Spear Thistle.
The Top 10
Most Useless Degrees (And Why)
Sean Kim
Contents:
Quick Summary
False sense of security
Misalignment of goals
Better alternatives
1. Advertising
2. Music
3. Computer Science
4. Creative Writing
5. Philosophy
6. Communication
7. Education
8. Languages
9. Criminal Justice
10. Entrepreneurship
In Conclusion
Over to you
If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how valuable
your current degree will be
for your career. Or maybe you’re a high school senior, debating
which degree to pursue.
As someone who has extensively researched the value of a degree
before deciding to
drop out of university, let me share my two cents on the matter.
It may shift your perspective.
Before we go over the 10 most useless degrees in college,
let’s go over some major gaps that apply towards pursuing a degree
in the first place.
False
sense of security
Growing up, we were promised the illusion of the golden ticket.
We are told to earn a paper degree, and watch the
opportunities roll in.
This may have been true 30–40 years ago, where only 26% of
middle-class workers had a degree. Today, when almost everyone has a college
degree (if not a Master’s),
its value is increasingly becoming a commodity rather than an
asset.
As a result, the golden ticket we were promised rarely leads to
our desired job upon graduation,
if at all. According to the U.S Department of Labor, 53.6% of
college graduates
under the age of 25 are either unemployed or underemployed.
Misalignment
of goals
This may be harsh to hear for some people, but most college
professors
don’t have your best interest as their priority. There’s two
reasons for that.
The first is the increasing number of professor to student ratio,
where some lecture halls seat
over 500+ students per professor. This makes it incredibly
difficult to develop a genuine relationship. This also leads to receiving
general and unspecific advice from professors.
The second reason is that most professors have their research
and tenure as a higher priority
than helping students get the best education for their career.
Many professors are using the institution’s facilities and
resources for their own research,
and are teaching as part of their contract.
There’s rarely a good outcome if there’s a misalignment in any
relationship.
Better
alternatives
The good news to all of this is: you’re in control.
There’s better alternatives and more opportunities than before,
from getting practical experience,
to leveraging new social communities, even avoiding the degree as
a whole — the list just goes on.
With each of the most useless degrees I mention below,
I’ll share an alternative you could explore in lieu of your 4-year
journey.
1.
Advertising
Don Draper may have been “the man” back in 1960; however, with the
rise of technology,
the advertising industry is shifting faster than ever. The
core reason for this is that
we’re no longer living in the billboard/banner ad age. Consumers
have all the power today.
We can choose what we pay attention to and what we tune out.
Many companies question the ROI of advertising as a
whole, big agencies are struggling
in a world of free media, and new social networks are popping up
every year.
Alternative: Stay
ahead of new media trends and learn everything you can about it,
from new social networks, to marketing channels, etc.
Become an expert and share the actual results you’ve received
with potential employers or clients. Results will be the only thing that
matters.
2. Music
Music is different from advertising since its theory stands the
test of time.
However, that in itself is the problem: it’s only theory.
If your goal is to one day become a professional musician,
learning about its history
and the musical terms and instruments is not going to accelerate
your success.
As Malcolm Gladwell proclaims in his book, “The Outlier”,
what made The Beatles become
one of the greatest bands in history was the 10,000 hours of
practice they had in their early stages.
Alternative: If you
want to be a performer in any industry, from musician, to comedian,
to keynote speaker: put in the hours. Form your own band. Find
every opportunity to get on stage and become the performer you want to be, not
an expert in musical theory.
3.
Computer Science
Technology is almost always ahead of traditional education.
This poses a big contradiction if you’re trying to stay ahead of
the latest trends
that will help you be in demand of great companies upon
graduation.
Be clear with your end goal. Are you looking to learn how
computers work,
or are you looking to be
recruited by the Google’s of the world?
Alternative: Assuming
most of you reading this are looking to learn how to code,
it’s easier than ever to do this on your own. Check out free
platforms such as Codeacademy or Treehouse, and apply it
directly by building your own website.
4.
Creative Writing
If you’re looking to express your creative mindset, this degree
isn’t it.
The first reason is that most professors frown upon modern
fiction, and would rather teach you
about how it was done in the 1800s. The
second is, the only compensated positions
that most “creative writers” end up at is writing Top 10 lists for
the Internet.
There’s better ways to spend 4 years learning how to express
yourself.
Alternative: One is,
start your own blog. This not only helps you get real practical experience
on expressing and condensing your mind, but you can also receive
immediate feedback from your audience. Here’s the cherry on top of the sundae,
if you manage to build a large enough audience, you can potentially make enough
money to be your own boss!
5.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the go-to degree when discussing the most useless
degrees.
