What do you wish you'd studied?

[Jacob]

I read a pretty good article today by an adjunct professor, but it was on Slate so everyone hates it, and it was about how to make rational changes to required liberal arts classes (do away with essays that no one puts any effort into writing or professionalism into grading), so they hated it even more.

You could have also gone into finance.

A friend visited us on the weekend with her husband. He's got a Ph.D. in physics and works in risk management for a big Canadian Bank. She works in finance too, but got into it through actuarial studies.

... though there are a lot of Engineering Ph.D. holders in finance as well.

Physics and Engineering require a command of mathmatics that would likely prove very useful it that line of work.

I will tell J to keep that in mind

Yeah, though I believe you're looking at least a Masters and probably a Ph.D. for finance work. But I guess the point is that it's possible to transition to finance with a strong math-based engineering or physics undergrad degree.

[dps]

Meh, wish I'd been an education major.  Weekends and summers off.

[Ideologue]

I read a pretty good article today by an adjunct professor, but it was on Slate so everyone hates it, and it was about how to make rational changes to required liberal arts classes (do away with essays that no one puts any effort into writing or professionalism into grading), so they hated it even more.

You could have also gone into finance.

A friend visited us on the weekend with her husband. He's got a Ph.D. in physics and works in risk management for a big Canadian Bank. She works in finance too, but got into it through actuarial studies.

... though there are a lot of Engineering Ph.D. holders in finance as well.

Physics and Engineering require a command of mathmatics that would likely prove very useful it that line of work.

I will tell J to keep that in mind

Yeah, though I believe you're looking at least a Masters and probably a Ph.D. for finance work. But I guess the point is that it's possible to transition to finance with a strong math-based engineering or physics undergrad degree.

Is it possible to transition to finance with a strong history-based undergrad degree?

[Sheilbh]

Is it possible to transition to finance with a strong history-based undergrad degree?

Good friend of mine did. From ancient history to brokering

[Ideologue]

Wild guess: Oxford.

[Sheilbh]

No. Just a solid Russell Group uni

If he'd gone to Oxford chances are he'd be a cabinet minister by now.

[Brazen]

[Savonarola]

I read a pretty good article today by an adjunct professor, but it was on Slate so everyone hates it, and it was about how to make rational changes to required liberal arts classes (do away with essays that no one puts any effort into writing or professionalism into grading), so they hated it even more.

You could have also gone into finance.

You and CdM would still be blaming me for the Global Financial Meltdown if I had become a quant.

   

In truth if I had gotten a physics degree then I probably would have ended up as an engineer.  The physics profs I talked to when I decided on my major had said that without a graduate degree (and often with one) that was the only employment path available.  So I decided just to major in engineering instead.

(That was 25 years ago.  Quantitative analyst is probably a more established career path now than it was then.)

[The Brain]

I got a MSc in Engineering Physics. I'm too lazy to choose.

[Iormlund]

I did not go to University. I should have continued in that path & do an electrical engineer degree.

Electrical Engineering.

I wish I had not gone into Electrical Engineering. Or uni at all. If I had to do it all over again I'd just study for civil service exams (maybe IT tech). I'd be set for life in my late teens. Having a job for life would mean access to cheap credit when home prices and interest rates were at their optimum alignment. Having paid my home by now, I would be worth a lot more than I am today and get home every day at 15:30 from a job with no stress and no responsibility. Not to mention a job where I would actually meet women.

And you'd be bored out of your mind after a few months.

The grass is always greener. 

[The Larch]

I did not go to University. I should have continued in that path & do an electrical engineer degree.

Electrical Engineering.

I wish I had not gone into Electrical Engineering. Or uni at all. If I had to do it all over again I'd just study for civil service exams (maybe IT tech). I'd be set for life in my late teens. Having a job for life would mean access to cheap credit when home prices and interest rates were at their optimum alignment. Having paid my home by now, I would be worth a lot more than I am today and get home every day at 15:30 from a job with no stress and no responsibility. Not to mention a job where I would actually meet women.

And you'd be bored out of your mind after a few months.

The grass is always greener. 

I've been co-workers with people who opted for an easier and less challenging but more stable job (always people with uni degrees doing administrative jobs) and they were all going nuts after a couple of years. A friend of mine did the same even if he despises the job in order to be able to support what he really loved, painting, which would need a steady check at the end of the month to make ends meet and he has a little girl anyway. It's not really a great choice.

[Ideologue]

The poor baby.