If you could choose a major (again)...

[Septimus Faber]

[deleted.]

[golentan]

I think if I had it all to do over again, I'd stick with biology/veterinary medicine.

[SaintRidley]

I'd do the three I did from the start instead of starting Comp Sci and Math, and I'd add Linguistics as a fourth because of the overlapping areas of interest between Linguistics, English, Spanish, and Creative Writing.

[Fragenstein]

I was never a very cunning linquist. As helpful as multi-national fluency would be in this modern age, I just have a feeling I'd fail overall. Maybe if I'd started at an earlier age and put greater focus into stretching my language skills. But then, I was never even able to diagram a sentence in my native English reliably. So I think the effort would be doomed.

I did go for Computer Graphics, which I managed to roll into a lucrative career. Not animating as I initially wanted, but my tech skills are solid enough that I found a happy balance between creativity and technicality. It was an easy money-shot, which is why I seemed to just fall into it without much effort.

But would there have been something better?

I regret... not working harder to become a professional photographer. I was good at it, but the field was going to be so hard to break into and make a decent living.

Chemistry was the same way. I managed to crush my biochem courses far ahead of schedule and ended up tutoring students with far more experience than myself. The sciences came naturally, but without better math skills I was too concerned about becoming nothing more than an underpaid lab technician. I doubt I would have been able to advance far enough to actually become a respected member of such a competitive field.

And, man, do I suck at math...

I could have become a writer. I like writing. I can be highly creative when properly focused. That focus isn't always there, however, even though certain anti-anxiety meds tend to help. Maybe I should have been on ADHD meds as a child. I dunnno. Too late to go back now. Lorazepam certainly seems to give me a very keen edge these days, but not so that I feel brave enough to try cranking out novels at this late period.

I'm not even sure I'd need a very good editor any more since so many novels are finding success with horrid grammar (I'm looking at YOU, James Patterson!)

So would I change? I don't know. College was too late of a time for me to really alter my track. I'd been poking at computers for too long by then, and it was just too easy to make money doing it. So, if I were to REALLY try changing my course, I'd have to go back to my more formative years and give the writing thing another shot. Either that or discover the courage to step off the cliff's edge and spend my time sending in photographs to anyone willing to publish them and hope for the best.

'Sounds like a good way to starve to death in a roach infested New York apartment...

[Chen]

Same as before, mechanical engineering. No regrets there. I might reconsider the masters degree I did since overall I'm not sure how much that helped. That said I don't think it really hindered anything either so I'd probably do that again as well.

[Psyren]

I'm happy I went with Accounting. I think MIS would have been my second major instead of Finance though, I've been using IT a little bit more than my knowledge of what options and mutual funds are.

[valadil]

Computer science has served me well. I'd do it again.

What I'd change would be resume building. I didn't even think about a resume until I graduated. That was a mistake. Instead of doing campus help desk work I'd have done an internship or QA or something. I'm in a decent a good place now, but finding a first job took forever and that job was pretty crap.

[thorgrim29]

For a re-do I,d probably do the same thing, might go for the more financial accounting route instead of business accounting like I did because it seems like the first few years out of college are a better experience and I can always go back and redo my MBA later. I would choose a different college though, not that mine wasn't good but I think that socially I'd have benefited more by leaving my home town (and my parent's house)

To add a major to what I have now... dunno, probably Law or just go full "study for fun" and do History with a focus on the economics of the industrial revolution (the how and the why of the industrial revolution and the birth of capitalism fascinate me for some reason) or the late roman republic/early empire

[Rodin]

Tough one for me. Computer Science has served me pretty well, for what I learned if not for what I wound up applying it to. The other degree that is very tempting is Computer Information Systems, because while the coding I learned has been very handy my total lack of banking experience leaves me floundering a bit whenever account-related problems emerge and having a better understanding of the business side of things would be nice.

The fanciful side of me would have loved to get a degree in languages (particularly Japanese), but I know that it would have been much harder for me to get a job with that kind of degree. I don't have the sort of personality that meshes well with being a translator.

[Winter_Wolf]

Were I to do it over again, FLIA—foreign languages and international affairs. Essentially, pick a language that you take up until the 300/400 level, and lots of international business and politics. Because the tack that I chose was 300/400 level language plus lots of history and religion classes. What I really wanted was a pure lingusitics degree but my university didn't start to offer it for my language of choice until the year after I graduated. :smallfurious:

[Killer Angel]

...and here I was, thinking about Rudolph Giuliani (that would be mayor, right?). :smalltongue:

Now, on the real question: can I pick one field that I'm not suited for, and become "magically" attuned to it?

[Pluto!]

My bachelors was in Math.

