Wow complicated question!

First, as a history major I completely understand your love for history and your want to major in the subject. The classes are interesting (well, when you have a good prof and when the class is not at 8am!) and a good knowledge of history is always usable.

Second, you are correct in the fact that there is not a lot of demand for history majors-unless you want to teach (and I am guessing you don’t?). While there are a few jobs out there, most of the time you have to pursue a master’s or doctorate in history to find a job that does not involve teaching.

Next, with a business accounting degree-I could be completely wrong, but from my experience a degree in accounting will not get you very far unless you have a CPA (Certified Public Accounting) license. You will need to check with either an advisor or your college’s career counseling department to confirm or deny this.

So…..my thoughts are that you should consider majoring in business (either with a focus on accounting if you are considering pursuing your CPA, or general business if not), and minor in history. A minor in history allows you to take 18 credit hours (6 classes) in history, gain a good general knowledge and still major in liberal arts. I think all colleges require that you have a minor anyways, so this is killing two birds with one stone. However, minoring in history and majoring in business does a few things-allows to graduate in 4 years (college is expensive, the shorter amount of time you can finish in the better!), but allows gives you a clear career path when you graduate.

Good luck in your studies!!!

If you were to only major in history, what would you do with that degree? A B.A. in history is very limiting. You’d have to go on further with your education such as getting a teaching degree or going on to grad school (law school, MA or PhD in History and become a professor). One of my friends who majored in history is now a successful attorney.

I think the business accounting major is much more practical. My advice is to get as much experience (summer intern, part-time work) in that field so that when you get out of college, you’ll have a lot of experience and you won’t have to start at the bottom.

I agree with the first poster, major in business, minor in history. Yes, history can be very interesting but honestly, in the real world, it’s not practical unless you are going into teaching.

Best wishes!

I’m in the same boat as a freshman in college! Except rather than Accounting I’m thinking about going for Business Management. I LOVE history and it excites me so much to know so much about something I love. For me I look at history as being ‘going to college for an education that I’m passtionate about’ and ‘going to business for the job’. I’ve been doing some research and it seems like employers like the way history looks because it shows you know how to analyze and write. My thinking is, business is my backup or temporary plan if a history based job doesn’t pan out, granted this is taking college cost out of the picture. However, as someone who understands passion for history I get it if you want to do it not because it’s the most economic thing, but because you want to enrich yourself. I’m considering business management because I’m not sure what else I like besides history and it gives me lots of options. Hope this helps in some way, if not just to relate a little.

I don’t see how this double major would help in getting a job, but it would give you more options since you could apply for accounting jobs and jobs in psychology (research coordination, some social service). But accounting and psychology are often housed in different schools at the same university, it might take more than 4 years so it may not be worth it. I have never in my life heard an employer say “These two people are equally qualified, so let’s pick the one who only had one major.” I wouldn’t worry at all that it will make you less marketable.