I have parents as clients who are concerned that their teenagers have expressed an interest in what the parents consider to be a “soft” major such as history or theater. Several of them are reluctant to pay for college if their child doesn’t major in what they consider to be one of the more marketable areas such as business or engineering. That statistic is only strengthened by the fact that 4.8 percent of new college graduates in those majors are unemployed.
My answer is that it is impossible for all students to have picked a major before starting college. In fact, I tell parents that getting admitted to a top college should be their top priority, not worrying about majors until at least the sophomore year. While it is true that business and engineering degrees are highly sought after, the key variable that ties all marketable degrees together is math.
The skills learned in acquiring a math degree will always be in demand in the workplace. Math majors always have an edge whenever there is a demand for logic, analytical thinking, and an aptitude for organizing and understanding data, but musicians and others in the arts may be highly proficient in mathematics as well.
Graduates with a strong math background will usually find a good job no matter what their major. One of my tutors at Harvard had a degree in philosophy with a minor in economics. His first job was with a top management firm in Boston. He had minored in economics because he knew the best firms look for quantitative skills in their new hires and he had spent the summer before his senior year as an intern learning to build financial models that required strong skills in statistics.
I counsel my clients and their parents to take a broad view of linking education and career goals. What employers look for in new grads is the ability to think effectivity communicate and write. Coupled with a strong background in math, these skills can be obtained from almost any major.
You will find that a liberal arts degree confers these skills better than a narrowly focused business degree which many employers consider to be overly focused on vocational subjects.
The liberal arts, such as history, theater, anthropology, and foreign languages, are certainly not as popular as business majors but they can provide an additional edge in getting admitted because colleges are looking for students to major in these subjects.
If your son or daughter is undecided on a major, a good place to start looking is College Majors 101 (www.collegemajors101.com). It is a great place to find detailed information including career paths, employers and starting salaries.
Freshmen and sophomore college years should be exploratory. Many subjects in college were never offered in high school and you will be exposed to many of them for the first time. College is time to expand your curriculum horizon while at the same time adding include a few classes that require math skills.
It is easy to fall into the trap of follow-the-leader and focus mainly on the most sought-after majors. But research a little deeper and you will find that by adding a few math classes to a liberal arts major you will make the degree just as marketable — or even more desirable to employers.
Gerald Bradshaw is an international college admissions consultant with Bradshaw College Consulting in Crown Point.
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March 04, 2022 at 03:04AM
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