The Conservative Cave

The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: Karin on June 30, 2010, 03:58:50 PM

Title: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Karin on June 30, 2010, 03:58:50 PM
In my little family business, we employ cute college chicks over the summer.  We had a new one start last week.  I made small talk with her, and asked her what she was studying (at an out-of-state private --pricey-- college).  You'll never believe the moonbat answer she gave me:

"Art Therapy."

I just said "Oh how interesting" and moved along from there.  What I was really thinking was, "This foodservice job is excellent training for your future" and "hope you didn't take out a huge loan." 

Seriously, what is it with these easy majors?  Where are our next brilliant engineers going to come from?  I asked the next girl what she was majoring in.  "Public Relations.  But I don't know what I'm going to do with it."  Stripping? 

My step daughter took one semester before quitting to have her baby.  The classes she took?  Psychology, sociology, and American Sign Language.  I was freakin furious.  Stretch your brain, don't be so lazy! 

Heard of any other stupid majors that are a huge waste of time and money?  Course, the colleges are run by moonbats so they think Art Therapy is hugely beneficial to society.  I was reminded of that Andy Griffith episode where they tried to get Otis to stop drinking by making mosaics.  Didn't work in the end. 
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on June 30, 2010, 04:12:25 PM
Hate to break it to you, but nearly 75 percent of the advanced math/science/engineering degrees being awarded in our universities and colleges are earned by foreign nationals.

We.  Are.  SCREWED.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: DumbAss Tanker on June 30, 2010, 04:32:25 PM
ASL might actually prove useful in life, unlike everything else she took.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: thundley4 on June 30, 2010, 04:38:15 PM
Hate to break it to you, but nearly 75 percent of the advanced math/science/engineering degrees being awarded in our universities and colleges are earned by foreign nationals.

We.  Are.  SCREWED.

And most of the rest of the 25% are women.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: DumbAss Tanker on June 30, 2010, 07:08:20 PM
I dig geek girls, but that doesn't speak too well of our lazy-ass and/or rudderless young men.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on June 30, 2010, 07:37:15 PM
So nice to be told I'm stupid....that just made my day.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Hawkgirl on June 30, 2010, 08:20:32 PM
So nice to be told I'm stupid....that just made my day.

Rutroh...what did you major in Deb?




International Studies (I wanted to work in the UN), Education, Accounting....left and graduated Radiography School instead...made more money than most of my college buddies (with the exception of those who went into mechanical engineering)

Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Mike220 on June 30, 2010, 08:29:31 PM
In one year I'll be a surgical tech. Won't matter that my degree is poli sci, cause I'll never need it.

But I did find out UNT has a Med Tech (Clinical Lab Science) degree. Got me thinking it could be fun if I want to wait to finish my degree. Shit load of biology classes, though. Probably take me 3 years, then 1 year of internship.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: bkg on June 30, 2010, 08:31:53 PM
So nice to be told I'm stupid....that just made my day.

You were young... you've matured since then.  :tongue:

I started out with Psychology... as did many people who entered college with a "I have no fawking clue what I want to do with my life"...

Many degrees today add nothing to the productivity of the country... It's not perosnal, Deb...
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on June 30, 2010, 11:29:35 PM
I started out in Med Tech....only to not be able to do the math (calculus)...so I guess that does make me stupid.


I ended up majoring in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice, minored in Psychology and Anthropology, and was 1 class away from minors in English and History. The only math class I had to take was Statistics...which was a total nightmare for me.

Oh yeah...and I graduated in 4 years without going to summer school, by taking 18 hrs a semester for 3 yrs.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Celtic Rose on July 01, 2010, 12:42:05 AM
I majored in History, graduated in 3.5 years, and now those Foreign Nationals studying at US colleges are keeping me employed  :evillaugh:

It may not be a Science major, but I bet I could write circles around you engineering types  :naughty:
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 12:58:06 AM
I majored in History, graduated in 3.5 years, and now those Foreign Nationals studying at US colleges are keeping me employed  :evillaugh:

It may not be a Science major, but I bet I could write circles around you engineering types  :naughty:

 :hi5:
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: bkg on July 01, 2010, 10:00:01 AM
I started out in Med Tech....only to not be able to do the math (calculus)...so I guess that does make me stupid.


I ended up majoring in Sociology with a concentration in Criminal Justice, minored in Psychology and Anthropology, and was 1 class away from minors in English and History. The only math class I had to take was Statistics...which was a total nightmare for me.

Oh yeah...and I graduated in 4 years without going to summer school, by taking 18 hrs a semester for 3 yrs.

