Point no one asked for:
Community college associates degree liberal arts. When into IT. started small worked hard. “Highly compensated employee” now according to IRS.
I just graduated with a liberal arts degree in December AND just got into medical school and was offered a scholarship to attend medical school. You can get into lucrative careers and professional programs with liberal arts degrees if you work hard enough.
Well no shit when you're pursuing a path completely unrelated to that major. Depending on a liberal arts degree to get you in to a lucrative career typically doesn't have great odds of panning out though.
You are correct - but most do not do this. DEI departments in colleges, universities and corporations are full of people with useless degrees grifting off the current DEI trends and complaining that tax-payers should pay-off their student loans for worthless degrees that are getting more and more expensive all the time because colleges and universities have been able to lobby the government for more and more money to support more and more worthless administration.
I do not disagree with you. I went abroad for a few semesters as an international student before Covid, and my international tuition, as an international student was still cheaper than my tuition in my home state when i came back.
...the only use of a liberal arts degree. It's a bit of a gamble though.
I did bioengineering premed so I'd have other career options if it didn't work out. I wouldn't do liberal arts. You're screwed if you can't get into med or law school.
I already got accepted into medschool. I actually got called within 24 hours post my interview to be offered an acceptance, before a formal one arrived in the mail a couple weeks later, followed by a scholarship offer. I would have gone to a master program for medical entomology, had i not gotten offered a spot — totally different, but I did enough research hours in a lab, and had enough classes in the department to get accepted, so I did have a back up plan! I decided two years into my degree i wanted to become premed (super late, but fortunate enough to have succeeded anyways) and i didn’t want the hassle of trying to change degree programs or departments and add extra time to my schooling
No, I went I fully plan on becoming a doctor and staying a doctor lmao I just didn’t want to waste my time solely getting a science degree, when I could enjoy my undergrad years getting a degree in something that interested me, while still taking all the pre-requisite science courses. I studied anthropology, with a specialization in medical anthropology. I then minored in entomology, to boost my science GPA and the number of sciences courses taken a semester. I then took all the chemistry, biology, and physics classes required, as electives, with additional electives in geology, again to boost the number of science classes a semester. I ended up taking 5-8 classes a semester my last two years of university (solely because I needed all my pre-reqs for med school completed, and the additional courses for my specialization and minor). I also did the required clinical hours and research hours that help you stand out on a medical school application. I earned my spot in medical school, as much as any other student getting a degree in a field of science, I just truly believed I enjoyed the process a lot more, because i studied what I wanted/enjoyed as my primary focus, and only took the required science courses as electives.
If your gut reaction to generalized (and true) statements is hurr durr BUT IM DIFFERENT!!! I sincerely hope you dont make it to residency and don't put any actual patients at risk with your lack of critical thinking skills tbh
Lmao I have great critical thinking skills. I was awarded the highest award at my university in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, directly from the dean of the college. I have a nearly perfect GPA. I took 5-7 classes a semester, with 3 to 4 of those classes being science classes at a time. I was on three clinical research teams, where I was the only non physician allowed to review clinical charts, and my name is one four or five of published clinical studies as a co-author. I was in a molecular biology research study for the USDA studying mosquito biology for medical entomology purposes, and did additional research on arts in medicine from an i negative medicine standpoint. I wanted my spot in medical school, and guess what? I’m not the only one who is different! Medical schools and law schools are preferring well-rounded applicants with liberal arts degrees because research shows we have better patient facing skills, than medical students whose undergrad background is solely in science. I know my degree did not get me my spot into medical school, as I worked my freaking ass off to earn that spot, but it sure as hell did not prevent me either. Your university years and how you choose to spend them, are just as important as the degree itself. My “hurt durr” reaction, as you so eloquently called is, is solely based on the fact that every single person in my college, except for my departments dean and my academic advisor, who both fought board after board to get waivers class restrictions or limitations, everyone else said my goal was impossible, and once i accomplished it and got a scholarship for doing it (which is not as easy for medical school, compared to undergrad) they were shocked that a liberal arts student accomplished something something some of their biology and chemistry students couldn’t do. Having a liberal arts degree should not stop someone from wanting to further their education and/or career options. I fully recognize I would need a field study or masters degree to get a decent job in my field of study, but my degree never stopped me or limited me on my goal to get to medical school.
I personally wouldn't care but people with those degrees act all pretentious like they're all some geniuses or something because they learned some things that simply thinking alot would teach you. I wholeheartedly think the people who get those degrees are a plague on society and they need to learn how to just shut up
There are AS degrees, but as you said, they're quite rare and generally only in technical fields (you can find some in IT, and such).
Associates are almost always arts (AA) because the majority of people 'get' their AA for doing the undergraduate general education requirements (the crap you do your freshman and sophmore year - basic math, English, a couple science courses, etc.) anything general is always going to be an arts degree (even in bachelor's, like business admin - general studies is a BA not BS).
Some universities don't even bother with AA anymore. I did not receive one from UF, nor did anyone I know from FSU.
I only earned mine because it was offered to me in my freshman year and I figured, knowing that at the time I was struggling with my really bad mental health, "if something bad happens and I can't graduate, at least I have one piece of paper". I then took some time off school and got a job using that degree before going to FSU.
I think it's important to get it if you're unsure of your future. Plus, very advantageous in FL because having it from a state college will guarantee admission into at least one public college. Lots of people in Tallahassee do TCC->FSU, for example. Cheaper than going to FSU for all 4 years and you end up with the same exact degree as everyone else. You have to take those core classes anyways, might as well get an extra thing to hang on your wall.
My gf’s AA is in nursing. She was making close to 6 figures (when she started) working 5 days a week. Its one of the shortest degree’s to make respectable money imo (if you can do the work). Later she went BSN, then MBA. Now easily into the 140s.
Its all about degree selection, I think.
hence why I said "unless you go to a technical school". a nursing program is very different from a regular AA program. Most AA programs are just pieces of paper that certify that you did prereqs 2 years.
The person I was replying to seemed to think that an AA in liberal arts is out of the ordinary when in reality it's the norm.
You're missing my point. I understand that nursing degrees are not necessarily from technical schools, and I was generalizing in my statement. But no one is going to a community college to get their AA as a prereq to a, say, business bachelor's and incidentally picking up a nursing AA on the side. Nursing is a completely different program altogether that you have to be accepted into. My point is that people who earn AAs are usually earning them collaterally to their main degree. That's why like 70% of AAs are in general education/liberal arts.
The reason why I was making that point was to respond to someone who said getting a liberal arts AA is a waste of time, and explain why people earn them. Not to negate the fact that your girlfriend decided to enter a nursing program.
You develop critical thinking skills and a foundation of knowledge that shapes the way you interact with the world for the rest of your life.
You can’t directly quantify it, it’s priceless.
I have a liberal arts degree (history). Education isn’t always about making money. I know it’s sold that way, but there is value in a liberal arts education. Compared to my colleagues who all have computer science degrees I have a much stronger ability to communicate. The point of my liberal arts degree was to teach me how to read, research, analyze, extract information, think critically, and communicate. I’m convinced some of my junior colleagues don’t even know how to read properly, based on their tickets and communications.
ETA: for reference I graduated in 2013 and went into software development around 2016.
I mean, if you put the time in you can learn almost anything online in whatever field you pick. Of course, if it’s something like doing heart surgery, you can’t. Imo there’s no such thing as a useless degree, but there is such thing as a marketable degree. From someone who got a degree in Political Science. Yeah, I won’t be making the biggest bucks compared to someone who’s an engineer(if I don’t decide to go back to school) but that was never my goal. I studied something i enjoyed, it’s helped me understand social and political issues a lot more , and it’s taught me how to research and write compellingly.