Straight out of college, I regretted not majoring in Computer engineering, since those guys wound up going into the same industry, but with better institutional support and, speaking at least for my friends among them, starting salaries $10-15k higher.

About a decade later, I don't think it would have mattered one bit beyond the year of my car or the square footage of my apartment.

[Shekinah]

Of the choices in the OP, linguistics.

If I could go back, I would have picked a college that offered Creative Writing as a major, and would have probably gotten a minor in Shakespeare just because.

The idea of linguistics has always interested me, though. Would have loved to study other languages instead of just English and German.

[Derjuin]

Out of those offered in the OP, linguistics, because I hate the major I graduated with. I was effectively rushed into committing to it by greedy family members who I placed too much faith in; now I'm not even using it, and everyone still wants me to "find a job in my field" despite me despising my field utterly.

If I could go back and take another major (or erase my previous one) I'd probably go with more creative writing/arts stuff.

[Jay R]

I's stick with my majors (Math science B.A., Statistics M.S., Operations Research M.S., Operations Research Ph.D.).

But if I had a do-over, I'd plow right through instead of earning a B.A. in 1978, two M.S.'s in the early 90s, and a Ph.D. in 2000 at age 45.

[Flickerdart]

My major (BDes, MHCI) has served me well, but I'm hardly old enough to tally things up just yet. Maybe things will get even better. Maybe the UX bubble will burst. Maybe I'll throw it all away and open a pickled beet shop in Portland.

[SilentNight]

If I had decided to go hard science I think computer science or food science would both have been very fun. Within my field, perhaps a focus on IR and translation via comparative literature (as is I'm graduating in December with a straight language degree). Mainly I wish I had done an economics minor, which would have been quite easy if I had planned my classes a little better.

[Balain]

I am going to be finishing computer science. If I have to pick something different I would pick Anthropology since I am 3 or 2 courses from having a minor in it.

If it has to be from your list Well Computer Science

[noparlpf]

I think if I had it all to do over again, I'd stick with biology/veterinary medicine.

If I had to do it over again I'd stick with bio/chem/vet med but actually do undergrad properly. Like, know my plan from the start, not waste time on useless classes that ended up as Ws on my transcript, not transfer schools and waste so much money on a private school for my first two years, actually build up a resumé before graduating so I could get into vet school without two gap years, stuff like that. Maybe even do some lab work so I could go for a VMD/PhD.

[danzibr]

I have a PhD in math. I'm happy where I am, but I've entertained some other ideas. Like a degree in chemistry while going to culinary school. Food chemistry! Or computer programming. Or... well, pretty much those two.

[ArcanistSupreme]

Given that I'm pretty happy with where my life is at this point (and my level of growth and development that got me here), I wouldn't actually want to change my past for fear of causing a Back to the Future ripple effect. But if I could still be where I am today and magically replace my silly Communication Studies degree (and a year spent in a Creative Writing graduate program) with Kinesiology, Exercise Science, and/or Physiotherapy, I'd be a happy camper. I'm spending a lot of time and energy learning as much as I can in those fields anyway, even though now it's because I want to, not because I have to for school.

I'm glad I have my Spanish, History, and English minors, though. Even though I don't use them much, I enjoyed the subject matter and every now and then they come up.

[MrConsideration]

I went to a UK University where we don't do 'majors', but I would happily pursue my degree (Joint Honours History and English) all over again. It supported my career, it made me a more well-rounded person and I came out with a First - don't let people put you off the Humanities if that's what you feel is right for you.

[VincentTakeda]

Actually went into computers and networking... Hindsight being what it is, I should have gone pharmacist.

[FinnLassie]

Well, I've kind of done the switch already. I was studying primary education/teaching in Scotland for two years, but during my second placement period I realised that this is a crap job, only relatively relates to what I actually want to achieve in life. As my mental health was also suffering a huge amount in Scotland, I decided the best move is to go back to Finland. Hard decision, really. So I knew the application period for degree programmes beginning in January was going on, and realised the deadline was in two days. I ended up searching up what I want to do in life in one night, applied and moved back in Finland the day before the entrance exams. And got in. I wasn't even on the waiting list, I thought I flunked my exam (which encluded a written task, an interview and an interactive task with other applicants) as I was severely tired from all the travelling. :smalleek:

I am now studying "community pedagogy" - direct translation - but I think the description "organisation development and youth work management" explains it far better.

Yeah. Not gonna switch away from this.

[Havelocke]

I have to agree with Finnlassie here, my major was in education too and I only taught for two years. Teachers in the USA do NOT make enough for what they have to put up with. I joined the military. If I had a "do over" I think I would go with aerospace engineering or something similar. I admit I was not the most studious student in school, having too much fun experiencing "life lessons" for both good and ill.

