College Matters

Calling all English majors out there! What have you done, or what do you plan to do, with your degree? A student is considering the option and requests advice.

Check out the latest post, about a senior in high school stuck on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. What do you think? Should he pursue the military, game design, or should he rethink altogether?

I’m currently in Houston, Texas, visiting my grandparents before I move to Maine to work with an AmeriCorps program. As many of you already know, I’m very excited. The particular program is called The Game Loft, and it’s a youth program that utilizes non-electronic gaming (from Risk to historical war games to Dungeons and Dragons and everything in between!). I’m actually a little envious; I would have been really grateful to have this kind of organized gaming community during my especially crazy teenage years - I’m telling you, most people should get a medal for simply surviving adolescence.

During this “grand finale family tour,” as I’m calling it, I’m reminded of the evolving nature of family influence. I’m independent, and have been for many years. Often broke, but not to the point of requiring financial support of family. I’m unwilling to do that, and have been since I turned 18 - which is why I used federal financial aid to get through college (a mistake, but hindsight is 20/20). I didn’t want anyone to tell me what to do. And now, in my twenties, my family certainly can’t give me orders, and they know it. If any of them said so much as “Don’t go to Maine” I’d tell them exactly where to put it. I’m exaggerating, I would be nice and reasonable, but pretty direct: “I’m going to Maine. Period. Love you, please come visit, see you soon!”

However, if I relied financially upon anybody, I would definitely have to answer to them. To repeat the above used euphemism, “Period.” End of story. And this is why, at 18, if you go to college with financial support from your parents, you are essentially taking the next step in high school. It doesn’t matter that you’re “legally” an adult. Financially, you’re not - just like this student. So they have a say (rightfully so, too) about where you live, what you spend “your” money on, and yes, even your chosen course of study. That’s not a terrible thing - you probably won’t make the mistake of getting a fine arts degree with an emphasis on the deeper meaning of play-doh while under economic parental supervision.

If you’ve been completely dependent on your parents through high school, especially to such an extent that you’ve received an allowance rather than working part-time, you’re not ready to make your own decisions at 18 anyway. Want to learn to make your own decisions so that you don’t have to adhere to your parents’ directions? Get a 40-hour a week job and move out for at least a year before making the trek to college. Otherwise, they get a say. And parents, listen up: yes, you have a right to tell your kids what to do, regardless of age, if you’re financing the operation.

It’s that time of year again; we’re nearing graduation, and the number of letters I receive has suddenly increased. Half of the emails I’ve answered in the last week ask the same question: what should I do with my major? A classics major asked me this same question several months ago; I’ll publish some more recent questions/responses tomorrow morning, including a business major and an art history major. Amidst a job market recession, this question is especially difficult, because many degrees are far from “in-demand.” Graduate school applications have spiked in response; undergrads are completely wrapped up in the concept that living off of financial aid and going to graduate school is somehow superior to performing whatever job is available, whether waiting tables or sacking groceries.

We, as college graduates, are definitely caught up in image-based prestige and entitlement. But the truth is, a college degree entitles you to nothing. If you’ve eschewed full-time employment in favor of full-time school (as in, you, like me, felt unable to do both at once, and you chose full-time school) your degree doesn’t even really give you an advantage in the job market – much less this fairy-tale notion of guaranteed entitlement.

I’m working on a chart, gradually, as I research more and more specific majors, to display what career paths different majors potentially open up, and how to achieve these career paths within any given major. This is going to be an enormous chart, forever in the works, and I’m looking forward to all of your input on it. My goal is to put it up on a tab on this site within two weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect to be able to explain the options for every single degree plan in two weeks. This is going to be a constantly evolving chart. But someone outside of higher ed. definitely needs to do this.

It’s a travesty that the most common “direction” offered by faculty members in each department is some vague assurance of job options. No specifics. Just, “Yes, this department is great, the subject is fantastic, and if nothing else you can go into teaching or academia.” What they don’t tell you is that the demand for professors and teachers alike is highly dependent upon the subject AND requires additional experience and education beyond mere degree.

Continued tomorrow, with more questions/answers…

How many people go to college with a concrete plan or career path in mind? How many more change that path numerous times, all while paying for classes?

Well-meaning guidance counselors and advisors often encourage incoming freshmen to experiment with various coursework and find a “passion” before choosing a major. However, students taking 12-18 hours of core curriculum college classes are hardly in a position to rationally analyze their “passions” and choose corresponding career paths. Instead, such a course load encourages students to find the easiest path - which is usually far from the best path - either in terms of finding a career to be passionate about or in terms of financial gain.

An enterprising and forward thinking high school senior wrote to me amidst choosing a university, trying to determine the most “efficient” degree plan with the greatest marketability. While I would never advise someone to pursue a mathematics degree if he or she is terrible at math, I think this student is on the right track by considering other criteria beyond what comes easy. So many people choose a degree plan in the second year of college, settling for the easiest and least stressful path - and then wonder why they end up in low-paying jobs with little or nothing to do with the chosen degrees.

If you’re still in the process of figuring out what you want to do with your life, I vote for taking classes on a part time basis and actually getting a job that doesn’t require a degree in the meantime. It gives you the time to learn about different types of careers in the world around you while also giving you the chance to learn responsible money management - something that eludes most college graduates.

Update: I’ve just received an article, from eCampusTours, that discusses this very subject, and it’s very helpful. Check it out!

I glanced through the advice columns on the AP’s syndicate page today, and came across the latest posting of Hey, Cherie!, a column that speaks to the preteen and early teenaged crowd. Its author, Cherie Bennett, is insightful and compassionate, and I found today’s online published column pertinent to the college-aged crowd as well. A 10^th grader, the son of a doctor, wants to be a police officer. The kid is idealistic and wants to take a definitive stand against violent crime in America. However, both his father and grandfather are doctors, and as such they are against this career goal – they even look down upon it.

Cherie responded that the student should definitely go to college as a compromise, perhaps pursuing a study such as criminal justice, since a degree will make him more appealing to any police department, nationwide. Her response was certainly positive and idealistic, but I found myself thinking, “Yes, but who’s paying for it?”

Perhaps 10^th grade is a little early for an individual to think about that type of question; however, it’s extremely important in making decisions. Control comes with money; if your parents are paying your way through school, they get to influence, possibly altogether decide, your course of study. It’s an unfortunate fact of life; as a consumer, we all want to get what we pay for – and most parents are no different in regards to education.

What I would tell this 10^th grader – and any of you reading this column – is that if you want to pursue a career path vastly different from your parents’ stated goals, you should find your own funding for said path. 10th grade is actually a good time to start thinking about scholarship opportunities - and new ones arise all through college, as well. Plus, other financial aid options abound, such as federal grants, and you should take advantage of these. Otherwise, you leave yourself open for guilt trips as well as threats of complete withholding of funding. Now, conversely, most of us don’t really know what we want to be “when we grow up” in the first year or two (or much, much more) of college, and as such, having parents control and fund the process is not necessarily a bad thing – especially since for the first two years everyone focuses on basic curriculum anyway.

Past those first two years of basics, however, if you’re accepting parental funding, with a certain type of parents, your choices of major are severely limited.