Serious question... if you were going to start college or someone you knew was...

[madmom]

what would you tell them is the best field of study to embark on. I mean one that would hopefully lead to employment.

[jtown1123]

1. I have no idea!

Nothing seems "safe" nowadays. I always hear about engineering having a lot of jobs but I've also heard there is a lot of competition because of H1-B visas so who knows! Maybe go to a community college while you're figuring it out to avoid the student loan debt conundrum.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. One of the highest paid jobs and will be in demand is actuaries. You'd have to be good at math

and be able to pass the exams.

[uncommon]

Practical applications -- business, accounting and the like -- and make sure you are really

good at it or know someone who will give you a job.

[Greyhound]

18. Every one of these can, and therefore will, be done in some low-wage, no rights country in

the next few years. A new grad might get half a career before their position is exported.

Racking up tens of thousands of dollars in debt to compete with $5,000 p/yr workers who've had their education paid for by their government doesn't seem like a very good move to me.

[uncommon]

30. You can say this of almost any job in this age --

most are largely done on computers (the jobs that require higher ed anyway) and can be done from anywhere.

None of the advice in this thread gives anyone a chance if we keep running our country this way.

In a closed economy, everyone could have a chance to pursue their interest and likely find gainful employment.

[Oregone]

3. I would tell them to pursue what made them happy

Yeah...not really on subject.

[uncommon]

6. I did that. Not a wise decision when it means thousands of dollars in student loans

and no job prospects.

[Oregone]

11. Then tell them to skip it and travel, work a trade, or become an artisan

If money is such an issue...

I don't know. I went into college before the tech bubble popped, and graduated thereafter. My class was packed with well-planning computer science majors who never programmed before in their lives (because it was the hot, promising job at the time). There were no jobs for anyone really upon graduation. At least I was happy, enjoying my field.

You don't know what tomorrow will bring you, so my advice is to at least enjoy the pursuit today.

[uncommon]

12. "Enjoy(ing) the pursuit today" puts a LOT of young Americans in overwhelming debt.

It is really, really, really bad advice for 17 and 18 year old kids.

Pursuing something you hate isn't a good idea, but education for sake of learning and feeling fulfilled is no longer the reality in this country unless you are wealthy, which most people aren't.

Money is "such an issue" for most people. And "skip it and travel" or "become an artisan" are also not financially realistic goals for a lot of people.

On the other hand, trades are undervalued and more kids should be going that way instead of going to college.

[Oregone]

16. Then skip it and learn a trade

College isn't for everyone

[uncommon]

19. I agree. That is what I tell people.

[Monique1]

37. I agree with you Oregone

I know people who have a trade and make more money than those with degrees.

[Oregone]

41. Independent general contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc, make bank

Of course, it helps when housing starts aren't at dismal levels

[uncommon]

45. True, these jobs are rough in a recession like this one.

But they are still a better bet over the long term.

[jtuck004]

4. International business with a minor in Chinese, and perhaps Russian. n/t

[The Wielding Truth]

5. Anything in the medical field. They will always find a job.

[patrice]

7. Whatever one would study to learn how, and therefore be able to teach others, to form

professional (non-denominational) economic cooperatives.

[jtuck004]

8. Oh yeah, and almost any technical field having to do with water engineering. n/t

[ThomWV]

9. Law

We are nothing but savages without it.

[ecstatic]

10. nursing... up to masters level or higher

It's typically recession proof and there are a lot of business opportunities as well. Also, you only need an associates or diploma program to get started as an RN. My observation (could be wrong) is that the business end is easier in the south and the high salary full time job aspects are better in union states.

[Greyhound]

13. Law, particularly with an international aspect. Minor in Chinese or at least French.

If the student has a passion for something, it may be worth pursuing for the satisfaction, science and medicine come to mind, but go into it knowing that they will probably end up in a subservient position, directed by their bosses to always work for the bottom-line and sell, sell, sell.

[MineralMan]

14. That's a really good question. It's also very, very hard to answer.

Every student has different interests and abilities, I think. Often, what might seem to be a lucrative course of study would be difficult or even impossible for a particular student.

