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How do you define "bullshit major"?

m0zg 7y ago
A major which the labor market doesn't need in the quantities that are being churned out by colleges, such as the classic "would you like fries with that" English major. It's not "bullshit" if you're independently wealthy and can pay to "study" for "fun", or as a second major to something that's in demand. But for everybody else I'd consider more in-demand professions, even though they're usually much harder. For an example, take a gander at this list: https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/degree_programsTOC.html https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/degree_programsTO.... All the bullshit majors are very easily identifiable. Most, but not all of them have "studies" in their name.
- NotSammyHagar 7y ago
  You can go even farther, if less than 50% of the people studying it work in that field, maybe less than 20% work there? And their expected wages can't pay for the cost of the college education in 20 years, then it's very questionable to study in that field. Unless you are rich already.
  - modriano 7y ago
    >You can go even farther, if less than 50% of the people studying it work in that field, maybe less than 20% work there? By that metric, one of my undergrad majors (physics) is a bullshit major as very few of us went into that field. But it prepared us very well for many other fields, so I'd say that metric is not meaningful.
- 13415 7y ago
  That doesn't make the degrees bullshit, though, it merely means that studying the respective field is less likely to be very economically rewarding. You need to make a difference between practical life advice and evaluations of areas and disciplines, or otherwise you'd also have to say that Vincent van Gogh and H.P. Lovecraft were total losers. They weren't. Wittgenstein gave away most of his inherited wealth when he was a young man. That doesn't make him an idiot either. That being said, there are some crappy degrees out there. Some disciplines are mostly just watered down philosophy and I'd go for philosophy instead anytime.
  - m0zg 7y ago
    >> it merely means that >> studying the respective field is less likely >> to be very economically rewarding Um, no, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in borrowed money for something which doesn't provide any ROI is IMO bullshit, particularly so if you can't discharge the debt under bankruptcy. Your examples are bad too, because back in the day all those painters, writers, etc, were either independently wealthy already, or did other jobs before they became famous. H.P. Lovecraft, for instance, worked as a traveling salesman. Van Gogh both comes from a wealthy family _and_ had a job at an art dealer. And there are very few of such people anyway, it's not a viable route for most people, it's more like a lottery.
    - SantalBlush 7y ago
      Again, this doesn't mean that the degree is bullshit; it means the degree is grossly overpriced. In reality, almost all degrees are overpriced right now.

m0zg 7y ago

A major which the labor market doesn't need in the quantities that are being churned out by colleges, such as the classic "would you like fries with that" English major. It's not "bullshit" if you're independently wealthy and can pay to "study" for "fun", or as a second major to something that's in demand. But for everybody else I'd consider more in-demand professions, even though they're usually much harder. For an example, take a gander at this list: https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/degree_programsTOC.html https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/degree_programsTO.... All the bullshit majors are very easily identifiable. Most, but not all of them have "studies" in their name.

NotSammyHagar 7y ago
You can go even farther, if less than 50% of the people studying it work in that field, maybe less than 20% work there? And their expected wages can't pay for the cost of the college education in 20 years, then it's very questionable to study in that field. Unless you are rich already.
- modriano 7y ago
  >You can go even farther, if less than 50% of the people studying it work in that field, maybe less than 20% work there? By that metric, one of my undergrad majors (physics) is a bullshit major as very few of us went into that field. But it prepared us very well for many other fields, so I'd say that metric is not meaningful.
13415 7y ago
That doesn't make the degrees bullshit, though, it merely means that studying the respective field is less likely to be very economically rewarding. You need to make a difference between practical life advice and evaluations of areas and disciplines, or otherwise you'd also have to say that Vincent van Gogh and H.P. Lovecraft were total losers. They weren't. Wittgenstein gave away most of his inherited wealth when he was a young man. That doesn't make him an idiot either. That being said, there are some crappy degrees out there. Some disciplines are mostly just watered down philosophy and I'd go for philosophy instead anytime.
- m0zg 7y ago
  >> it merely means that >> studying the respective field is less likely >> to be very economically rewarding Um, no, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in borrowed money for something which doesn't provide any ROI is IMO bullshit, particularly so if you can't discharge the debt under bankruptcy. Your examples are bad too, because back in the day all those painters, writers, etc, were either independently wealthy already, or did other jobs before they became famous. H.P. Lovecraft, for instance, worked as a traveling salesman. Van Gogh both comes from a wealthy family _and_ had a job at an art dealer. And there are very few of such people anyway, it's not a viable route for most people, it's more like a lottery.
  - SantalBlush 7y ago
    Again, this doesn't mean that the degree is bullshit; it means the degree is grossly overpriced. In reality, almost all degrees are overpriced right now.