It’s probably common knowledge to most, but for those as clueless as I was: certain majors are respected more than others, and some are hardly valued at all.
People like to believe they’re better than others because of what they’re studying, as if we’re not all here paying thousands of dollars each semester for the same purpose of getting a degree. In some instances, certain programs even put down majors within their own field of study because that’s how pretentious they are. But I wasn’t always privy to this class system of majors; I had to learn the hard way that my major was considered by some to be useless.  Â
As an incoming freshmen at the University of Rhode Island, I knew exactly which courses I wanted to study, what majors I wanted to pursue and even what student organizations I wanted to affiliate myself with. The next four years seemed limitless and I practically radiated optimism.
A six-hour drive from home, I had branched out the furthest of all of my friends and could not wait to engross myself in my studies and the whole college experience. I had elected to choose practicality over passion and began taking classes to pursue degrees in general business administration as well as in writing and rhetoric.
I thought I was being very responsible majoring in the business field, that it’d help me find a career that would provide stability for the future. But as I’ve since been informed, and if you didn’t know this I’m sorry to break the news, but a general business administration degree from the University of Rhode Island is completely useless. That’s right. Total garbage.
As I’m finishing up the fall semester of my sophomore year, I’ve learned throughout the course of my studies here that General Business is essentially the scum of the College of Business Administration (CBA).
I mean, I was a little suspicious of the validity of the major when all of my peers kept asking if I “wanted to be a secretary†and professors kept scoffing whenever a student in the CBA wasn’t majoring in finance, which is for sure the favorite child of the business family.
The uselessness of this major eventually hit me this semester when three alumni told me my major was useless at the CBA Alumni Career Day. Â It was a pretty dramatic realization for me.
Each year the college of business invites back alumni to share their perspectives and experience with the current students in a variety of panels and breakout sessions, which in theory sounds super beneficial, except for the fact that there was nothing of value that pertained general business.
There was a panel entitled “How to Utilize Your General Business Degreeâ€, however, there was not a single person with a General Business Degree on the panel. Instead the guest alumni were all marketing majors that droned on about how marketing has made them rich and successful and that we too can be rich and successful if we switch to marketing.
I then got to hear all about how general business is impractical, pathetic and useless in the business world. That even though I am taking the same courses as my friends in marketing and finance with a broader focus, that the classes I take teach me nothing and I will never be prepared for a real job. I mean I’m so glad the CBA has so much faith in one of the areas of study it offers.
I certainly did not learn anything on how to use my major like the name implied, perhaps next year they can change the panel to “how to go to graduate school after you realized your major is trash, you’ve wasted four years and are tens of thousands of dollars in debt.â€
It’s pretty disheartening to be told by professional and successful alumni that your major is completely impractical. The CBA prides itself on helping its students establish careers in their fields after graduation but in reality believes that those studying general business will be completely unprepared for the future.
How can a university allow students to spend so much money on earning a degree that even the program believes to be worthless? Don’t be blindsided, it could happen to anyone. Ask yourself this exam season, when classes are ending and stress and anxiety levels are at an all-time high, are you too pursuing a useless major? Then proceed to have an existential crisis over the importance of a college degree in comparison to the trivialness of life itself. It’s done wonders for me this semester, 10/10 would recommend.
Thanks, College of Business, for teaching me my major is garbage. Spending all this money on something useless might be the greatest lesson in business of all, you got me.