I dropped out of college, twice. Couldn't focus/lazy/no support from my ex (on my second attempt) and I've been a truck driver for 13 years. I hate my job on almost a daily basis but the money and perks keep me around. Fuck I'm gonna be here for life

On university degrees; does anyone give any consideration to the particular institute/university? Mine generally has relatively good ratings within the top 200ish universities of the world. But if it isn't MIT/Harvard/Oxford/whatever prestigious world recognized name, does it even matter? Or is a university degree just a degree for degree's sake?

Can't say about other countries, but here if you graduate at the Bocconi university you are pretty much guaranteed to get a well paid job the day after you graduate

A degree isn't really what you learn, but how you learn it. If you have a degree in history, your prospective employer doesn't care that you could talk at length about the causes of the Crimean War, they want to know can you find the information needed to solve a problem and present it in a logical and illustrative manner within a set time frame.

As for the actual university, as long as it isn't a complete joke of an institution like U of Phoenix or similar for-profit universities I can't see it being a problem, but obviously aim high.

I think it depends on what you study. I tend to see that there are more prestigious universities in the fields of economics compared to the field of the humanities for example. I've studied at 3 different universities and from what I've seen the quality of the programs are similar (read: very uneven at every university regardless of its reputation).



This is something I miss about living in England (and I guess the UK at large), that they value a degree not necessarily the exact right degree for a specific job. In Sweden employers are quite anal about only hiring people with the right education. It's not about ability to learn and a degree as a proof you can set goals and fulfil them. Its all about the exact right education.

I'm trying to become a occupational therapist. Working and doing school full time is tough though, feeling pretty burnt out.

I've been working as a cellphone salesman for the past 4 almost 5 years. It's not too bad for a low end retail job, and the commission helps when I am working shorter hours during class.

In my experience, post-secondary education specially in the humanities is the concentration of every professor upon their own citadel which they call their domain, usually quite limited in comparison to knowledge at large with the ever-expansion of the arts and the sciences.

There are, a few professors, with eclectic tastes (perhaps, good ones) but usually they mind the business of their own interests and the conversion of their students, accordingly.

University education are for those whom take pleasure in the song-and-dance of others' desires. I studied philosophy with a concentration in theology and psychology. I am ecstatic that I am done and never have to attune my interests to the regulations of others.

Be aware and take pleasure in the process formal learning as it may present a life-time of interests and projects though with the capacity for independent learning. At least, in my experience.

Oh, I see...

Double major in communications and sociology - thought I was going to be a journalist (at first thought I was going to be a biologist, but chemistry kicked my ass). After 3 years of temporary jobs, got a steady but somewhat dead-end job for five years straight. Then decided post-marriage to go to law school full-time. Turned out to be a great decision though many warned against it. I breezed through it because, when compared to working, education is vastly preferable. Four years after law school, I'm very happy with my career choice.

Though my college majors may not have directly led me to the job I have now, I think it was quality "background" necessary to get here and have the right intellectual background to pull my weight in a law firm.

Yes, and I see you've gone through a lot of trouble to construct your post as well. So I'll leave you to it until a better day

I like the part where he opens his sweeping generalization-filled rant with "in my experience."

It is obvious that my original post has been taken out of context. As per normality everything has to be explained ad nauseam for a point to be clarified. What I only meant to say is that do not stay in school for a very long time. Degrees aren't everything. Experience and interests matter more as long as you can make a decent living and are okay with the job you have. There, simple enough now? Any more room for misinterpretations? Hmmm?

I studied Astronomy and Physics.

I studied Electrical Engineering.

The school system is a little bit different in Sweden. We rarely talk about majors in the way American countries do. I studied religion for 2 years and philosophy for 1 year making it a BA. Then I studied pedagogy and didactics simultaneously as a way to get a teachers degree - a professional degree. Then I needed 6 more months of philosophy to become a qualified teacher in that subject as well.

