What was/is your college major? And what college did you attend?

[Roadgeekteen]

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

[webny99]

In Needham, everyone has a college degree

[Roadgeekteen]

In Needham, everyone has a college degree

Not everyone, but a much higher percentage of the population than elsewhere... oh were you talking about people under 18 who are still in K-12 schooling? I get it now.

[Henry]

Yet another Geography major; UCLA Class of 1992.

[kphoger]

In Needham, everyone has a college degree

this

[JayhawkCO]

Linguistics/International Studies/Pre-Law at the University of Kansas, hence my username.

Chris

[frankenroad]

I majored in French & Spanish at THE Ohio State University.  Buckeye for life!

[SkyPesos]

THE Ohio State University

I get reminded many times that the "THE" in THE Ohio State's name is very important 

[kphoger]

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

In Needham, 46% of people over age 25 have a graduate or professional degree.  That's not exactly typical.

Also, the median household income in Neeham is literally twice that of Masachusetts as a whole.  That should be a clue that things aren't necessarily typical.

[Roadgeekteen]

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

In Needham, 46% of people over age 25 have a graduate or professional degree.  That's not exactly typical.

Also, the median household income in Neeham is literally twice that of Masachusetts as a whole.  That should be a clue that things aren't necessarily typical.

I do know, it's still sometimes hard to wrap my head around.

[Mapmikey]

Originally dropped out of Clemson Univ in 1989 (secondary education major).  Had trouble getting up at the crack of noon.

Finally got a Bachelors of Science and Applied Science Technology Degree from Thomas Edison State College (NJ), with a major in Radiation Protection in 2002.  I never stepped foot on the campus.

[kphoger]

Meanwhile, the degrees I do have make it harder to get jobs that I want.

Yep, being overqualified for a job can be just as damaging as being underqualified.  They look at your résumé and say, He won't stay working here for very long, and then move on to the next application.

[SectorZ]

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

In Needham, 46% of people over age 25 have a graduate or professional degree.  That's not exactly typical.

Also, the median household income in Neeham is literally twice that of Masachusetts as a whole.  That should be a clue that things aren't necessarily typical.

I do know, it's still sometimes hard to wrap my head around.

Despite that you're surrounded by at least two towns that are even better off than yours.

[Roadgeekteen]

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

In Needham, 46% of people over age 25 have a graduate or professional degree.  That's not exactly typical.

Also, the median household income in Neeham is literally twice that of Masachusetts as a whole.  That should be a clue that things aren't necessarily typical.

I do know, it's still sometimes hard to wrap my head around.

Despite that you're surrounded by at least two towns that are even better off than yours.

Dover and Wellesley lol.

[hbelkins]

Morehead State University

BA, December 1982 (major in journalism, minor in government)
MA in communications with an emphasis in journalism, December 1983

[qguy]

BS, biology, Penn State, class of '84.

[kkt]

Geography, University of Washington (Seattle), didn't finish degree.

It always surprises me that so many people in America have no college degree. In Needham, almost every adult has a college degree and all high schoolers go to college.

It always surprises me how so many good-paying jobs don't even require a college degree.

There is literally only one job I would be interested in that requires a college degree, and that's traffic engineering.  And guess what?  It requires a degree I don't have!

Meanwhile, the degrees I do have make it harder to get jobs that I want.

There's an awful lot of employers who require a college degree just because it's evidence of being able to stick to a large project, or being able to learn things efficiently, and not because of any specific thing you might learn.

[Scott5114]

I went to Missouri State University for one year. Officially I was registered as a computer science major, but once I was accepted and saw how many math courses were required for that degree (come on, the whole reason computers were invented is to do math for us), I set my sights instead on a Geospatial Sciences (a GIS, or, essentially, cartography) degree.

I managed to screw myself over by blind luck before my first semester at MSU even started. At orientation I took a math placement test, and, following my standard practice with every other multiple-choice standardized test I've ever took, when they called a five-minute warning, I just went down the column of unanswered questions and filled them all in, figuring a 1/4 chance of getting it right was better than a 0/4. Of course, I didn't stop to think this was a placement test, and through some fluke of blind luck, I apparently managed to get a chunk of them right, because I was placed in a very difficult math class my first semester, not made any easier by having a professor with a thick accent and a condescending attitude. So I ended up having to drop that class, which meant that I didn't reach the required number of credit hours to keep my scholarship.