I guess my advice would be to consider what things are of interest, then go from there to find a major that has future potential.

I was an English major, and I can't imagine anything more useless, at first glance. However, what I learned was a skill at expressing myself in writing. I've parlayed that into multiple careers during my lifetime, from computer programmer to entrepreneur. Each was made easier by the skills I learned.

I wish all new college students good luck and good fortune.

[gratuitous]

15. Art history, of course

And the employment field would be one where you get to wear a little paper hat, and inquire of your clientele as to whether they would like fries with that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

21. Philosophy

[gratuitous]

29. Well, it's good to have a minor that you can fall back on

Religious studies is also good.

[one_voice]

17. Medical field...

Nursing, radiologist, nuclear medicine, physical therapist, respiratory therapist...etc. Also, computer stuff.

My daughter has a BS in accounting, and she's almost finished her last class for her Masters. She had no problem finding a job. My son is also majoring in accounting, and he's working on getting his foot in the door at a bank through customer service.

[City Lights]

20. Don't know, but my eldest has decided on Physics.

She starts this fall.

[Greyhound]

27. Is she planning to work outside the country, or is she OK with being limited to working on

new and better ways to control or kill people? I hope she has thoroughly looked at the realities of a life in science after graduation.

Pure research is nearly a myth in America any more.

[City Lights]

40. She's planning on moving to Canada for graduate school and stay there

once she's finished with her education.

[Greyhound]

52. Sounds like a decent plan. I think Canada will not remain independent for

long once it really hits here, too close and too dependent on our being right here next door, but a Canadian passport could well become one of the most valuable commodities on this side of the world.

[Maru Kitteh]

22. I'm going into healthcare. Family/mental health nurse practitioner.

Specialties pay more but the need for family health practitioners is great and growing.

[Dan]

23. I would say, save the money

and go to a good vocational school...something like plumbing, bug-killing, etc.,

[uncommon]

33. Exactly. The vast majority of jobs need only ON THE JOB training - college is a myth

it doesn't prepare you for ANYTHING unless you work in very specific fields.

You can learn how to do almost anything from doing it rather than reading about it.

[MadHound]

24. I would tell them that they need to reconsider their priorities,

If they are pursuing college simply for job training they are going to college for the wrong reason.

Otherwise, they need to pursue a degree in whatever field that they are interested in. Granted, they need to recognize that some fields aren't viable careers without post grad degrees, but still, they will be happier in college and in life if they pursue what they love, not just what they think will make them money.

[uncommon]

32. "they will be happier in college and in life if they pursue what they love, not just what they think

will make them money."

They won't be happy in life if they are buried in debt they can't repay. Trust me.

[Maru Kitteh]

34. Amen. There is nothing romantic or happy about poverty.

[uncommon]

35. There really isn't. I entered adulthood thinking if I studied what I loved the rest would follow --

and luckily got out of with less than $10K of student loans. (And this is only because I was dirt poor going in and got a lot of grants and scholarships.)

What do I do now? I am a legal assistant. My works requires about a 12th grade education, which I had the day I graduated high school.

College is a racket in this country and it needs to be radically changed as do a lot of things about the way we live right now.

[MadHound]

43. Having so far lived a fairly long one, let me tell you, life isn't all about money

Having been both penniless and fairly wealthy, let me tell you, happiness with one's life, with one's self is much more important than money.

Becoming one more MBA drone in some cubical farm might make you money, but if you don't like it, it will kill you. I've seen that happen far too often.

In about almost any field that you find in college you find that you can make sufficient money to support yourself in some sort of comfort. It might require post grad degrees, it might be a long row to hoe to get to that point, but it won't matter if you love what you're doing. However money never has, and never will replace being happy with oneself and one's life choices.

[uncommon]

46. I'm not saying that people need to go into fields that make a ton of money - I am saying that we

should stop encouraging kids to get over their heads in debt studying things that will not repay those debts.

By all means, if you can, follow your heart into whatever vocation you choose. But be very, very cautious about wasting money on college.

[CBR]

59. I agree. I majored in Sociology and Political Science knowing

I would have to do graduate school. Then I got a MA in Public Policy with a certification in nonprofit management. I then ran a nonprofit which worked on housing and homeless policy.

