We Need To Talk About College Majors

What is the best college major? In this video I try to answer this question by posing different things I think people should think about. What do you think? Please leave any comments below.

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[highviewbarbell]

Mathematicians getting jacked and lifters learning math is making me real happy. Being a polymath requires physical training and exercise science. It's straight up Socratic and I'm glad I see it being a trend now on both sides of the coin

[meganmaghfada]

My favorite memory of my 80 + y/o retired civil engineer mentor is when he gave me one of his old applied math textbooks and said that the formulas for traveling to space are in the book. Dubious (though I now know better upon further reflection) I asked him if math gives us the power to travel to space. I will never forget the mirthful grin on his face and he said, "well, yes."

He had a lot of pride in his response. Throughout his career he used his knowledge to help address actual real world societal projects. Though I don't wish to follow the same career that he chose, I am happy to share the same love of mathematics as he does.

[stefin]

I clicked because of the change of scenery, but I stayed for the content. I appreciate a different background every now and then, it makes the videos feel more lively for some reason. Great work!

[Directer]

It's hard to make such hard decision at such a young age. It's worth mentioning that even if you make a bad decision early on, you can always change your career. It's not a life-sentence if you won't make it so :)

[JustARegularGymBro]

I also study math and when I tell that to people, the reactions are either neutral or slightly negative.I don't let this bring me down, cause I'm very passionate about math and this is the path that I want to take.Your channel is incredible helpful for me because it's not easy to find a relatable youtuber in this tech dominated world.

[syruvnc]

When a tremendous amount of knowledge, that you have to acquire, doesn't depress you, but inspire you, that is a good indicator, that the choice is right. The more you learn the subject, the bigger inspiration to learn becomes.
This is the rule that I defined for myself to choose a right way.

[nok_f]

You can go undergrad math -> software engineer -> CS graduate degree (top AI school) quite easily (in my last semester). I don't regret doing math in undergrad 'cause it was challenging, rewarding, and it thought me how to think. IMO, CS teaches you a bag of tricks, math teaches you to come at something from all directions. Proofs helped me a lot in how to find solutions to things without having to always look something up.

[TinyMaths]

Gosh I wish my professors gave me this kind of talk when I was in college. Some of your points are practically Zen advice. Today reminds me of a snippet of a talk by Alan Watts here on YouTube, titled, "what would you do if money were no object". He advocated aiming for 'that'. Although it might seem idealistic, finding something you can look forward to in terms of work can really make a difference to your mental wellbeing as you progress in the world of work. Great food for thought.

[aldoumene]

CS major here. The ai fear doesnt really make sense to me. The field is so big, and we’ll likely be the last to be replaced because who’s going to maintain AI databases and code? Who will further develop the AI? Who’ll review the AI’s work? Imagine trusting 100% the AI generated code for an air traffic controller.. The youtubers talking about AI replacing programmers just want views since its a trending topic in reality they’re as clueless as everyone else tho..

[sowmindful]

My family is really small - after my pops, aunt & uncle pass, it’ll just be me and my sister who are sort of estranged. Instead of being too sad about that, I use that to motivate me to keep pursuing a degree in computer science, just to have a decent foundation. The versatility fascinates me.

[freonsp]

Don't get a degree in something you're passionate about, get a degree in something that will pay the bills and just be an enthuasist and make that your craft

When you get paid for doing something you love you loose its intrinsic value and you may slowly start to hate it

[fletch]

53 year old gen Xer here, ran across this video randomly. So I have been a software engineer for going on 31 years now, and it’s been a great job for the most part. My degree was actually NOT computer science though. I was an Applied Math major at a UC school, graduated in 1992. Part of that degree involved takin several computer science classes, since it wasn’t a pure math degree but applied math. Even the math classes I took, many of them required some amount of coding as we translated the math algorithm to solve a certain math problem into either C or C++. Upon graduation, I pretty quickly got a coding job. It wasn’t very mathematically oriented coding, but it was fun. Many of my comp sci and even the math classes absolutely helped me in that initial job. Even just understanding how a relational database worked and writing up semi complex database queries had a very mathematical “feel” to me, e.g. number and set theory, etc…. So I would say most STEM majors, more or less, can very readily translate to a software engineering career.