[Bulldog Psion]

Definitely some kind of law degree rather than business economics.

[Corey]

Which would you choose -
Linguistics?
Mathematics?
Classics?
Computer Science?
Japanese?

Why?

All my degrees are in mathematics. Some combo of computer science and statistics would have been a better fit for my actual career, but I went to college before that was obvious. I did enjoy math while I was doing it.

I'm glad I took a lot of humanities courses, especially philosophy, but majoring would have been excessive.

Economics has always been too inaccurate for me. I did post-doc in public policy, however. That was interesting.

[Kesnit]

My undergrad is in chemical engineering. Since I joined the military right out of college, I have not done a bit of engineering since I got my degree. I now also have a Juris Doctor.

If I had it to do over again, I would have done dual-major psychology and criminal justice. I'm fascinated with profiling and the criminally insane.

[veti]

History.

For my first degree, I studied engineering, because I wanted to know how things work.

Some time later in life, I became more interested in how people work. That's history. (Or, of course, psychology, but that's more about the internals. I like the contextual, interactive view of history.)

[Grinner]

Some time later in life, I became more interested in how people work. That's history. (Or, of course, psychology, but that's more about the internals. I like the contextual, interactive view of history.)

How would that have affected your work prospects, though?

[Diamondeye]

Doing it all over again, I'd have stuck with engineering. Probably electrical or maybe materials science engineering.

[Telonius]

I'd have picked "Science, Technology and International Affairs" instead of "Culture and Politics" as my concentration. It would have been more relevant to my current job. My major also changed from being much closer to what I wanted to study - why people believe what they believe, and (with an important bit of emphasis) how that results in policy - when I started the course of studies, to something like a Sociology/Anthropology double major by the time I'd finished. Interesting enough, but really not what I was intending to get into.

[Omnipotent_One]

Computer Science

It's simply the best degree for career advancement and flexibility these days.

[Solse]

Computer Science

It's simply the best degree for career advancement and flexibility these days.

I'm looking into majoring in computer science when I finally get to college / uni, but my fear is that because everybody knows about how great computer science degrees are, everybody will want to get one, and by the time I get to college, the market will be completely oversaturated.

[kivzirrum]

I could never go back to college. I can never pick one area to specialize in. And colleges are only concerned with career prospects, at least where I'm from, and none of the majors that interest me are great for that, except computers.

I'd choose History again. Or English again. Or Film or Film History or Physics or Astronomy or Linguistics or Art History or Computer Science or Philosophy or Political Science... yeah. Specialization's never been one of my strong suits.

[Nomrom]

My degree is in engineering, but while in school I taught GED classes as well as the math portion of a college transition class we offered. I accidentally discovered I enjoyed teaching and was really good at it. So if I started over, I would probably pick education and teach high school math/science. Or possibly get a masters and try to teach community college level.

And yes, I know I could just get a teaching certificate and try that now, but I feel like I worked way to hard on my engineering degree to earn a teacher's pay.

[Pluto!]

I'm looking into majoring in computer science when I finally get to college / uni, but my fear is that because everybody knows about how great computer science degrees are, everybody will want to get one, and by the time I get to college, the market will be completely oversaturated.
Even disregarding marketability, computer skills are the most powerful interactions you can have with data and information, and there's a functionally endless amount of data and information going through every organization's hands, be they for-profit corporations, research groups, governmental organizations or charities.

Computer skills are the most useful skills you can have in the world anymore. No matter what field you go into, CS is invaluable.

I mean, unless your field is like the art of pre-agrarian pottery methods. Then algorithms might not take you far.

(Spoken as a math major/computer science minor who still has regrets about not taking more computing classes)

[noparlpf]

I dunno, I'm pretty computer-literate and I think the conversion from paper to digital charts in medicine is making my life a lot harder. Like, on the one hand, sure, you don't have a two-inch-thick folder with dog-eared corners fraying at the edges, but on the other hand, when two people in different rooms try to edit a chart at the same time you get crazy errors and doubled charges and stuff.

Although they are Macs, so of course they're not user-friendly. :smalltongue:

[veti]

How would that have affected your work prospects, though?

Not as much as you might imagine...

Unless you want to go into one of the very highly regulated professions (basically, medicine or law) - the subject of your degree is probably not nearly as important as the people who sell it to you would have you believe.

Example: until recently, I was screening applicants for an entry-level programming role at a software company. We had applicants with degrees in computer science, obviously - but also with degrees in everything from nutrition to linguistics. It really wasn't that important to us.

[Adlan]

I wouldn't have gone to University at all. I'd have been a Carpenter.

I am right now a Chemist. I work in my field, I have been promoted.

