Stereotypes about your major?

"English major....So...you want to teach, right?"

AHHHHHhhhhhh!!!!!!!! No.

Or "I wish I would have majored in drinking wine and getting high..."

The only positive response I ever get is when I mention I minored in math, which is usually, "Oh that's weird. Confused much?

So yeah... definitely get the "Are you going into teaching?" question a lot.  I don't think I'd mind being a teacher, exactly.  But that's not my career plan at the moment.

A lot of people who know me are surprised that I'm not a music major.  Let me tell you, it's one of the hardest majors anyone will ever take even if you do have a good grasp on music.  When I tell them, though, that I'm an English - Creative Writing major with a Theatre minor, they're like, "Oh.  That makes sense."  Especially since I've been called a grammar nazi a few times...  I just believe edited works shouldn't have editing issues is all!

I always like to make up new words and speak with horrible grammar.  I say I'm allowed to 'cause I'm an English major and know the rules I'm breaking.  : D

Haha, most people don't even know that Classical Studies with an emphasis in Latin is a Major possibility. But it is.

When I tell people I'm majoring in Classics with an emphasis in Latin, I usually get

"You know that language is dead, right?" and
"So what can you do with a degree like that?" and
"What is Classical Studies?"

Man, I'm so tired of answering those questions that I don't even wanna answer them now.

Not even professors and staff members respect my major, always being like "ARE YOU SURE!?!? What are your plans with this degree?" and saying other stupid shit. back off brosef whos job it is to be a link in the administrative chain; I like my lot just fine, especially when I look at you.

I feel like Lil Wayne I'm so misunderstood. Granted, as a pre-made "template" major, this is a very new one, having only been posted online very recently. But People have been graduating with Classics and Latin minors and occassionaly even majors for years now here at WWU.

I think I might have the most undervalued and perhaps one of the more obscure majors available here at WWU... not counting weird fairhaven majors like "Cooking in the Third Reich" or whatever those crazy kids are up to these days

"So, like, what do you DO with that?"
(A lot of things, for your information.)

I was once told that Communication majors are "just former business majors who decided they couldn't handle all the math."
I was also told that Communication majors just party all the time.

When I tell people about my minor in Psychology, I have to qualify it with a "you know, just for fun."  I'm minoring in Psychology because it's interesting and I like it.  End of story.

When I tell people about my other minor, Journalism, I get "ohhh" as if it's the only semi-useful field of study I've mentioned so far.  Then, "You know all the newspapers are going out of business, right?"

Side note:  My boyfriend is a PET/VET major (plastics/vehicle engineering technology), and when I tell people that, they're always significantly more impressed than they are with my fields.  Guess it's that whole bias toward science/math thing again.  Funny, though; I spend way more time on schoolwork than he does, even counting all the extra time he spends in lab (which is a lot).  But I still get sentiments (mostly from girls, which makes me sad) like "oh, you'd better stick with him - engineers make a lot of money."

I'm thinking about being a Recreation major and so many people think there is absolutely nothing to do with that major but lead outdoor trips. While that would be an amazing job anyway, there is so much more you can do with the major. It's not as pointless as people think.

How do you know a political science grad?
They are the one's delivering your pizza..
I can't tell you how many times I have heard this joke..
 

Ha, I've had similar experiences. I always get, "hmmm, and what are you going to do with that?", followed of course by, "I hate math".

Usually when I tell people that I study anthropology I either get "Do you dig up dinosaur bones?" or "Oh yeah, like Indiana Jones" and that makes me want to bang my head against a wall, but instead launches me into the speech about the subfields and how I'm a cultural anthropologist and I like to study people and cultures, and how not all anthropology is archaeology, and archaeologists DO NOT dig up dinosaur bones (I'm not even an archaeologist and I flip out about that one).

Then they ask "So what exactly are you going to do with a degree in anthropology?"

Anything I want to, okay?!

I also get the "there's no money" in anthropology, or that I'll have to get a doctorate to work in my field. Do they think that I don't already know this?? Bah.

