Higher Education

My entire post says I want to grow as a person but also acknowledge I need a job how did you miss that? You strike me as the type who I'm referring to who only see the benefit of college as getting a job.

Interesting thanks. I should have been more specific, I have an interest in literature and am open to most of what falls under that. What can you tell me about classics?

Well, I'm doing CS because I want a good career, so you're not entirely wrong. I did however acknowlege that you should absolutely go for it if it were free. I'm just not convinced that the degree is worth the student loan debt.

I majored in philosophy, me and my philosophy friends would always have a laugh that the English majors read less English than we did.

"English" is a major for mundanes who don't know what to major in and thought The Great Gatsby was, like, the best book ever you know?

It's just a notch above "Education" (dumping ground for dumpy women) or "Social Services" (dumping ground for blacks).

I plan on minoring in philosophy actually.

I have studied English in university at one of the top schools in the US. I will graduate this upcoming Spring. I don't regret it, I have learned a lot of interesting things, honed my critical thinking, writing, interpersonal, and argumentative skills, and really have fallen in love with the whole of the literary tradition. There's so much to learn and read and enjoy!

A word of advice, however. English (alongside Classics, Linguistics, etc.) is not a "useless" major, but it is impractical, meaning it is harder to get a job straight out of college. From your post it seems you aren't concerned with that, and that's fine. But you have to understand going in to this whole experience that what you want now may not be what you want in four years from now when you are approaching graduation. Right now you might shun the idea of working for some soulless corporate entity straight out of college, but down the road you may feel some encroaching jealousy towards your friend who just signed with J.P Morgan for a $90,000/yr plus bonuses consulting gig straight out of college.

My advice? Major in what you love, and minor in what's practical. English and economics, maybe, or English and biomedical sciences, or best of all, business/finance. I double-major in English and Political Science, and did that with the explicit intention of going to law school at the end of all this, which I still plan to do. Keep a "backup" for yourself in the form of your minor (or dual major) so that if, down the road, you decide that you do not like what you study, you can ensure employers that you have other, more practical skills with which you can acquire a wonderful job.

I will say this about English though - it is a very fulfilling thing to study. I recommend it above philosophy, which I find dull, and bottomless.

>Enrolled in EE program
>Graduating within the next year
>Going to be making $75k-100k a year designing schematics for automobile circuitboards or creating software for useless electronics

I already sold my soul, OP. The "changing the world" shit is just a dumb meme that engineers create to validate their glorified desk job. If I had to chance to redo it all I definitely would have gone into philosophy and political science and worked my way into law school. I may still consider law school though.

Going to university to grow as a person is unrealistic.

I am a senior English student at a reguonal university, and I have job offers out the A. My advice-- major in professional writing. You get all of the thrills of an English degree with the practical skills to match. For example, today I am reading Jane Austen and The Last of the Mohicans; tomorrow, I will be designing a website and writing up documents for a government agency. English is the way to go!

I was a history major and I heard all of the same shit; just study what you love, work hard, and be a nice person, and everything else will fall into place.

I like drinking beer. Have I majored in it?

Life is inherently meaningless. So think more about what will help you survive better, if you think survival is important.

God bless.

Go into what interests you. A lot of people go into STEM and end up doing a job they hate for the rest of their lives, sitting in some cubicle in an office. Yes, on average they may make more money than those who major in something such as English, but many of these STEM majors are committing to a field that they end up growing to despise. A lot of these people are going into STEM purely because it's the popular thing to do. But sure, if someone really does have passion for engineering, then by all means go in to it. Just don't go into a field such as this because it's the popular thing to do or because it is the safest thing to do financially. Go in to something that you enjoy and have a passion for.

You know, what you said really interests me and I never thought about it that way. I always thought that I should just major in marketing so I could get a sweet job out of college but now I think I want to read more Austen and Bataille. You go, girl!

>life is meaningless
Typical pisswasserfag

You know, what you just said really interests me and I never thought about it that way. I always thought that I should major in something that I have a passion for and actually enjoy, but now I think I want to sit in an office all day and live a painfully dull life. Of course I'll also join in on the circlejerk with my reddit buddies too xD

You guys couldn't be more wrong about majoring in English. You're conforming to a meme, and this is from someone who is majoring in one of the 'acceptable' humanity fields. You both clearly have no understanding of what English majors actually do

What about comparative literature?

Why don't you guys go back to school and pursue your passion after gaining financial stability? Seriously asking. Also, would it be realistic to get a CS degree to end in a comfy job having enough free time to read and write? This is the only reason that keeps me doubting between CS and electrical engineering (which I assume will be more professionally demanding).

