OT: help choose major for college!

[andiruleu]

HI! so im going to csuf this year.. and i was wondering if anyone knows any information about the majors that i was considering...

civil engineering
architecture
crimal justice

i was thinking of those majors.. but i cant decide? does anyone have any experiene in those fields or know anything about it?

thanks for your inputs

 

[wsun083]

Everyone i have met that had a criminal justice degree ended up working at blockbuster or something like that, hehe. I'm guessing it's one of those majors that sounds interesting but is worthless. No offense to anyone on the forum that is pursuing a criminal justice degree.

 

[jjirsa78]

I know a CSUF grad with a degree in Criminal Justice making a pretty good living as an Escrow Officer - nice living, but waste of a major.

I'm going to suggest that if you can't decide, you're likely not to make it through any of them without changing your mind. Why not give some thought to what you want to DO instead of asking people on a forum, most of whom you've probably never met....

 

[andiruleu]

those are the majors that im into.. well it seems like criminal justice isnt gonna be good.. i was thinking of majoring in architecture but i heard its hard to find a job..

 

[wsun083]

IMHO, architecture is something that you need to go into independently to make any substantial income. That is unless you go to a school like MIT. I have a friend that just graduated w/ an architecture degree from MIT and she's doing great in SF. She has a salary in 6 digits right out of college and great benefits.

 

[gcarroll]

Just get a business degree. It is probably the most versitle. I changed from business to Crim Justice and the opportunities are not that vast. Any CJ majors that work at Blockbuster lack motivation and probably would be working there no matter what type of degree they had.

 

[saltyESQ]

Architecture at most credible schools is a 5 year degree and should only be pursued if you want to be an architect. It is a very difficult major. Criminal justice is completely worthless.
All engineering majors tend to have lower GPAs, but are valuable degrees. The impact on your GPA is something to keep in mind if you are planning to go to grad school.
The goal in picking a major is to pick an area that is interesting to you (so you will do all of the work in college and do it well) and complement your future life plans. For example, if you want to go to law school, English is probably the best major. I've also known several lawyers with economics or statistics majors. Poly sci is very traditional, but you ought to like politics. If you are completely undecided, a business degree is always valuable. Otherwise go for the engineering major, but be prepared to work hard if you have any plans for grad school so you keep up your GPA.

 

[Sk8r]

I know a guy who was into engineering with a speciality in gases; ended up working for the city in hazmat inspection and remediation, and parlayed that into knowing how to abide by the regs and rules, important for companies. So he went private-industry and is making a very nice living.

Do what you have a passion for. If you can't find a passion, keep looking.

 

[jjirsa78]

Engineers who become lawyers tend to make very nice livings in the IP field.

On the other hand, good engineers tend to do OK, anyway.

Do what you enjoy. The rest will follow.

 

[818]

Ill be taking over the world when Im out of college.

 

[NanoLurker]

if you're really interested in civil engineering PM me, i'm not an engineer but i've spent the past 18 years working for geotechnical engineering firms. i might be wrong, but isn't csuf's civil program fairly new? we've hired a couple of geology grads from there, but not any engineers. generally we look for civils with masters since there really aren't too many schools that specialize/give enough courses in soils. anyhow, if you want to talk to any of them and find out what kind of work/projects we do contact me. our office is in irvine and also have a seismic engineer on staff.

 

[bergzy]

my advice, rather than suggesting a major is to ask one simple question that only YOU can answer honestly:

'what do you want?'

when budding wannabe professionals come to me for advice, all i do is ask this simple question as my first and only question.

the overwhelming response is 'i dont know'

my answer to that is 'then that is what you are going to get.'

i give them one more piece of advice 'find out what you want...spend a week, month etc (no gameboy, xbox, internet, tv and whatever else is distracting) but find out what YOU really want. vision the goal and then work out in your mind backwards how to achieve it.' it is amazing how few people take up this (what i consider to be) priceless advice.

i know a lot of successful people who didnt attend or finish college (bill gates didnt graduate) and ended up being very succesful. in addition, i know a mutlitude of people who have advanced degrees and do absolutely nothing. i have an acquaintance with a phd in philosophy...what does he do with it? sit in a diner and drink tea all day. when he runs low on cash, he works the min, gets intentionally fired then gets unemployment. the cycle starts over.

a less common answer to the 'what do you want' question is: ' i want to be rich'. i ask them how they are going to do that. the usual answer is 'i dunno...i know i just want to be rich'. lesson here is: it is great to dream...but it is more important to have a goal and work towards it...anything less than that...is a pipe dream.

the simplest question usually requires the hardest answer. the answer comes from you and no one else. suggestions are great but in the end, it is you that makes the decision.

 

[fc.pride]

wow, bergzy gives really sound advice. quite wise.
just to add on a bit find out what you really are into and do that. its really important also to see what ultimately you wanna do. if you are chasing money, fame, power etc. pick a major that will land you a job to make you happy.
from my own personal experience, if i had to do it over, i wouldve picked a major that will land me a good job/career and then either minor or take classes i am into. ie...marine bio.. was one class i wish i had taken.
architecture is very cool though. i know of a couple of architects in school and out of school. tough field but if you have love for it then go for it. just wish i had that kind of talent though.