College is about something more than job training. If it weren't you would not have to take "The Age of Michelangelo" as a Biology major.

[Book Lover]

25. No, no, no.

If this person wants to study something in order to get a job, tell her/him to learn how to be a plumber. If they want to become an educated person who can think critically, then they should go to college. College DOES NOT EQUAL better paying job. That kind of thinking puts kids who don't need or want to go to college into a non-dischargable debt they'll be paying off for 10+ years.

[Greyhound]

38. "If they want to become an educated person who can think critically, then they should go to college"

Why do you want to doom this person to a life of dissatisfaction and prejudice? Thinking, especially when combined with a solid education, leads to realizing how backward the world is and allows one to see the unlikeliness of improving it.

Personally, I've come to view my high IQ and education as a huge liability in our society. Life would have been so much easier if I could be satisfied with a McJob and a God-Box.

[txlibdem]

26. No college. Become an electrician

Something like 70% of electricians in the nation are close to retirement age (above 50).

Good pay. Set their own hours in many cases.

[Stinky The Clown]

28. Physician's Assistant, then Nursing, and after that, any medical field.

[Evasporque]

31. Hospitality Management, Nursing, Electrical Engineering, Marine Design Engineering

You can be a nurse, or fast food manager or Solar Panel System installer or a Mega Yacht designer.

[Xithras]

36. IMHO, you're doing it backwards.

Instead of picking a major in the hopes that it will lead to a job, flip that around. Ignore college, and decide what you want to do with your life! Don't let the choice be made by the course catalog of the colleges that accept you, because that will seriously crimp your career opportunities.

Instead of picking a path in the hopes that the destination will be nice, choose your DESTINATION, and then pick the path that best suits it. IMHO, students shouldn't even apply to colleges until they have started forming opinions about what they want to do with their lives. Before he or she makes a single educational decision, they need to be able to answer this question: "Close your eyes and visualize yourself at age 25, working at a job that makes you happy. What are you doing?" If they have no idea where they want to be at 25, they have no business choosing an educational path at 18.

We see this on a fairly regular basis at my college, and it often leads to problems. Kids come in with no real idea of what they want to do, and then choose a major simply because it might "lead to money". After taking courses in the subject, they realize that they REALLY don't want to do that with their lives (or that they want to do something else), but they've often wasted years of time and thousands of dollars at that point. Some don't realize it until it's too late to do anything about it. They often end up miserable, in debt, and either unemployed or stuck in jobs they hate. Even worse, they often end up resentful, because they're usually encouraged on by misguided parents and high school counselors who tell them to "not worry" about those things, and to just "enjoy college" and worry about a career "after you graduate". I always shake my head when I meet Liberal Arts students on campus who have no clue about what they want to do with their lives, because I know where they'll all be in five years.

Pick a goal, and then pick the major that will get you to that goal. But pick the goal FIRST.

Also, don't pick a career by paycheck. That only leads to people being stuck in high paying jobs that they hate. You're much better off finding things that the person enjoys doing, locating jobs related to it, and then looking at career prospects for that job 20 years out. Find the best paying job, with the best career prospects, that fit your personality. People who love the nature and the outdoors may make a lot of money with a Finance degree, but the odds are pretty good that they'll lead a fairly unhappy life after they get stuck in a cubicle filled office all day.

If someone genuinely has no idea what they like, I have one simple piece of advice...leave for a year. Leave your family and hometown, and move somewhere else, for one year. The shakeup will do you good, and getting out of your comfort zone will encourage you to really examine the things that are important to you. I'm not saying that you should go backpacking across Europe (though it's not a bad option), but putting college off for a year until you have some inkling about what you want to do with your life is NOT a bad idea. The best way to do that has always been, and still is, to step out of the house on your own for a little while. Mom may not be happy with the decision, but it's often the best way to shake things up and get a kid thinking about the wider world.

