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/lit/ - Literature

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5419629 No.5419629 [Reply] [Original]

IS STUDYING ENGLISH AT UNIVERSITY A GOOD IDEA

>> No.5419671

Kind of pointless, I suppose. Given the degrading quality of university education, you could be better off reading and studying the texts of an English major in your own time. Plus, I'd argue that with English more than other disciplines, you can be better off without being "indoctrinated" by a professor's/department's way of thinking.

>> No.5419694

No, go for engineering instead.

>> No.5419727

Depends on a couple things-

-why are you going to university?
if you are mainly going in order to start a career when you graduate I would say no, don't major in English (unless you're seriously dedicated to the field and want to get some kind of job that would really warrant an English degree)

-is the English department at the university any good?
if not, then just forget it, you'd be better off just reading critically acclaimed works and reading published analyses of them

-is going to college going to be putting any financial strain on you or your family?
if so, I would say avoid English, even if you're interested in the field there's no guarantee you'll get a nice job through it. If not, then study whatever you want I guess.

>> No.5420052

>>5419629
As electives or a minor? Sure. As a BA before going on to other stuff? Perhaps. As a grad degree or career plan? Suicidally stupid. I went all the way down that rabbit hole.

>> No.5420056

>>5419694
ignore this faggot
engineering sucks

Study English if that's what you're interested in. You'll find a job if you actually try to.

>> No.5420061

>>5420056
plus you can avoid this anon's fate >>5420052 if you do well and keep the door to law school open if you are worried about your career

>> No.5420072

>>5420061
If hes going to want to go to law school might as well major in philosophy

>> No.5420077

>>5420061
also a BA in English is a good way to get into teaching if you have any interest in that, or journalism. if you're actually interested in studying English odds are you're not the kind of person who would find any enjoyment or fulfillment in engineering (as study or career), and your $300k starting isn't going to do you any good when you kill yourself with a complex and impeccably designed Rube Goldberg machine

>> No.5420081

if you live in a country with free education then yes.

>> No.5420173

>>5419629
Only if you wish to become a professor or apply your degree in some unorthodox way. Also, only go for English if your school has a good english department.

>> No.5420186

>>5419671
completely wrong

>>5420061
what they don't tell you is the labor market's already oversaturated with lawyers, and unless you graduate from a top law school it's seriously not worth it

>> No.5420227

>>5420186
Yep, Lawyers are in trouble. Become a doctor. You will never ever be out of work. If by some freak of nature your area has enough, a quick move takes care of it. My sister-in-law applied to medical school every year for ages, and even got a teaching degree as a backup in the meantime. Then she got in, around when I was accepted to my English PhD program. Now I'm a starving adjunct, desperately trying to apply to the few tenure-track jobs left anywhere in the continent, and she makes 300k a year and doesn't work weekends.

>> No.5420284

>>5420227
Are you an adjunct professor?

>> No.5420290

If you have to ask yourself if studying English is a good idea, you shouldn't be an English major.

Have the guts to follow your own path.

>> No.5420310

>>5419694
If you want to be a writer, don't do this. Engineering takes all of your time during the semester, while your off semesters will be taken up doing internships and coops. You might think it will be better after you graduate but employers will overwork you by paying salaries that sound good until you realize $60,000 a year for working nearly 11 hour days (or you will be coming in on weekends to finish projects, it will happen constantly) isn't much.

>> No.5420364

>>5420227
90% of doctors recommend that you not become a doctor

>> No.5420374
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5420374

>spend five years and thousands of parent's and fafsa dollars at university
>don't take any internships
>don't apply for any scholarships
>maintain 2.0 GPA
>spend all of your time drinking and smoking weed instead of studying a subject that you supposedly love
>barely squeak by with your bachelor's degree
>no one wants to hire you
>whoops guess i must have picked the wrong major

>> No.5420382

>>5420374
I did the opposite of all that, but I spent 6 years total. Fugg...

>> No.5420389

>>5420374
Yeah, only redditors jack off to how amazing and employable STEM majors are.

>> No.5420452

>>5420389
No where in his post did he mention what his major was. A bit eager to prove a point, hmm?

>> No.5420713

>Get English literature degree
>Get a job as a technical editor
>Hate it
>Don't want to edit or write in a boring office job
>TFW going back to school for a degree in nursing