Reasonable point. I don't value money enough to devote my life to gaining a lot of it though.

>Wait, so you're willing to go thousands of dollars in debt just to get a useless meme degree and "grow as a person"?
You're distorting and simplifying OP's overall point. Also, what you consider a 'useless meme degree' could just as well be said for any STEM field. You're going into what is useful to the sole purpose of gaining money.

>If you're in a civilized country and get free uni, by all means go for it.
>But if you're a non-richfag american, you should really think this through.
Now this is actually a good point. Depending on where you are, going into something you enjoy could end up being risky. You should definitely consider this before making your choice. Though do not completely rule out majoring in something you enjoy because it is risky; the risk could be very much worth taking.

>not being interested in everything

>tfw people actually spend 40k on useless degrees simply to validate their sense of superiority over the working class

I know you guys don't think of it like that, but it is what it is.

Only thing worse is people who major in a second language. It's like they actually think taking four years to learn French or Spanish is impressive.

Once I met a girl doing a PhD on drug addiction despite obviously not being a drug user in any sense of the word. She even seemed squeamish about weed, yet for whatever reason, she thought an intense academic study of this subject she had no knowledge of and seemingly no willingness to investigate was a good idea. Of course she was a upper class jew. Its kind of sad really, people spend their entire youths chasing pats on the back and gold stars and never even realize how stupid they really are.

I don't get why someone would go to university to learn about such a shitty language (and culture) as English.

I feel sick just thinking about an English major designing a website.

>cubicle office
Yes, we've all heard that line a billion times. It's not true, but whatever makes you feel better about your empty wallet.

>not learning history

You need to control the hyperbole

Got anything better to spend 200k on?

You're the one trying to validate a sense of superiority. I know you don't think of it like that but it is what it is.

Tbqh OP, if you're smart you should study something that has a high net worth in the economy, and simply do your writing on the side for a long time, until you're confident that you can write something good.

So if you ever decide to quit your job after school and focus on writing, you can always fall back on your education if something happens.

I'm the first user and I went back to school to study law. It is an objectively bad choice for most people but I like it and I'm good at it so things are going fine. I have this long term dream of working for like 15 years, having like 7 years of that sweet partner money under my belt, and then going to some great liberal arts school to study literature at the graduate level for fun. I just need to focus on making partner between now and then so that I can do it with a few million in the bank.

People will do anything to not be working class m8, and it shouldn't surprise you. Being working class is shitty, and alienating.

This

I went into STEM, I'm working and am paid above average, but it really isn't fucking worth it. Like another user said, if I could go back and redo, I would. I feel like a lot of the other STEM posters try to shit talk fields that would be enjoyable as they want to feel like the choice they made was the right one--they are uncertain of themselves. If there is a sense that what I do is more acceptable than what you do, I feel better about what I do. I will shittalk what you do in order to help contribute a sense of superiority in what I do over what you do, even though I wish I did what you do... Work, holidays, work... this is painful, this is not what I wanted

> Work, holidays, work... this is painful, this is not what I wanted

That's what would've happened anyway because that's life.

It's just that most people do it by attaining the qualifications that allow them to move up the social ladder. Not by spending 4 years learning how to be "cultured".

But out of the two of us, who's the one going into debt for a piece of paper that few people care about?

If I had 200k I'd rent some castle in Nepal and take a kindle and computer with me. I'd come out with a second language and a world class education, all while living the life of a modern day aristocrat.

Or I could spend that much to spend 4 years sitting at a desk discussing philosophy with pic related and figuring life out before I've even experienced it.

>Not by spending 4 years learning how to be "cultured".
>This is what the plebeians think we do

>falling for the autodidact meme

kek

As the other guy said, that's life.

It's either "suffer" for 4 years so you can get paid a lot to suffer, or you can have fun as an English major for 4 years and then suffer without big pay at a call center.

for

>Not by spending 4 years learning how to be "cultured".

I doubt people study English to be "cultured".

I live in the US and have all of my schooling paid for. Thank you, based California.

>fun for four years
>ending up in a call center
This is hilariously off. I majored in English a very long time ago and I have studied it at an even higher level. I also work in universities in jobs surrounding my field, sometimes doing a variety of other jobs focused around literature, and I make above average pay. No, I am not a wealthy person, but I love what I do and that is all I ever wanted. To find something that interests me, to study it, and to make a living from it.

I'm double majoring in English and Philosophy.
While in Australia University isn't 'free' it's essentially a 0 interest loan you have no obligation to pay until you earn a certain amount.
I'll decide when I finish but at this point my backup plan is to teach, something I've done some credits for before starting this degree.

