Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › Is there any point in doing a double major?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Is there any point in doing a double major? - Page 5

post #61 of 68
8/12/09 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jodum5 View Post
You can graduate from school with a 3.8 cumulative with a double major in Finance and Accounting from Harvard and still be unemployed in this market or any market. Just because you did well in class and took the "right" majors doesn't mean you know how to get a job. That's not what we (at least I) am talking about. I never said taking History and English was a bad idea, I only said go for it if you have a specific plan on what you want to do with it. Example, you enjoy both subjects and you want to teach or write or whatever. Great. Do it. But if you want to work in business or you have no idea what you want to do with your life, double majoring in both is not a great idea, in my esteemed opinion. Take one, and take something else that will increase the chances of you not waiting tables at red lobster or some other hourly job when you graduate.
A few more thoughts: Study English and history, but don't skimp on science and math courses. If at all possible, take a statistics course. There is nothing like math and science to sharpen up your mind a resume. Quantitative competence is an absolute must. Speaking as a 40-something professor, I'd say that the biggest hassle about the Millenials is the constant need for positive feedback. Some of my students expect to be complimented on coming to class. (You would think that the desire to do well or the reality paying tens of thousands of dollars per year might be motivators, but they're just not that powerful.) Whatever you do, become an independent thinker and a go-getter. Doing well requires drive, energy, and work ethic. Acting only for external praise will kill you.
Reply
Reply
post #62 of 68
8/12/09 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oligarch View Post
You can't major in Finance and Accounting at Harvard or most other top schools. That's largely because those schools have decided that its more important for one to get a less vocational education at the undergraduate level.

Econ is hardly a more "useful" subject than things like history. At the university level, Econ can be far more abstract than what one would use in the regular business world or wall street jobs. I took plenty of higher-level math and econ, but to be totally honest, most of what I used on wall street as an analyst was high school AP econ and stuff from my economic history courses.

When interviewing for jobs in the tough 2002 job market, doing some basic reading (Peter Lynch, Ben Graham, Natenberg for an options job, etc.) helped me walk circles around some of the pencil pushers majoring in "more practical" things.

Again, I was using economics as an example.
Reply
Reply
post #63 of 68
8/19/09 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by philosophe View Post
A few more thoughts:

Study English and history, but don't skimp on science and math courses. If at all possible, take a statistics course. There is nothing like math and science to sharpen up your mind a resume. Quantitative competence is an absolute must.

Speaking as a 40-something professor, I'd say that the biggest hassle about the Millenials is the constant need for positive feedback. Some of my students expect to be complimented on coming to class. (You would think that the desire to do well or the reality paying tens of thousands of dollars per year might be motivators, but they're just not that powerful.) Whatever you do, become an independent thinker and a go-getter. Doing well requires drive, energy, and work ethic. Acting only for external praise will kill you.

That last bit there is excellent advice.
Reply
Reply
post #64 of 68
8/19/09 at 7:13pm
Thread Starter 
I don't care about feedback
Reply
Reply
post #65 of 68
8/19/09 at 7:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teger View Post
Let's say I could easily end up with a double major in history and English. Is there any point? Just stick with the history minor?
Those two? Nope Theres no money in studying either postgrad
Reply
Reply
post #66 of 68
8/19/09 at 7:25pm
I do not regret my major one bit (history). It's been incredibly rewarding, very enjoyable and has upped my writing and critical thinking skills. My network is not directly connected to the discipline of history but is a result of internships, jobs, and volunteer work. That said, I feel that history has given me a very solid grounding for the future. It's easy for me to digest a lot of information, think about it critically, and then offer an opinion or analysis. I would bet that 80% of U.S. college graduates can't really do that. Wasn't there a study recently that showed 30% of grads unable to compare two editorials with different viewpoints? +1 on the statistics course, btw. It is crucial to understanding the world and arguments in general. Learning about causality v. correlations and all of that really opened my mind.
Reply
Reply
post #67 of 68
8/19/09 at 11:30pm
I started off double majoring in philosophy and classics, but dropped classics so that I might graduate in three years. If I were to, say, specialize in ancient philosophy in grad school, then the second major would obviously have been of use.
Reply
Reply
post #68 of 68
8/19/09 at 11:30pm
let me reiterate... NO
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: General Chat
Styleforum › Forums › General › General Chat › Is there any point in doing a double major?