I'm also working on writing my Master's thesis... and I HATE answering the question, "What's your thesis about?" because it's like a 10-15 minute explanation which I have to alter depending on my audience.

You know, after reading this thread, it makes me feel slightly better that I'm not the only one who has to deal with stuff like this...

"Oh....well, good luck with that." and "You are going to hate kids after a couple years, huh?"

"You realize teachers make no money, right?"

...followed by

"Hey, at least you get summer vacation!"

You can only imagine what people say when I tell them I'm hoping to teach middle school science.

"Well, someone has to do it!" O_O 

I have totally gotten all of those same English major comments!!! The most annoying thing is my dad sarcastically saying everytime he sees me "You're going to make one fine teacher!" I think a lot of times people think that majoring in English means that you just sit around looking for symbols in books and writing about some bullshit. It is funny to joke about but I think that there is a big problem with people not taking reading and writing as seriously as they should, and math and science being considered the only thing you should focus on in school. Critical reading and writing skills are way necessary, and being able to write thoughtful papers can serve you well in whatever career you choose.

My friends and family assume that I am going to be very rich someday. Kind of annoying, becuase that really isn't all I want out of it.  

I'm an Environmental Science major, with an emphasis in Environmental Toxicology and Marine Ecology. Many people are like, so do you want to, like, uh, save nature or something?

Yes, I do. Do you find ambition uncomfortable?

To be specific, I want to explore climate change, especially related to the oceans, and expand renewable energy efforts, again, with respect to the oceans. Marine science is my passion, and it is a lot more than swimming with whales, folks (though I have done that, and it is amazing). Many people have had positive responses, but I've also had many people ask me what I want or can do with that. The assumption is that environmental science is a narrower focus than say, biology or chemistry. It isn't - the scope of environmental science includes aspects of biology, chemistry, physics, and a healthy dose of math. Also, I've noticed many people seem to think I don't have big plans or can't apply my major very well. There is also an assumption that my major is easier than other hard sciences. It isn't. Granted, I will never go through as much pain and suffering as chem majors taking pchem. But I have many, many hours in lab, and my major requires a lot of work - especially since I'm doing two emphasis areas, which apparently is not the norm. Also - and I don't know if this is related to my major or me being a woman - but people have also been consistently surprised that I want to get my doctorate after finish undergrad. "uh, you know that's like another 5 years right?" "um, why do you want a PhD?"

duh. To be the best I can be at what I do.

Biochem:

"Why do you want to get a degree where the entry salary is only 40k for postdocs!!!??? Why not do EE engineering and get 70k right off the bat?" (Mostly my parents who say this.)

Pre-med: (okay, not strictly major-related...)

"Are you in it for the money or for the helping people part?" (I can't have both???)

"So do you intend on having a life?" (I don't think that word means what you think it means...)

Epidemiology of infectious diseases:

"ZOMG SWINE FLU???!!!111oneoneonelevenone1!1" (granted, I hope this is just a fad...)

But English majors don't have anything to write about...

... I kid.

I think they just meant that in school he didnt do so hot in math classes. I've heard that he struggled a lot in class and that one teacher even told him that math probably wasnt the best route for him to take.

Wrong. As a major you have every right to refer to others as laypeople.

lay⋅man  /ˈleɪmən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ley-muhn] Show IPA
–noun, plural -men. 1. a person who is not a member of the clergy; one of the laity.
2. a person who is not a member of a given profession, as law or medicine.

2 here illustrates my point.

When politically correct language mutilates the meaning of English words, you should cut that sh*# out.

You more than likely DO have the RIGHT answer due to your dispropotionate amount of time and energy invested in the study of that discipline.

Not to mention that using the term layman correctly is nowhere near as harmful an offense as confirming that you will, out of compassion, use your considerable knowledge of computers to help someone out- only to have lied to their faces.

Anyway- Journalism. When I tell people that they're all like, "Cool".

It's sweet.