If I was in America and had to take some ridiculous loan or pay up front I would reconsider solely majoring in something that won't find me employment though.

how

It just has to do with what YOU want to do with your life and what YOU value. The fact is that STEM majors have a higher chance of finding a stable, good paying job after college. If you've done some research you may have read that there is relatively less demand for english majors which results in them having a relatively harder time of finding a job. If you're creative anything can happen ofcourse.

I'm a MechE student and from having talked with my students I can say that 80% of them chose the major for it's good job prospects. This can also be seen in their behaviour, they generally slack of and only start studying till a week before the finals, don't show interest for the companies we visit at field trips. Nothing wrong with all this, if thats how they want to spend their time its their choice.

The question is, what is more important to you? What do you value? Maybe it's good to sit down and write down how you feel about life. Ask yourself questions like "Would I care if I majored english that there is a chance that I have to do low-skilled work for a certain amount of time?" or "Could I finish a degree in a field I'm less (or not) interested only to have a higher chance of getting a well paying job?" Remember, im not saying that if you major in english you cant get a well paying job, it just in general takes more effort and creativity.

Also, "how am i suppose to know where I'll be in 4 years?". If you finished an English major you DO know where you are in 4 years but would you be okay with the circumstances/reality you will be in by then? Think about that, choose yourself.

>You shouldn't go into six-figure debt for a meme degree.
>So you literally only become an academic for a degree for the money

>Not at least paying for cultural capital

Why do you do it then? Clearly not for the degree. Do you just love burning money that much?

Its been working pretty well so far.

Feels good having access to taxpayer-funded higher education :^) And the Uni I attend is in the global top 50.

>Study in the Faculty of Social Sciences
>Just about to graduate.
>Our faculty is merged with Faculty of Humanities
>Get that merged faculty in my graduation papers
>"Lol what a lib college loser, go work at Starbucks you hippie!"

no one of any worth takes you seriously. you're a cultural, social, and intellectual lightweight. you're literally what dunning kruger describes.

I got my degree in English from a big state school, pretty much A's in everything, minored in Technical Writing and IT.

Took a couple of bullshit in-house writing/editing gigs before teaching, quit that and now work for myself.

I don't regret my degree per se, but if I could go back I'd probably major in something seem by society or the corporate word as "useful," or something built off of a defined skill set. If nothing else, majoring in English made me really, really good at writing and researching quickly. These are useful skills, but you have to know how to leverage them to make money (or convince someone you're worth hiring).

Do not go into debt for an English degree: you will want to kill yourself. I didn't, but I can only imagine.

Lol at social sciences being better than humanities.

I think that the humanities are fascinating and worthy subjects of study, but it doesn't make sense to study them at a university unless you can attend free university or are obscenely wealthy. I am interested in culture, history, language, and literature, but I'm not going to university for philology because I can study those things on my own time. If you have access to the internet, you can learn basically anything you want. Many of the top universities in the world post lectures online, for free. You do not need to go to university to learn something unless you lack discipline and need external motivation. You do, however, need a degree for many jobs, which is why STEM people analyze degrees in terms of marketability.

What are you on?

So who are the important people who respect you that much for having a bachelors in English literature, exactly, señor heavyweight?

Hard mode: no listing anyone you've paid a ridiculous amount of money too.

Why can't I just be a nihilist and not study anything?

>So who are the important people who respect you that much for having a bachelors in English literature, exactly, señor heavyweight?

I'm not the same user, but I'd just like to say that not everyone undertakes study for the point of impressing people or gaining money.

I study lit because I enjoy the work and it's a lifestyle I enjoy. It's nice to just spend all my time reading and thinking about literature, which I wouldn't get to do otherwise.

University matters more than major.

>never studied anything
makes sense that youre a nihilist

I'm not. Nihilist, I want to be though. I'm asking why I can't

>It's nice to just spend all my time reading and thinking about literature, which I wouldn't get to do otherwise

Really? You can't think of a way to do that that doesn't cost 40k a year?

>I study lit because I enjoy the work and it's a lifestyle I enjoy.
It isn't work though. Because university isn't a job. You're spending an obscene amount of money (probably your parent's) to live this "lifestyle" for four years, then end up with nothing out of it.

Dude unfortunately academia is about money now. Higher thought does not die in the cold embrace of capitalism, but universities certainly have. It costs a shit ton of money to go to school and getting a degree in English will make it really hard to pay that back. I have a degree in music. I will tell you where you will be in 4 years: Struggling to support yourself in a way that lets you lead an academically fulfilled life.

Get a degree that will help you support yourself and spend the rest of your life learning. Don't trade 4 years of literature for a lifetime as a barista.

