I am one of those people who is trying to balance the college running life and picking a major that I like and is decent financially. Any recommendations?
I am one of those people who is trying to balance the college running life and picking a major that I like and is decent financially. Any recommendations?
Photography and Journalism was my major. I now make $550,000 a year writing running articles and producing televised track meets.
Most people here majored in beer drinking, belly belching and crotch itching. They would do it over again the same exact way because they're souless cretins.
"What did you major in in college"
Biology
Yes I would major in biology again I love it. My dream profession is wildlife biologist but i didn't have the courage to pursue it because of unpredictable/declining job market. I chose the safe option and told myself I would be a doctor with lots of outdoorsy hobbies.
BS and MS Exercise Physiology
I would do it again. I'm currently a D1 Mid-Major coach and my education has been very helpful. I don't make a lot of money but I'm married and between the two of us we live a good life.
My major was Ancient Egyptian History. I'm a 7 figure museum curator now. I would change my major to Anthropology if I had to do college over again.
runforus wrote:
I am one of those people who is trying to balance the college running life and picking a major that I like and is decent financially. Any recommendations?
Mathematics is the best major for college runners.
I double majored in economics and environmental science. If I could do it over again I would do triple major with statistics added. I was two classes away but my school had some dumb rule against triple majoring which they have apparently gotten rid of.
Music. Couldn't make a career out of it, but did play professionally for about 5 years. The mailman made more money than I did. But, it was an amazing experience. I was so caught up in it when I was younger, I do not think that I would have been capable of doing anything else at the time.
If I had to do it again and could apply myself to another subject the way I did to music, I would go into hard sciences. I have a friend who works on nanotech research. He makes great money, works normal hours and has the potential to get stinky rich if the research goes somewhere (he works on lightweight materials).
I majored in economics. While I ultimately decided to go to med school, I think I would still major in econ if I could do it again. I feel like my background gives me a unique understanding of human behavior, which is helpful in my profession. It also helps me to understand and participate in policy discussions.
I can understand why most premeds want to major in biology. It certainly provides a solid background for medicine, and obviously most people who are going to med school enjoy bio. But to me, it makes sense to use undergrad as an opportunity to learn about something that med school doesn't teach you. After two years of med school, your whole class basically knows the same things about human biology whether they majored in bio or just took the minimum 8 credits. Might as well learn something that other physicians won't know.
The only thing I'd change is that I would complete my med school prerequs during undergrad. This would be easy to do while majoring in econ, though.
Majored in English. Love it, but have never used it professionally and now work in accounting. (Hate accounting, hate business, hate finance, hate Corporate America...Hate it, hate it, hate it!)
If I could do it over, I would. At the very least, I would have pursued teaching. If not that, I would have gone into athletic training. The university I attended had a really strong athletic training program, but I was told by an advisor that I'd have to quit the XC and T&F teams in order to fulfill the morning and afternoon clinical requirements. I didn't want to quit running, especially since I was on scholarship, so I changed majors. In retrospect, I'm certain that advisor didn't know her arse from her elbow.
runforus wrote:
I am one of those people who is trying to balance the college running life and picking a major that I like and is decent financially. Any recommendations?
I majored in Chemistry and would definitely do it again. Super easy to find a good job with a science degree. However, I did not run in college. It might have been tough to balance a difficult major like that with serious training and racing...
Still, I would go with something practical. Math and Science majors are the best for getting gigs afterwards... always in demand. Stay clear or Psych, Sociology, History, Music, English if you'd like to be employed. I can't tell you how many people with those degrees I worked with at restaurants growing up. 35 year olds with Psych degrees bartending at Claim Jumper and going to parties with all the younger employees are a depressing group.
I majored in Finance and International Business. I should have majored in Web Design, English, and Videography so I could have a six figure salary like the correspondents at Runnerspace and Flotrack enjoy.
Sports Journalism at Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. But it was not my choice - my dad asked me to be more serious and finally decide, so I just had to do it. Sportswriters get more deadline pressure than any other reporters or journalists. I'm planning to apply for a Kinesiology degree next year.
Pressure and thrills: what it's like to sit in the press box by Amy Lawrence
The psychology of sports writing and How it affects your brain by Veronika Cooper
Black Med Student wrote:
"What did you major in in college"
Biology
Yes I would major in biology again I love it. My dream profession is wildlife biologist but i didn't have the courage to pursue it because of unpredictable/declining job market. I chose the safe option and told myself I would be a doctor with lots of outdoorsy hobbies.
Was anthro-biology double major for 2.5 years as an undergrad, but dropped the bio just to get the degree in 4 years. I ended up going back to finish bio at another school (in-state) and pursued the wildlife biology career. Grad school and all. One of my early mentors, world renowned biologist, suggested your route, go into dental or med school and do the outdoors stuff on my free time. However, I couldn't see doing anything else.
I worked 20 years as a more or less itinerant wildlife biologist, and am now employed in related field (broader/more policy oriented) which has better pay and stability.
Would I do it all again? Probably, but would have done a lot of things differently in those early years.
Chemical Engineering. Chose it because I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was a teenager. and I was pressed into it by my guidance counselor. Job market is very on and off and the jobs most directly related to the taught skillset are in undesirable locations (to me), or have horrible hours.
I took an online MBA later on and rebranded myself as a product manager for machinery companies. Pretty happy with it, but I would've been better served getting a BS in Mechanical Engineering and getting a Masters in Engineering Management.
Math / Bio.
Math / C.S. / Business
runforus wrote:
I am one of those people who is trying to balance the college running life and picking a major that I like and is decent financially. Any recommendations?
Mann oh man..thought about this a lot the last decade..
Majored in Education, would have went the Information Tech route instead especially as tech has only evolved, and there's no slowing it down in our lifetime.
Cartography (look it up)
I wanted to fly jets but couldn't get into the US Naval or Air Force academies. After graduating I went through the Navy OCS program and was commissioned. Went to fly jets. Wanted to be in a fighter jet but it didn't work out. I did fly jets, they were just the big slow moving kind. Did that for eight years and then left. I did stay in the reserves and put in 20 years total. Then I joined a very large airline that flew cargo. I did that until I turned 60 and then retired with a pension. Two pensions and two paid off houses. Life is great!
Mechanical Engineering.
Ran at a major D1 program. My running probably wasn't its full potential- hard to get those extra couple percents only sleeping 6-7 hours a night.
I didn't do engineering for the salary or stability. It is just what I loved, and my brain works that way so it definitely made engineering easier.
About to finish a PhD in engineering.