TRUE STORY:

I'm in the grocery store with my boyfriend, and we see this guy I had a comm class with, and I say "hi" to him. My boyfriend looks at me and says "How do you know that guy???" and I reply "Oh, he was in my small group class" Boyfriend then replies "urgh, that guy is such a douche. Is he a comm major?"  "...hm... I think so, he was in a class typically only comm majors take..." I say. Out of my boyfriends mouth: "Pfft.... figures."

WTF is that supposed to mean?????? haha.

Also I get: "So what do you want to do with that? P.R. or event planning?"

OR "I heard that's the major that all the football players do"

OR "I wish I had easy classes"

It's really annoying, because to a certain degree, you can slide by in communication, but in order to truly succeed and understand and be a good student, you have to work your ass off, and no one sees that side of the major!

As a biology major, I find that chemistry majors (and faculty...) often roll their eyes at biology people.  Non-science majors, on the other hand, are usually some combination of impressed and confused as to why anyone would want to study something so hard and/or boring.  I also get asked if I am pre-med all the time.  This irritates just about every non-pre-med biology or biochemistry major I talk to.  It's not an unreasonable question, but it's almost like people are not aware that there is this field called biology and that there are these people called biologists.  What I find much more annoying, and strange, is when people ask the follow up question: "Why don't you want to be a doctor?"  It's not so much that I don't want to practice medicine, it's that I do want to other things.  I get these comments from people my parents' age more often than from other students.

It's not all bad, though.  A fair number of people say "that's wonderful" and are very encouraging.

And, like seemingly everyone else, I find that most people know surprisingly little about biology and what a biologist might do.  Biology, psychology and English all seem like sort of "standard" majors, and yet we are met with so much surprise and confusion when we tell people this is what we're studying.

I'm a Vocal Performance major, which gets me varying responses.  When I tell people who aren't in the music dept. they seem interested, and sometimes surprised.  However, a lot of instrumentalists will look down on vocalists because they don't consider us as Musicians.  This is not the case, but they think that anyway.

BTW, Props to the guy above me who's a Music Education major.  I tried to double major in Music Performance and Education, but the education part was kicking my butt.  Kudos to you, that's a LOT of work.

I totally get the same response everytime I say either one. The one I also get is so you want to be a psychiatrist/counsler.

"So you're gonna be a shrink?"

Or...

"Can you psychoanalyze me and tell me why I just ate that cookie?"

Perhaps to satiate your endless hunger for answers to annoying questions.

It depends. How did you FEEL when you ate the cookie?

How did the cookie FEEL?

I was debating whether that person was worth responding to. Thanks for doing it for me.

And for F.S. Refering to someone as a 'lay'whatever isn't an insult. Especially not in psychology.

So what do they call people who dig up dinosaur bones?

I'm a cultural Anth student too, and most people don't even know what anthropology is... but not everyone can know everything... right?

People who dig up dinosaur bones are paleontologists (although paleontologists study other kinds of prehistoric fossils as well, not just dinosaurs).

Arabic language and Middle Eastern studies. Most of the time people just say, 'oh, so you want to be a translator or something?'
But there's always that occasional person... I'm sure you all can imagine.

I totally agree with that last statement there...I've found comm is what you make it.  I've learned a lot, but it's because I *wanted* to learn a lot.

I get a lot of "What do you think you're going to do with that?" when I tell people I'm a comm major.  I think a lot of people don't really see the research side to comm.

Perfect.

Double Post, so I'll add another one...

My other favorite line for psychology is: "You know you can't get any jobs without going to graduate school, right?"

"Great!  Who's gonna win the election?!"

When I reply that my focus is not U.S. Politics, I often get a blank stare (like "what else IS there?").

Or, as mentioned above: "Oh, what office are you going to run for?!"  *sigh*

And don't we ALL get asked "what do you plan to do with your degree?"  A bolt of lightning should come down from the sky and strike any person asking that question.  Two bolts if they have earned a college degree themself.

Why on earth is it bad to ask "what do you plan to do with your degree"?