Yikes, !

>Really? You can't think of a way to do that that doesn't cost 40k a year?

Where I study it doesn't cost anywhere near that much. More like 12k a year, and I don't have to pay it until I'm earning over 40k a year or something. Plus I got scholarships of around 5k, so that's a bit of a bonus.

>It isn't work though. Because university isn't a job. You're spending an obscene amount of money (probably your parent's) to live this "lifestyle" for four years, then end up with nothing out of it.

My mother (my only parent) is poorer than myself and hasn't given me money for years and years in any form. I grew up poor.

I can get any old job, but at the moment I get to pursue something I like. I did consider getting a PhD and pursuing academia, which I'm still considering, but I doubt I will pursue.

I'm considering becoming a high school English teacher too, which where I live requires only a couple years more study after a 4 year BA majoring in English.

Or I might just become a firefighter or something.

> then end up with nothing out of it.

That's all up to your own personal values. I will have learned more and read more literature far more than I could have otherwise just working some meaningless job.

>Get a degree that will help you support yourself and spend the rest of your life learning

Most jobs in a first world country are going to allow you to buy second hand books or even new books in large enough quantities that you'll always be reading.

If you want to do a literature degree, and you think the cost is worth it, do it.

If you want to earn heaps of money, jetting around the world and owning heaps of consumer goods, living in a fancy house, then do a STEM subject. You can always go into business or something else with a literature degree though. It doesn't prevent you from making money.

I can't believe the morons on this board actually fall for these meme degrees.

The truth is that what you do and learn in a liberal arts degree is completely fucking useless. The reason why the elites went to university was not to learn useful things but to network, and the value of a liberal arts degree on your CV is not in the degree itself but in the school--that is, you were smart or well connected enough to get into an elite school.

If you are getting a meme degree at a low or mid tier school and aren't networking, you're just a cargo culting pleb shackling yourself into debt slavery.

Whatever you do we are all rooting for you.

>Americans are so monolingual that they base a university degree on it
Top çeç

>indebted yourself 28 grand over four years of your life so that, with "only a couple years more study" you can become a high school English teacher

If you actually want to be a high school English teacher you could start doing that today. Its not even hard.

And nothings stopping you from reading books in your spare time, or studying them.

But just burning money to extend your childhood, to the point where just being a NEET would be a better option financially, I don't see the point. I also don't get the air of superiority so many posters here have about their elite English degrees.

>If you actually want to be a high school English teacher you could start doing that today. Its not even hard

It would amount to roughly the same amount of study as I have already done (I'm in my fourth year) if I wanted to do a straight high school teaching qualification, and the material would be much drier.

What do you/did you study, if anything? And why? Does it make you happy?

>. I also don't get the air of superiority so many posters here have about their elite English degrees.

I don't get that either, but I'm not sure I've really noticed it being to much of a thing. If anything, I've noticed more instances of those with English degrees being thought of as inferior by others.

>And nothings stopping you from reading books in your spare time, or studying them.

That's the thing though, I basically just love spending all my time reading. I read at least five hours a day. Usually more.

A BA on your CV, even if it is in "le meme degree" is still a positive. And in the end, we're all going to die, and I don't really mind not making large sums of professional yuppie degree money. Some of the happiest people I know are in no degree necessary fields.

>What do you/did you study, if anything? And why? Does it make you happy?
Nothing yet, can't afford it. I've been teaching myself on the side and working a shitty minimum wage job until I can afford to go to university, then I plan to work my ass off so I can enjoy a comfortable materialistic existence. Right now I'm pretty miserable

Although I have been an English teacher at a highschool before. The secret is working in 2nd/3rd world countries and/or falsifying documents as you need them.

I was an English Lit and Philosophy major, and it got me a job driving a forklift in a warehouse for the first 3 years out of school. If you're going to a inexpensive public school, fine, but if you're paying private college fees for it, I would recommend just getting a library card and going directly to that warehouse job.

What do you do now?

I have a phd in mechanical engineering, and I feel like you should do what you want, although I would still ask you that same question. Having a goal or a plan is not a negative thing, its something to stride for, even if its unrealistic or you don't achieve it, great people have always aimed high. You should ask STEM majors the same question, as curiosity beckons creativity and knowledge.

Its never about the job, or money, if you do what you love doing, you will thrive in said environment. Money is a byproduct of good ideas.

I'm a writer, but I didn't need to go to school for that, really. My majors were a result of my wanting to write, rather than my being a writer resulting from those majors. I read more & better books on my own than I did any year in school. I might not have probed Philosophy as deeply on my own, but then I'm not a philosopher, and my writing is for TV; not particularly philosophical.