Editing to add an example of how that last bit can work: A few years ago, a freinds daughter did the "I have no idea" thing and took off for six months. She ended up in Arizona, where she hiked down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. While down there, she met a young man (a geology student at ASU at the time...her fiancee today) and they had a long talk about erosion, erosional features, etc. He's a bit of a rock geek. Anyway, to make a long story short, she that conversation led her to make the decision that she wanted to become an Environmental Engineer and spend her life mitigating the impact of development on the environment, and she's now a college senior pursuing a Civil Engineering degree. That wasn't a field she'd even considered before leaving her parents house.

[LWolf]

49. +1

[woo me with science]

58. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. This is a wonderful post!

And a big part of figuring out what would make you happy is expanding your awareness of what is actually out there to do. There are SO many more jobs and careers than most people think of, beyond the "standard" careers everybody considers (medicine, teaching, law, accounting). The variations and opportunities are endless. Someone interested in medicine doesn't have to be a doctor or nurse. You can have a medical focus in careers ranging from journalism to art to public relations to insurance.

Young people also don't always remember to think about the actual working conditions of the career paths that interest them. For example, I have known young people fascinated by certain aspects of medicine or teaching, but who are introverts by nature. One young woman ended up much happier working in a quiet office as a medical illustrator than she would have been if she had followed her initial dream of becoming a community outreach pediatrician.

[EstimatedProphet]

39. In theory, the sciences. We need them, badly.

In practice, business, given the last 20 years.

[Lance_Boyle]

42. trade school, not college.

If all you want out of it is a job afterwards, then trade school makes much more sense than college. The trades also tend to pay better than flipping burgers with a BA in art history, or even a BS in economics.

[Peter1x9]

44. Something they like that

CANNOT be done overseas!

[owlsayswoot]

47. Herp Derp....stalking my Mommy

I have to assume the above post was about me. *waves* Hi, Mom.

A little more detail: I just got laughed out of two different schools for trying to "do what I love" (anthropology) because I couldn't afford them, even with the full allotment of financial aid, grants, scholarships, etc. Neither were particularly expensive schools, either, and one was even rather cheap as far as US schools go. I've got a year, year and a half, of "what I love" under my belt-namely archaeology-but I just plain can't afford the classes at that particular school anymore, either. I've got two years trade/vo tech school for graphic design, too.

The other "what I loves" won't happen til I have either a bachelors or better (PeaceCorps) or good income(equine rescue).

I'm honest-to-noodly appendage shit at math and business-y things (dyscalculia, woot!) and OK-even-kinda-good with science, so long as it's a soft science-as soon as math is involved, my brain just kinda throws up it's hands and walks out the door in despair. I'm good with animals, and more than good at art, and none of it translates to having enough money to survive.

[MineralMan]

50. A true gotcha moment!

As you say, "Woot!"

[SoCalDem]

53. Here's a very good school and dirt cheap...but you have to live in Kansas

http://www.50states.com/college/detail/ks/155681.htm

http://www.pittstate.edu/

[Xithras]

56. Hve you considered the veterinary sciences?

They cover a LOT of different job prospects, from caring for peoples puppies, to doctoring horses and livestock, to tracking lions across the African savannah for research purposes. You sound like a person who enjoys the sciences and animals, so it might be worth at least looking into. While there's some math involved (as with any job), it's not even a terribly math-centric position.

[owlsayswoot]

57. I have, actually

and large animal/equine vet would be more than shiny. :3

Unfortunately, when I say "shit at math-y things" it means I might squeak through pre-algebra, on a good day, if I have a calculator, and that's kind of a bad thing in this case.

[SoCalDem]

48. Bookkeeping/Accounting & perhaps plumbing

Plumbers make good money and a savvy one is his own bookkeeper/accountant.

or

Political Science

DC seems to have an abundance of jobs in that field

[Barking Spider]

51. You can't go wrong in the sciences...

Many ways to go after the degree - grad school, med school, law school, public sector, private sector

Environment & Green Tech is the new black, so consider majors with coursework in environmental science, alt energy, sustainability, possibly engineering.

[uncommon]

54. The competition from other countries in the sciences is astounding - and a lot of their kids go to

school, all the way, on the state's dime.

[FooshIt]

55. don't do what I did

Philosophy got me no where but in debt