Holy crap. The most I ever did was 18.5 while working 3 jobs. I only did that for 1/2 a semester....  :rotf: Kudo's to you - that would have killed me!
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Thor on July 01, 2010, 10:14:01 AM
Hell, I can write/ run circles around most engineering degree types and I don't even hold a degree. I experienced that firsthand when I worked with my last Cable TV company and had a couple of EEs doing tech rep stuff to help install the telephony. I won't even get into the debacle that I had with one of the managers, a West Point Grad that was also on EE. IMO, degrees are overrated and seem to me to be a way to demonstrate that someone is in the "good ol boys (or girls) club".
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 10:23:25 AM
Holy crap. The most I ever did was 18.5 while working 3 jobs. I only did that for 1/2 a semester....  :rotf: Kudo's to you - that would have killed me!

I worked all but 1 of those semesters. The semester I had to purchase AND read 83 books, not counting required library reading...I just couldn't....as we also had mandatory field trips to different types of prisons. If one was missed, grade went down an entire point. I had the same prof for 2 classes and almost all the books were for his classes incl the library reading. We were tested on class lecture, field trips, AND reading material. These two classes were not even offered every semester, so I had no choice but to take them together. They were also two of my most favorite classes....probably because the prof was excellent.

We had a field trip through Joliet Prison... in the spring of 1973. It was a scary time.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joliet_Prison
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on July 01, 2010, 11:38:25 AM
It may not be a Science major, but I bet I could write circles around you engineering types  :naughty:

I'll take that bet.

Dear Penthouse Forum,

I never thought this would happen to me, but the other day as I was....
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 11:45:13 AM
I'll take that bet.

Dear Penthouse Forum,

I never thought this would happen to me, but the other day as I was....

 :-)
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Eupher on July 01, 2010, 11:46:25 AM
It's my take that the educational "experience" is the true "education." Truth be told, how many people who struggled through calculus, geometry, and even algebra have to use those skills on a daily basis? Even engineers and other math-heavy careers have tools that help them with the relatively complex formulae that are used. (I'm thinking specifically of the calculation of standard deviation which is a helluva lot easier to plug into Excel than it is to physically calculate using pencil and paper.)

Colleges and universities make you jump through hoops, compel you to learn the systems and work within those systems, require you to manage time and resources and otherwise make you learn to live on one's own being responsible in the process - all of these are the real education that brings value to a person's career and to their own way of getting things done.

Some - like Thor, for example - manage to educate themselves without the benefit of a classroom and textbooks and a sheepskin at the end of that process. That's great stuff, but there is a benefit in going through a long, protracted educational experience fully to conclusion. Thor qualifies because he's a Navy retiree.

Actual academic content is far less important than the other attributes I mentioned above -- unless, perhaps, you're going to become a university professor.

Far MORE important is to complete the task at hand and doing it to the standard that is set before you.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on July 01, 2010, 11:49:00 AM
Hey, I have a technical degree, and I had to take writing (specifically, Technical Writing) well beyond freshman composition courses.  I will say it helps because guys in the shop come up to me asking me how to word procedural steps on a near daily basis.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 11:51:22 AM
I might have been able to do calculus if I had a calculator like those floating around the last 10 years or so.

We had slide rules ...only.

My opinion of a slide rule is comparative to Ptarmy's regarding bunnies... :censored:
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Wineslob on July 01, 2010, 12:17:53 PM
Quote
We had a field trip through Joliet Prison... in the spring of 1973.

Oh, you must have met some interesting people. Any that you are pen-pals with?




































 :tongue:
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 02:44:45 PM
Oh, you must have met some interesting people. Any that you are pen-pals with?

 :tongue:

 :-)

There were fewer girls in the class than guys. When we got to Joliet, they took us in two different rooms where we were frisked. From what the guys said, it was more "up close and personal" than ours were...and I thought what we got was pretty up close and personal!  :o

When we got inside, the girls were put in a straight line, with the guys on either side of us. The guards were in front and behind us, and they filled in on the sides, all were carrying guns. We girls were told to stay inside of the guys' lines at all times, and under no circumstances were we to make any comment or eye contact with any prisoner, and to be as "invisible" as possible. We had to been told before going that we were to wear jeans, high-neck tops and jackets.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: rich_t on July 01, 2010, 03:04:17 PM
Hell, I can write/ run circles around most engineering degree types and I don't even hold a degree. I experienced that firsthand when I worked with my last Cable TV company and had a couple of EEs doing tech rep stuff to help install the telephony. I won't even get into the debacle that I had with one of the managers, a West Point Grad that was also on EE. IMO, degrees are overrated and seem to me to be a way to demonstrate that someone is in the "good ol boys (or girls) club".

