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[labronx]

(The only difference between Civil and Mechanical, really, is that
in Mechanical, things move)

I thought the difference was that Mechanical Engineers build weapons, whilst Civil Engineers build targets. :)

Oh, I like that....
I will remember it.
Thanks!

[scampster]

(The only difference between Civil and Mechanical, really, is that
in Mechanical, things move)

I thought the difference was that Mechanical Engineers build weapons, whilst Civil Engineers build targets. :)

Oh, I like that....
I will remember it.
Thanks!

Haha, I like that too. Although one small quibble with Labronx - water moves just fine :-)

The first two years of engineering are mostly just basics anyway, so he could transfer into engineering after doing physics at the CC, if he decided the mechanical arts sciences more his thing...

[noof_]

Pry, I hope Prylet finds his way by the time he is 30.

My brother was like Prylet. He attended schools in the U.S. and Europe. He never completed a degree. While in the U.K. (when my mother thought he was in school), he discovered his passion. Came back, pursued it, and now makes more money than me and my siblings put together.

He does not hold a degree.

And yes, his profession is legal.

[prytania3]

Thanks all for your different ideas.

Like I said, I could really like this physics business. In fact, now I'm wishing I had taken it up instead of accounting.

That said, it's still a wait-and-see. Prylet is really smart and really lazy. Or shall I say--easily distracted. I have no doubt that he could do it--I just worry he won't have the follow through, or like I said before--that this is some sort of manic phase.

I know some kids young adults have slower starts, and most everyone spends some time screwing up, so maybe he's leaving that chapter behind.

[jonesey]

Wait, he turned down the Marines to go to college and get a Physics degree?  And he wants to go to an Ivy?  This is what you're complaining about?  : )

For most parents, it's the other way around that they worry about (You're leaving Columbia to join the Marines?  What?).

Oh, who am I kidding; no one leaves an Ivy League school to enlist.

Pry, he's doing well, he doesn't live in the same state as you (saving you money and anguish) and he's going to college.  Last year you were worried about him going to jail.  Sounds like things are good. 

[prytania3]

So it turns out Prylet is not as deluded as I was at a young age. He's quickly come to the decision that physics "sounded" like a good idea but that he really doesn't have the requisite love or commitment for it, so he'll major in English.

Well, that he *wants* to go to school is amazing enough. And that he wants a 4-year degree. The desire to transfer to Columbia has only grown stronger, though.

I admit. Except for the cost, I like Columbia. It's obviously got a great reputation, and I'd feel safe with him in that area (since it's a stone's throw from Washington Heights), and he wouldn't have to drive or have a car. Also his Godmother is the chair of a very relevent department.

But what the hell do you do with an English degree?

[notaprof]

But what the hell do you do with an English degree?

I think grads this year will be saying, "What the hell do I do with a college degree?"  Period. The field of a degree will probably matter little.  The Peace Corps is going to become very, very competitive.  Have Prylet study a critical language so the government may at least house and feed him for two years.

By the way, my son who majored in English (& Italian) is eeking out a living as a free lance writer after being laid off from his job as an editor.  He has no insurance which in my book is the sign of being a grown-up.

[mended_drum]

Since you asked, Prytania, here's what some of our recent English grads have done (and I'm excluding law school here, the big draw, as well as teaching and grad school in English):

1. One has been hired as part of the editing department of a science journal
2. One worked for the Obama campaign is now working for a non-profit in D.C.
3. A dozen or so are working for major corporations ranging from computer software companies to landscaping design
4. One works for National Geographic
5. One runs a study-abroad program
6. One is actually supporting herself as a journalist
7. Two work in hospital administration
8. One works in career services
9. Two work for city government (one on sustainability issues)

We're a small school, so our list is pretty brief.  But most of our majors have full-time jobs (outside of waiting tables) within a year or two.  Number three is the big deal, though.  It takes our majors a bit longer to get a job at a corporation, but once they do, the ability to read and write effectively and to work independently means that they tend to be promoted more rapidly than they expect.  The same is true for our history majors.  Double majors in a foreign language do especially well. 

[tolerantly]

But what the hell do you do with an English degree?