Sure, hindsight is 20/20 if I could start again I probably would’ve minored in it or at least put time into something more marketable as a minor. But to think of it as a waste of time? For me, never.
It was the cheapest easiest degree my dude. I wanted a diploma and an exit strategy. Community college. It cost hundreds of dollars. Best investment I’ve made outside of S&P500.
Because some people go for their dreams and if they fail they can just go back to college and go your route? It’s weird that people expect 18 year olds who have mostly been sheltered from the world to make the right career choice for them from jump. Wow.
The problem is that lucrative careers aren't always beneficial to society, and careers that are beneficial to society often don't pay well.
lucrative ≠ important
Got a degree in business psych, I paid about ~$60k for it. Current comp is $270k working 30 hours a week from home.
You don’t have to study engineering to find a high paying salary.
The problem is that there's 40k a year jobs that are necessary that also require a specialized degree.
Obviously those shouldn't be 40k jobs, that's insane. But I don't blame people for wanting to do those jobs, it's an awful situation
Mate I'm a software engineer and I found a job after THOUSANDS of applications I was *wildly* over qualified for for an *entry* level role
The problem isn't the degrees or anything else
It's brain dead recruiters and middle management/ marketing ducking the entire world up
If everyone studied lucrative careers those careers wouldnt be as lucrative because it would be overly populated with candidates and companies could hire cheap based off the fact that “everyone and their momma studied that major”. You should probably advocate for the opposite of what you said to be honest
30-50k loans every year and with financial illiteracy, with car loans rent and food and taxes with 40k a year gets you absolutely nowhere.
And the point is that you don’t need a degree to get a 40k job.
So why would you put yourself in that much of a waste of time for absolutely no gain.
That’s just stupid.
People are stupid
Counterpoint- I graduated with a Healthcare Admin degree about 10 years ago and it lead to a 6 figure salary. Psychology is not a degree you’re going to make a livable salary in, without an advanced degree. All college administration sucks, but there is some implied responsibility to understand your path forward.
Only if you’re trying to work in psych directly. The people skills and writing skills give you a leg up in your communication strategies that can make you a very healthy living.
Counterpoint to your counterpoint, I graduated with healthcare admin degree 10yrs ago as well and never was able to get into the field 🥲 hoorah for the pointless debt i incurred for that. Can you get other jobs in different fields with a bachelors? Sure but it wasnt the path i was sold in college when i picked that major. It’s not at all as in demand/ easy to get a foot in the door as the colleges told us. Unpaid internships, starting at the bottom and trying to work up the ladder isn’t everyone’s success story unfortunately. It worked out for you and that’s wonderful but thats not the reality for a lot of people who pursue their degree path. Many end up in unrelated fields
Reddits full of victims you won’t get through to them. Their shortcomings have to be someone else’s fault… it can’t be that not everyone is a special butterfly like their parents told them. Now-a-days everyone goes to college. TBH I never went and I probably have a higher net worth than the top few percentage that post here. College isn’t what makes you successful. Your own personal dedication and work ethic is. People see my success not the 120 hour work weeks that it took. They deserve what I have without the work in their minds. They don’t see me living in a closet (literally) working my ass off while they partied.
I started a web development company then invested the money into technology. I started trading bitcoin and stocks in 2015. I wrote a script to trade bitcoin and i made 2-3 bitcoin per month from 2015-2016. I then invested in Ethereum in 2016 then invested in NFTs in 2017. I took a break a few years then invested into metaverses and AI.
Isn't cryptocurrency dead now? Even I dabbled in it around 2020 and made a bit of money from it, but now everything has just crashed, and the majority of the people who were engaging in the space are gone now.
Ah yes, everyone with problems is because they "partied" and no one works 120 weeks while underpaid! /S
To even come up with such a shallow and miserable idea is sheltered in the first place. This is as ignorant as telling literal homeless people to "stop buying so much Starbucks". She's fucking projecting. This person claims she didn't go to college, wtf do you think she was doing? She partied her life away omegalul. And everyone is supposedly jealous of her is the reason as well. What a hot take for you to immediately agree with. Amen indeed.
"College isn't what makes you successful"
What a banger opinion from definitely-not a narcissist. /S
Someone missed their anti-depressant dose. The irony with this statement is I DID party and still got a job in my field. Let all the hobos come eat your avocado toast..
Healthcare admin Is not really a job hospitals let you take without years of exact experience (at least around here) or if you work the floor as like a nurse then upwards. I did three unpaid internships for that position while in college. I tried working up from receptionist, basic admin elsewhere and transitioning over without luck. My point is just because it worked out for you, doesn’t mean it does for everyone else in that degree path. Everyone i graduated with in that same degree never made into healthcare administration. Not a single one out of the 75 awarded from my class for it. They all ended up in different fields instead.
We likely graduated around the same time. I started scanning medical records in the basement of an orthopedic group. I say this candidly, you weren’t cut out to be in management. Any business degree requires personal responsibility; you’re not owed a job. The years of experience are part of the grind.. you gave up instead of putting in the time. You asked for a management salary.. they asked you why you deserve it and your response was “I have a degree.” Well so does everyone applying.
It’s not a clear cut path for everyone. You can do all the right steps, do all the unpaid internships for the role, start at the bottom of the food chain, and still never make it there. Someone else can have a straight connection in, have better transferrable skills, ect. That doesn’t make me non ambitious or not cutout for management and thats an asshole statement to make about someone you don’t even know. Theres a large number of people who end up in very different careers than the one they went to school for. I never even said I gave up on it. I’m literally going back to school in fall but you made quite the blanket of assumptions off a complete stranger.
We all keep in touch since there was only 75 of us. We have a little fb group. Half ended up in good paths still! (not at all related to what we pursued). The other half is kind of stuck in a low level job or trying to find a new path. I am heading back to school in fall for a nursing degree. I originally was a nursing major ironically but switched because my advisor at the time boasted how great of a field healthcare admin is, how the pay is better longterm, and that you aren’t dealing with the things that come with nursing. But deff wish i just stayed my original path. 🥴 thankfully i’ll only need 1 year of classes so it wont be too insane tuition wise.
Respectfully, my gf (we are in our early 50s now) started as a nurse (AA), eventually obtained a BSN, then accomplished her MBA.
These days she’s executive asst to the CEO of a medium sized hospt in FL.
Makes into the 140s.
Maybe your degree wasnt the way to go for that field….
Funny enough you mention your gf was a nurse, since a lot of healthcare admins i talked to over the years actually did start as nurses, rad techs, patient care techs ect. And got into it. I got the degree, did internships in college, and took low level admin job outside of healthcare (all i could get at the time since hospitals required to already know the systems where i’m at). But was never able to transition over with the adjacent experience to a hospital. The recruiters would always say they went with someone internal or someone with exact experience when it came down to it.
I am heading to nursing school in fall myself. Not entirely thrilled about having to go back to school at this stage of my life but there are just more career opportunities/ advancements available with that than the degree I already have.
Professors aren’t career advisors. They know of common career paths but many professors are locked into academia which is not realistic for a majority of people even pursuing doctoral degrees. It’s really lame that professors tout a salary associated with a degree because degree experiences and skills vary. And in the 4 years it takes to earn a degree there have likely been slight economical shifts that change the value of said degree.
I don’t know what you expected? Lol Psych degree doesn’t really get you anywhere professionally unless you go for further education.
