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What was your major in College?

B.S. In Management and an M.B.A. Now, I am often told I am over qualified and I can't get a decent job offer. So much for go to college, further your education, better yourself, and you will get a better job. Go figure.
 
AAS - Radiography, 2000 (Illinois Central College)
BS - Radiologic Sciences: CT/MRI, 2002 (Southern Illinois University - Carbondale)
M. Ed. - Human Resource Education (Community College Teaching and Learning), 2010 (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
 
Can someone give me a brief overview of the US/British education system after high-school? I only have one subject, and I'll get a master in that (I think the same degree in the US takes 3 years, not 5, which also makes little sense). While in the US you have "minors", "majors", some dish on the side of math, while mainly studying biology with a splash of musical theory or whatever. It makes me confused :(
 
Can someone give me a brief overview of the US/British education system after high-school? I only have one subject, and I'll get a master in that (I think the same degree in the US takes 3 years, not 5, which also makes little sense). While in the US you have "minors", "majors", some dish on the side of math, while mainly studying biology with a splash of musical theory or whatever. It makes me confused :(

US students who pursue education after high school generally follow one of two routes. They can go to a community (or "junior") college or a four year university.

A community college offers the ability to earn an "Associate's Degree" after two years of full time work. Some people may stop there or transfer to a four year university to earn a Bachelor's Degree. The community college is less costly, has lower standards for admission and is generally more flexible which is good for people working full time or raising a family.

It is also provides the ability for people to take classes that appeal to them with no notion of earning a degree. For instance my stepfather recently took a wine appreciation course at the local community college.

Otherwise students may enter a four year school to earn a Bachelor's (4 year) degree. Students choose a "major" which is their area of study and must complete the courses required of that major as well as "breadth" requirements which theoretically provide a more well rounded education. So physics students have to take a literature course and history students must take a life science course etc depending on the actual requirements of the university. You may also choose to "double major" fulfilling the requirements of two degrees simultaneously or "minor" in a subject which is simply a secondary course of study that requires less coursework than the major.

Everyone graduating from a four year university must choose a major. But a minor is not required and simply an option for someone who is interested in two areas of study but doesn't wish to have a double major.

My degrees (from THE University of California in Berkeley ;) ) are in Neurochemistry and Business Administration. I briefly worked towards a minor in music but quickly discovered (1) I was behind the curve with my knowledge of theory and (2) it was more work than I had time for.
 
Can someone give me a brief overview of the US/British education system after high-school? I only have one subject, and I'll get a master in that (I think the same degree in the US takes 3 years, not 5, which also makes little sense). While in the US you have "minors", "majors", some dish on the side of math, while mainly studying biology with a splash of musical theory or whatever. It makes me confused :(

In the UK:


After school you also have two primary choices:

- College [same vein as Community College in the US] (courses which do not end in a bachelor's degree or higher, some of these can be used to gain qualifications to get into University. These provide a number of different levels from qualifications equivalent to what you can get in high school, to fairly advanced vocational qualifications.


- University [Four year university in the US] where you can study your bachelor's degree (or higher).

In England you generally do a bachelor's degree in 3 years. In Scotland you can do them in 3 years or 4 years (if you do the 3 year course, you generally just miss out the first year of the 4 year course).

Undergraduate masters courses seem to be becoming more common, where you do an extra year and graduate with a masters (missing out the bachelor's).

For undergraduate courses, you generally study one field and have optional courses within that (but you typically leave with the same qualification). You don't really have the Major & Minors like the US system uses, for instance, I have a BSc(hons) in Biochemistry but some of the people I studied with will have taken slightly different courses, and still have the same BSc(hons) in Biochemistry.

Our grading system is also different to the US. You graduate with a grade which is calculated over your final, or final two years (the criteria vary between courses and universities).

If you complete your final year and pass everything, the grades are as follows:

1 - (first) 1st class degree, usually roughly equivalent to an A
2:1 - (a two-one), upper second class degree, roughly equivalent to a B
2:2 - (a two-two), lower second class degree, roughly equivalent to a C
3 - (third) 3rd class degree, roughly equivalent to a D

If you fail your final year, you will typically be awarded an "ordinary" degree. So you will get a BSc but you wouldn't have an upper-second BSc(hons) (for instance).



