What was/is your major? and Was it worth it?

Tre4ISU

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Ag Business/Econ. Ag Bus was worth it as that was the field I entered and you have a slight advantage not to mention Ag Business is looked at by a lot of non Ag fields as a viable degree. Econ wasn't worth it but definitely could have been as I did have job offers out of Ag that were very good opportunities.
 

RideRdie4life

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Dec 14, 2008
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Reading for sure...been told they wont even give you a chance without it anymore.

Completely false, the school just wants money. Yes, it does help you and give your resume perks but it's a waste--especially at ISU since it's a graduate program at ISU. I didn't have a reading endorsement and was able to land a job at a top 20 school district in the nation. All of my friends that have endorsements are still job hunting and the ones without them are in the classroom. It's all about your personality and how you do what you do.
 

cy4prez7

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Nov 18, 2010
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Completely false, the school just wants money. Yes, it does help you and give your resume perks but it's a waste--especially at ISU since it's a graduate program at ISU. I didn't have a reading endorsement and was able to land a job at a top 20 school district in the nation. All of my friends that have endorsements are still job hunting and the ones without them are in the classroom. It's all about your personality and how you do what you do.

Yeah that's what I was told by a local Principle close to my hometown.
 

jamesfnb

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Apr 9, 2006
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Yeah that's what I was told by a local Principle close to my hometown.


Finance major, Economics minor. Well worth it. I use what I learned daily at work and in my personal life. I grauated 11 years ago. My first job at a bank was a salary of only $25,500 which nearly matched my student loan debt of $25,000. At first I questioned if I majored in the right thing since my engineering friends and I.T. friends started at much higher salaries. Today, I am making more than them as my opportunities for advancement through the business world has been better. I'm not sure if that's always the case but I feel I have much more opportunity to grow and make more money over the next 20 years than they do as I advance through management, etc.
 

BKLYNCyclone

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Sep 16, 2007
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Architecture... I jumped right into grad school for my Masters in Architecture and learned a ton. Problem was I more than tripled my debt (Ivy League Masters/NYC living expenses) and now it'll be a long time before I get even. That being said, I love what I do and I make enough to get by. The Masters seems to give me about a 10-20k extra compared to my peers, but I pretty much spend most of that on my additional loans each year. If I can end up teaching and practicing it'll all be worth it.

If I had it to do over again, I would have gone and gotten and Ivy League Finance or MBA. Most of my clients in NYC make ridiculous amounts of money and they are either lawyers or in finance/business. Could have had my debt easily paid back in just a couple of years (almost went back to get my MBA after my M-Arch).
 

Blandboy

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Mar 31, 2006
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Journalism/mass communications. Been to every state in the United States except Hawaii; most of Canada. Career goal was to work for John Deere and after nearly 35 years in the advertising department, it's been well-worth it.
 
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Entropy

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Oct 27, 2008
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Currently taking this major. Tried to finish in 3 years. Needless to say my gpa blows.
That would be rough. GPA is somewhat important with the degree, but research/practical experience counts for more. Unless you're going to medical school.

Get some research/internship experience, and that'll count more than time spent in a seat.
 

Rhoadhoused

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Apr 27, 2010
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Currently taking this major. Tried to finish in 3 years. Needless to say my gpa blows.
That would be rough. GPA is somewhat important with the degree, but research/practical experience counts for more. Unless you're going to medical school.Get some research/internship experience, and that'll count more than time spent in a seat.

I work in a corn genetics lab on campus and have since second semester freshman year. It is great experience and will get me 2/3 letters I need for grad school. The guy who runs the lab is kind of a big deal and he is one of them. I might have relied on this too much earlier in my college career and that probably hurt my grades a bit. Also I suck at ochem synthesis.

It's crazy that this all happened because my advisor made one phone call and got me an interview the next morning at 8 am, and I was working the next day. It really is all about who you know.
 
Aug 30, 2010
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Accounting and it was mostly worth it. I don't love what I do, but I don't hate it either. The only bad thing was that I graduated the first year they required 150 for the CPA and Iowa State hadn't really ramped up their Masters of Accounting program yet. I graduated without the credits for the CPA and it has somewhat hindered my job prospects. But I've had 2 good jobs since I graduated 11 years ago and make pretty good money.

