It's ironic that I'm saying this but financial pursuit isn't everything. Being driven by genuinely liking something means you'll have a fun and easy time at college and will probably succeed with very decent grades. You don't just go to college/uni because you want to make more money later on in life.

lol have you ever seen US college tuition rates? Why the fuck would anyone take out the loans or spend the money necessary for a university education if not for the prospect of a higher waged position in the skilled workforce?

you both have points: don't go into something like medicine or law if that's not what you want to do but don't study art history either.

That's important, particularly given the expenses, but likewise: are you saying that having a genuine interest in something and wanting to know more about it means nothing?

No you weight the two and find a balance, thats what I've been saying this whole time. Shit I love music and would love to do it professionally but I understand that shit isn't practical so I learn it as a hobby and found a job that I like. I never would have known i would have liked it until I actually started doing it. It is about money, it has to be about money. Yes have fun and take a couple extracurricular courses in shit you like but don't throw a fucking degree away hoping to get a dream job.

Like, she wants to go abroad and learn in japan. Cool. But whats better going there once when you're a kid in college and from then on being too broke to go again in your adulthood? Own a vacation home there or working there for a living? There are so many young people who fuck up at that point and then spend the rest of their lives miserable and working low end jobs because of an unwise decision they made.

Yes its important to do something you like but I don't know about anyone else but I really like having money, doing whatever the fuck I want, and never having to worry about that shit. There is no point in learning that stuff through a college if you can't apply it financially, you could do all of that on your own or take some community college classes which are cheaper. Once you have your self set financially you could go to any country on your own and go study art on your off-time at your own convenience. Fund your own businesses, pay to publish your work; etc... you most likely will not be able to do that if you major in art or psychology directly.

bunch of white men who either hate or didn't go to college telling you all about it

mmymypet you'll have a blast

I love going to class and learning everything. I've been going to college for 5 years and I have no idea what anyone else in this thread is talking about.

I too am fascinated by both art and science, so I'll be studying Industrial Design at the University of Washington. ID is basically where applied art meets applied science, and it's exactly the career field I was looking for. You should check it out and see if it interests you.

these days that applies to most professions that deal with built design, including architecture and especially landscape architecture. but as far as I know, the science side of these majors is generally the lite version of everything, and you kinda have to pursue it on your own if you're into it

no shit, do you live in seattle or are you doing distance-learning? Is it a BFA program?

Yeah, I've been in Seattle for over a year now. UW doesn't do distance learning for the art majors, but they have a BFA and MFA in Industrial Design.

these days that applies to most professions that deal with built design, including architecture and especially landscape architecture. but as far as I know, the science side of these majors is generally the lite version of everything, and you kinda have to pursue it on your own if you're into it

Very true. My personal interests lie more in the way of small scale design, to be interacted with on an individual level. I was very interested in architecture for a while though, and I may still transition to it eventually. The science may not be "hard" like engineering or biology research, but it's about problem solving and exploring new concepts, which is what basic science is all about anyway.

Farren, I know what you're trying to say but I think you're misjudging the actual value of some degrees over other. Employers will look at what degree you have, true, but overall it's more important for you to have any kind of degree. Also, no matter what, it is always better to have actual experience and skill; a traditional education can prepare you for that but not replace it. This obviously excludes technical fields with a lot of very specific training such as engineering or physics or something.

Many, many careers are based not on what kind of diploma you have, but on your actual capability for the job. For example, my best friend is the head of online marketing at a start-up company. In a few years he'll be making 6 figures. His degree? A B.S. in Philosophy, something most people would consider pretty "useless." But he's intelligent, educated, and good at his job, so it doesn't matter what he went to school for.

Going to college for "the wrong thing" is a bullshit concept, and even if it were valid, you won't end up spending "the rest of your life miserable" for pursuing your actual interests instead of giving up your dreams because you erroneously believe that the only way to make decent money is to study some narrow set of "useful" fields that you don't even care about.

yeah something that i don't feel has been represented here is that college rules. thanks for chiming in on that earl. i was gonna say that myself, personally.

I'm a music student in my last semester at a community college before I transfer to a real music school. Basically college is just like high school but with a more relaxed atmosphere and heavier homework load. Try to get at least somewhat involved with other activities or else you will either A. Stay home and avoid other humans, or B. Just party all the time and fail your classes. Keep on track with your classes and you'll do fine. (considering your High School GPA I doubt you needed that last bit of advice, but it helps.)

Also, congrats on getting a 34 on the ACT, that's fucking impressive. 

are you saying that having a genuine interest in something and wanting to know more about it means nothing?

That's not what I said at all.

if you have a genuine interest in something, go learn about it. You don't really need some expensive piece of paper to tell yourself you know about math or whatever, there's literally nothing stopping you from picking up a textbook and studying about whatever you want. Learning about things is good, everyone should do more of it. Sinking a bunch of money and taking a lot of debt for a slip of paper that probably won't help you in the job market is not the best plan though.

for example, i know like 3-4 people who got like computer science/software degrees just because they wanted to get work out of school and went off to do other things because that's what they really wanted and had been really passionate about pursuing, one edits this literary magazine, one illustrates and publishes comics, and another is a farmer.

What they did was smart because those are all things I wouldn't put a $30,000 bet on being able to do with my life and are generally things that aren't like HE physics research that require you to take it to gradschool and get a PhD. On the flipside I know a handful of art history, english, history, economics, sociology, etc. majors who are miserable in the service sector.

I always wondered what "college life" was like in US. Are the things they show in movies real? like frathouses. Also is it true you have to pay to study philosophy?

Also is it true you have access to expensive lab equipment if you study a proper science?

I always wondered what "college life" was like in US. Are the things they show in movies real? like frathouses. Also is it true you have to pay to study philosophy?

frat parties/college drinking is kinda like the movies but even more gross because kids are fucking disgusting and everyone is a scumbag

depending on what school you go to, proper science labs can be pretty awesome. big research universities have really awesome labs but they're mostly for professors and grad students to play in