Comments on: Major in English if you want

By: William

William — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 06:14:12 +0000

According to the last census, less than thirty percent of people over twenty five years old even
have a B.A. degree. What does that say? Most people will make it with or without the completed
degree.

Spending hours on critical essays of fiction or writing poetry has to be something you love. I think if you are going to burn your brain with calculus or computer programming it has to be something you have an interest in. Many people quit college because of trying to compete with the notion of vocation vs true interest. I left
college and was able to work for two Fortune 200 companies in middle management and have operated four different business ventures over the last twenty five years. I think when you choose a major just for employment it is like choosing the wrong wife. It will normally end in a bitter
divorce and you will be looking for a new love. I think people will make it because of their drive and passion for what they are doing. I have never met anyone that was a true success that was working or went to school for something
they dislike. Time flies and life is wonderful with the people and things you love but when you have to be stuck in some high paying rut job(oh yes!) you are doomed to a life of trying to fill
an empty hole. The money fills the void but you will then need a new challenge. Have you ever wondered why people who have it all take their
own lives while other people with nothing seem to strive in the flow of life? Why do you see people going back to college in their 50s or 60s?
I will probably go back to college, to some small liberal arts school and major in Humanities or English. I feel as though I have
cheated myself because I wish I would have had the guts to do that when I was young. I feel we
have a tendency to listen to the practical and then find out later that we wasted much precious
time and money when we should of just followed out hearts.

By: McMurdo

McMurdo — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:50:54 +0000

While I agree that the important thing is getting the degree more than what the degree is in (very few people are in a career they majored in in college–people change jobs an average of 8 times in their lifetime!), I suggest if you want to learn to write well, become a WRITING major, not an English major…or even a Business Communications major (and add in an English minor if you really want). Many jobs for English majors require grad school, so if you want a job besides teaching where you will use your writing skills right out of undergrad–such as a job in marketing, p.r., corporate writing–then major in writing.

The problem is that there are not a lot of jobs where you need to be well versed in literature, but all jobs require good writing skills, so the READING part of an English major is indeed a privilege or luxury, as this article somewhat implied. However, a huge problem in the U.S. is that even English majors are not taught to write the way companies want. It is a big problem and execs all over are complaining how new employees out of school were never taught to write for the needs of business!

English majors can write beautiful sentences and create elegant essays, but when asked to write a business report, they are flummoxed. They often focus on being eloquent, which is not what businesses want.

I teach very expensive writing classes to professionals who cannot get promoted because of poor writing skills, and by that I mean college graduates who were never taught to write in ways businesses need, INCLUDING English majors. Sadly many, if not most, college English departments focus on literature, creative writing, and eloquent prose. This is a huge disservice to students and businesses alike. If you don’t want to be a writing major, a business comm major, a p.r. major, or a marketing major with an English minor, at least load up on as many writing courses as you can before you graduate with that English B.A. In most cases, you’ll get hired faster, have more options available, and get promoted more quickly.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:09:47 +0000

You need to be creative with your major. English majors are known to have good communication skills- a quality much appreciated by employers, regardless of the field. Their only option isn’t teaching- they can apply their skills and love for English to anything they do.

By: Trinh Kim Diep

Trinh Kim Diep — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:01:11 +0000

Thanks so much for your response. I am now 33 and will be going back to school to upgrade my English BA to an honors. I am afraid but feel that English and Creative writing are the only skills I’m actually really good at. I don’t know if I want to become a teacher but I know that working administrative jobs for the last 10 years after having my BA was not at all
fulfilling. So I’m going back to school, and hoping in time, things will reveal itself.

By: Money in the Bank

Money in the Bank — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:48:04 +0000

It seems like majoring in English or History leaves a small window of career opportunities, mainly being a teacher. I would love being a teacher, but the finances for choosing such a career are not favorable.

By: Donna

Donna — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:26:39 +0000

I majored in English because I was required to dual major in order to get my teaching degree. I was pleasantly surprised, enjoying it enough to go back for my English MA in Literature. I am worried that it could dead end me if ever I change fields, but it seems the MA is in demand where the BA isn’t. Since I’m attending a prestigious public school, a 10K increase in salary the first year after graduation will pay off the degree quite quickly. If I loved dry reading, I would go to law school.

By: Jerrold

Jerrold — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:48:57 +0000

I got an English degree because I had all of my dreams crushed in college (doing an engineering degree, passing calculus, etc) due to depression and social anxiety. I failed calculus so then I couldn’t get a business degree without passing Calc and I thought that would never happen. So I got a worthless degree just to get a piece of paper and get out of the university that was driving me crazy. Not only did I get a worthless degree, but it was in a subject I had no interest in. I am genuinely surprised the college suicide rate isn’t higher than it is.

By: James Owens

James Owens — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:58:07 +0000

I majored in english, I am not going to say it was worthless or a waste of time, but I think every english major should consider two things. Either you are going to law school or you are going to be a teacher. The degree by itself-will not, will not I repeat help you find a job. No employer cares that you have a degree in English. It prepares you for nothing in particular and you will end up going to either get a teaching degree or a law degree. If you want to break into another field get an internship while you are still attending school and schedule classes around it. It is going to be a lot harder to work an unpaid internship after you graduate unless you live at home or something.

By: Tomas

Tomas — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 03:01:51 +0000

I don’t want to be cranky, but you people seem completely out of touch with reality. The average college graduate earns $29,000 more each year than the average high school graduate. The idea that not going to college can, on average, be a better choice than going to college, is thus perhaps the worst financial advice one could offer. As for choice of major, outside of the hard sciences and engineering, where one learns concrete skills with direct application, the choice of major matters, at most, at the margin. What matters most is doing well; and doing well requires you to study what you find most interesting. In short, go to college if you can; it will result in $900,00 more income over a 30 year work life. Major in what interests you and do well.

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:21:34 +0000

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories and comments!

Anne Keckler: Yes, I agree that one can get the knowledge more cheaply and more efficiently: Buy textbooks and read them! The contacts are indeed a big component of a college education and I didn’t take advantage of that with mine.

guinness416: Good point. Even if a 17-year-old did “do the math” and figured out that college would be a waste of time, I suspect that his parents might disagree anyway. As difficult as it might be, thinking about the consequences/prospects of a particular major early on helps, especially if the 17-year-old will be carrying the debt for the college.

Regarding the connection between majoring in English and writing well: I would hope that English majors at a minimum would be great writers; I think they deserve more credit than just being able to write well, like the ability to communicate effectively and the ability to synthesize information from varied sources. Writing as a skill should be taught earlier than college, but the skills that English majors learn go beyond this, for sure.