To those that have been to, or are in, college

I would say do what you love. I went through for archaeology and now I am in museum studies. The field is small, but even if I can't directly get a job in those fields, I learned a lot of stuff that can be applied to a lot of different jobs. Plus you always have electives that you can use to take more practical things It also depends on what you want to do in the future too. For example, if you want to be a doctor, you should go into the sciences and wouldn't look as good if you majored in something else.

 

Life is worthless if we spend it doing something we don't love. That's why I left welding behind, despite going to school for it. I hated myself and my life with a burning passion while I was doing it.

I'm going back to school this fall for my English Degree (creative writing yo!). I do not plan to be wealthy. I do not plan to live terribly comfortably for a long time. But I'll be doing what I love. And that will make everything worth it.

 

I wasted my four years in college. I chose a major thinking it would pave the way to my "dream job", not realizing at the time it was a pretty unattainable goal. As a child, I wanted to be a sports broadcaster so I went to school for it.

It's a tough call between doing what you love and working for the most money. If there is a trade or skill you truly love doing, then don't factor in money. Not everyone has that luxury though of enjoying one specific skill.

But I wholeheartedly agree with Doug and Moose. Liking your job makes all the difference! Try your best to find a happy medium between money and enjoyment.

 

Ha, did you do that on purpose?(!)

But as for the second paragraph, you and I are almost direct opposites. I studied video game design, an artistic major with limited career prospects (unless you're a wunderkind, which I'm not) and would now be interested in pursuing something lucrative like welding. If I may ask, why did you hate it? Extremely unpleasant work, or you just wanted to write instead?

 

Neither really, go study something that you can excel at and you feel comfortable doing. If you are ok with writing essays and are good at it and want go be creative and intuitive and think outside of the box, go study a course in the Humanities. If you like memorizing information and focusing on details, Life sciences, medicine and law work well. If you enjoy playing with numbers, puzzles and figuring out solutions then Sciences, Computer sciences or engeneering can be fantastic. If you have great people skills, business related degrees or law are most suitable.

Nowadays everyone has a degree, what really matters is exceling at what you do and becoming passionate about it. If you don't have the capabilities to do well at what you choose to study, you might not find the drive to complete the degree and no matter how practical or how much you think you love the subject, you might not be able to finish it. Every degree has horribly boring parts to it which will make you want to quit and being skilled at the subject will give you the ability to finish those parts without breaking.

 

You have to remember that all academic subjects are fascinating in their own way. I studied over the years quite a few different subjects and I have to say that all of them were enjoyable. The problem was that I just didn't have the ability to do well in them and I simply lost my drive after getting a few bad grades. There was one subject that I did well in and consequently, I had the confidence to complete the degree and I even moved on and got an MA in a top university: English Literature. I actually didn't take it because I had some deep passion for the subject. I took it because I thought I could do well in it and I wanted to use it as stepping stone for an MBA but the success just drew me along and it has become my life.

 

Try to combine the two

 

Well, in this case, you mean college like University, so I'm not already there yet, but... (Cegep works a bit like it, too. Kinda?)

I would suggest doing what you love instead of what will give you the most bucks. I absolutely suck at everything that has to do with science and math. Those are the most paying jobs, however. I'm not wasting my time in that.

I would advise studying in something you love that does have a little bit of stability, though. Uni is freaking expensive and if you want to make the most of it, be sure that your BAC will be useful.

So, yeah, middle ground. I also think that if you want to become an artist, you can learn the skills without ever going to uni. There's no point living a life doing a job you despise, even if you get money in the end.

 

I majored in English because that's what I love--there was no way I could have majored in business or engineering just because those are the "moneymaking" majors. However, if those are fields that you feel you could work well in, then maybe you should go for it and minor in or double major in what you love as an aside. I, however, couldn't picture myself studying anything other than English (or history), so there wasn't much option for me. But it is best to major in something with a career in mind (for example, what I had in mind was teaching); leaving it to "I'll figure it out in the end" is rarely the best idea.

 

I just meant find a major that is useful, but something you still enjoy.

 

I believe in going to school for what you love, or at least something you're into. That's why I want to join a music college when I apply two years from now.

But say, if I were to become a doctor, and I don't like biology, what's the point? Sure, I'll make a lot of money, but I won't love it. I won't be able to put my heart in the job, therefore not being able to give patients 100%.

It's also about what you love. I would personally rather live in a small apartment, but constantly work on something I'll never get bored of.

 

Yeah, same.
Personally, I'd rather do something I enjoy. I can't imagine myself having a job I'm not interested in just for the sake of getting well paid, I think I'd feel pretty unfulfilled.
But that depends on each person really, I'm sure plenty of people wouldn't mind a job they don't particularly like, if it guaranteed good money.

 

I think it really depends on your life goals, how much you care about money, how much you actually enjoy working, if you're fine with a 9 to 5 job or want a more flexible life etc.

There are people who decided to follow their dreams and passions, are having financial problems now and wish they could have dedicated their time to something more useful.

On the other hand, there are people who followed the most traditional path and hate their job, even if it pays well.

Personally, I think I'm more pragmatic than most and I value financial security a lot, so I decided to follow a more conventional path (Law). I don't really like it, to be honest, but there's a lot you can do with a Law diploma in my country, so I'm not shifting the course. However, it was kinda easy for me to decide, because I didn't really have a passion for any carreer at all.

Just remember, choosing a major now doesn't mean you'll have to stick to it forever. Hell, lots of people are working in job fields they would have never thought about a few years back and they're fine.

 

Major in something that interests you, but always be willing to remain flexible and consider other majors as well as you find other things that interest you.