[deejai]

You were my Calc 2 teacher around 2012. That was a fun class. I ended up in Comp Sci and have an enjoyable career a software developer

[christopherlegarda]

Man, I was one semester away to get my bachelor degree in architecture, but I ended up dropping out back in 2016. A few years ago, I decided to go back to get my bachelor degree in applied math: data science, I can say that I had more opportunities then trying to pursue my architecture degree. And I feel way happier. Being an architecture student sucks.

[sicko_the_ew]

For someone just starting, I'd say if there's something that fascinates you, or otherwise is what you love above all else, that pretty much answers the career choice for you. If you feel you have a calling, follow it. That said, it's probably a good idea to take a critical look at the real life version of this calling, if it's just an idea to you, and not something you already have some experience of. (eg. shadowing/ volunteering). Things don't always turn out the way you imagine they would.

If you don't have that one particular choice that stands out, I think the only cure for this is to live a bit first, and see, later, if it turns up. So in that case, look where the money seems to be in the short term, and aim to make as much money as you can out of what you resign yourself to being not the most satisfying job ever, but choose to make as satisfying as you can by your own choice of attitude.

So if you think you know what you like best, let that make your decision for you, and if you don't, let the money decide. And probably don't completely commit to either of these, even if they coincide. With time things always seem to change.

"He who expects nothing will never be disappointed", is not as bad an attitude as it might seem. Instead of inspiration, cultivate a sense of duty/ responsibility (but don't undermine your own best interests with this).

And then decide that "It's never too late to change". (It can get that way, but it's almost impossible to judge or predict when that situation kicks in. There have even been people who took a big turn in life in their senior years. The 20-something idea that "life is over by 40" is not right, for starters. There are people who start all over again every five years, even.)

It's better to follow interest than money - unless it's money you love above all else - but I don't think everyone has a great unique assigned destiny to discover. It's better to make the most of things as they are right now, set expectations at least to "moderate", but choose to be content, rather than live with the sense that the "mission is not going according to plan". The mission is to breathe and be "normal". That's how most people live. Exist, fit in, be nice to your nearest and don't be needlessly horrible to those beyond the inner circle. If you're doing that, you're managing just fine.

Of course someone following maths videos is following some kind of fascination, so there you go, question answered. Just go where the maths leads.

[BigTone_]

There are 2 pieces of advice that I wish someone had given me years ago:

1. If you're not sure what you want to do or major in (in college or even at a trade school), take as many diverse classes as you can and figure out which ones you like best, and base your college major on those; do you like math and science? or literature and writing? or foreign languages? or math you want to work with plumbing or wiring or welding or whatever; don't limit yourself early on.

2. Once you're well into your college or trade program -- focus on an area that you really enjoy. Let me give you some examples. Let's say you major in computer science. Maybe you development a strong like for web design. Then try to focus on that -- beyond web programming, take some classes in user interface design, and graphics programming to enhance your web development courses. Let's say you like databases and data; take some electives on data analysis, data mining, get a good understanding of set theory, really learn SQL and relation databases and normalization. Do some projects in school (preferably) or on your own to really dive deep into that topic that you really like so that when you graduate, you've develop an expertise in a particular topic, rather than just graduating with a general degree in computer science (for example) where you know how to do a little bit of everything but you don't really know anything very well.

[jimbo]

I’m retired, and am planning to go back to school for a physics degree, so I’m not too concerned about getting a job after😂. I was a mechanical engineering major back in the day.

[willrose]

Very helpful advice. Some school counselors don't provide this advice. People need more exposure before making decisions about majors.

[sheridanrathbun]

I LOVE the analogy of AI being like a textbook full of problems complete with answers. If YOU want to create something, AI will be a powerful tool to teach you and help you become better, but it won't replace you as the intelligent human being that can come up with new ideas that make you relevant to your peers.

[destine]

I discovered my passion for working with students in undergrad, and completed a psychology degree and went straight into a master’s program for higher education. Unfortunately, what I didn’t predict was the ever increasing cost of living. While, my job is generally rewarding the state of the world doesn’t allow me to make the type of money I make. For this reason I am planning to go back to school for business analytics or data science. That being said, it’s important that whichever degree you choose does in fact pay the bills. This needs to be a primary concern as education in the USA isn’t free. Therefore, you don’t want to set yourself up for being financially unstable. There are many ways to expression your passions outside of how you make your living. Volunteering, coaching, donating to a cause you care about . I find the discussions in the USA about careers are so oriented towards passion that a lot of people wind up working in fields they’re passionate about but are not paid well (most helping professions)