Would you recommend your college major?

[jimmy olsen]

I greatly enjoyed my time in school as a History major, so I would recommend. What comes after doesn't concern me.

[Ideologue]

I greatly enjoyed my time in school as a History major, so I would recommend. What comes after doesn't concern me.

Says the man who at one point expected to be dead before 25, and when he woke up at 26 and found he was still alive, fled the fucking country.

History: emphatically no, no, no, no, no.

Redo?  Geology, IT-related stuff, or whatever CGI click monkeys take to become VFX artistes.  Turns out I'm good at sitting in front of a computer for twelve hours a day and at least animating the brimstone dicks in This Is the End wouldn't kill my soul.

[Camerus]

My inital major was history.

Would I recommend it? It depends on the individual and the university. To most aspiring university students, I would not. For myself, definitely yes.

[Valmy]

2. History (average starting salary: $39,700)

Average starting salary in what exactly?

[Ideologue]

That sounds like bullshit too.  Needs scamblog attention.

[DontSayBanana]

...whatever CGI click monkeys take to become VFX artistes.  Turns out I'm good at sitting in front of a computer for twelve hours a day and at least animating the brimstone dicks in This Is the End wouldn't kill my soul.

It's a grab bag between graphic design and film majors.  The ROI might not be as good as you're expecting, though; lots of art school kiddies majoring in fine art/illustration/animation either dual major or minor in GD to have a marketable job skill on their resumes.  It's almost as saturated a market as what you're in.

[viper37]

2. History (average starting salary: $39,700)

Average starting salary in what exactly?

history teacher in high school, most likely?

[Valmy]

2. History (average starting salary: $39,700)

Average starting salary in what exactly?

history teacher in high school, most likely?

Maybe, that would seem reasonable.  It was just weird in an era with 20%+ youth unemployment to suggest history grads walk out of school with a salaried position of $39,700.  I knew several who were working for hourly wages, like me for example.  Many others cannot get jobs.  So those guys getting salaries must be getting giant salaries indeed to make that the average.

[jimmy olsen]

2. History (average starting salary: $39,700)

Average starting salary in what exactly?

history teacher in high school, most likely?

Maybe, that would seem reasonable.  It was just weird in an era with 20%+ youth unemployment to suggest history grads walk out of school with a salaried position of $39,700.  I knew several who were working for hourly wages, like me for example.  Many others cannot get jobs.  So those guys getting salaries must be getting giant salaries indeed to make that the average.

Maybe it counts all those with history bachelors who immediately go on to get Law degrees?

[The Brain]

Of course I would. Engineering Physics is an elite education that gives you a solid base in science and engineering. It worked out great for me and I'm not interested in the subject. A person who is actually interested must be in heaven.

[Caliga]

2. History (average starting salary: $39,700)

Average starting salary in what exactly?

history teacher in high school, most likely?

The thing about that is that, in America at least, you can't go teach in a high school with a history degree--you need an education degree and the accompanying certifications.  I think some private schools will hire someone with a history degree vs. an education degree, but not any public schools.

At one point when there was a teacher shortage in Mass. they were letting people with any sort of bachelor's degree take some exam and if you passed it, you could get hired as like a provisional teacher, but only if you agreed to go to night school to get an education degree and you had to obtain it within x number of years or you'd get let go.

[The Brain]

I considered studying history, but I realized in high school that history isn't being done seriously in the academic world. We have the historians we have and not the historians we wish we had. They are clueless about their subject. So history, for me, was out.

[grumbler]

The thing about that is that, in America at least, you can't go teach in a high school with a history degree--you need an education degree and the accompanying certifications.  I think some private schools will hire someone with a history degree vs. an education degree, but not any public schools.

At one point when there was a teacher shortage in Mass. they were letting people with any sort of bachelor's degree take some exam and if you passed it, you could get hired as like a provisional teacher, but only if you agreed to go to night school to get an education degree and you had to obtain it within x number of years or you'd get let go.

Just so you know, this is wrong.  You might want to look up some facts before you start telling people who don't know better how it is "in America, at least."

To teach in high school, one almost certainly needs a degree in the field taught, contrary to what you state.  It is true that you also need a teaching certificate (which you can obtain after taking the 5 or so requisite courses in child development, best practices, and that sort of thing), but I don't know a single high school teacher in America, at least who has a bachelor's in education.  The coursework required to get subject certification on top of a teaching certificate would virtually amount to a new degree anyway.

In Massachusetts, they allowed (as do many states) someone with a subject area degree to teach under a provisional teaching certification while they took the requisite courses to get a permanent teaching certificate, but you are absolutely wrong to state that such teachers had to get a degree in education.  No one would agree to that kind of burden.

A master's degree in education is quite popular among high school teachers; I'd guess between a quarter and half of public high school teachers have one.

Primary school teachers mostly do have bachelor's degrees in education, in America at least.  But that's not what we are talking about.

tl;dr version:  Cal is dead wrong, and high school history teachers generally do have history degrees and don't have teaching degrees.

[Siege]

So, can I be a high school teacher with just a history degree?

[Grey Fox]

Nope. Well, actually yes, just don't stop at the level I did continue on & become an engineer.