I think that a lot of people in college are planning for their futures and a lot of us (I presume) are both excited about and proud of the paths we are on in life.

I personally really enjoy being asked that question, and ask it all the time, but more in the phrase of "What do you want/hope to do with your degree?"

I feel that it shows a genuine interest in fellow classmates. Isn't preparing for the manifestation of one's dreams a big reason why we are in school?

If you don't know why you are in school, perhaps you should reconsider being here. Sure, if you wait until you are older, you may have to pay for your education yourself (though you are also eligible for a lot more grant money-mine completely covers tuition), but it will be more meaningful to you then.

Anyway, I think this is an excellent question for students to discuss both amongst themselves and with non-students-parents-professors-employers, etc.

"Oh, you'll make money."

Damn right.

I think it depends on who's asking and how they ask it, and I imagine that, depending on your major, this question gets asked a certain way.  Of course people might just be projecting something onto the asker, or assume that the person asking means it differently than they actually do, but I suspect these perceptions are colored by experience.  If you have are majoring in a field that most people cannot even define—anthro, comm, poli sci—I imagine you get these questions from people who assume you either have no idea or that you want to do something weird more often than a psychology or chemistry major does.  I, too, frequently ask my classmates and acquaintances what they are studying, why, and what they want to do and I think when college students ask each other, for the most part, it's out of genuine curiosity and in a non-judgmental way.

I think for a lot of people it makes sense to go to college at the "normal" time even if they do not know what they want to do.  College is a great place to find out what you like and what you want to do.  Having a degree—in anything—opens up a variety of employment opportunities that may provide further chances to discover your passion.  It's probably easier for someone in their mid-40s to go back to school for a certificate, second bachelor's or graduate degree when they already have a BA/BS than it is for someone that age to go to college for the first time.  A lot of my parents' friends, and my mom, have gone to grad school in their 30s, 40s and 50s in a field unrelated to their undergraduate degree.

I have found that most people really have absolutely no idea what acccountants do.

they assume it's all math (not even close)                              false
they assume it's really boring                                                false
they assume you are really good with money and numbers      true

lots of other things but these are the main ones I see

Oooo I got more about accountants: we're going to go work for "the man", or we're looking to cheat others/the government out of their money.

When I think of accounting majors I think of (questionable text deleted by the author)

but I've only known a couple...

First thing that happens when I tell people I'm a Japanese major is

"Oh that's neat -- do you want to be a translator?" and "Do you watch anime all the time?" Everyone I've run into thinks that if you like Japanese culture or you're a major, you're automatically the biggest nerd ever because you -must- love anime and every single thing about Japanese pop culture.

But no and no. I might translate but I want to work in the arts/culture industry. Definitely not a pop culture thing.

I'm also an Anthropology minor so I get asked all the time "What is that?" or my favorite, Dad: "You want to study bugs? Why???" It's not bugs. It's not physical science. It's cultural studies.

litgeek82 - I'm mostly talking about people who have NO idea why anyone would want to dump a bunch of $ into a college education, or even why I would want to be in school.  It irritates me if people act like the only purpose for my college education is that it will launch me into a career that they deem is "successful" (usually measured by the size of the paycheck).

I'm a "returning student" (nice euphemism for old) so I can't really wait any longer to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!  I do have trouble articulating (and sometimes envisioning) what career path my life will take after I'm done with school (if I'm ever done...).  

If people are genuinely interested in what other people do with their lives/educations, great!  You're right - I love to talk/listen to other students and hear about their hopes and plans.  I just think a lot of people judge and jump to conclusions and act like we're all wasting our time here.  Education is so valuable in so many ways - I don't want mine measured by people who may not "get it."

Yeah, I see where you are coming from, definitely.

And I definitely understand, also, when people say, well, I'm just here for knowledge, no big plans---I mean regardless of the answer I get, I try to be nonjudgmental.

I'm a returning student too. "If I'm ever done.." yeah, I've got a ten year plan ahead of me which ideally will get me a Ph.D by the time I'm 37, with a little time off in between. It's beyond my comprehension. But I decided I wasn't going to pay off my debts or be happy working food service all my life.