You don't actually know what English degrees in the strictest academic sense entail. You have some warped perception of the humanities from pop culture and TV and such and think it's a bunch of people sitting around reading novels. There's actually very little of that going on.

You don't even know what you're supposedly "replicating" on your spare time, let alone actually replacing an academic degree.

After trying to study computer science for a couple of years and failing because I lived on campus and drank like a fish, I dropped out for a year working, reading, and taking psychedelics off the darknet. Ended up coming back and switching to English and philosophy, people ask why and I say that I'd regret the missed opportunity if I didn't. I'll owe a lot of money to the gov't at the end of all of this, but the repayment in Australia is very forgiving, I won't need to worry about it until I'm earning enough that it won't worry me anyway. If I don't go into post-grad or write for a living I'll probably end up teaching, which I'd find happiness in.

Sorry for the blog post, I feel sad about the fact that education is so limited in scope in the US, and taking a degree needs to be like learning a trade in order to be viable. I went to a shit poor High school full of blacks and my uni isn't great, but I still meet heaps of interesting people. If in Aus, we had the American system of needing to take a shit loan in order to pay for education, I don't think I would have even gone to uni, I'd be a labourer or something by now, working getting decent money, but I'd be floating through life very uninformed.

I've been working in a warehouse while studying and I think it's a good idea for anyone studying English or similar to work a real job while studying, employers will need to be more flexible with student workers unfortunately too, as you won't find a job straight out of uni and will need the workplace experience. There's nothing wrong with working a 'dumb' job while you continue to grow mentally.

thanks for letting me publicly justify my shit life choices due to a lack of self control

It's hard to justify studying what you love when the world is on such a fucked up precipice right now. STEM people actually can change the world for the better if they choose to. Nearly all STEM people don't "love" what they study, but they at least have the potential to sort out what needs to be done to improve the world. I don't think the world really needs even more writers' whose entire life experience entails studying English and then working, at best, a teaching job.

Sorry buddy, I didn't realize how important and challenging a literature degree is. I'm sure you're really changing the world and bettering yourself with your thought provoking analysis's of Jane Austin or Shakespeare. Really. Keep up the good work user, society's counting on you.

>There's actually very little of that going on.
So do you just spend all day fellating each other or what?

>You have some warped perception of the humanities from pop culture and TV
Have you ever thought that maybe YOU just have a warped perception of the humanities from a lifetime of academic grind in a system of debt slavery?
That maybe your stupid bubble of 'intellectualism' and 'culture' is just futile masturbation unless it actually has a consequence in society.

I mean just look at how full of yourself you are over a literature degree. An English literature degree. I bet English is your first language too you fucking pleb.

>That maybe your stupid bubble of 'intellectualism' and 'culture' is just futile masturbation unless it actually has a consequence in society.

Yeah, you should study STEM. That way, you may make a breakthrough in chemical engineering, allowing you to make cheaper lotion for masturbators, thus having a consequence in the """"""real"""""""" world.

Literally all facets of human life are advanced masturbation.

Philosophy major from a mediocre university here. I worked for McKinsey before quitting to manage my start-up, which is rather succesful.

Suck my dick STEMpleb.

>talks shit on American education
>has the exact same experience with education as an American would

>Still I do know I will need a job and what I've heard about English degrees is they are applicable to many different areas
The degree itself isn't- there's nothing much there that would really differentiate you from people studying any other humanities subject. But you can get a job in a wide range of things, sure. You just need to have useful experience outside your degree.

>So you literally only become an academic for a degree for the money
A bachelor degree doesn't make you an academic, user.

>A lot of people go into STEM and end up doing a job they hate for the rest of their lives, sitting in some cubicle in an office
Joke's on you, I studied history and I'm working in a cubicle. Don't hate it that much though.

>maybe you have a warped impression of what something is from actually doing it
>the version I've made up in my head on the other hand is 100% accurate

n-uh-huh shut the fuck up my mom says it does and she says she's super proud of her little boy academic

Except no because I don't have to worry about how I'll feed myself afterwards

>there are people this seriously deluded about being a jobless NEET
>muh "this country has had enough of experts"

>and/or falsifying documents as you need them

That can't end very well.

You aren't even in college

>STEM people actually can change the world for the better if they choose to. Nearly all STEM people don't "love" what they study, but they at least have the potential to sort out what needs to be done to improve the world

the old STEM "improves the world" meme.

It's hard to argue that medicine doesn't, but the others just mostly serve to gain knowledge about things that are about as useful as any humanities subjects, or they exist to produce commercial objects in the long run, like fancy new houses, cars, industrial goods, fancy technology that we don't really need.