Lordy, but it does seem that way on occassion.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Doc on July 01, 2010, 03:38:59 PM
It's my take that the educational "experience" is the true "education." Truth be told, how many people who struggled through calculus, geometry, and even algebra have to use those skills on a daily basis? Even engineers and other math-heavy careers have tools that help them with the relatively complex formulae that are used. (I'm thinking specifically of the calculation of standard deviation which is a helluva lot easier to plug into Excel than it is to physically calculate using pencil and paper.)

Colleges and universities make you jump through hoops, compel you to learn the systems and work within those systems, require you to manage time and resources and otherwise make you learn to live on ones own being responsible in the process - all of these are the real education that brings value to a person's career and to their own way of getting things done.

Some - like Thor, for example - manage to educate themselves without the benefit of a classroom and textbooks and a sheepskin at the end of that process. That's great stuff, but there is a benefit in going through a long, protracted educational experience fully to conclusion. Thor qualifies because he's a Navy retiree.

Actual academic content is far less important than the other attributes I mentioned above -- unless, perhaps, you're going to become a university professor.

Far MORE important is to complete the task at hand and doing it to the standard that is set before you.

I agree to an extent........however, although the tools (for the math) have changed over the years, it is the concept of the mathematics that becomes important the further down the educational road you go.  Take it from someone that spent nine years collecting degrees in the hard sciences, even though you don't do differential equations on a daily basis in life or job, the understanding of the math that lies behind the science is essential to understanding the principles that present themselves as a result of the math.

Back in the mid-70's when I defended my dissertation in the arcane discipline then known as "Plasma Physics", I would have been hardpressed to explain or even comprehend the theories, concepts, and current thought in the field without a thorough understanding of the math that forms the "backbone" of the comprehension of what is happening, either in the lab, or out in the universe.

Even though you don't actually make the calculations, you understand how the individual that DID make them arrived at the conclusions that he/she did, empathetically.  Without that basic understanding, a student would be completely lost in the more esoteric and advanced studies of the sciences........

To the extent that colleges and universities impart a secondary level of "discipline" on a student's thought processes, and work habits, I completely agree........just accomplishing the goal of completing the coursework to qualify for the degree(s), implies, at least to a real world employer that the student (or applicant) has the capability to at least show up reliably, and function at a reasonably productive level in a given field.

I also have met in my career a number of engineers and scientists that were largely "self taught", and in a couple of cases that stand out in my memory some were brilliant in their fields.......they are however......rare.  In the real world, particularly here in the US, many companies rely on "credentialism" to make their technical hiring and promotional decisions, rather than "talent".........but one must also understand that in the corporate world, the folks that make those decisions, rarely have the knowledge to recognize real talent when they see it.......they simply cop out and rely on an applicant's CV.

On the subject of useless degrees, it is my opinion that a student that majors in subjects like:  Art History, English Literature, Urban Studies, Women's Studies, Philosophy, Ancient Civilizations, Social Work, Political Science, et al. are basically wasting their time and money, if their goal is to stop at an undergrad degree, and hope to find a job.  Some of these majors are useful if one is going to continue into graduate school, study Law, or ultimately teach these subjects in an academic environment.  Otherwise,  they are useless.  They are, what we in the sciences used to refer to as the "Underwater Basketweaving" majors.......

doc
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: debk on July 01, 2010, 07:22:33 PM

On the subject of useless degrees, it is my opinion that a student that majors in subjects like:  Art History, English Literature, Urban Studies, Women's Studies, Philosophy, Ancient Civilizations, Social Work, Political Science, et al. are basically wasting their time and money, if their goal is to stop at an undergrad degree, and hope to find a job.  Some of these majors are useful if one is going to continue into graduate school, study Law, or ultimately teach these subjects in an academic environment.  Otherwise,  they are useless.  They are, what we in the sciences used to refer to as the "Underwater Basketweaving" majors.......

doc

Ahhh but without we in the Underwater Basketweaving majors...you in the sciences wouldn't have anyone to admire your brillance and bow and scrape as you walk by.....


Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Chris_ on July 01, 2010, 08:58:30 PM
Ahhh but without we in the Underwater Basketweaving majors...you in the sciences wouldn't have anyone to admire your brillance and bow and scrape as you walk by.....




Touche'

doc
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on July 02, 2010, 08:26:57 AM
I might have been able to do calculus if I had a calculator like those floating around the last 10 years or so.

We had slide rules ...only.

My opinion of a slide rule is comparative to Ptarmy's regarding bunnies... :censored:

I'm exposing my age here, but I learned to use one of those before I learned (or had enough money) for a calculator.