I get paid a pittance. I love science, but that wouldn't be changed by me not pursuing it as a career. I wanted a degree so it would be easier to travel and live around the world.

In hindsight, to live out my dreams would have been a lot easier as a skilled carpenter than as a chemist. I'm still on my way to my dreams, but trade skills are vastly underrated as a subject to study.

[Jeff the Green]

Of the ones listed, math, because I found myself becoming very interested in the computational and theoretical side of evolution at the end of my undergrad, and a major in math with a minor in biology (with the right focus and high-level courses) is certainly as good for that as majoring in bio.

Wide open, I'd have stuck with bio but taken a lot more math.

Really, though, my college regrets have less to do with what I studied than everything else.

[Mammal]

I'm currently working on a psych undergrad. I absolutely love it, but if I could start over, I'd go for a double major in history and psychology. I absolutely love history, but I transferred to a large university after two semesters at a small, liberal arts school, and I've been playing catch-up ever since. If I could do a mulligan on the last 2.5 years, I'd start out at the bigger school, and spend more time on history!

[Cyber Punk]

Creative Arts or Music Studies. I'm presently studying Architecture.

[Insane Trystane]

Well, frankly I'm shocked Linguistics was included on here. It's odd seeing people who don't immediately go "Linguistics? So how many languages do you know?" -_-

If I could do it again, I'd do Linguistics and Math as my majors, and minor in Music and Comp Sci. Basically I'd just do way more STEM stuff, i stead of coasting by on Linguistics and a BA in Music. (A BA in Music is essentially useless, kids.)

[Eldariel]

I'd honestly just start studying partner dance earlier and go pro/become a dance teacher/whatever. Academically, general linguistics again but minor in Japanese and Psychology earlier and forget about English/Finnish Philology. If I went even further back, I would work harder and make it in Theoretical Physics but that would require more effort during the painful years of my adolescence, when I'm just lucky to have gotten through that alive so I doubt that was ever a real possibility.

[SalmaHayek]

I will choose Mathematics.

[Tyndmyr]

Which would you choose -
Linguistics?
Mathematics?
Classics?
Computer Science?
Japanese?

Why?

None of the above. I bailed out without actually finishing my degree, and it hurt me not at all. So, merely exploring more random topics of interest rather than working on box checking would be preferable.

[Voxx]

I'm not sure what I would do but I definitely would not go with music again.

[Jaycemonde]

I'd save my money and find a job installing tired or some crap.

[Roxxy]

I'm still in university, so I suppose I'd stick with my current Urban Planning major. I enjoy the subject, and the employment prospects for the field are actually pretty good right now. I have a Geography minor composed completely of GIS classes, which means I'll also be qualified to work as a geographer when I graduate. Another field with pretty good employment prospects, and a ton of overlap with urban planning (like, half my urban planning classes are crosslisted as geography).

[BananaPhone]

Happy with stem cells and regenerative medicine. Pursuing my phd now in the same field and wouldn't change it.

Now if I had the ability to do something else, I think the super villain in me would love to have majored in physics and aerospace engineering.

[7otato]

Biology. I'm already a mechatronics engineer.

[Recaiden]

Took computer science, would do so again. Linguistics is a tempting offer, but nothing stopped me from learning as much as I wanted about Linguistics while getting jobs in computer science. So no loss.

[Florian]

If I could chose again, then Philosophy, especially the classics.
Just for myself end personal education and enrichment.

Did Computer Sciences and 1) a trained monkey can do that as well as 2) you do 't learn manure about the stuff you can really make money with in that field, had to learn that myself from scratch.

[lurkmeister]

My first major has served me ... poorly.

If I could do it all over again, I would have gone into engineering instead.

I'm still in university, so I suppose I'd stick with my current Urban Planning major. I enjoy the subject, and the employment prospects for the field are actually pretty good right now. I have a Geography minor composed completely of GIS classes, which means I'll also be qualified to work as a geographer when I graduate. Another field with pretty good employment prospects, and a ton of overlap with urban planning (like, half my urban planning classes are crosslisted as geography).
As somebody who did that, I would advise that you look into switching your major or minor to civil engineering with an urban planning concentration. Believe me, the extra credential that choice gives you -- the EIT -- opens up doors you don't even realize exist when you're still in school.

And calculus is totally learnable. Even I learned that stuff, so you know it's not actually as hard as math teachers make it out to be.

[Razanir]

Go straight to computer science, instead of meandering into it, as interesting as my stats classes have been. Maybe a nice classics major to go with it.

[Dacia Brabant]

I'd keep English, but do it as a B.S. instead of a B.A. and load up on math, physics, programming and logic courses, in addition to the standard Lit and Comp classes. I'd still be writing, but I'd have liked to have been able to write about science in addition to the arts and humanities.