of course, these were useless majors. Among them:

Anything ending with "studies". Examples, women's studies, leisure studies...
Any BA in an otherwise science field. Example: A BA in Biology.
 
China Joe said:
I went to a State school and my tuition was reasonable. It was only the study part that was difficult. I noted that many of my fellow classmates had far easier courses. Of course, these were useless majors. Among them:

Anything ending with "studies". Examples, women's studies, leisure studies...
Any BA in an otherwise science field. Example: A BA in Biology.
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My gut says you are correct, but I'd prefer to see numbers.

Going strictly by memory, back during the Great Recession, about 80% of those with STEM degrees had jobs, although most didn't work in the field of their degree. Only 40% non-STEM degree graduates were employed.

Again, it's better to have data and I don't have time to research it.
 
Big Money Dolla said:
"international studies"
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Masters of Psychology.

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Controlled Opposition said:
I must admit that getting a degree in ancient Lithuanian history wasn't a good idea.
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There is no such degree that I am aware.

History is a perfectly fine major for those who are passionate about it, and have the initiative make it work for them.

I have a friend who used to get laughed at for majoring in history; now he is teaching at the U.S. Naval Academy.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Agreed, but I've seen a lot of people go for the money and only the money. Always buying the newest car, the biggest house, etc.

A few years ago I was on an overnight trip to exciting Manhattan, Kansas. The hotel, a nice one, was next to the University and most of the staff were students. Our van driver/desk clerk was a med student. He was trying to decide between cardiology or sports medicine. I told him exactly what you just pointed out; go with what makes you most passionate. You'll make enough money either way.

That advice goes for any career path, not just the STEM ones. Bankers and teachers can be unhappy too as well as anyone else who went down a path for money, not passion.
Click to expand...

For the record, I was not a liberal arts major, but this is an interesting insight:

Mark Cuban says studying philosophy may soon be worth more than computer science—here's why

According to billionaire technology entrepreneur Mark Cuban, earning a college degree in computer science might not be the safe investment you think it is.

Today, students who study computer science have a high likelihood of scoring a lucrative job: Glassdoor determined computer science and engineering to be the number one highest-paying major to study in 2017. Meanwhile, students of liberal arts subjects often make far less.

But Cuban, also an investor on ABC's "Shark Tank," expects that to change.

"I'm going to make a prediction," Cuban told AOL in 2017. "In 10 years, a liberal arts degree in philosophy will be worth more than a traditional programming degree." That's because Cuban expects artificial intelligence technology to vastly change the job market, and he anticipates that eventually technology will become so smart it can program itself.

"What is happening now with artificial intelligence is we'll start automating automation," Cuban tells AOL. "Artificial intelligence won't need you or I to do it, it will be able to figure out itself how to automate [tasks] over the next 10 to 15 years.

"Now the hard part isn't whether or not it will change the nature of the work force — it will," he continues. "The question is, over the period of time that it happens, who will be displaced?"

He views previously lucrative jobs in industries like accounting and computer programming as subject to the powers of automation. To remain competitive, Cuban advises ditching degrees that teach specific skills or professions and opting for degrees that teach you to think in a big picture way, like philosophy.

"Knowing how to critically think and assess them from a global perspective, I think, is going to be more valuable than what we see as exciting careers today which might be programming or CPA or those types of things," says Cuban, speaking at SXSW in Austin in 2017.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/mar...will-be-worth-more-than-computer-science.html
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Cypress said:
For the record, I was not a liberal arts major, but this is an interesting insight:
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Naval Ravikant discussed a similar topic with Joe Rogan on the two hour podcast below.

What he said was that we were a long, long way from "artificial intelligence" in terms of replicating human thinking, human creativity, but we were making great strides in AI where it just crunched numbers.

Although he didn't say a Philosophy degree would be worth more, he did mention that the purpose of tech was to free people to be creative. An example was Joe's podcast; a creative career that didn't exist 20 years ago.



 
Dutch Uncle said:
My gut says you are correct, but I'd prefer to see numbers.

Going strictly by memory, back during the Great Recession, about 80% of those with STEM degrees had jobs, although most didn't work in the field of their degree. Only 40% non-STEM degree graduates were employed.

Again, it's better to have data and I don't have time to research it.
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I've been employed in my field since the end of my Freshman year. My first full time employment, actually 70 hours/ week, began two weeks before my last final.

I lost 60-70% of my clients during the 08 recession. I took a hit, but tweaked my business model a bit and have been on a roll ever since.
 
Cypress said:
In my opinion, the people who like to chuckle it up about useless college degrees tend to be people who never graduated college.

Archaeology is not a useless degree. Private consultants and government agencies hire archaeologists. In California, CEQA probably alone created thousands of jobs for archaeologists.
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Our observations about education tend to be skewed by self-serving prejudices.
I've never heard a Princeton or Harvard PHD go on about useless degrees.

On the other hand, some of the most sadly stupid people I've ever known--
not merely ignorant but actually stupid--
love to blather on about how "common sense" is more important than "book learning."

Am I alone in this observation? I highly doubt it.
 
China Joe said:
I've been employed in my field since the end of my Freshman year. My first full time employment, actually 70 hours/ week, began two weeks before my last final.

I lost 60-70% of my clients during the 08 recession. I took a hit, but tweaked my business model a bit and have been on a roll ever since.
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Good for you, but I was referencing the fields in general. I have two degree and never worked in any of them per se.
 
Dutch Uncle said:
Good for you, but I was referencing the fields in general. I have two degree and never worked in any of them per se.
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Career training is career training and broadening the vistas of your mind is broadening the vistas of your mind.
One would be a fool to belittle either.
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Career training is career training and broadening the vistas of your mind is broadening the vistas of your mind.
One would be a fool to belittle either.
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Agreed.

As Cypress first posted, it's best to go to a field that interests you than just to make money.
Cypress said:
My philosophy is, I would rather have some creative and intellectual autonomy, and enjoy what I do, than make my life's focus about money and material possessions.

We all have a baseline of income we desire to be comfortable, but after that making our lives and careers meaningful depends on intangibles beyond mere money. I would not have traded what I did even if someone offered me three times the salary for something I considered less palatable.

If asked, I never advise a young adult to focus on engineering, computer science, or medical school, unless they have a strong interest in it.

If I am reincarnated, I will pursue a philosophy or oceanography degree in my next life!
Click to expand...
 
NiftyNiblick said:
Our observations about education tend to be skewed by self-serving prejudices.
I've never heard a Princeton or Harvard PHD go on about useless degrees.

On the other hand, some of the most sadly stupid people I've ever known--
not merely ignorant but actually stupid--
love to blather on about how "common sense" is more important than "book learning."

Am I alone in this observation? I highly doubt it.
Click to expand...


I would speculate that close to 100% of the people whining about education flunked high school.
 
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