| turbo_dave |
First off what did you major/minor in? Second, how usefull was it in the real world/ where did you end up. Thirdly, how did you deal with your friend that have "real degrees"? :)
Im in my second year of doing Philosophy/ Political science. I plan on ending up at law school. Depending on if I decide to take the LSAT this year and how I do I may cut my degree short and just go for the llb. I have noticed that I am all around more educated, like for example I can now make educated comments on/differentiate betweem different styles of art. As for question 3, i just ignore them because they are jealous because I am expanding my mind and not limiting myself to a specific career :) |
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| ChromeDragon |
| You could interview any number of buskers on Whyte Ave. with general BAs.:dunno: |
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| turbo_dave |
| :(, that is what i'm worried about becoming. They are probably fine art majors (at least I keep telling myself that) :). |
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| MrHeavyFoot |
quote:
Originally posted by turbo_dave
Im in my second year of doing Philosophy/ Political science.
Actually, my wife has a BA in Philosophy/Political Science. She works in Project Controls at an engineering firm, although she had to work her way through temping at various companies and then through the admin pool with her current employer before getting the current gig.
Study what makes you happy or at least what you find interesting. Just know that with a humanities degree, you'll probably spend some time doing some crap jobs before you land something that you'll be tempted to call a career.
The more job oriented degrees (B.Eng, B.Sc, B.Comm, B.Ed, etc) will probably get you into a career sooner, depending on the job market when you graduate. The problem there is that you better have made the right career choice when you went into school. I know lots of people who are doing nothing related to their initial B.Sc/B.Ed/B.whatever (myself included) because they really hated the job they were trained for or found something more enjoyable.
I did the B.Sc. thing and then an after degree in a different science field, although I always found HUB a more interesting place to hang out than CAB. |
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| REFLUX |
I'm a Psych & Soc BA with a bit left to go.
As MrHeavyFoot already mentioned, a more general degree will leave you with more open options than a career specific degree such as a B.Eng.
That and the market is a huge determinant of what career specific degree will or will not get a job.
A friend of mine just graduated with a B.Eng and had trouble finding a job for quite a while.
My girlfriend's sister & bro. in law always complain about how bad it is to be a P.Eng (Professional Engineer). They always say, "If you want a career that makes you work your ass off and you get paid as much as a garbage man, go for Engineering."
With all that said, time for your questions:
2) A useful BA, in a direct way, probably not. But a useful BA in many aspects of life? Very. Basically, a BA won't lead you directly into a job but will open your mind to the world. Your wallet won't get bigger as fast but, IMO, your mind will. And your mind is the most versatile tool in any situation of life.
3) Friends with "real" degrees don't really bug me about my degree but when people ask me what I can do with a BA I tell them, not much. But then they have to consider (as MrHeavyFoot, again, mentioned already) how many people who graduate with a B.Eng or B.Ed or even an LLB, and end up Hating what they do...then switch to something completely unrelated to their degree. Are they any better off than I am? Nope, at least I learned more about the things I enjoy & am interested in.
When they get a real job & want to put down "B.Ed" beside their name but are working for a Marketing company, how does that look?
Looks bad IMO, spent 4 years busting your butt off for a B.Ed only to work in an entirely unrelated field. They prbly won't put it down at all.
I strongly believe the Main Determinant in getting a career you like & are successful in is the Person themself.
If you have an MD but dislike how you have to take the human aspect out of an operation, it prbly won't fit well with you for long.
If you have an LLB but as time goes by, realize that the judicial system that governs society is corrupt & that justice really isn't Blind, the money may not be able to keep you going.
Look for something that will cater to your personality & preferences.
But what do I know, I'm still a student living in the bubble of Post Secondary Education.:dunno: |
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| Insomniac |
I heard that in the B.A. program you have to take a creative sing making course.
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| SaabKraft |
a BA is one of the most versatile degrees, which makes that 'what are you going to do with it' one of the most asked and most annoying questions.
the skills a BA gives you
'to be presented with a large volume of unfamiliar material, go through it quickly, note the critical/important parts, why they are important, and how they relate to eachother in the broader sense'
that's one way it's been put.
if you're set on a career, and after-degree (but not master's) is a good step forward. usually i mumble something about working for the provincial government in human resources or communications, and then throw in the idea of a master's degree.
What happened to education for the sake of education? Not every degree is going to be a 'job training' tool for a specific field, but in no way am i worried about finding a job afer i'm done. the fact that you had the work ethic to complete a university degree says alot about you to some employers.
plus you can debate politics/religion/theory/society much better when you're done, though it'll be hard finding an audience who cares/can keep up with it all. :lol: |
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| ae1969 |
B.A is the stepping stone to the rest of your career.
It is the beginning not the end....
Think of it as an awakening........ :D
No such thing as a useless degree..........only a useless tool that doesn't know better. |
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| redbaron303 |
I'm going into my 2nd year BA sociology/psyc @ u of c.
What am I going to do with it? Work in the Oil industry for now.
I have aspiration of obtaining a Law Degree and the BA is something that interests me and helps provide the prereq's for my LLB. :) |
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| JustinL |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
I heard that in the B.A. program you have to take a creative sing making course.
Nope but they do teach you how to spell sign.:p |
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| tokes |
quote:
Originally posted by redbaron303
I'm going into my 2nd year BA sociology/psyc @ u of c.
What am I going to do with it? Work in the Oil industry for now.
I have aspiration of obtaining a Law Degree and the BA is something that interests me and helps provide the prereq's for my LLB. :)
And I think that's the way a lot of people go, as a transfer or stepping stone to something else. Friends of ours own a restatraunt on Whyte (Taste of Ukraine) and almost all the people working there have general B.A's because they're lazy and didn't know what else to do. |
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| ae1969 |
quote:
Originally posted by JustinL
Nope but they do teach you how to spell sign.:p
buhahahahha ........ good one. :thumbup: |
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| Anonymoose |
| Major in Fries, Minor in McMuffins? |
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| redbaron303 |
quote:
Originally posted by Anonymoose
Major in Fries, Minor in McMuffins?
Is this what your degree was in or are you speculating what most ppl do with a BA? B/c a BA is not a waste of time and there are plenty of possibilities should you be a little more creative than looking in the damn paper for a job. |
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| Insomniac |
quote:
Originally posted by JustinL
Nope but they do teach you how to spell sign.:p
sory im engineur, not to good at speling |
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| turbo_dave |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
sory im engineur, not to good at speling
I hope this was a joke :). |
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| JustinL |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
sory im engineur, not to good at speling
Haha, I'm just givin you a hard time. I have a B.Sc. too and I managed to get through my undergrad without taking a single English class... Looks like I can sneak through grad school without taking one too! |
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| redbaron303 |
| Wouldn't that be nice ;) hahaha Oh well, I'd rather endure english classes than math classes.... And that's how I see something like Engineering, too much #'s based classes for my simple mind :P |
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| Insomniac |
| I was kind of disappointed in the english class we had to take in Engineering. It was WAY to easy. I, like a large number of my peers, spend about 1/2 of my day writing reports. |
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