College and majors to stay away from??

[LEsoftballdad]

Neil Peart once wrote lyrics to a song titled, Losing It." while not altogether the same as what we are talking bout here, I felt it was close enough to share.

"Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it. For you, the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee."

I regret not pushing harder in baseball when I was young. I regret it every day. I know I had something special, but I allowed my friends who did not play the game to influence me to give it up too early, and by the time I returned to the game, it had passed me by.

Is the major important? Of course. But expecting a 17-year-old to know precisely what they want to do with the rest of their life is absurd. That's why I tell my clients and kids to study what they enjoy and are good at, not what everyone else tells them they should do.

 

[Vertigo]

Neil Peart once wrote lyrics to a song titled, Losing It." while not altogether the same as what we are talking bout here, I felt it was close enough to share.

"Sadder still to watch it die than never to have known it. For you, the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee."

I regret not pushing harder in baseball when I was young. I regret it every day. I know I had something special, but I allowed my friends who did not play the game to influence me to give it up too early, and by the time I returned to the game, it had passed me by.

Is the major important? Of course. But expecting a 17-year-old to know precisely what they want to do with the rest of their life is absurd. That's why I tell my clients and kids to study what they enjoy and are good at, not what everyone else tells them they should do.

RIP Neal Peart. Amazing drummer and lyricist.

I told my kids that I did not care what they majored in - I just wanted them to have a plan. Both intend on going to grad school and I let them know that tuition is on them at that point, so it better be in something that will pay off in the end (if they stick to their current majors and plans, it will). Thankfully for both of them their college coaches don’t mind that they are STEM majors.

 

[FP26]

It's probably unrealistic for most kids to know exactly what they want to major in, but it's something they should at least consider. Getting a degree in the right field can definitely help a person's future. I am a college grad (with MBA) and it has served me very well. I have numerous friends with college degrees that have very successful careers. I also have numerous friends that have jobs that are not even remotely connected to their degree. All that degree did for them was provide a lot of debt for many years. Some of them could have their same current job without having the degree.

There are quite a few careers available that do not require college degrees at all, but as a society we tend to look down on those careers. As an example... My neighbor is a local truck driver (home every day) and his wife is an elementary school teacher. He has no debt associated with his career choice while his wife is paying student loans. He is currently making nearly double her salary and will likely continue to make more than her throughout their careers. Truck driving is not a glamorous job and high school guidance counselors are unlikely to talk about it as a career, but there is decent money in the industry.

Another example... A player I coached while she was in high school didn't like the idea of going to college. Instead, she decided to attend a trade school to become a welder. She is currently 23 years old and doing very well for herself.

 

[DonnyS]

100% depends on the school, the coach, and the program. You should have the discussion with the coach while being recruited or even better, at a camp before you spend the time and effort to get recruited. No P5s, but several D1 schools DD has talked with have very different views on tough majors. Labs tend to be the biggest issue. We are in the middle of it, so take it for what it's worth.

Agree with the comment above...college is often more about the experience than the degree...except for specialty majors (e.g. nursing, engineering, accounting, etc.).

 

[PJR202]

I agree and disagree. I agree that it is a time to figure oneself out and to learn to be on your own. On the other hand, I also see it as an expensive extension of high school if kids can’t decide at some point during those four years on what they want to pursue as a career while they are there.

I've read almost this whole thread, and that's the part that keeps sticking with me. I had zero idea what I wanted to do for a living when I got out of high school. I wasn't prepared to go to college, academically or from a maturity perspective. I did a couple years of electronics school, took an employment test I saw advertised in the newspaper and after passing a couple more tests, I was working my current job at 20 years old. It was a very good job and career, but here I am 24 years later, and I still never decided what I wanted to do for a living.

I can't imagine having to make a big decision like that while also having to factor in schools and which of those schools would let me play ball. I would have ended up doing some crap I would hate by the time I graduated.