Those last 30 credits can be in anything from anywhere, so it'd be easy to just do one more year at a community college while working a lot if that happened right when you graduated. Not having CPA behind your name pretty much prevents you from any advancement in public accounting.
 

uro cy

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Oct 28, 2006
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Currently taking this major. Tried to finish in 3 years. Needless to say my gpa blows.
Same major....my senior year was basically waiting to take 1 class each semester, required for my degree. Another 10 years of school and training, I have a great job and haven't used anything related to my degree in years.
Did find my wife at ISU... definitely a keeper
 

Bobber

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Apr 12, 2006
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Hudson, Iowa
Same major....my senior year was basically waiting to take 1 class each semester, required for my degree. Another 10 years of school and training, I have a great job and haven't used anything related to my degree in years.
Did find my wife at ISU... definitely a keeper

Good for you. I had to go to UNI to find mine. She's a keeper too.
 
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Rhoadhoused

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Apr 27, 2010
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Same major....my senior year was basically waiting to take 1 class each semester, required for my degree. Another 10 years of school and training, I have a great job and haven't used anything related to my degree in years.
Did find my wife at ISU... definitely a keeper

What took you 10 years? MS, PhD, and then work training?
 

longtimeclone

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Dec 8, 2009
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Those last 30 credits can be in anything from anywhere, so it'd be easy to just do one more year at a community college while working a lot if that happened right when you graduated. Not having CPA behind your name pretty much prevents you from any advancement in public accounting.

You also need 24 credits from accounting too instead of the 18 which is just needed to graduate with the degree, but the rest of the 150 can be anything. It is also a lot easier to switch jobs in accounting if you are a CPA.
 

The_Architect

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Apr 11, 2006
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MIS and yes it was the best decision ever. Started FT development with one of the "big 3" before I even graduated. Been in the industry ever since then. Consulting now, can set my own schedule and negotiate my own bill rates.

If I ever had to move, could find a gig anywhere. IT is the place to be, especially if you can write quality code and comprehend business rules.
 

Cyviking

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Dec 2, 2011
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Major: Genetics
Minor: Plant Pathology
Grad Year: 2005

It was very well worth it. I have a great job as a Senior Research Associate at Pioneer Hi-Bred doing genetic analysis.
 

motorCYcle

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Jun 18, 2008
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Ames, Iowa
Currently in ME. Obviously don't know if it's worth it yet, but I am really liking all of the ME responses saying that they have great jobs. Just wondering if any ME would like to respond: I'd like to know how much are you involved in design of products. I know someone said they are a test engineer, does that also mean you will personally get to go back and attempt to improve it? I know other MEs go into a systems engineering career, and I am pretty sure I don't want to do that, but I don't know a ton about it either.

I don't want to be too intrusive, so you can choose to answer specific parts, but I'd like to know more of what you do, what you like about it, and what you would do differently if you could.
 

Clones33

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Jan 15, 2009
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Marketing '07
Not worth it. I'm the typical 'started out in engineering and then went to business' kid. I should've stayed in engineering. I like numbers and data analysis but can't get a gig I enjoy in the marketing field to save my life, which led me to...

MBA '12
I haven't graduated yet, but I'm hoping once I do the combination of the two degrees will help get my career on the right path.
 

2ndCyCE

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Dec 21, 2011
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Civil Engineering graduate and am in consulting/project management. I love the line of work that I am in, but for the amount of stress I deal with regarding deadlines and other demands, plus the hours required, it's sometimes not worth it.

The pay is decent but not great, and I know of others who put forth a lot less effort in college than I did who currently make a lot more than I do without as much stress. They are in sales and IT consulting.

In hindsight, I would have gone into finance or medicine.
 

bugs4cy

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Jun 7, 2009
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Story County
I have a degree in Entomology ... and my current job title is (ta-da!) Entomologist. I am a thesis short of a MS, and I'll never get it. Did all the class work and 3 years of research, but statistician threw out most of the data. Epic war ensued between my major prof and statistician. I eventually threw in the towel because I was a nontraditional grad student - working full time and doing grad work on side. It wasn't going to get me a raise so to heck with it.

Would I do it (the BS) all over again? Yes, but then I'd add on law school because I'm a pseudo lawyer now and I'd like to be better at it. Or at least feel like I'm not just making it up as I go.

I use the technical skills I learned via ISU everyday, but even more important than that (most of the time), I use the people skills I learned as a bartender and waitress in college. You can be the smartest person in the room, but if you can't sell your ideas or gain people's trust, you're cooked.

In my experience being an entomologist makes you a giant freak magnet. People have the unstoppable urge to tell you things you really didn't want to know ... I rarely have a boring day.
 
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