What did you study in college?

[Ryujin]

I shuffled around my undergrad majors and minors quite a lot. After getting a double major in English and history, I came back for a teaching certificate. During that time I think I was...2 credits shy of a philosophy minor, two classes shy of a political science major, and two classes shy of a French minor.

I got my MA in English studies pedagogy and PhD in rhetoric and writing studies. I just got promoted to Full this summer. I publish mostly on writing centers, but occasionally I sneak out a pub in comics studies or game studies.

A friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.

 

[Cadence]

An friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.

That does seem lame. My school certainly lets people double major/double degree -- and with all the AP credits some folks have we've been seeing it more and more.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That does seem lame. My school certainly lets people double major/double degree -- and with all the AP credits some folks have we've been seeing it more and more.

Ditto that. I graduated with a double major in 4 years. And I was 9 hours (3 classes) from graduating with a double BA...because I dropped 3 classes.

FWIW, my Mom graduated with a BS in Music in 4 years. The program she was in was a 5 year program. They still talked about her many years after she was gone.

 

[TheSword]

I graduated in Law (UK), and half way through an Open University History degree (work allowing)

Law isn’t something that comes up in specifics very often but it helps in lots of other ways. I don’t regret it, but I do wish I’d done the history degree as an undergrad.

 

[Blue Orange]

An friend, so many years ago, had a trust fund and became a professional student for a decade or so. IIRC he qualified for maybe 5 degrees (paleontology, archiology, some language studies thing, and a couple of other I can't remember), but they told him he had to select one. Seemed like absolute crap to me, because he legitimately earned them all.

My favorite story was Isaac Bonewits, the famous (in older pagan circles) Neo-Druid, who got UC-Berkeley to give him a degree in Magic. (They had an individual-study program, and specifically excluded that afterward due to the bad publicity--this was in 1970.)

 

[Ryujin]

My favorite story was Isaac Bonewits, the famous (in older pagan circles) Neo-Druid, who got UC-Berkeley to give him a degree in Magic. (They had an individual-study program, and specifically excluded that afterward due to the bad publicity--this was in 1970.)

Back when I was in college this particular degree, from Lakehead University, was quite the running joke. (No, I didn't go there.)

Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism

Lakehead University is your place to live and learn. Dynamic, modern, and highly learner-centred, we acknowledge all of our students as valued leaders of tomorrow, whose education and success are most paramount to our institution.

www.lakeheadu.ca

 

[Blue Orange]

Back when I was in college this particular degree, from Lakehead University, was quite the running joke. (No, I didn't go there.)

Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism

Lakehead University is your place to live and learn. Dynamic, modern, and highly learner-centred, we acknowledge all of our students as valued leaders of tomorrow, whose education and success are most paramount to our institution.

www.lakeheadu.ca

Seems like they tried to hype up a major that tells you how to run a park or outdoor recreation facility. Which isn't a totally nutty career path, though I imagine, like fashion and journalism, you probably have a lot more people wanting to do it than there are jobs.

 

[Ryujin]

Seems like they tried to hype up a major that tells you how to run a park or outdoor recreation facility. Which isn't a totally nutty career path, though I imagine, like fashion and journalism, you probably have a lot more people wanting to do it than there are jobs.

Can't say what the course of study is like now, but back then there were classes in hiking, white water rafting, and windsurfing

 

[Thomas Shey]

Ditto that. I graduated with a double major in 4 years. And I was 9 hours (3 classes) from graduating with a double BA...because I dropped 3 classes.

FWIW, my Mom graduated with a BS in Music in 4 years. The program she was in was a 5 year program. They still talked about her many years after she was gone.

You can get some very ironic results out of educational history. As I mentioned, I pretty much tanked my freshman year of college, to the point it took six more years to graduate, and there were a lot of pretty mediocre grades in the time leading up to my transferring back to a four year college to finish up.

Then, in what were effectively a delayed junior and senior years, if you only counted the classes in those, I had a GPA of 3.7 while taking a slightly heavier-than-normal load.

No, I don't understand it either.