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Okay, why are you going to school? To learn some things? To get some paper? Both? To party? Oh, actually, let me break the "learn some things" down... To

by jholman 16y ago

Okay, why are you going to school? To learn some things? To get some paper? Both? To party? Oh, actually, let me break the "learn some things" down... To learn some job-applicable things in classes? To learn some non-directly-job-applicable things in classes? To learn about people who think differently from the people you met in high school? All of these are good reasons to do post-secondary education. Lots of them are compatible with each other, too. But if you don't care about some of them, don't optimize for those things. With that in mind... A lot of people are talking about the on-paper value of your degree, and you appear to be interested in that. I'm not sure that's actually right for you; it appears to me that you're on a career path where no one will ever care about your degree. Moreover, even in careers where the presence of a degree matters, the nature of that degree might not; some jobs just say "must have degree" on them, and that's that. Some jobs do care, but those are rare rare rare. So, I doubt that you actually need to focus much on the paper value of your degree. That said, let's talk about the paper value of your degree. First, school choice. I'm a Canadian, I assume you're American, so this may be wrong, but I think that cheap US schools ("cheap city college"?) have very low brand value. (As I understand it, for a first-world country, the range of brand value in schools in the US is very high... some very very high-brand-value schools, and some very very low ones, and a whole range in between.) And now, I'll get to the major. Normally you don't get to name your own major. There are exceptions to this, some of which are high-prestige. For example, Will Shortz does love to brag about his degree. But in general, if your major isn't a "real major", it's a joke. Also, many schools have a "not-really-any-major" option, which may be called General Studies, or something like that. Or, my school has an option to get a degree with no major, but two "extended minors". These nothing-major degrees are all very low-prestige. But remember, maybe you don't care about the paper value of your degree.

brianbreslin 16y ago
brand value has a BIG importance in the US. you are basically buying your way into a separate class of opportunities. Also the opportunity cost of getting a branded/respected degree is MUCH lower now than in say 20 years from now. You are buying a safety net. also the fact that most "marketing" majors know squat about practical marketing is irrelevant, most students lack the ambition and foresight to break beyond their major of study. you're showing us now through this thread you're thinking ahead. no one will be more impressed if you have a self-named degree over being a marketing major, but proving yourself an expert in web marketing analytics (which you become on your own, and build up your brand).

by jholman 16y ago

brianbreslin 16y ago

brand value has a BIG importance in the US. you are basically buying your way into a separate class of opportunities. Also the opportunity cost of getting a branded/respected degree is MUCH lower now than in say 20 years from now. You are buying a safety net. also the fact that most "marketing" majors know squat about practical marketing is irrelevant, most students lack the ambition and foresight to break beyond their major of study. you're showing us now through this thread you're thinking ahead. no one will be more impressed if you have a self-named degree over being a marketing major, but proving yourself an expert in web marketing analytics (which you become on your own, and build up your brand).