Switching majors

[redhandedjilll]

Hello all, new member. Dehlia, 24, current sophomore

Comments

[leaf_kunoichi]

It is normal to switch your major. I finally settled on an English degree. Study what you enjoy.

[jeunelis]

I was an English Education major and changed to straight English, and I ended up adding an extra major in Communication (it was like 3 more classes, and comm theory ended up being my favorite class).

Do it. it's not worth being miserable for the rest of your college career. Do what you love.

[jadedauteur]

I don't know about successful, since I'm now in an English PhD program that will lead to very low job prospects, but being an English major made me enormously happy. Like you, I had planned to major in journalism, but though I loved the writing, I really hated the interviewing. The thing about journalism is that it doesn't lead to particularly stable job prospects right now, especially if you want to do print. So I figured that if I was going to probably end up with few job offers anyway, I might as well do what I loved. And despite the fact that it's not as practical as, say, business or computer science, English can lead to good careers because it teaches you how to write clearly and think critically. Before I went to grad school for English (which, FYI, is really only a smart idea if you can do it without going into debt), I worked in PR, as an editorial grunt at a magazine, and as a construction proposal writer. I would, however, strongly suggest getting work/internship experience, because that, more than your grades or studies,

[redhandedjilll]

It's nice to hear from someone else who came from journalism. And yeah, I told myself "If I'm going to be poor and jobless anyway, I might as well be poor and jobless doing something I love."

And luckily my school tends to be pretty great with offering internships as part of/required of the majors they offer. There's also work study opportunities in the writing center as a tutor I'm interested in. Thanks for the insight :)

[1800savetheday]

I want to second the suggestion to do internships or accrue work experience in the kinds of writing jobs you might be interested in working. I didn't do that and have found it hard to find editorial/copyediting/PR work with my English degree. I tutored in my college's writing center, though, so I have been able to make a living tutoring since graduating.

I'm also pretty sure that job prospects for journalism majors are just as bad as those for English majors right now. No degree is really a guarantee of a job, so you may as well do what you love in school and take it from there!

[redhandedjilll]

It's funny you mention what your prof. said, because every class I've had involving writing the professor has told me that I have skill and promise in writing, but need to work on the other aspects of journalism I've come to despise. I got a C in reporting simply because despite always scoring high in writing and story organization, I was deduced points for things like not having enough sources.

I guess the answer has been pretty clear for awhile now!

[slice254]

There are a lot of writing careers out there that don't require a journalism degree. I'm working as a proposal writer, and most of my coworkers and I have degrees in English. I have a friend working as a technical writer who also has a degree in English, though she did get her M.A. in composition and rhetoric.

Are your career prospects going to be as strong as those of an engineer? No. Are you going to make the kind of salary someone in IT might? Probably not. But an English degree can be incredibly flexible.

I agree with what others have said. Study what you enjoy, and everything else will work out. You'll probably change careers at least two or three times in your life, anyway.