I think grads this year will be saying, "What the hell do I do with a college degree?"  Period. The field of a degree will probably matter little.  The Peace Corps is going to become very, very competitive.  Have Prylet study a critical language so the government may at least house and feed him for two years.

By the way, my son who majored in English (& Italian) is eeking out a living as a free lance writer after being laid off from his job as an editor.  He has no insurance which in my book is the sign of being a grown-up.

The Peace Corps is already very competitive and my recollection is that they don't usually take fresh grads; they want people with experience who can actually do something in the place they're sent to.  Young people will also be competing with laid-off and recently retired boomers -- people who have job and travel experience -- for those jobs.

Critical language is a good idea, but have a backup, because the list changes overnight. Not all of those Russian and Soviet-studies people from the late 80s have recovered from the shellshock.

What you do with a college degree is show up polite, well-spoken, and potentially useful in any way the employer might eventually have in mind, not to mention entrepreneurial.  Then you work for minimum or sub-minimum and are grateful to have the job, while running your own projects on the side without expectation of money for them. They pay off three, five, ten years down the line, as does your groundedness after an early start behind the bar, counter, asphalt roller, etc.

[collegekidsmom]

It depends what a person wants to do with their degree(s). All of the recent college grads that I know have really used the combination of the B.A. degree with some kind of paid work or relevant internship experience to get some pretty good jobs. All the kids I know are working, and many are self-supporting after leaving college due to a combination of motivation, the degree, and especially the networking around actual jobs and internships that they have held.  It's really a combination thing, and I think they bring a lot to the table. I would rather see a kid study something of real interest to them-not just the thing that guarantees some sort of career that they may not end up liking. English, physics-wouldn't matter to me. Motivation, interest, having social skills that make one employable, thinking about life going forward and making some exciting plans-I would call that success for someone in their twenties. 

[jackit]

I second the idea of encouraging foreign language expertise.

[prytania3]

But what the hell do you do with an English degree?

I think grads this year will be saying, "What the hell do I do with a college degree?"  Period. The field of a degree will probably matter little.  The Peace Corps is going to become very, very competitive.  Have Prylet study a critical language so the government may at least house and feed him for two years.

By the way, my son who majored in English (& Italian) is eeking out a living as a free lance writer after being laid off from his job as an editor.  He has no insurance which in my book is the sign of being a grown-up.

The Peace Corps is already very competitive and my recollection is that they don't usually take fresh grads; they want people with experience who can actually do something in the place they're sent to.  Young people will also be competing with laid-off and recently retired boomers -- people who have job and travel experience -- for those jobs.

Critical language is a good idea, but have a backup, because the list changes overnight. Not all of those Russian and Soviet-studies people from the late 80s have recovered from the shellshock.

What you do with a college degree is show up polite, well-spoken, and potentially useful in any way the employer might eventually have in mind, not to mention entrepreneurial.  Then you work for minimum or sub-minimum and are grateful to have the job, while running your own projects on the side without expectation of money for them. They pay off three, five, ten years down the line, as does your groundedness after an early start behind the bar, counter, asphalt roller, etc.

Yea? Well, my kid can weld. Not that he's joining the Peace Corps anyway.

[lionelwashington]

OP:  forgive me, but your posts read a bit like "How dare he have ambitions!" 

Try being a little supportive.  Stop selling your son short. 

[prytania3]

OP:  forgive me, but your posts read a bit like "How dare he have ambitions!" 

Try being a little supportive.  Stop selling your son short. 

You are new to the fora, but many people know the history. It's not that I don't want him to have ambition--indeed I do, but he quit school when he was 15 and has been known to scam me, and I hope going back isn't a scam.

I know it sounds cycnical, but there you have it. I am, however, being very supportive.

[jonesey]

OP:  forgive me, but your posts read a bit like "How dare he have ambitions!" 

Try being a little supportive.  Stop selling your son short. 

You are new to the fora, but many people know the history. It's not that I don't want him to have ambition--indeed I do, but he quit school when he was 15 and has been known to scam me, and I hope going back isn't a scam.

I know it sounds cycnical, but there you have it. I am, however, being very supportive.

If you don't pay for anything in his life, you can't get scammed.  He's, what, 20, 21?  He's in another state?  He can live his life and make his decision all on his own without you bankrolling anything.  Wish him luck and send him on his way.