So, welcome back, and good luck...

I usually lead with the Economics, and get something like "So when are gas prices going to go down?" or "when are we getting out of this recession?"

And then I'll slip in the Operations Management, and they'll ask what that is or what do I want to do with that.  I start to explain it, and they always end up taking three roads.  Either "Oh, cool.  My company could use someone like you"  or  "Oh, we hired one of you once, and they completely screwed up our comapany" or "yeah, we finally implemented Lean at our warehouse/plant/office/whatever, and we're doing so much better than before!"

It's a cruel cruel world, but someone has to do it.

Then I tell them that I'm actually leaving the educational world to become an international rock star, and they laugh and walk away  :)

I usually get a lot of:  So you want to be the one LYING to the public
or
So a spin-doctor right?
....noooo
I just want to KNOW what's going on.  
Ideally I'll work for a record company or a non-profit organization.
NOT the government.

Then I tell them I'm ALSO majoring in Linguistics and Minoring in Spanish.
Linguistics usually gets a blank stare and a: wtf is that?
and Spanish gets "but why?" Especially at home where there is a LOT of anti-Mexican feeling.
-_- idjits.

 Chemistry... Enough said already.

someone said that the chem dept folks tends to roll our eyes at bio majors.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cuttlefish.png

we roll our eyes because of the way ya'll gloss over our favorite stuff. Having taken a couple bio courses I understand why biologists do this, but it still makes us sad when really great chemistry is reduced to it's simplest form. 

plus, if you are like me, you can wail on a math problem but your vocabulary skills are limited, and bio vocab is a big deal. 

if it makes you feel any better, I am getting a B in Bio 205 and an A in chem 463... so I am not fond of bio 'cause I am not good at it!

Ha! That comic made my day!

i'm a cell bio major, and when i tell non-science people that i get the "wow, you must be really smart!" or "wow you must be crazy to put forth so much work!"

and then i'm (hopefully) doing an astronomy minor also, and when i tell people that they think it's a weird combo or really cool.

with science people who are not bio majors, sometimes but not always i do get the "eye-rolling" for biology not being as "pure a science" as say math, physics, or chemistry. (this comes from a few select friends) i know they mean no harm and are mostly just joking but it's slightly irritating, because all sciences, and really the analytical study of one thing is no better than any other, including the more humanities sciences like sociology (which i really find interesting) or history (which i don't like as much but can still respect those who persue study in that).

but now i'm kind of rambling. none of the stereotypes i get really bug me, nor when people ask what i plan to do with it (as someone mentioned previously, we're all in the same boat, and i really AM interested in what you may plan to do with it when you graduate, as i have quite a few different paths in mind and have no set in stone idea myself).

I remember when I used to tell people about focusing in special education and people would tell me that I was wasting my time working with people who weren't going to go anywhere. I always let'em have it right afterwards with a soap box speech that usually left them feeling quite the fool!

I can certainly appreciate this... As the biology major who brought up the eye rolling, I consider my chemistry classes to be more central to my knowledge and future than some of my required biology courses. 

*Deleted.

I always get "so you like rocks" and thats about it. Alas, I can't really identify rocks to save my life, but there are so many more fields in geo that don't involve identifying rocks! I think most of the responses people give are based on their experience in intro classes. For example, in intro geology classes all you really do is identify rocks.

Admittedly, I only decided to do the human services major a few weeks ago, but so far the main response I've gotten has been "Oh, you're going to be a social worker?" or "what do you do with that?". Social work is the one thing I'm definetly not going to do with my degree! What was just as annoying was my mom assuming I was going to work for child protective services and then ranting about how hard that was going to be.

My mother did the same when I was thinking about human services. But, as far as I know, you need a Master's to do social work in the state of Washington anyways.

But human services really is a versatile degree. I'm sure you could tailor it to your interests. :)

 Hehe, thanks pete for the funny comic.