This is what my degree consists of (full time studies):

Religion: 2 years
Philosophy: 1,5 years
Pedagogy/didactics: 1,5 years

So basically I have a BA in religion and philosophy (+ 6 more months of philosophy) and this combined with my studies in pedagogy and didactics gave me the professional degree to become a teacher.

This doesn't sound that unusual. It looks like you basically did a BA with Religion as your major, and Philosophy your minor. Then after completing your degree you studied some extra stuff for teaching qualifications.

That might not be exactly how it went down, but it sounds like the basic equivalent.

Yes, that's true. I meant that I never intended to do a BA it just happened that way. I found that when I spoke to some American friends they always asked what I was majoring in. I never knew because to me I just took individual courses, deciding on exactly what from semester to semester. It wasn't part of an over arching program (with the exception of the studied in pedagogy and didactics).

Being a truck driver is my dream job (I'm a teacher). In your own opinion and experience, what's the worst (and best) about being a truck driver?

So does that mean in Sweden there are no majors? When you get your certificate, it just says BA, not BA with a major in Religion, for eg.

Usually I.T companies don't want to employ someone without title, so I'd wait for that. Also, try to keep your algorithm skills fresh practicing on sites like leetcode, hackerrank, etc. What's important is basically knowing how to use data structures to solve stuff. Besides that, yes, it's luck in getting that interview, just keep on applying everywhere. good luck.

We do have that but what I meant was that it seems like its more common elsewhere to decide beforehand what their major and minor will be (like a package deal). I just studied half a year at a time and then decided on what to do next. Never knew religion was going to be my major until years in when I finished the fourth semester (long after I started to study).

I think it might have something to do with that school is free in Sweden so we don't pay to get this or that degree. We can just apply to a separate course and start to study, then leave and then come back etc. In that way I feel like many study more freely here, a course here and a course there (for good and for bad).

Oh yeah. As far as I know, in NZ you don't need to add a subject as a major, but the courses are structured in such a way that to continue studying in a chosen field you will be spending a significant time on the given subject, at which point you might as well add it as one (or a minor). I'm pretty sure you can't actually graduate with at least one major though.

This is at least my understanding of things, but I could be wrong.

Study is now free for the initial year in NZ, so I guess that gives students a bit more flexibility to dabble in some subjects and see what suits them. But the vast majority have probably already decided as soon as they leave school, if not by their parents then societal pressures. Commerce as a field of study was further subsidised by the government at some point (possibly still is), therefore we churn out a veritable army of accountants :/

Biomedical Engineering- Final semester this spring! Real stress will begin when I start trying to find work hahaha

I had to declare a major when I was at Auckland in the 90s, might have changed by now though. Glad to see they changed the obscene terms of the student loan system. When I was studying you paid compounding interest from day 1.

Interesting to see so many philosophy- and math/science-based degrees!

I did an MA, music and pedagogy. Now working at an academy where I run the music educations and teach a whole lot of different music subjects, so no surprises there. At first, I was looking to become a civil engineer or statistician, but a series of unforseen events opened up the path I'm still treading.

My undergraduate degree is in Political Science (University of New Hampshire, USA) and my graduate degree is in religious studies from King's College (London).

That was made all the more shocking by the fact that prior to that, it was all entirely free. Talk about societal shock.

Masters in philosophy (mathematical logic), minor was communications/sound design. Worked 6 years in IT doesignijg a lot of PHO and now own two rooms/booth houses at an Illinois recording studio

Got a Master's degree in electronic commerce (which was basically IT/programming), and after working for a year and a half as a programmer, I'm now totally outside of that field. I simply don't have the patience for coding, and I'm not good at it anyway.

After that I worked for a while as an assistant/translator/fixer for foreign journalists or PhD students doing research, then as a journalist, then freelance journalist (all of which weren't really that "serious" jobs), and now I work as interpreter/translator/news officer/community manager for the embassy of a European country in Libya (but based in Tunisia, given the circumstances).