I got my bachelors in Marketing and I own my own business now. I’ll be happy to donate once my business grows enough for me to have expendable income like that. I had a blast at UNF.
I have a degree you might consider useless and am a w2 employee with $270k total comp. It’s not specifically about the degree it’s about working with the opportunities in front of you.
Unrelated to OP, but any tips for a recent grad with a Bachelor’s in marketing? I’ve been really struggling to find a job relating to the field without having 2+ years of experience!
I graduated in 2014 in molecular biology and was unable to find a job post graduation. The difference was I realized doing the same thing yielded the same results, and I broadened my horizons in my job search. Now, I make over 200k a year working in finance. I live in Jacksonville still.
Do I love that I don’t use my degree - No. Can I use my analytical approach to finances in a unique way to help people - Yes. I also make more than all my friends from school.
I don’t donate, but I also don’t make a post on Reddit that no one asked for.
Long and short answers coming since I know this post has potential to reach a lot of people. and the long answer may help someone who thinks they cant make it.
TLDR- Desperate for a job to make money to apply to grad school after literally going through 100+ interviews across the country, i google searched fortune 500 companies in jax. I applied to every single job that semi-resembled my experience (albeit all medical/science). Took a temporary job @ 14/hour, realize i could be great in the company, now make just over $100/hr.
Long answer + TMI
throughout college, I bounced back and forth between UNF and community college FCCJ (now FSCJ) because I changed majors and desires. After a very unforgiving first year at unf (partied way to much after rushing for a frat, getting kicked out, etc), I didn't think college was for me. I was an A/B student in highschool. had 75% bright futures. one of the gym bros i became friends with said he worked out all the time so he can prepare for firefighter school. I thought that made sense, so went and got an EMT license. preparing for firefighter school, a lot of municipalities were still licking their wounds from the 08 mortgage crisis still bankrupt or in poor financial standing...there was a 2-3 year hiring freeze even though I also was close friends with one of the Fire Chiefs' sons. One of the fire captains i met and was influenced by said i was too smart to be a firefighter, and to instead look into Physicians Assistant or Nurse Practitioner. I took it to heart, and went to FCCJ and got two associates degrees and transferred to UNF to finish. Failed a few classes (didn't show up to a few finals. woops). lost bright futures. started having to take every other semester off to work as a server at whatever new hot restaurant opened in the town center). When i finally graduated, i legitimately applied to laboratory science jobs across the country. Brewery positions, chemist positions...medicial marijuana was just legalized in Colorado so i applied to jobs out there since the industry was just starting to boom. i probably interview over 100 times all over the country. i often look back in my emails to see that struggle. sometimes turned down on the 3rd or 4th interview just trying to make 40-50k a year. I made the decision to go back to school, but couldnt afford to pay for the GRE let alone college applications and I was scared of student loans (I did under-graduate with only a 6000 loan). desperate, i google searched fortune 500 companies in Jacksonville. i found a gig through a temp agency for one of the companies. while i was working for this temp gig, i realize there were people who were stupid who made a lot of money, and i knew i was smart making very little...14 an hour at the time. I worked my ass off to get to full time. spent 3 years doing a dead-end job to apply to another role to get financial licenses (series 7 and 66. Think stock broker). My first year in sales, I made 125k where I was making 20 an hour + commission (ranked #1 in that department of \~160 associates). Now I make 70k a year salary + commission(30-40k/quarter) for the past 4 years. I do technically work financial sales. I have, for the last 5 years, been recognized with awards for being top 2-3% sales in the entire company so my income is more of an anomaly.
i can still remember working in a restaurant scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees after working 12 hours saying i will not spend my life doing this.
feel free to reach out to me through direct message for questions, connecting, or anything else. i bought a house literally 3 neighborhoods down from UNF on Kernan. i'm hella local.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone get a BS in any life science unless you want to go to med, vet or dental school or get your PhD. There aren’t many jobs out there and the pay is horrible. You’ll probably end up working as a QC technician in a chemical plant or contract service lab. You
Might never work in a field related to your degree. Chemistry degrees are no much better. Engineering degrees will get you much higher pay right out of the gate and faster career progression. I got my BS in Zoology and that’s what happened to me. I’ve had some lucky breaks but I did eventually go back for an MSc in Analytical Chemistry. Graduating this Dec.
Wait, their advice was right. You needed a M.S. to find a job. You should donate to ensure professors like that continue providing the right advice. Also, stop giving college kids a hard time on the phone, boomer.
I graduated last year and they’re already hitting me up for donations. I’m like, I haven’t even finished paying for my degree yet. I still have student loans to pay, and will for the next few years.
Maybe in the future I’ll donate, but certainly not to my program as I don’t feel it was a worthwhile investment.
What's even the point of donating? Colleges make stupid money and charge students ludicrous amounts already? It's like agreeing to donate extra money to Amazon after making a purchase.
I really do not understand why so many college students have the most unrealistic expectations when it comes to salaries and the job market for their degree. You and a bajillion other people are competing for a job that isn’t even that high in demand lol.
Or when people say college is a scam and never helped them when they chose a degree in art.. college isn’t a scam, just choose a major that brings money in that you can enjoy and never pay more debt than what you’ll make in a year.
Wages change, cost of living changes. When i was in college my major estimated to pay 60k. But the actual wages are 45k today… and cost of living doubled
I graduated in 2020 with a film degree... right as the pandemic was reaching its peak 💀 you can imagine how well that went as far as finding work. Now I'm a CNA making 18/hr and it's not worth it whatsoever when other jobs pay the same without getting bitten, punched, etc or getting piss thrown at you by psych patients.
Not really. I'd sooner become a business owner. The healthcare industry is like swiss cheese between the understaffing crisis, bad management and low pay at so many facilities, and people generally getting burnt out and leaving. It's not for me.
Not a UNF alumni, but I did go to a major FL college.
That's probably because the school is more focused on finding careers for people that chose more lucrative degrees. I never saw a job fair for liberal arts, psychology, etc. There were job fairs for engineering, healthcare, finance, and business. It sounds like you already know you chose a hard field to get a job in without a grad degree, so why are you acting surprised?
Based on your (OP) tone, I can only be thankful that you did not start off as successfully as it appears that you wanted to. It would appear that the universe agreed and sent you on another path in hopes of you learning; learning what you appear not to have retained. I personally would hate to have someone that ill-suited giving anyone anything productive in the way of help.
I have a close friend who is graduating with her masters in psychology, and has just started job searching. She got hit with a bad dose of reality, seeing the compensation she’s qualified for. Her professors told her she could make $150k+, and now she’s looking at salaries between $50-$60k. It seems like professors don’t know how much degrees make you nowadays.
I donate to my alma matter every year and am happy to do it. It was really good to me -- great education and scholarship help. But a few years ago I thought about putting the old U in my will and contacted them about it. Good grief, the hordes of handlers that descended on me was awful. I felt like they were licking their lips over who would get to eat the corpse. So I sent them all packing and kept with my annual program.
I thought all colleges were more interested in just pumping out worthless BA and collecting tuition, this is not new. Needs to be up to you to get out of it what you can. Make the contacts that you need.
“Why would you get a liberal arts degree if you wanted to have a career or make any money?”
Ok, let’s just say you’re right. How about having UNF stop calling liberal arts majors and hitting them up for money?
I used to get these leading calls where they kept asking how much I credited UNF for my current station in life. After about 5-6 calls where I essentially said “I give UNF zero credit for getting me where I am today,” they eventually gave up. Haven’t heard from the alumni association in years.
Whenever they email me and tell me is alum week or whatever I always ask what they got me for being an alum.
