Anyone want to offer suggestions on my fall semester schedule?

[Larry_OHF]

For those of you that know how to select good classes to take during the college years, I need help.

I am currently majoring in "Spanish". I was working on the teachers' licensure, but cannot continue with that because I have a 2.6 GPA. They require a 2.75 to be admitted into the higher classes. So whatever. I am almost finished with the requirements for the Spanish degree but still have more than 50 credit hours to take in order to graduate. Therefore I am thinking about working on a second major.

I will finish all the general ed. courses this summer at the community college level, where the classes are easier and closer to home, and not as costly. In the Fall, I will be returning to UNCG to start with Spa. 403 and 415. After that, there are only a few more classes to take next Spring, and the Fall of 2006 will be the end of all my Spanish requirements.

Now, I have taken a few health courses and a few education courses already...and I have also take a few psychology courses. I may need only a few classes to get a minor in any of the three. I have enough credit hours to major in something, but I have no idea what is good.

So...what would be a good second major to go along with a Spanish degree, that would look good on a resume?

Thanks in advance.

[Link]

And you wanted us to do what? This is your future, mate, not ours! I don't think there's a combination of Spanish and another course that makes every employer drool all over your resume.

[Gangrell]

The fact that you're in the US and have taken Spanish in college is a great boon in itself. Get a little better in Spanish and move to California, employers will snatch you in no time

[Bungleau]

Back in my college days, I was a French major and Spanish minor with a certificate of business administration. Those basic courses in business have been quite valuable, if for nothing more than letting me know what the folks who wanted my language services were talking about [img]smile.gif[/img]

'Course, that explains *perfectly* why I now work in software sales and consulting...

[Scarab]

Study botany, then you can go down south and be the pot-field _manager_.. major perks, trust me.

Or study chemistry, then you can go work in a hot, stinky clandestine lab with an AK-47 to your head! Sweet.. one can only dream.

Seriously, Link is right.. this is your life. You probably should think about what you want to DO with your career before you pick a major. You'll end up with a useless degree working in some totally different field (like Bungleau up there). Not to say that ANY degree won't look better than NO degree at all.

Example: My mom has a spanish degree, thought she'd work in the travel biz. That didn't work out and now she's a law-librarian.. I guess the spanish comes in handy since she runs a law library in Texas, but not much.

decisions decisions..
s

[Lucern]

Well he's certainly got the right to veto any of this guys lol. Different perspectives could help him out though. I was lucky to have a mentor making suggestions as I went along.

A natural science (physics, chemistry, biology) major would demonstrate not only competency in technical matters and an array of quantiative skills like statistics (in biology) or calculus in physics or general problem solving in chemistry, but in-depth knowledge of areas of knowledge that are expanding very rapidly and can be difficult to master. And outside of 'looking' a certain way on a resume, you'd actually develop those skills.

It's not for everyone, but a major in math demonstrates a lot of determination, attention to detail, and of course, quantitative skill. I couldn't have pulled that off if I wanted to, lol.

A social science like sociology or anthropology (and to some extent, the psychology you mentioned fits, depends on the department) would give you an insight into scientific analysis of social aspects, and usually, social problems. On a resume, people might think "oh good, people skills". Whether or not you'd be personable, you'd know an awful lot about labor, power and authority, race, gender, and expand on your (my guess) pre-existing glimpses into different cultures. Economics is considered a social science too, but I couldn't tell you much about that.

Though in a liberal arts institution you'll generally take a little bit of everything, I majored in anthropology, minored in French and biology, and I got into grad school in anthropology starting this Fall.

Oh, and if you wanted to consider teaching Spanish (or in Spanish even), bilingual teachers in Texas get paid a bit extra and are in demand, and I don't think there's a GPA requirement, but don't quote me on that. In a recent survey, 40% of North Texans weren't born in the US, and a large amount of those are likely to be Spanish-speakers.

[ 04-06-2005, 02:47 PM: Message edited by: Lucern ]

[Lucern]

Of course...if he's like I was, he also would have waited until the last minute to ask, LOL. He's probably already signed up

[Bungleau]

Well, let me throw a different spin on the current thought process here...

The purpose of going to college (or uni, if you prefer) is *NOT* to get a degree that will get you a nicely compensated job.

Rather, it's to ensure that you learn how to think and apply what you learn.