For post-graduate study, a Masters course is generally 1 year full time or 2 years part time. A PhD is generally 3-4 years full time or 5+ years part time.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want any clarification on the UK system :)
 
US students who pursue education after high school generally follow one of two routes. They can go to a community (or "junior") college or a four year university.

A community college offers the ability to earn an "Associate's Degree" after two years of full time work. Some people may stop there or transfer to a four year university to earn a Bachelor's Degree. The community college is less costly, has lower standards for admission and is generally more flexible which is good for people working full time or raising a family.

It is also provides the ability for people to take classes that appeal to them with no notion of earning a degree. For instance my stepfather recently took a wine appreciation course at the local community college.

Otherwise students may enter a four year school to earn a Bachelor's (4 year) degree. Students choose a "major" which is their area of study and must complete the courses required of that major as well as "breadth" requirements which theoretically provide a more well rounded education. So physics students have to take a literature course and history students must take a life science course etc depending on the actual requirements of the university. You may also choose to "double major" fulfilling the requirements of two degrees simultaneously or "minor" in a subject which is simply a secondary course of study that requires less coursework than the major.

Everyone graduating from a four year university must choose a major. But a minor is not required and simply an option for someone who is interested in two areas of study but doesn't wish to have a double major.

My degrees (from THE University of California in Berkeley ;) ) are in Neurochemistry and Business Administration. I briefly worked towards a minor in music but quickly discovered (1) I was behind the curve with my knowledge of theory and (2) it was more work than I had time for.

...and then from earning a Bachelor's degree, people may choose to further their education either by going to a professional school or graduate school. Professional school generally refers to medical, dentistry, or law school. Graduate school generally refers to an institution that confers Master's and/or doctorates. Terminal Master's generally take 1 - 2 years to complete depending on requirements (i.e., many Master's programs have no thesis or comprehensive exam requirement). A doctorate generally takes 4 - 7 years to complete, usually depending on how complicated a candidate's dissertation gets.
 
...and then from earning a Bachelor's degree, people may choose to further their education either by going to a professional school or graduate school. Professional school generally refers to medical, dentistry, or law school. Graduate school generally refers to an institution that confers Master's and/or doctorates. Terminal Master's generally take 1 - 2 years to complete depending on requirements (i.e., many Master's programs have no thesis or comprehensive exam requirement). A doctorate generally takes 4 - 7 years to complete, usually depending on how complicated a candidate's dissertation gets.

In the UK, again, it's a bit different.

We don't tend to have seperate professional and graduate schools.

Most universities offer post-graduate courses of one variety of another.

Professional courses depend on the university itself, but I don't know of any which offer only professional courses, the university where I did my UG also have Medicine and Dentisry courses, for instance.
 
In the UK, again, it's a bit different.

We don't tend to have seperate professional and graduate schools.

Most universities offer post-graduate courses of one variety of another.

Professional courses depend on the university itself, but I don't know of any which offer only professional courses, the university where I did my UG also have Medicine and Dentisry courses, for instance.

The U.S. is by and large the same actually. There are a few schools that offer just post graduate education (U.C. San Francisco here in California is dedicated solely to medical school and post grad work in health fields) but that's not the norm. Every university I can think of offers post graduate degrees and many have law schools and/or medical schools as well.

But I would say that the majority of U.S. students pursuing an advanced degree (doctorate, MD, JD, MBA etc) choose to attend a different university to pursue those degrees than the one they received their four year degree from.
 
The real question is who actually does something related to their major now that they've graduated.

I have a BS in Economics (Micro-Labor) and now I am a Business Process/Systems Analyst and IT/MIS Project Manager. I feel the economics degree, with its emphasis on efficiency and overall utility gives me a set of tools not many analysts have in my line of work. I work with all self taught operations people (ex drivers and dispatchers) and business majors. Right out of school I was a Transportation Manager for a major logistics firm. I kinda felt better prepared for that job as well, when I compared my skill set to my colleagues.