Sunday, October 6, 2013

College Major

Universities have opened for Fall Semester.  Since I have nothing to do, I was looking at the “majors” offered at a few universities.  I was surprised to find strange majors.  Here are a few examples:
 
Winemaking – Cornell University
 
Golf Course Management – Ferris State University, Michigan
 
Bakery Science (how to operate a bakery) – Kansas State University
 
I just remembered I wrote a post 3 years ago about college majors.  I am re-posting here:
 
                                                                   (Courtesy: Yahoo)
 
Many readers of this blog have already completed their education and have started their career. But if any young student ask for advice, they can give something along the following lines.
 
They should not select a major in any subject that involves dealing with real facts. These include math, chemistry, physics or biology.
 
Let us say you choose math as a major. The professor may ask the following question: A goat is tied to the outside corner of 4 yards by 4 yards pen on a 16 yard leash. How many square yards of grass can he eat? If you do not come up with an answer that the professor has in his/her mind, he/she will flunk you.
 
Same goes for chemistry major. Calculate the pH of the solution that results from mixing the following four aqueous solutions together. You don’t come with a correct answer you fail.
 
Same is true for physics or biology major and subjects like that.
 
My advice is to select a major in subjects like English, psychology, philosophy or sociology. These are the subjects no one understands what others are talking about and there are no real facts.
 
Take for example Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. If you have to write an essay on Pip, you can write about Process Industry Practices. The professor who reads hundreds of similar boring papers on Pip will think you are very different and creative. He will also view you as an “out of the box” thinker.
 
It is easy to major in philosophy. All you have to do is sit in a room and do nothing all day. Wear a t-shirt that says “Sh*t Happens” and take some drugs like MDMA.
 
It is easy to major in psychology also. In later years, when you become a psychologist, all you have to say is only one sentence. For example:
 
Patient: I hate my mother
Psychologist: Thank you for sharing that with me
 
Patient: I am depressed
Psychologist: Thank you for sharing that with me
 
Patient: I want to kill you, you fat slob
Psychologist: Thank you for sharing that with me
 
Finally, seriously, nowadays they don’t want any “expert” as a CEO. The multi national corporations are looking for liberal arts majors to be their leaders. (I am talking about U.S. companies only.) They are considered “out of the box” thinkers and having leadership qualities. They will be supervising the “experts”.

25 comments:

  1. heheheh! I loved every bit of this post...u r right, some 'majors' offered are so 'out-of-the-box' that they make us laugh!!
    Now, I wish I were a psychologist!

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  2. Thanks for your comments Ankita. You wish you were a psychologist? Thank you for sharing that with me.

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  3. whats happening..is it education?

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  4. Thanks for your comments Renu. Let us start an University and offer only 2 majors. Your 2 favorites. Opinion and Relationships. HaHaHa.

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  5. Amazing choice for majors :)
    So it means kids should opt for unconventional and newer courses and certainly not the regular physics.. maths.. biology.

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  6. Thanks for your comments Shilpa. A definite "yes" if you want Aaryan to be the CEO of a large corporation as opposed to a mere Senior Vice President. HaHaHa.

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  7. Thanks Ankita. I am glad you are enjoying this post.

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  8. Too late in the day for this advice:)

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  9. Thanks for your comments Rahul. I know you are an electrical engineering graduate. I understand your frustration.

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  10. I enjoyed the entire write-up.Now majors as Crying,Laughing,Eating,Walking,Locking the house and even Nature's call.

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  11. In my opinion, college is a waste of time and waste of money. But, I think there is a solid logic why large corporations insist on hiring candidates with college degree. So, people who want to work for them might find a good synergy with college courses.

    Destination Infinity

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  12. Thanks for your comments Sarala. I am very happy you enjoyed this post. One of the strangest majors I have come across is Bachelor of Science in Packaging from University of Wisconsin.

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  13. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. College education is very important no matter what your major is. They have the opportunity to read books and listen to lectures and experts. This will inspire students to think, ask questions, and develop new ideas. Also, college education teaches you discipline – be punctual, finish the project on time, prepare thoroughly, etc.

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  14. Days of ENGINEER and DOCTOR are over.

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  15. Thanks for your comments Mr. Chowla. You are correct. Days of Engineers and Doctors are over. Bring on Bachelor of Science in Professional Nanny (Sullivan University, Kentucky) or B.A. in Turfgrass Management (Michigan State University).

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  16. The new courses are interesting! We, Indians will never opt for these courses! We are after producing truck loads of Engineers first, then doctors! Then they lead a monotonous boring lives! I don't have any relative or friend who is not an Engineer...just a couple of B.Coms and then they do MBA's!

    I laughed reading the psychology student's question answers!

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  17. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. I am glad you enjoyed this post.

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  18. hehehe.. wine making degree? wow..
    I see that in US people go for degrees other than those in engineering and medical. That's great..
    Your post reminded me of my social studies days.. the problem with such subjects is that your professor must like your answer since there is no right or wrong answer. But yeah scoring may be easier since you cannot be wrong (since there is no right answer).

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  19. Thanks for your comments Avada Kedavra. You said it much better than me.

    You like wine? Which kind? Merlot or Cabernet or anything else?

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  20. so many options there and very few here in India. Mark zuckerberg, Bill gates have started a new trend, one neednt even get offbeat degrees, one has to drop out of school:)

    Good thinking SG, enjoyed the post:)

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  21. Thanks for your comments Asha. Please add Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison to your list of successful college drop outs.

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  22. Interesting information.

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