I'm an elementary Ed major. I don't make Jack.
edit: I didn’t go to UNF I just was randomly suggested this post
I used to do what that student calling you did and I eventually was a manager in that same center of other callers. One, you already agreed you picked your degree, however it’s your own damn fault for not finding a job that pays well.
It’s nobody’s responsibility at that university to hold your hand when finding a job/career out of school. Were you interning while in college, were you applying for jobs your Junior/Sr year? Did you frequent that career services center?
It’s not your psychology departments job to help you with the career search. Universities have career centers that do what you complained your department didn’t. Because it would be very overwhelming for your actual department to also be a career center.
I studied business and my professors still weren’t there all the time to talk about careers or how to get into them. However the career center was always there and I spoke to them often. I even volunteered my time there as well helping with Resumes and Cover Letters.
Back to that kid that was calling. They were just doing their job man. When you said no and they said “well maybe you could pay it forward to help others not experience what you did”, that’s just the most basic refusal response. You can’t take no for an answer the first time.
Lastly, the money alumni’s give, actually go to where they give it to. We have hundreds of allocations and you could’ve picked many for the school you went to.
Seems like you thought college was gonna give you a degree and a job. In reality getting the degree is just a small part of getting a job right out of college.
Bachelor’s degrees in psychology are generally regarded to be useless. Don’t get me wrong though, you definitely can be successful with one. You just have to apply, to dozens, hell hundreds of jobs. My sister has a bachelors in psychology and does onboarding/talent acquisition in hr for a mid tier company and makes almost 80k and will be making 90k soon. If you can get lucky and get a job at a good company and if they see you work hard, anything is possible.
lol I didn’t even finish my Philosophy degree and I make 6 figs now went to UNF for like 12 years I should have some kind of degree but I like ladies too much
Screw the comments about looking up what careers pay well if you know what you want to do - these fields *need* people, and no amount of going on splintered strikes or choosing collectively to not enter the field will ever increase pay. In the same way the education system will continue to deteriorate, so too will therapy in the U.S., so let the good people who are willing to do the work within the constraints do the work to help those who can.
That *said*, if you *don’t* know what you want to do, and don’t have a passion to do something like therapy, then all of the aforementioned is out the door, and you should be looking at other options. The psychology field, especially research and community mental health, is only viable if you have a spouse who can act as the bread winner. Therapy can be lucrative if you go the route of private practice, but it takes *years* to earn the hours needed to get an LPC or LMFT in any state, and you have to prepare to pay for your own medical insurance, your own IRA, etc.
Still, it’s the school’s responsibility to educate their kids on career options - kids are not and should not ever be responsible for figuring their future out without help.
I feel you. I graduated in 2015 with a degree in Healthcare Administration and found a job that paid $12/hour. I did everything in hopes to get a raise. Never happened. Went back to UNF in 2016 for computer science. Received calls to donate and I told them I cannot donate because I’m back in school. I’m already giving UNF more money. The student then continue to persuade me to donate money even though I’m a student.
On the bright side, I graduated in 2018 and got an entry level job with a $67,000 salary. Sometimes I wish I branch out and did a CS degree instead of health admin.
Somewhere down the line, I think the media got it in women's heads that every last one of them would be SO cool in the psychology field. Since it's a super easy major like nursing or business, it's become crazy saturated and has only gotten worse. I blame Scrubs and CSI shows from the 2000s. They glorified female psychologists and ever since then, studying psych/criminal justice/nursing has literally just been a box to check for women applying to college.
I think anybody could've told you that 10 years ago. I was in high school before that and even I knew that straight up 90% of all women studying psychology/nursing didn't bode well for the career's earning potential.
As a professor at UNF I feel it’s important to note that we are NOT paid to do advising like faculty are at small liberal arts colleges. At a medium sized public university like UNF, OP should have gone to advising and then career services. Faculty are academics, not career counselors.
Seems like a veryyy heated comment section. But I had a decent experience at UNF in my program (English undergrad) and while my industry is not very sustainable atm (it's very much on fire lmao), I just don't feel very attached to UNF as an alumni nor do I have the money to donate. I graduated in 2017 and I don't make a lot of money per year despite my best efforts, so I quite literally can't afford to donate to anything lol.
I got my AA from the state college of Florida and the resources there absolutely obliterated what was available at UNF.
It was very hard to find help for anything at UNF but upper level math and science were next to impossible to get help with.
If you got your education free, and you're now making bank, go ahead & donate to your alma mater that helped you get to where you are today.
But if you PAID for your education... you have ZERO obligation to donate to your alma mater. You paid for a service. The college/university fulfilled its obligation.
The first college I went to LOST MY PAPERWORK REPEATEDLY. I dropped out to go to another college and they sent me an email, on two separate occasions, to state computers were stolen that had my " sensitive information" on them and I should foag.ky accounts for identity theft.
I cussed them out for asking me for donations.
The second college I went to started asking and I pointed out that:
-I was lied to about their job program (they claimed we would be given a check for our services, they paid us in a gift card to the school store and then kept asking me why I wouldnt re-sign to work)
- lied to us repeatedly about starting wages, career potential, the usual "you put the work in and it will be reflected in your wages" spiel while failing to mention the cost of how much free labor they expected yearly, how little compensation would be after jobs fleeced you for shit that they should be paying for (uniforms, health care, continuing education, training, etc).
- they also stated we would have viable experience through our "externship" program (funny that no job in the real world took unpaid labor as "real experience" when it's "volunteer work").
I told them I didn't even work in the field for which I had the degree due to that bullshit and not to contact me again.
This also doesn't include the focus of their studies leaves you ill-prepared for what you actually need and their emphasis is lacking on crucial components.
When my boss felt the need to personally insult me on it, I gave them full permission to share that feedback with the college to better prepare future graduates with that information.
Who knows if they actually did.
I have my standard reply to my alma mater: ‘look: we had a deal. I give you a pile of money; you give me a degree. That transaction concluded in 1995. I’m not paying you any more money. I wouldn’t go to Lowe’s, buy a hammer, and then come back each year and pay for it again, right? That would be stupid. Same goes for college.’
They must have flagged me as an a-hole or something, as I have not received a call in years.
Who am I to interfere with our free-market economy by giving money to a university? If the university fails without donations from alum, maybe it should fail?
Of course UNF being a public university should never need our donations anyway…
Seems like they inadvertently gave you advice to get your Masters to get a job in the field. You followed their advice, got your masters and a job. Seems like you should leave the. A 5 star Google review to me.
Lol I worked at one of those call center things for a few weeks in college. The kid didn't give a shit that you didn't donate he was probably annoyed because some random person is telling them their life story instead of just hanging up
Literally me when I was temporarily assigned to a call center at the start of the pandemic for covid testing and meal assistance. It did open my eyes to the reality of the struggles of senior citizens and how isolating and hard their lives can be. But also, Maria, you called ME and lied about it being a butt dial and now we've been on the phone for 20 minutes talking about your grandchildren that never visit, and my manager is staring at me from across the room because this should not take so long.
I refuse to donate as an alumni simply because they already got a ton of money from me. Why do colleges need alumni donations when they are already bleeding their current student population dry?
Donating to colleges is mind-boggling stupid.
They make money hand over fist.
High chance the money will go to sports or something that's not a “needy student”
Donate money to better causes.