Have my French and Spanish degrees been useless? Not hardly. What's been more useful, though, is applying those skills in other areas.

Likewise, the most important thing in the computer business, IMHO, is *NOT* the ability to program, or write operating systems, or use design programs, or... fill in the blank. The important skill is to know how to take requirements (from an industry, a person, or a company), find the appropriate tool to solve them, and deliver the result.

Most of the successful (or should I say $uce$$ful) computer consultants I know come from backgrounds in philosophy, liberal arts, business, engineering, retail, and other areas. Very, very few have degrees in computers... and many of those who do have computer degrees have difficulty grasping that life just isn't like what you learned in school. It's different... because everyone plays by their own rules.

So Larry, my suggestion to you would be to figure out what you'd like to be doing in five or ten years, and pick courses that support it. They don't even have to match... honest!

Am I right? Wrong? Well, that's up for you to decide. However, I can tell you now that there are a couple of courses I wish I had taken differently when I got my masters.... things I didn't think were useful that I wish I had now. I just have to find new ways to get them.

Just have fun doing it, and remember that you're really there to prove you're trainable [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Scarab]

If the purpose of getting a degree isn't to make more money (and do what one WANTS), then what is the point? This may hold true for some career choices where general competance is the only requirement, but for specific careers, training is a must.

I can see your point in regard to computer sciences, as they change so rapidly most of the applied knowledge is learned on the spot. What of biology? Medicine? Chemistry? It takes more than a can-do attitude to tackle these fields. There is a great deal of info and training that must be consumed before one is worth their future salary.

I do agree that most folks with liberal arts degrees (that I've encountered) don't take their degree into their career. Liberal arts degrees are non-specific, and I also agree that all these degrees show is one's trainabilty. If a student has no direction or drive to a specific career, then I guess these kind of degrees are fine.

On the other hand, BS or MS degrees are very job-specific. I started out *gasp* as philosophy major and decided that philosophy wasn't going to pay too well, so I thought about what I wanted to REALLY do with my life. Science seemed more substantial, so I aimed for the degree in Organic Chemistry with the desire to work in drug discovery. Well, now here I am.. Chemist making drugs. I couldn't do this job without my skills I learned in school, no way. It takes more than a can-do attitude to work with deadly toxic materials on a daily basis..

/rant off..

Yeah, so the point.. if you don't know what you want to do.. liberal arts, go with the flow (and hope it works out). If you have direction and KNOW what you want, your schooling can be the ONLY thing that will get you your desired job.

blah blah
S

[Bungleau]

Let me rephrase that my position goes toward bachelor-level degrees. Once you've moved beyond into a masters program, you are dealing far more with specific skills. So doctors, lawyers, CPAs, and other professionals where an M-level degree is required... they're beyond this. The purpose of their B-level degree is to show the M-level program that they can be trained.

And I say this knowing (believing?) that the *real* requirement for lawyers is to be able to pass the bar exams... and that some folks who have never had formal lawyer training in school can and indeed do pass the bar exam.

I have seen (and worked with) both kinds of people -- those who have taken their B-level degrees and made a career out of it, and those who have used it as a stepping stone. My wife falls into the first group -- she got her degree (in social work), so in her mind, if she didn't get a job in social work, her college years were wasted. I fall into the second group -- I learned things, and I continue to learn things. And this continues to take me to new places.

I guess one of the things to consider is how often people *really* know what they want to do for the rest of their lives when they're in college. I know I didn't (although I had some ideas). In the years since then, I've done quite a few things, and I think my list of "what I want to be when I grow up" is getting smaller.

Please don't consider my remarks to be disparaging toward those who do know what they want to be when they're going through college. In fact, I believe my comments support them :

So Larry, my suggestion to you would be to figure out what you'd like to be doing in five or ten years, and pick courses that support it. honest!

If you do know what you want to do, then get more learning that helps you get there. If you don't, get more learning in things that interest you. You never know what they might lead to.

And for reference, one of the computer consultants I mentioned did indeed investigate a career early on in the same general field as you mention (toxicology / infectious diseases... I forget which, exactly). He decided he didn't like it enough to deal with the long-term impacts, so he came over to computers.

Hmmm... perhaps "computers" is really the new McDonald's..... the repository for everyone who can't get a job anywhere else [img]smile.gif[/img]