 

[omeg]

Do what will allow you to support doing what you want because most of the time doing what you want to do doesn't really get you the money to prolong it for long periods.

Does that make sense?

sam: Ill be taking over the world when Im out of college.
If you have ambitions to control the world, try controlling a team of people first - it will take that ambition from you in a few days. Control fish - good, control people - bad...

 

[jeffreylam1132]

My advice is to go and asked your counselor all the classes that are required for the three majors you've listed. Then looked over carefully and see what classes favors you and go on from there.

Personally, from the three majors you've listed, I would probably go with civil engineer. Being an engineer myself, IMO I think that it's probably the easiest of the three to find a job.

Whatever you choose to do, just make sure you enjoy it. Good luck and welcome to the college life.

 

[JenDub]

You have plenty of time- don't pick a major until you have completed all or most of your GE

The worst thing you can do is rush into a major- when you realize you hate it you typically lose a year or two in classes.

If you think you want to be an engineer- go talk with some working engineers and see what they really do. I'm almost certain it's not what you're thinking =)

CSUF has a great business school - the degrees are extremely versatile & can be used in any field of future work. Go talk to Dr. Ames-he's quite an asset to that department =)

In the end you should take your time- if they want you to declare just choose a major and only do the GE classes that apply to all majors. By the end you have been through a little of every major and you'll know what you like =)

PS-I have a BA in Business from CSUF & 3 years of undergrad engineering (man that was a miserable department!!!!!)

Charles

 

[WarDaddy]

I started a CSUF in Civil Engineering, Calculus kicked my ***.

So I bailed, went to Saddleback, transfered to SCULB and got Busniess Degree. Still had to take Calculus, passed this time.

Now I am in IT. I wish I had gone Computer Science, but I did not. Now I spend as much free time as I can reading and educating myself in Computer Science. So much to learn, so little time. I would love a year or two where I could just study (and reef of course)

 

[WayneL333]

It looks like you’re getting a lot of really good sound advice here. I also think a Criminal Justice degree is pretty worthless. After changing his major 6 times, my roommate in college finally graduated with that degree because it was the easiest one to graduate with. Why are you interested in criminal justice? Do you want to eventually join the police department or go into the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc? The government agencies actually seek college graduates with accounting degrees and other expertise such as being multilingual or mathematically inclined.

I graduated with an electrical engineering degree. I chose that degree because I liked physics and math. The first 3 or 4 semesters of engineering classes are generally the same for all engineering disciplines. The classes are hard and are designed specifically to weed people out. I found that it wasn’t until the end of your junior year that professors really help you try to graduate. The information you learn in your engineering classes are just to teach you the basics. I would say some of it is outdated and aren’t even applicable to the real world (such as Newtonian physics). It’s not until you get into the real world before you start really learning. I think I learned more my first year of working than I did in all of undergrad. That’s true for a lot of majors.

I like architecture too. I think architects are artists in a way. They are like sculptors in a much larger scale. They let their creativity flourish in an environment that is constrained by natural barriers, city code, and monetary budgets. Architecture major is also very grueling. They do a lot of all-nighters trying to complete projects. After you graduate, it’s hard to make good money right away. They spend most of their time designing sprinkler systems and just drafting. They pay their dues like anyone else and if they’re lucky and good, they’ll get invited to become a partner of a firm.

I personally would explore civil E and architecture more. I deal with both professions in my development company and I think the two professions are somewhat similar. My architects design beautiful buildings and I go to my Civil Engineer and ask if the building is structurally feasible. You’ll have the first couple of years in college to decide. Try to take some classes in each category and see if they can also fulfill your core requirements. That way if you change your mind, you would have still satisfied a core.

HTH.

~ w

 

[jjirsa78]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7696006#post7696006 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy
I started a CSUF in Civil Engineering, Calculus kicked my ***.

... I wish I had gone Computer Science, but I did not.

So DEs and Linear could kick your ***?

I did computer science at Harvey Mudd College, and am very happy with the result. A good theoretical background makes life easy and fun.

 

[KevinNg]

Hey you should go with Civil Engineering. Easy to find job when you graduate. Easy to get in to government jobs like California Transportation, LA Department Of Transportation … Starting $60,000 per year. Every body said City employee is lazy. Yes it is true. I just been here for 2 months (LADOT as Civil Engineer Drafting Technician). Easy work, Easy money, no pressure, job secure for life, great benefit,…you name it. I’m regret that I did not take Civil Engineer when I was in College that why I end up with Drafting Technician. I took Manufacturing Engineer and it hard to find a job and pays cheap. If even you can not get into the City, there is a bunch of Civil job out there. A lot of new development, reconstruction like Kachina (spelling?). In my opinion Civil is the best of your choices. But Mechanical Engineer is better than Civil and required study harder.

Architecture is hard to find a job. It is good if you want to open your own business. But you need a bunch of money.

Crimal justice is NO NO. Only good if you are lazy mind. This is security for people but not for you and your family. Your life is depend on those bad guys. It required work night shift, holiday, and weekend. That is not a good life for me. City have a lot of opening for Police officer.

Anyway just want to share what I think. Like other says go with what you like. I like Civil at the beginning I sturdy Civil for 2 year but some one made me change to my mind to Manufacturing Engineer (wrong way). I’m planning to go back to school to get Civil Engineer degree.

Good luck to you.