My senior wants to be a vet--which is great and all--but despite our best efforts, she can't even begin to grasp what 8 years of school and 250-500k of debt will be for a job that will likely never pay her over 100k in this area. She can't grasp that if she doesn't marry rich, she'll be married to those loans until she's 50. It's all just so much for these kids to have to sort out when they're gonna go from hours of tiktok and fortnite to endless studying and having to make rent.

 

[Vertigo]

I've read almost this whole thread, and that's the part that keeps sticking with me. I had zero idea what I wanted to do for a living when I got out of high school. I wasn't prepared to go to college, academically or from a maturity perspective. I did a couple years of electronics school, took an employment test I saw advertised in the newspaper and after passing a couple more tests, I was working my current job at 20 years old. It was a very good job and career, but here I am 24 years later, and I still never decided what I wanted to do for a living.

I can't imagine having to make a big decision like that while also having to factor in schools and which of those schools would let me play ball. I would have ended up doing some crap I would hate by the time I graduated.

My senior wants to be a vet--which is great and all--but despite our best efforts, she can't even begin to grasp what 8 years of school and 250-500k of debt will be for a job that will likely never pay her over 100k in this area. She can't grasp that if she doesn't marry rich, she'll be married to those loans until she's 50. It's all just so much for these kids to have to sort out when they're gonna go from hours of tiktok and fortnite to endless studying and having to make rent.

Yep - and this is why I told my kids to have a plan.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

I've read almost this whole thread, and that's the part that keeps sticking with me. I had zero idea what I wanted to do for a living when I got out of high school. I wasn't prepared to go to college, academically or from a maturity perspective. I did a couple years of electronics school, took an employment test I saw advertised in the newspaper and after passing a couple more tests, I was working my current job at 20 years old. It was a very good job and career, but here I am 24 years later, and I still never decided what I wanted to do for a living.

I can't imagine having to make a big decision like that while also having to factor in schools and which of those schools would let me play ball. I would have ended up doing some crap I would hate by the time I graduated.

My senior wants to be a vet--which is great and all--but despite our best efforts, she can't even begin to grasp what 8 years of school and 250-500k of debt will be for a job that will likely never pay her over 100k in this area. She can't grasp that if she doesn't marry rich, she'll be married to those loans until she's 50. It's all just so much for these kids to have to sort out when they're gonna go from hours of tiktok and fortnite to endless studying and having to make rent.

I have two clients who are vets. Both of them make over $300K per year. I guess it's where you live, but where I am from, people will pay a fortune in cash to care for their pets.

 

[PJR202]

Yep - and this is why I told my kids to have a plan.

My daughter's plan is taking vet science classes in high school and watching a lot of "the incredible Dr Pol at home."

Our cat just recovered from pancreatitis and kidney failure yesterday, so we've assigned our future veterinarian to administer all his meds. She's gonna get bit a lot someday. May as well start now.

 

[PJR202]

I have two clients who are vets. Both of them make over $300K per year. I guess it's where you live, but where I am from, people will pay a fortune in cash to care for their pets.

If they own a clinic it may go that well, but I'd be super surprised if someone was making that cash working for someone else. Maybe a specialist or something?

I've averaged $2k per year the past three years in non-routine vet costs for our tyrant...I mean...sweet toy poodle, for his inflammatory bowel disease. And then $1,500 in the past week for the cat's pancreatitis that turned into kidney failure and near death.

 

[Vertigo]

My daughter's plan is taking vet science classes in high school and watching a lot of "the incredible Dr Pol at home."

Our cat just recovered from pancreatitis and kidney failure yesterday, so we've assigned our future veterinarian to administer all his meds. She's gonna get bit a lot someday. May as well start now.

Yeah - that was my plan while I was in college, too. I was thinking of going to vet school at some point but I had heard the same thing - expensive schooling and not a good ROI for a small animal vet unless you owned your own practice. Plus the fact that it was more difficult to get into than med school…..

I know my opinion is definitely not the popular one on this topic and I totally get that. I just think that forgoing a strong major in order to play SB isn’t a good idea for those who aren’t getting the majority of their schooling paid for by scholarship or athletic money, unless they have parents willing to foot the bill. Student loans saddle a young adult with a lot of debt.