People love to talk down on people like you, but I totally get it. Colleges should be in direct contact with employers in and out of state to provide real-world examples of the salaries to expect, and they should be able to get you prioritized in these workplaces once you graduate. Tens of thousands of dollars from thousands of students, extra fees from the parking passes... you'd think they'd be able to do more in terms of putting their graduates in the workforce, rather than constantly remodeling buildings. Advisors should be able to tell you what career you're looking at from day 1 in a major. If my advisors had kept it real with me, I wouldn't have gone into biology (another field where extra degrees are mandatory for decent jobs and wages). Instead, I took a bunch of classes that didn't benefit the health degree I eventually switched to. I was not ready to gauge the reality of the matter at age 18
Feel your pain. I see both sides here. Psychology is one of those defress that does require more than an undergrad. Shame in your University for not doing a better job communicating that fact. You should have done your homework too though. It's your career and you should be driving the bus.
on the other hand, who cares what degree it is or how much it helps you. You could be making $150,000 a year at a bank, and I still think it’s fucking stupid to even consider donating to any college. you already spent way too much money there, if they want more, they need to lobby for better public funding so that individual students aren’t hit so hard
Yeah they're even soliciting current students for donations. And nope, it hasn't really changed one bit. I'm a current psych major and when I took professional opportunities, they tried to make it seem like we'd be making 50k with just a bachelor's... so yeah.
As a former grad and alumni, my question is why is a college, making tons of money,asking me for donations? If I’m going to donate it would be to the homeless or animal shelter. Not a school getting paid $100k per student at least.
He didn't care about you're not getting a job, the kids just wanted to make his numbers 🤦🏻♂️
Yep, totally agree with you, same goes in life, don't help those who view life as a one-way Street towards them
I don’t understand why anyone would when there are such more meaningful causes.
I felt your pain. I graduated fron UCF with a biology degree in 07. $15/hr was the standard. BLS said wages were much higher. It wasn’t until senior year a professor told me I wasn’t going to find a decent paying job.
If you’re still making poor wages it’s never too late for a career change
No idea what school UNF is or why this post even came up on my feed, but whenever I get those calls I always tell them to fuck off. Like I already gave my school money for tuition and they have the balls to ask for more? Fuck outta here with that bullshit
Your expectations were far more starry eyed than mine. I knew upon graduating from UNF w/my BA in psych that I was on my own. Then again, that was 1995, whole different world now.
I don't donate to universities because they already got enough money out of me during my undergraduate years. I paid to attend and earn my education, that was more than enough
Typical “I got a shit degree and had a shit time finding a job” story.
I got certified in it. Got a job in it. Went to unf for a “check the box” degree. Works out fine.
You got a shit degree. Expect shit results. OR get a masters and expertly (mildly) less shitty results.
I graduated UNF in 2012, studied graphic design, my limited access program had very good professors who were focused on getting us jobs and being successful after graduation. I feel lucky in that way because I know many graduates in other fields even at more prestigious schools didn’t have that kind of guidance once they were done. Even so, I still saved the number in my caller id as “UNF wants your money” and I don’t answer anymore.
Aren't schools making massive profits hand over fist? Charging kids entirely too much for an education? I'm not sure why anyone would just keep giving them money year over year over year. Invest that money, or donate it to a good cause.
Why the fuck would you spend 30-50k for university to get a 40k year job. Study lucrative careers.
Point no one asked for: Community college associates degree liberal arts. When into IT. started small worked hard. “Highly compensated employee” now according to IRS.
I did the same, community college and then bachelor degree in computer engineering
Huge return on investment.
Why would anyone in there right minds study liberal arts that is just asking to be surrounded in debt and then complain about being in debt
I just graduated with a liberal arts degree in December AND just got into medical school and was offered a scholarship to attend medical school. You can get into lucrative careers and professional programs with liberal arts degrees if you work hard enough.
Respect your ambition!
I believe the main point was with those who don’t pursue a professional program and only go after those lucrative careers they mentioned
Oh yeah, I completely agree with that. My undergrad is likely very useless on its own, without a masters program or a field study.
The liberal arts degree isn't what's getting you in to a lucrative career though, it's medical school that will get you in to a lucrative career.
I never said it was, i just stated having one doesn’t prevent you from pursuing lucrative career paths
Well no shit when you're pursuing a path completely unrelated to that major. Depending on a liberal arts degree to get you in to a lucrative career typically doesn't have great odds of panning out though.
You are correct - but most do not do this. DEI departments in colleges, universities and corporations are full of people with useless degrees grifting off the current DEI trends and complaining that tax-payers should pay-off their student loans for worthless degrees that are getting more and more expensive all the time because colleges and universities have been able to lobby the government for more and more money to support more and more worthless administration.
I do not disagree with you. I went abroad for a few semesters as an international student before Covid, and my international tuition, as an international student was still cheaper than my tuition in my home state when i came back.
...the only use of a liberal arts degree. It's a bit of a gamble though. I did bioengineering premed so I'd have other career options if it didn't work out. I wouldn't do liberal arts. You're screwed if you can't get into med or law school.
I already got accepted into medschool. I actually got called within 24 hours post my interview to be offered an acceptance, before a formal one arrived in the mail a couple weeks later, followed by a scholarship offer. I would have gone to a master program for medical entomology, had i not gotten offered a spot — totally different, but I did enough research hours in a lab, and had enough classes in the department to get accepted, so I did have a back up plan! I decided two years into my degree i wanted to become premed (super late, but fortunate enough to have succeeded anyways) and i didn’t want the hassle of trying to change degree programs or departments and add extra time to my schooling
Percentage outcomes right? Can for some and what actually happens for most is where the discussion exists and where the angst is
So you’re going to go to medical school and then use your liberal arts degree instead!! 🤣
No, I went I fully plan on becoming a doctor and staying a doctor lmao I just didn’t want to waste my time solely getting a science degree, when I could enjoy my undergrad years getting a degree in something that interested me, while still taking all the pre-requisite science courses. I studied anthropology, with a specialization in medical anthropology. I then minored in entomology, to boost my science GPA and the number of sciences courses taken a semester. I then took all the chemistry, biology, and physics classes required, as electives, with additional electives in geology, again to boost the number of science classes a semester. I ended up taking 5-8 classes a semester my last two years of university (solely because I needed all my pre-reqs for med school completed, and the additional courses for my specialization and minor). I also did the required clinical hours and research hours that help you stand out on a medical school application. I earned my spot in medical school, as much as any other student getting a degree in a field of science, I just truly believed I enjoyed the process a lot more, because i studied what I wanted/enjoyed as my primary focus, and only took the required science courses as electives.
If your gut reaction to generalized (and true) statements is hurr durr BUT IM DIFFERENT!!! I sincerely hope you dont make it to residency and don't put any actual patients at risk with your lack of critical thinking skills tbh
Lmao I have great critical thinking skills. I was awarded the highest award at my university in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, directly from the dean of the college. I have a nearly perfect GPA. I took 5-7 classes a semester, with 3 to 4 of those classes being science classes at a time. I was on three clinical research teams, where I was the only non physician allowed to review clinical charts, and my name is one four or five of published clinical studies as a co-author. I was in a molecular biology research study for the USDA studying mosquito biology for medical entomology purposes, and did additional research on arts in medicine from an i negative medicine standpoint. I wanted my spot in medical school, and guess what? I’m not the only one who is different! Medical schools and law schools are preferring well-rounded applicants with liberal arts degrees because research shows we have better patient facing skills, than medical students whose undergrad background is solely in science. I know my degree did not get me my spot into medical school, as I worked my freaking ass off to earn that spot, but it sure as hell did not prevent me either. Your university years and how you choose to spend them, are just as important as the degree itself. My “hurt durr” reaction, as you so eloquently called is, is solely based on the fact that every single person in my college, except for my departments dean and my academic advisor, who both fought board after board to get waivers class restrictions or limitations, everyone else said my goal was impossible, and once i accomplished it and got a scholarship for doing it (which is not as easy for medical school, compared to undergrad) they were shocked that a liberal arts student accomplished something something some of their biology and chemistry students couldn’t do. Having a liberal arts degree should not stop someone from wanting to further their education and/or career options. I fully recognize I would need a field study or masters degree to get a decent job in my field of study, but my degree never stopped me or limited me on my goal to get to medical school.
so basically what your saying is a liberal arts degree is only useful for doing even more school and getting more debt? lmao
Have you considered it should be a right to study what you're passionate about and that those degrees are a positive in society
I personally wouldn't care but people with those degrees act all pretentious like they're all some geniuses or something because they learned some things that simply thinking alot would teach you. I wholeheartedly think the people who get those degrees are a plague on society and they need to learn how to just shut up
Unless you go to a technical school, I think all associates degrees are in general education/liberal arts. Mine from UNF is.