Sixth grade, to be exact.  I'm dealing with exponents and logarithms and the other kids were struggling with long division.  Oh well.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Thor on July 02, 2010, 01:00:05 PM
I might have been able to do calculus if I had a calculator like those floating around the last 10 years or so.

We had slide rules ...only.

My opinion of a slide rule is comparative to Ptarmy's regarding bunnies... :censored:

My last year of high school and my first year of the Navy, which was technical school, I took some fairly advanced mathematics courses. A couple of people in my high school trig, calc and physics classes were lucky enough to have their parents purchase them the "NEW" TI SR-51A. (I think it was new in late 1974). I was relegated to the slide rule. I could usually come up with the answers before they could punch in the numbers on their calculators. I was able to buy & use a calculator  during my Navy schools, but that was a waste, mostly. Then, to find out, about 70% of the time for the first half of my career, the Navy-wide examinations teetered between not allowing the use of a calculator or it could only be a four function* calculator. (I was like, "four functions??!?!?!?....... WTF ?!?!??!") I was better off just simply using paper and pencil. When doing trig functions, much of which electronics is comprised, they were essentially useless.


* four function= add, subtract, divide, & multiply for you young 'uns

Here's the TI SR-51A:

(http://www.vintagecalculators.com/TISR51A_1.jpg)
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on July 02, 2010, 04:28:46 PM
Yup--last time I checked, the list of calculators allowed at Nuke School was pretty damn short, limiting them to only those with "non-programmable" functions.  Bummed me out when I couldn't use my TI OR my HP.  Had to get one of those "cheap" ones.

And oh yeah--don't even THINK of taking a cell phone in there these days, and God help ya if you get caught with one that has a memory expansion card.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Thor on July 02, 2010, 05:47:20 PM
Yup--last time I checked, the list of calculators allowed at Nuke School was pretty damn short, limiting them to only those with "non-programmable" functions.  Bummed me out when I couldn't use my TI OR my HP.  Had to get one of those "cheap" ones.

And oh yeah--don't even THINK of taking a cell phone in there these days, and God help ya if you get caught with one that has a memory expansion card.

Ummm......... programmable calculators didn't exist when I went through my schools...

But, yeah, for the last 10 years of exams, anything non-programmable was acceptable (that was until I retired) Before that, it was sometimes non-programmable sci-calcs and sometimes not. It almost seemed as if depended on their mood that exam cycle.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: NHSparky on July 02, 2010, 06:50:49 PM
Ummm......... programmable calculators didn't exist when I went through my schools...

But, yeah, for the last 10 years of exams, anything non-programmable was acceptable (that was until I retired) Before that, it was sometimes non-programmable sci-calcs and sometimes not. It almost seemed as if depended on their mood that exam cycle.

I say "programmable" only in the sense that the USER had to program them.
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: vesta111 on July 03, 2010, 02:27:39 PM
I say "programmable" only in the sense that the USER had to program them.

Sparky you make me laugh.    Back in the early 1970's when my Hubby was teaching at Mare Island Nuke school he often tutored students in his off hours.

These kids were very smart, got most of the classes down BUT the Math held them up. 

After we came east I began to hear about this new who-dickie called a calculator that was faster and more accurate then the slide rule.  I raided the family budget and bought one for $50.00 for his birthday.  Today's money perhaps $400.00

He went nuts, why had I spent all that money for a toy, this could in no way be of help, it was useless.

Off he went in a huff to the club on base to find someone to listen to his story about becoming bankrupt because Wife was an idiot.  We had 4 kids to feed and cloth and stupid wife buys him a useless gadgit.

2 days later he comes home looking the worse for wear and tells me he has to attend a class on how to use this useless gadgit.

Education often comes from life, not the class room.

I would not want to be poor and struggle to put a kid through college if they majored in basket weaving, but one never knows when that skill can morph into architecture in far away lands, cover that huge basket with plaster and there is a home for someone in an arid country.

Skills of any kind can come in handy, be it a masters in recreation [?] to agronomy.

Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: rich_t on July 03, 2010, 04:40:59 PM
Quote
I would not want to be poor and struggle to put a kid through college if they majored in basket weaving, but one never knows when that skill can morph into architecture in far away lands, cover that huge basket with plaster and there is a home for someone in an arid country.

Like this:

(http://www.quaintandquirky.com/images/office2.jpg)
Title: Re: Stupid College Majors
Post by: Alpha Mare on July 03, 2010, 09:24:11 PM
I use mine-Accounting & Bus. Admin.  Still taking occasional classes for third one, Art History  :tongue:. But that's just for kicks, I love all history.