A few days ago
N B

Any opinions on my college dilemma?

I’m in the military, and don’t really know what I want to do when I get out, therefore I’m not sure what degree to get. I’m not into math or business so it will be something in the liberal arts.

Some criteria I’ve been thinking over –

1.I would like a degree that would give me the option to pursue teaching (with further education)

2. I would also like a degree that can provide some job opportunities if I don’t teach.

3. And I would like a degree that would help with my creative writing hobby.

The options I have right now that I’m considering are getting a BA in Social Science or English from a smaller, lesser know university

or

getting a BA in Liberal Studies (concentration:Social Science) from a more prestigious school. I know some people don’t think highly of the lib arts degree, but I’m attracted to the broud education it would give me, and the school is much better (if that even matters to potential employers).

Thanks for any input.

Top 3 Answers
A few days ago
۞An Amazing Life۞

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I have heard that a liberal arts degree is great! It covers a wide range of subjects. LA is a degree that you can take any where- even business( but you dont like business).Liberal Arts allows you to explor various classes. The market for liberal arts majors is slim unless they have advanced degrees in a speciality. If you graduate in LA then you have demonstrated to a future employer that you are well rounded. However, you are still going to be selected for employment behind people who have demonstrated skills applicable to the occupation.

Here is what I found on a site:

What is a Liberal Arts Major?

A liberal arts and sciences major combines the arts, sciences, and humanities in a format which emphasizes one of the broadest study programs offered. You can study modern languages, music, English, anthropology, history, women’s studies, psychology, math, political science or many other disciplines.

The versatility of a liberal arts degree allows you to continue into applied studies, or you can use the communications, reasoning, and thinking skills you’ve developed to enter into a wide choice of careers. Like a degree in general studies, liberal arts are appealing to employers who are looking for a generalist – someone who has the proven ability to think in different areas and has not been pigeon holed to work in only one mind set. Any professional needs to understand the world and society in order to be a contributing member – from interior designers to clergy. The liberal arts add to the quality of life by fostering an ongoing investigation of your own environment and the global and historical cultures that complement and conflict with it.

You’ll see that some of the potential job titles that we discuss here fall under the educational domain of other degrees listed on World Wide Learn’s site, such as teacher or communications specialist. In these cases, further training and education may be required to practice in these fields.

The liberal arts degree is popular for those with higher career ambitions, as well. Many future law or foreign services professionals find that getting a liberal arts degree such as political science is a great starting off point in their academic pursuits – it’s both personally rewarding and beneficial for the courses they will take as they progress. A BA in liberal arts can also provide the foundations for careers in medicine and business.

The list of Master’s degrees in liberal arts illustrates how far reaching the choices are:

MA (Arts)

MLA (Liberal Arts)

MALS (Liberal Studies)

MLAS (Liberal Arts and Sciences)

MALL (Liberal Learning), MS Ed

M ED (Education – Arts Humanities, Music, or Social Sciences)

MAT (Teaching)

MS Sc (Sciences)

MALA

M Litt

D Litt (Doctor of Literature)

M Phil (Philosophy)

MAIS (Interdisciplinary Studies)

MGS (General Studies)

MAPS (Professional Studies)

MLIS (Library Information Services)

MM (Music)

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A few days ago
Anonymous
Almost any degree in the liberal arts will afford you many opportunities to write and receive your professor’s input on not only the content but the writing itself. Regardless of what other coursework you’re taking, you can often add a creative writing elective.

Much of creative writing is self-taught and needn’t come from formal education, so I wouldn’t worry a lot about getting that from your college experience.

If the possibility of teaching is attractive, you want to study a subject which is taught at the high school level, whether it’s history or government or geography or whatever else takes your fancy. That plus a few teaching courses can get you a teaching certificate in many states.

If younger students are a possibility, public schools are often eager to hire qualified males, especially to teach younger students, where the staff is overwhelmingly female. You’d need to study elementary education specifically.

Unfortunately, many of the liberal arts do not give you a directly marketable skill other than kicking azz at “Jeopardy.” However, many professional jobs merely require a college degree in anything, with the job’s actual tasks being taught to the new hire.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. I can recommend a creative writing site: http://absolutewrite.com/forums , which will pretty much teach you what you could learn at school.

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A few days ago
kayakdudeus
It’s difficult to compete for jobs with a liberal arts major because there are so many of them out there.

I might suggest that you go for the business classes. There should be at least 40 credit hours of non=required classes which will allow you to take the English, writing workshops, wrting analysis, and many other classes that meet your interests.

Double majors like this are interesting – you can apply to double major and that is impressive to employers.

Having graduated from an Ivy League school, I can tell you that only your first employer will pay attention to the prestige of the university. After that, everyone will pay attention to what you did on your jobs and how well you did it.

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