This isn’t to dismiss the importance of philosophy, as many
influential thinkers such as Tim Ferriss use Stoic Philosophy as a
framework for making better decisions. The problem is the way
it’s being taught. Professors choose theoretical topics of
philosophy that will stir debate
and discussion, which rarely applies to our real day-to-day
lives.
Alternative: There’s
books available, such as “The Obstacle is the Way,” on practical
philosophy
that will help you make better decisions in life. If you want to
learn about
the history of Philosophy, there are hundreds of books
available on that as well.
6.
Communication
If you need a communication degree to prove you can communicate,
then you haven’t fully experienced college.
College is where you discover the necessary communication
skills to nurture relationships, develop the ability to communicate with
new people, and learn about your communication strengths and
weaknesses. You’ll learn far more about communication from opening
yourself up
to meeting new people in your college than spending 4 years about
how to talk.
Alternative:
Create your own podcast. Find a topic that you’re passionate about
and start interviewing people.
As ironic as it may sound, the best communicators of the world are
not the best speakers.
Instead, the people who can ask interesting questions and know how
to listen
make the best communicators. On top of that, podcasting will help
you connect with influential people in your industry, which is a far better
strategy of landing your dream job than a degree.
7.
Education
Do you want to become a great teacher, have an impact, and share
your message
with students? Well, you may be disappointed to hear that
most teachers receive a nominal salary compared to their relative
value. Why not get paid what you’re worth, while potentially impacting
millions of students around the world versus a few hundred in your local city?
Alternative: Today,
anyone can become a teacher. You can share a practical skill you’ve
developed with others, or you can teach people how to shoot photography, how
to learn a new language,
and more by creating your own Youtube channel, creating your own
online course,
or signing up for a teaching platform. The opportunities are
endless with the rise of online teaching.
8.
Languages
As globalization increases at an exponential rate, learning a new
language is not only a great asset
to have on your resume, but it’s also quickly becoming a
necessity. Despite its increasing importance, it doesn’t require an
investment of $30,000 to learn the history and literature
of the language from a non-native speaking professor. In fact,
it’s unlikely you’ll ever use
most of the theoretical knowledge you learn about languages in the
real world.
Alternative: Much
like computer science, you don’t need to learn a language inside and out
just in order to speak it fluently. There are existing
language learning platforms like Rype that are 0.1% of the investment for a
college degree. This platform matches you with a native speaking language
coach for one-on-one teaching, rather than learning in a lecture hall with
300 other students.
9.
Criminal Justice
Most people entering this degree are looking to become a
detective, police officer, or enter law.
If that’s the case, earning a degree in Criminal Justice may not
be the way to go.
According to the BLS, police officers and detective are not
necessarily required to have a degree beyond their high school diploma. This is
because most of the practical knowledge is earned
upon joining the academy through sponsored on-the-job training.
Alternative: If your
goal is to enter law, there are better degrees that will train you
for getting into law school. In fact, law school expert Ann
Levine states that Criminal Justice
is not considered academically rigorous by major law schools.
Instead, Levine recommends
a degree like political science, that requires research, serious
thought, and analysis.
10.
Entrepreneurship
Learning entrepreneurship through a textbook is like watching a
video on how to ride a bicycle without riding it. This bit of advice comes
from personal experience. Every successful entrepreneur will tell you that
entrepreneurship cannot be taught, it must be experienced.
The calculated risk-taking, mental struggles, and hustle
aren’t learned from a textbook,
they come from being in the
battlefield.
Alternative: The
easiest alternative is to start your own business. This could be a side
business
you start, or something as simple as selling items on Ebay.
The last thing you want to do is study
the works of successful entrepreneurs without living it your own.
In
Conclusion
“Ideas are easy.
It’s the execution of ideas
that really separates the sheep from the goats.” — Sue Grafton
Despite the points mentioned in this article, your college
experience is something to be cherished. You’ll learn far more from the overall
experience than inside the classroom.
The problem is not college itself, it’s our preconceived mindset
of relying on some
of the most useless degrees to make or break our careers.
Most of us will end up working in professions that have nothing to
do with our degrees.
Think about what your intention and end goals are by entering your
degree of study.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years upon graduation? How will
this degree help you get there?
Is it a degree that top employers are looking for?
Or are there specific skill-sets that you want to develop to
improve yourself?
Most importantly, you should use college as the time to explore
yourself, take risks,
and learn your strengths and weaknesses. It’s one of the first and
only times you’ll have the freedom to make risky decisions with no real
downsides.
College can become the best experience of your life. Choosing the
right degree is only one part of it.
Over to
you
http://www.lifehack.org/307094/the-top-10-most-useless-degrees-and-why
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