satricion, I think you misunderstand rant*n*rave. She's essentially saying that social science degrees require a bit more ingenuity when choosing an angle with which to approach the job market, than hard science degrees do. I've seldom met a hard science major who didn't have at least somewhat of an idea what kind of job, or future education, their degree program was likely to lead to. I've met PLENTY of humanities majors, on the other hand, who didn't have a clue what they would, or COULD, do with their degree.
satricion, you're correct that humanities majors CAN make one an attractive candidate for many fine, stable jobs. But this requires that the student has had the required flash of zen-like inspiration and realized that the real jewels her course of study is bestowing upon her are outside-the-box thinking skills, and networking, rather than knowledge of obscure facts. She will need to make ample use of both outside the box thinking skills and networking if she wants any hope of convincing someone she's a proper fit for a job far more prestigious than a retail manager. And no one is going to tell her or teach her these two things in a classroom -- this is something you're just supposed to 'get' on your own.
I know I didn't 'get' it. I majored in Chinese, with minors in Japanese and film studies. I never gave much thought to what I wanted to do with them. I just assumed something good and fitting will come along, so long as I have two major world languages under my belt. I didn't notice that most of my fellow east Asian language majors were also co-majoring in either business or International Politics and Economics, and never gave much consideration to the fact that I had no taste for either business or government work. I was living in another time, and wrongly assumed I was on an escalator. I tried translation and teaching. I was poorly suited to both.
I was, however (once I 'got it') able to convince the admissions committee of one medical school that my above average verbal chops would serve me well in learning the new language of the human body.
If I could give one piece of advice to a teenager of mine, it's to not apply to college until you have a very clear idea of what you want to study, what kind of job you're headed towards, and how that field of study can best prepare you for that job. Without a clear idea of these, I'd rather a kid of mine take a couple years off and work, and see firsthand how the real world works, and how he or she will need to prepare to survive in it. College is not a right of passage, or 'just what you do when you're 18.' It's job training, and should be treated as such.
It always amazed me to see the international students from the third world at my undergraduate college. They had a work ethic that was extraordinary. They partied only after big projects were completed, if even then. They sat alone in study rooms and studied, when no one else did. They talked of going home and working alongside the elite of their home nations. They just had a much greater appreciation for what it means to be able to attend college!
Times were that undergraduate education was indeed an escalator to the white-collar work world. So few people in our parents and grandparents' generations even had degrees, that yes, there was literally a decent job waiting for anyone with with one, no matter what they studied. But now that a bachelor's degree is the new high school diploma, students had better give some serious thought as to how they can sell themselves to employers (or graduate schools) better than Joe Schmo English Major.
Hard science programs are more likely to attract practical people, and practical people are more likely to have given serious thought early on as to how they'll make their livelihoods.
![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
I guess "waste of time" was the wrong way of saying it... what I meant was, people who get a degree just to "get a degree", without any passion or goal behind it, just doesn't really make sense to me. You know, like people who go to college just because it's expected, but they choose a major just for the hell of it. I mean, if that's what someone wants to do, I guess it's not really a "waste of time" for them... I just don't personally understand it, but oh well. I don't think there's anything wrong with a degree that doesn't necessarily open a lot of doors, as long as it's something you actually care about learning and gain some kind of knowledge from. To go through college just going through the motions because it's what society expects is a little silly IMO, that's all I meant.