Sometimes it's hard, as I didn't study anything related to translation, but it's still "easier" than coding. But at least this way I may have more opportunities to leave my country for good, I guess.

I got my Associates and then stopped school because I felt, at the time, that school wasn't for me. I love learning, but hated the classroom environment.

I currently work as a Maintenance worker at a health club, but I am trying to get into Firefighter Academy.

Yeah absolutely. I remember that 1991 budget really clearly. Always hated how they turned that country into a neo-liberal experiment. In fact I hated it so much that I left and didn't go back even for a holiday for 15 years. Ended up having to get a lawyer and negotiate to wipe some of their assholery penalty interest - well worth the per-hour fees the lawyer charged.

My major was Psychology, with minors in Philosophy and Political Science. I came within one more class to minors in History and Sociology as well. All in four years. I then went to law school. Now I am a criminal defense attorney and own my own firm.

I got:

An A.S. in Mechanical Drafting and Design
A B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

Now I sell cars lmao.

I had a job at a university engineering lab right out of college doing a lot of fabrication work and teaching kids about manufacturing. They laid me off after about 1.5-2 years during budget cuts. My buddy helped me get this job to hold me over. I have been at it for a little over a year now and love it. I'm not sure if I'll eventually try to get back into engineering/academia, stick with sales, or try something new.

I delivered pizza's for a while during early community college years. Figured I needed more money, so used some IT certs I got to land a job in IT Security. Finished up school with a BS in Mathematics and still in IT Security. I could do this my whole life but its not really what I wanted. Thinking about studying for Actuarial Science... Idk what I want to be when I grow up

You may be able to find a job which combines your knowledge of engineering with your sales experience, if you wanted.

I studied languages and then worked in hospitality and tourism. I hated the expectation of essentially being a servant to entitled people in a hotel while getting paid minimum wage and working 12 hour shifts, standing the whole time. I really learned a lot in those jobs, mostly about what kind of job I didn't want.

I went back to do a MSC in Library Science (in my final year of it) and now work in a university library - great environment, interesting work, nice perks and benefits. I love my job.

I slowly acquired my AA in Sociology after being set back by intense back pain and the need to work. The plan was to finish up my bachelors and apply my degree to a career in the business sector. I ended up landing a well-paying full-time job which lets me chop up chunks of dead cows into appetizing steaks and roasts while listening to death metal on my speaker. I'd love to finish up my bachelor's; but at the same time, I think I'll be better off staying with my full-time job and moving up in the company.

I also have an associates degree in drafting and design, which I got so I could get into the current field I am in, which is the design of electricity distribution systems. I liked to draw, and my previous degree wasn't condusive to finding any real long term employment other than your usual dead end warehouse/restaurant type jobs (and I'm not knocking those jobs, if you can move up into management or executive chef it can still be a good gig.)

So I got into mechanical drafting because I liked it and was good at it. I got my degree from Boise State University; I was going to enroll in ITT Tech, but a friend steered me towards the state college since a) it was cheaper and b) they offered the same basic program as ITT Tech, but the state school had better accredation.

I have a bachelors in history from the university of California, Santa Cruz, and I enjoyed studying history and liked it, especially at that particular university. It was great place to live and go to school. But it was mainly a "second choice" major, since I didn't have the math skills to get into the major that I wanted, which was earth science. I don't regret getting that history degree though. My original plan with that major was to go work for the California State park system, but there were no available jobs at that time- so I eventually went back to school for a more vocational/technical oriented degree.

Also have a bachelors degree in history, from the university of Antwerp. Now I work as a customs officer in the harbour of Antwerp.

BA (hons) in economic and social history. I planned to be a teacher but changed my mind in my second year. I now work in the public sector dealing with environmental permits. It's not bad and stress free with very generous flexi time. We get crap pay rises in the public sector though.

BIT in Software Engineering. I've avoided the IT industry ever since and done IT work in the utilities/construction industry instead, which turned out to be a nice option!