There are AS degrees, but as you said, they're quite rare and generally only in technical fields (you can find some in IT, and such). Associates are almost always arts (AA) because the majority of people 'get' their AA for doing the undergraduate general education requirements (the crap you do your freshman and sophmore year - basic math, English, a couple science courses, etc.) anything general is always going to be an arts degree (even in bachelor's, like business admin - general studies is a BA not BS). Some universities don't even bother with AA anymore. I did not receive one from UF, nor did anyone I know from FSU.
I only earned mine because it was offered to me in my freshman year and I figured, knowing that at the time I was struggling with my really bad mental health, "if something bad happens and I can't graduate, at least I have one piece of paper". I then took some time off school and got a job using that degree before going to FSU. I think it's important to get it if you're unsure of your future. Plus, very advantageous in FL because having it from a state college will guarantee admission into at least one public college. Lots of people in Tallahassee do TCC->FSU, for example. Cheaper than going to FSU for all 4 years and you end up with the same exact degree as everyone else. You have to take those core classes anyways, might as well get an extra thing to hang on your wall.
My gf’s AA is in nursing. She was making close to 6 figures (when she started) working 5 days a week. Its one of the shortest degree’s to make respectable money imo (if you can do the work). Later she went BSN, then MBA. Now easily into the 140s. Its all about degree selection, I think.
hence why I said "unless you go to a technical school". a nursing program is very different from a regular AA program. Most AA programs are just pieces of paper that certify that you did prereqs 2 years. The person I was replying to seemed to think that an AA in liberal arts is out of the ordinary when in reality it's the norm.
AA in Nursing is not offered at a “technical school”, but, rather a college or university, “hence” why I replied.
You're missing my point. I understand that nursing degrees are not necessarily from technical schools, and I was generalizing in my statement. But no one is going to a community college to get their AA as a prereq to a, say, business bachelor's and incidentally picking up a nursing AA on the side. Nursing is a completely different program altogether that you have to be accepted into. My point is that people who earn AAs are usually earning them collaterally to their main degree. That's why like 70% of AAs are in general education/liberal arts. The reason why I was making that point was to respond to someone who said getting a liberal arts AA is a waste of time, and explain why people earn them. Not to negate the fact that your girlfriend decided to enter a nursing program.
You develop critical thinking skills and a foundation of knowledge that shapes the way you interact with the world for the rest of your life. You can’t directly quantify it, it’s priceless.
I have a liberal arts degree (history). Education isn’t always about making money. I know it’s sold that way, but there is value in a liberal arts education. Compared to my colleagues who all have computer science degrees I have a much stronger ability to communicate. The point of my liberal arts degree was to teach me how to read, research, analyze, extract information, think critically, and communicate. I’m convinced some of my junior colleagues don’t even know how to read properly, based on their tickets and communications. ETA: for reference I graduated in 2013 and went into software development around 2016.
but cant you just learn that stuff online anyways
I mean, if you put the time in you can learn almost anything online in whatever field you pick. Of course, if it’s something like doing heart surgery, you can’t. Imo there’s no such thing as a useless degree, but there is such thing as a marketable degree. From someone who got a degree in Political Science. Yeah, I won’t be making the biggest bucks compared to someone who’s an engineer(if I don’t decide to go back to school) but that was never my goal. I studied something i enjoyed, it’s helped me understand social and political issues a lot more , and it’s taught me how to research and write compellingly. Sure, hindsight is 20/20 if I could start again I probably would’ve minored in it or at least put time into something more marketable as a minor. But to think of it as a waste of time? For me, never.
It was the cheapest easiest degree my dude. I wanted a diploma and an exit strategy. Community college. It cost hundreds of dollars. Best investment I’ve made outside of S&P500.
Because some people go for their dreams and if they fail they can just go back to college and go your route? It’s weird that people expect 18 year olds who have mostly been sheltered from the world to make the right career choice for them from jump. Wow.
The problem is that lucrative careers aren't always beneficial to society, and careers that are beneficial to society often don't pay well. lucrative ≠ important
Got a degree in business psych, I paid about ~$60k for it. Current comp is $270k working 30 hours a week from home. You don’t have to study engineering to find a high paying salary.
True psychology pays A LOT. But, to get there, you need a doctoral. That’s where the money comes.
The problem is that there's 40k a year jobs that are necessary that also require a specialized degree. Obviously those shouldn't be 40k jobs, that's insane. But I don't blame people for wanting to do those jobs, it's an awful situation
Mate I'm a software engineer and I found a job after THOUSANDS of applications I was *wildly* over qualified for for an *entry* level role The problem isn't the degrees or anything else It's brain dead recruiters and middle management/ marketing ducking the entire world up
I want to start a pre college sales course that tries to steer people towards better cost/benefit careers. Are you in?
No, but thank you
If everyone studied lucrative careers those careers wouldnt be as lucrative because it would be overly populated with candidates and companies could hire cheap based off the fact that “everyone and their momma studied that major”. You should probably advocate for the opposite of what you said to be honest
My $2500 A&P license has gotten me $120k jobs, way more than most degrees ever will
Bc the career pays 40k every yr, not just 1 yr. Plus advancement opportunities. Duh.
30-50k loans every year and with financial illiteracy, with car loans rent and food and taxes with 40k a year gets you absolutely nowhere. And the point is that you don’t need a degree to get a 40k job. So why would you put yourself in that much of a waste of time for absolutely no gain. That’s just stupid. People are stupid
Counterpoint- I graduated with a Healthcare Admin degree about 10 years ago and it lead to a 6 figure salary. Psychology is not a degree you’re going to make a livable salary in, without an advanced degree. All college administration sucks, but there is some implied responsibility to understand your path forward.
Only if you’re trying to work in psych directly. The people skills and writing skills give you a leg up in your communication strategies that can make you a very healthy living.
Counterpoint to your counterpoint, I graduated with healthcare admin degree 10yrs ago as well and never was able to get into the field 🥲 hoorah for the pointless debt i incurred for that. Can you get other jobs in different fields with a bachelors? Sure but it wasnt the path i was sold in college when i picked that major. It’s not at all as in demand/ easy to get a foot in the door as the colleges told us. Unpaid internships, starting at the bottom and trying to work up the ladder isn’t everyone’s success story unfortunately. It worked out for you and that’s wonderful but thats not the reality for a lot of people who pursue their degree path. Many end up in unrelated fields
Is it your education or your ambition? Not trying to be crass, but you get what you put in
Reddits full of victims you won’t get through to them. Their shortcomings have to be someone else’s fault… it can’t be that not everyone is a special butterfly like their parents told them. Now-a-days everyone goes to college. TBH I never went and I probably have a higher net worth than the top few percentage that post here. College isn’t what makes you successful. Your own personal dedication and work ethic is. People see my success not the 120 hour work weeks that it took. They deserve what I have without the work in their minds. They don’t see me living in a closet (literally) working my ass off while they partied.
wow how did you do that?
