They told you not to do it. Despite gloomy articles and depressing statistics, the willful spirit in you or maybe your heart has made you pursue it anyway: choosing the worst major everyone warned you against.
Yet, so-called “worst” major isn’t your sentence. The folks at Unicheck certainly don’t think so. Not only can you survive with this major, you can do extremely well for yourself. In this article, we are going to show you how.
Six Sections of Success
The good news is that grads with “useless degrees” can achieve success. These guidelines are applicable to all majors, both popular and underdog, and can be customized according to personal factors, preferred specialization, situation on the market, and more.
Excellence
Make most of the worst. It sounds crude, but it proves right. Achieve the highest GPA you can have. Excel at your major.
Minor
Students sometimes tend to give minors little thought. Experience shows that a wisely chosen minor can supplement your major, adding to it from a new unexpected perspective. Find out what your choices for minor are, explore them and determine what minor should be best to go with your major.
Languages
That’s right, we do mean it in plural. We have heard it from college advisers that often native English-speaking students choose not to learn a new language. The trend is reverse now with a breakneck speed. To really hit home run, research languages you most likely will need and learn them. It is easier said than done, of course, and this is where next point comes to rescue.
Foreign programs
Sometimes students dismiss this amazing opportunity thinking it is way too expensive for them. Don’t be so hasty. It is a golden opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss. Language, experience, and new perspectives are just a few things you can be gaining from a foreign program.
Your choices are wide. This can be a learning program or a work-and-travel program. There are also short-term cultural exchange opportunities or even possibilities to transfer to an overseas college for a term or a year.
Find out how you can lower the cost. Ask your college about any exchange programs abroad and what expenses they can cover. Look into student communities that organize short term funded trips for culture exchange. Find a low-cost way to travel or accommodate abroad.
Research
Read as much as you can on your major, and find something unique and special that both interest you and can serve as a future career prospect. Become a teacher’s assistant and learn from your professor. Conduct your own research, publish articles, or create art projects.
Internships and summer jobs
Every student knows just how important those are, and sometimes it’s simply impossible to choose a job. Yet, try your best to find something that will enrich your experience and give you a chance to learn a new skill.
Scenario Number One
It all sounds good in theory. To show you the practical side of the guidelines, we have developed a specific plan for two majors from the bottom of the list with the worst college majors.
As a number one example, we chose a Major in Theater Design and Production. We judged it to go well with a Minor in both Russian Studies and Visual Arts. The language to go with this combo should obviously be Russian, which is also included in the list of highly required foreign languages in US.
We choose Russia as a destination for foreign experience and Ballet Production as a specialty. While in Russia, the student can conduct research on Moscow and St. Petersburg’s operas and theaters, which are in great numbers and have world-wide fame. The student can write research papers or create art projects on particular qualities of Russian ballet productions.
Assistant to Choreographer in an opera theater, studio artist, Russian language tutor, etc. will make a good list of summer jobs, part-time jobs or internships for this student. What does it all result in?
The student will graduate as a highly specialized professional with outstanding knowledge, a very demanded second language, and both major and minor supported by work and travel experiences. Back it up with an expanded world outlook and a knack for design. Such a candidate will be evaluated much more highly than a Liberal Arts graduate with just generic curriculum in their resume.
Scenario Number Two
Want more? Here is an example number two. This student has chosen Anthropology as his Major. Let the student accompany it with Sociology Minor. As a second language, let’s choose Spanish. The advantage of Spanish would be enormous as it is second largest spoken language in US and in the world.
For additional training and research the student decides to find any available training programs online and those offered in his college. He arranges a bus trip to a few states, conducting his own research and collecting data for his publications. He publishes his articles and research regularly since freshmen year, in college newspaper and professional periodicals.
His job options include volunteering as an assistant or office help in social studies agency, intern in advertising agency, or an archivist in the library.
Second student’s result looks like this. A bilingual graduate with substantial knowledge in Anthropology and Sociology, with experience in advertising, backed up by social and anthropological research and profound understanding of specific qualities of American market and its niches. Now he positioned himself to receive a job offer as an advertising consultant or an in-house researcher working with product promotion.
From Last Position to the Top
Recently, more and more business owners and large corporations like Google, Apple and even Adidas, realize just how important humanitarian and social knowledge is for development and growth of their companies and success of their products.
This puts students majoring in Liberal Arts in unique position. They are becoming highly demanded on the job market and can choose any career they want.
Liberal Arts majors actually have an outstandingly wide span. Divided roughly in three categories (Humanities, Social Studies, and Creative Arts), they vary greatly in their range. Of course, just majoring in Liberal Arts will not guarantee anything. It’s your choices and your passion for a certain field that will do that.
More Information
Admittedly, this guide is not complete. There are still many questions and nuances that need clarification. Doing well academically requires persistence and diligence, and pursuing additional activities takes up a lot of time and effort.
Unplag is always ready to help and to listen to its readers. If you feel like your story will add to today’s topic, we encourage you to share it with us.
For additional information on how to find a job and make additional money as a student, check out our article here.
We suggest consulting your college adviser about any concerns, ideas and questions you may have on any points listed above.