I always intended to transfer my credits to a school closer to home, and made an attempt to do so with OU, but got rejected from OU because "I didn't meet the requirements for an out-of-state student" despite having lived across the river from OU my entire life other than the time I spent at MSU, and when this was pointed out to the admissions clerks, they gave a response that didn't indicate a firm grasp on reality on their part. By that point, it was late enough I was going to miss a semester anyway, so I ended up getting a job while I waited, and then got so caught up in that that I never went back.

[kphoger]

I took a math placement test, and, following my standard practice with every other multiple-choice standardized test I've ever took, when they called a five-minute warning, I just went down the column of unanswered questions and filled them all in, figuring a 1/4 chance of getting it right was better than a 0/4. Of course, I didn't stop to think this was a placement test, and through some fluke of blind luck, I apparently managed to get a chunk of them right, because I was placed in a very difficult math class my first semester, not made any easier by having a professor with a thick accent and a condescending attitude.

I may have told this story on here before...

My dad moved the day before he took the ACT.  So, when test day came around, he was worn out from the moving process, and he was in no mood to take the test seriously.  Now, he's the kind of guy who could read the back cover of a book, flip through its pages, and then write a convincing paper about that book–not having actually read it.  When he was handed the ACT, he didn't bother reading the questions.  Instead, he just read the answers and chose whichever one seemed best to him.

Based on his score, he was placed into a remedial English class.  This, the guy who ended up having an English literature concentration.

Yet, based on his score, he was also placed into an advanced physics class.  This, the guy who had never taken a physics class in his life.

He re-took the test when he was more in the mood to answer the questions.

[Roadgeekteen]

I just moved into college, I'm super nervous but also excited.

[Rothman]

I just moved into college, I'm super nervous but also excited.

Congrats.  Learn to be comfortable with independence.

[Great Lakes Roads]

When I started college: Communications at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ

What happened between freshman year and senior year of college: After spending three-quarters of the freshman school year at the U of A, I decided to switch majors and switched schools. After spending another semester up in Wisconsin (Fall 2019), I decided to switch to online classes for the Spring 2020 semester where COVID ruined some plans that I had during the year.

Now that I will be a senior in college: Video Productions at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, WI with some plans on involving a podcast and possibly a new YouTube channel on major infrastructure projects around the country.

Overall, I do much better doing classes online than in person, especially since I have gotten much closer to my parents than ever!

[DandyDan]

I was a math major at Northern Illinois University, but didn't finish. I originally was going to be a teacher but after taking an education class realized that wasn't for me. Then I realized math wasn't for me, and then it devolved into one giant argument about what college was for between me and my parents.

[Rothman]

There's an awful lot of employers who require a college degree just because it's evidence of being able to stick to a large project, or being able to learn things efficiently, and not because of any specific thing you might learn.

I sure hope there are a lot of employers who value a college degree, because otherwise, it just seems like a rite of passage with no material reward.

I got worried at my latest job interview, when the interviewer commented about how I seem like an educated guy and how I've had all these desk jobs, and wanted to know how that reconciled with my applying for a delivery driver job that involved a lot of physical labor.

My reasoning seemed pretty straightforward: (1) I have a CDL-A, and I finally have a medical certification again (after moving away from prescription meds that weren't allowed), and (2) I feel like I'm wasting away at these desk jobs, and wouldn't it be nice if I had a job that helped me stay fit and active while doing it (not like I'd stop my workout routine, just saying, the more exercise the merrier).

Literally none of the jobs I've been applying for lately require a college degree.  I've lost all interest in urban planning jobs after seeing what that field is like.  And I'm tired of wasting my time applying to traffic engineering jobs, when they all require a degree I don't have.

Not sure why you would even try to apply for traffic engineering jobs with your educational background.

If delivery is really what you want to do, hopefully that works out for you.  Maybe drop the education from your resume -- "dumb it down."  They're not going to care or have the resources to track that stuff down anyway.

Trust fund kid, eh?

[Rothman]

Not sure why you would even try to apply for traffic engineering jobs with your educational background.

Because it's interesting?  But I'd also be stuck behind a desk most of the time, so I'm not sure that's something I really want to do.

As interesting as they might be, you're just not qualified for them and it's a waste of time to apply.

That said, there are other ways of getting into the general field without being an engineer.  DOTs also hire data analysts, for example.