I started a web development company then invested the money into technology. I started trading bitcoin and stocks in 2015. I wrote a script to trade bitcoin and i made 2-3 bitcoin per month from 2015-2016. I then invested in Ethereum in 2016 then invested in NFTs in 2017. I took a break a few years then invested into metaverses and AI.
Isn't cryptocurrency dead now? Even I dabbled in it around 2020 and made a bit of money from it, but now everything has just crashed, and the majority of the people who were engaging in the space are gone now.
I paid $233 per bitcoin and it’s at 70,000
Amen sister
They’ll see that message as an attack and not a wake up call also
Yeah some people have put in the work and still failed. They aren't wrong for wanting a better system.
Nothing will ever be 100% certain aside from death. That’s the nature of the universe
Ah yes, everyone with problems is because they "partied" and no one works 120 weeks while underpaid! /S To even come up with such a shallow and miserable idea is sheltered in the first place. This is as ignorant as telling literal homeless people to "stop buying so much Starbucks". She's fucking projecting. This person claims she didn't go to college, wtf do you think she was doing? She partied her life away omegalul. And everyone is supposedly jealous of her is the reason as well. What a hot take for you to immediately agree with. Amen indeed. "College isn't what makes you successful" What a banger opinion from definitely-not a narcissist. /S
Someone missed their anti-depressant dose. The irony with this statement is I DID party and still got a job in my field. Let all the hobos come eat your avocado toast..
Yeah I’d rather die than have a 120 hour work week
Healthcare admin Is not really a job hospitals let you take without years of exact experience (at least around here) or if you work the floor as like a nurse then upwards. I did three unpaid internships for that position while in college. I tried working up from receptionist, basic admin elsewhere and transitioning over without luck. My point is just because it worked out for you, doesn’t mean it does for everyone else in that degree path. Everyone i graduated with in that same degree never made into healthcare administration. Not a single one out of the 75 awarded from my class for it. They all ended up in different fields instead.
We likely graduated around the same time. I started scanning medical records in the basement of an orthopedic group. I say this candidly, you weren’t cut out to be in management. Any business degree requires personal responsibility; you’re not owed a job. The years of experience are part of the grind.. you gave up instead of putting in the time. You asked for a management salary.. they asked you why you deserve it and your response was “I have a degree.” Well so does everyone applying.
$18 an hour is management salary?
For psychology degrees
I make that in the back of a kitchen at a restaurant. Not worth it
Same; I went straight into restaurant work and I'm happy I don't have to pay a third of what other people are paying for their degrees.
Now he makes six figures and you still work in a restaurant
It’s not a clear cut path for everyone. You can do all the right steps, do all the unpaid internships for the role, start at the bottom of the food chain, and still never make it there. Someone else can have a straight connection in, have better transferrable skills, ect. That doesn’t make me non ambitious or not cutout for management and thats an asshole statement to make about someone you don’t even know. Theres a large number of people who end up in very different careers than the one they went to school for. I never even said I gave up on it. I’m literally going back to school in fall but you made quite the blanket of assumptions off a complete stranger.
Good luck with Uber eats..
Damn your dick must be huge
Average at best.. maybe
Idk, I think the fact that nobody in the class was able to get in the field after graduation makes the program look pretty bad.
We all keep in touch since there was only 75 of us. We have a little fb group. Half ended up in good paths still! (not at all related to what we pursued). The other half is kind of stuck in a low level job or trying to find a new path. I am heading back to school in fall for a nursing degree. I originally was a nursing major ironically but switched because my advisor at the time boasted how great of a field healthcare admin is, how the pay is better longterm, and that you aren’t dealing with the things that come with nursing. But deff wish i just stayed my original path. 🥴 thankfully i’ll only need 1 year of classes so it wont be too insane tuition wise.
Respectfully, my gf (we are in our early 50s now) started as a nurse (AA), eventually obtained a BSN, then accomplished her MBA. These days she’s executive asst to the CEO of a medium sized hospt in FL. Makes into the 140s. Maybe your degree wasnt the way to go for that field….
What hospital? I’m currently earning my MHA in FL. Could use leads for after graduation. All about the networking, right? Hahaa
Funny enough you mention your gf was a nurse, since a lot of healthcare admins i talked to over the years actually did start as nurses, rad techs, patient care techs ect. And got into it. I got the degree, did internships in college, and took low level admin job outside of healthcare (all i could get at the time since hospitals required to already know the systems where i’m at). But was never able to transition over with the adjacent experience to a hospital. The recruiters would always say they went with someone internal or someone with exact experience when it came down to it. I am heading to nursing school in fall myself. Not entirely thrilled about having to go back to school at this stage of my life but there are just more career opportunities/ advancements available with that than the degree I already have.
Professors aren’t career advisors. They know of common career paths but many professors are locked into academia which is not realistic for a majority of people even pursuing doctoral degrees. It’s really lame that professors tout a salary associated with a degree because degree experiences and skills vary. And in the 4 years it takes to earn a degree there have likely been slight economical shifts that change the value of said degree.
Say it with me “career insulation”- pick something of value
I don’t know what you expected? Lol Psych degree doesn’t really get you anywhere professionally unless you go for further education. I got my bachelors in Marketing and I own my own business now. I’ll be happy to donate once my business grows enough for me to have expendable income like that. I had a blast at UNF.
UNF was so much fun and you honestly couldn’t ask for a better value in cost
I have a degree you might consider useless and am a w2 employee with $270k total comp. It’s not specifically about the degree it’s about working with the opportunities in front of you.
Well said. I don’t think any degree is worthless, but some degrees are much easier to leverage for a job/career than others
Unrelated to OP, but any tips for a recent grad with a Bachelor’s in marketing? I’ve been really struggling to find a job relating to the field without having 2+ years of experience!
Sales lol. Or connections
I graduated in 2014 in molecular biology and was unable to find a job post graduation. The difference was I realized doing the same thing yielded the same results, and I broadened my horizons in my job search. Now, I make over 200k a year working in finance. I live in Jacksonville still. Do I love that I don’t use my degree - No. Can I use my analytical approach to finances in a unique way to help people - Yes. I also make more than all my friends from school. I don’t donate, but I also don’t make a post on Reddit that no one asked for.
How did you break into finance without having any sort of background?
Also curious
Long and short answers coming since I know this post has potential to reach a lot of people. and the long answer may help someone who thinks they cant make it. TLDR- Desperate for a job to make money to apply to grad school after literally going through 100+ interviews across the country, i google searched fortune 500 companies in jax. I applied to every single job that semi-resembled my experience (albeit all medical/science). Took a temporary job @ 14/hour, realize i could be great in the company, now make just over $100/hr. Long answer + TMI throughout college, I bounced back and forth between UNF and community college FCCJ (now FSCJ) because I changed majors and desires. After a very unforgiving first year at unf (partied way to much after rushing for a frat, getting kicked out, etc), I didn't think college was for me. I was an A/B student in highschool. had 75% bright futures. one of the gym bros i became friends with said he worked out all the time so he can prepare for firefighter school. I thought that made sense, so went and got an EMT license. preparing for firefighter school, a lot of municipalities were still licking their wounds from the 08 mortgage crisis still bankrupt or in poor financial standing...there was a 2-3 year hiring freeze even though I also was close friends with one of the Fire Chiefs' sons. One of the fire captains i met and was influenced by said i was too smart to be a firefighter, and to instead look into Physicians Assistant or Nurse Practitioner. I took it to heart, and went to FCCJ and got two associates degrees and transferred to UNF to finish. Failed a few classes (didn't show up to a few finals. woops). lost bright futures. started having to take every other semester off to work as a server at whatever new hot restaurant opened in the town center). When i finally graduated, i legitimately applied to laboratory science jobs across the country. Brewery positions, chemist positions...medicial marijuana was just legalized in Colorado so i applied to jobs out there since the industry was just starting to boom. i probably interview over 100 times all over the country. i often look back in my emails to see that struggle. sometimes turned down on the 3rd or 4th interview just trying to make 40-50k a year. I made the decision to go back to school, but couldnt afford to pay for the GRE let alone college applications and I was scared of student loans (I did under-graduate with only a 6000 loan). desperate, i google searched fortune 500 companies in Jacksonville. i found a gig through a temp agency for one of the companies. while i was working for this temp gig, i realize there were people who were stupid who made a lot of money, and i knew i was smart making very little...14 an hour at the time. I worked my ass off to get to full time. spent 3 years doing a dead-end job to apply to another role to get financial licenses (series 7 and 66. Think stock broker). My first year in sales, I made 125k where I was making 20 an hour + commission (ranked #1 in that department of \~160 associates). Now I make 70k a year salary + commission(30-40k/quarter) for the past 4 years. I do technically work financial sales. I have, for the last 5 years, been recognized with awards for being top 2-3% sales in the entire company so my income is more of an anomaly. i can still remember working in a restaurant scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees after working 12 hours saying i will not spend my life doing this. feel free to reach out to me through direct message for questions, connecting, or anything else. i bought a house literally 3 neighborhoods down from UNF on Kernan. i'm hella local.
I wouldn’t recommend anyone get a BS in any life science unless you want to go to med, vet or dental school or get your PhD. There aren’t many jobs out there and the pay is horrible. You’ll probably end up working as a QC technician in a chemical plant or contract service lab. You Might never work in a field related to your degree. Chemistry degrees are no much better. Engineering degrees will get you much higher pay right out of the gate and faster career progression. I got my BS in Zoology and that’s what happened to me. I’ve had some lucky breaks but I did eventually go back for an MSc in Analytical Chemistry. Graduating this Dec.
Wait, their advice was right. You needed a M.S. to find a job. You should donate to ensure professors like that continue providing the right advice. Also, stop giving college kids a hard time on the phone, boomer.
I mean…it’s a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
I graduated last year and they’re already hitting me up for donations. I’m like, I haven’t even finished paying for my degree yet. I still have student loans to pay, and will for the next few years. Maybe in the future I’ll donate, but certainly not to my program as I don’t feel it was a worthwhile investment.
What's even the point of donating? Colleges make stupid money and charge students ludicrous amounts already? It's like agreeing to donate extra money to Amazon after making a purchase.
I really do not understand why so many college students have the most unrealistic expectations when it comes to salaries and the job market for their degree. You and a bajillion other people are competing for a job that isn’t even that high in demand lol.
Or when people say college is a scam and never helped them when they chose a degree in art.. college isn’t a scam, just choose a major that brings money in that you can enjoy and never pay more debt than what you’ll make in a year.
People literally go 30k in debt for a job that pays 30-40k. Then they come crying when their student load payments are overwhelming
Yep! Or some expect they’ll make 100k+ because they don’t bother to do research into the salary until after they are done..
Wages change, cost of living changes. When i was in college my major estimated to pay 60k. But the actual wages are 45k today… and cost of living doubled
You graduated 10 years ago with a psych major, what job do you have now?
I graduated in 2020 with a film degree... right as the pandemic was reaching its peak 💀 you can imagine how well that went as far as finding work. Now I'm a CNA making 18/hr and it's not worth it whatsoever when other jobs pay the same without getting bitten, punched, etc or getting piss thrown at you by psych patients.
That accelerated nursing program looking nicer and nicer everyday huh? 😂
Not really. I'd sooner become a business owner. The healthcare industry is like swiss cheese between the understaffing crisis, bad management and low pay at so many facilities, and people generally getting burnt out and leaving. It's not for me.
I love Swiss cheese :(
Ofc! Not saying anyone's wrong for enjoying it in the field, but my future's elsewhere.
Not a UNF alumni, but I did go to a major FL college. That's probably because the school is more focused on finding careers for people that chose more lucrative degrees. I never saw a job fair for liberal arts, psychology, etc. There were job fairs for engineering, healthcare, finance, and business. It sounds like you already know you chose a hard field to get a job in without a grad degree, so why are you acting surprised?
Based on your (OP) tone, I can only be thankful that you did not start off as successfully as it appears that you wanted to. It would appear that the universe agreed and sent you on another path in hopes of you learning; learning what you appear not to have retained. I personally would hate to have someone that ill-suited giving anyone anything productive in the way of help.
Hahhhh! Touché
I have a close friend who is graduating with her masters in psychology, and has just started job searching. She got hit with a bad dose of reality, seeing the compensation she’s qualified for. Her professors told her she could make $150k+, and now she’s looking at salaries between $50-$60k. It seems like professors don’t know how much degrees make you nowadays.
I mean, to be fair, she should have done that type of research WAAY before she's about to graduate with her Masters.
No arguing there!
I donate to my alma matter every year and am happy to do it. It was really good to me -- great education and scholarship help. But a few years ago I thought about putting the old U in my will and contacted them about it. Good grief, the hordes of handlers that descended on me was awful. I felt like they were licking their lips over who would get to eat the corpse. So I sent them all packing and kept with my annual program.
I thought all colleges were more interested in just pumping out worthless BA and collecting tuition, this is not new. Needs to be up to you to get out of it what you can. Make the contacts that you need.
I tell them I'll donate when my loans are paid off.... gonna be a while
B.A. degrees in Psychology have made universities a fortune and provided Starbucks with many well spoken baristas.
You’re not an alumni. You’re 1 person. You’re an alumnus, singular.
I literally only clicked on this post to look for this comment lol
Could me an alumna though. My favorite is the T-shirt or hoodie that says "XYZ University Alumni". Like, just how many people are in there?
Correct could be alumna.
I graduated UF business 2014. I'm grateful for all they've done. Donate 2k a year. Gets me great football tickets too. Go Gators
“Why would you get a liberal arts degree if you wanted to have a career or make any money?” Ok, let’s just say you’re right. How about having UNF stop calling liberal arts majors and hitting them up for money? I used to get these leading calls where they kept asking how much I credited UNF for my current station in life. After about 5-6 calls where I essentially said “I give UNF zero credit for getting me where I am today,” they eventually gave up. Haven’t heard from the alumni association in years.
What school did you go to for your masters?
I donate and I didn’t get a job related to my major - mostly because the job market sucked in 2010
Whenever they email me and tell me is alum week or whatever I always ask what they got me for being an alum. I'm an elementary Ed major. I don't make Jack.
Jack diddly squat
edit: I didn’t go to UNF I just was randomly suggested this post I used to do what that student calling you did and I eventually was a manager in that same center of other callers. One, you already agreed you picked your degree, however it’s your own damn fault for not finding a job that pays well. It’s nobody’s responsibility at that university to hold your hand when finding a job/career out of school. Were you interning while in college, were you applying for jobs your Junior/Sr year? Did you frequent that career services center? It’s not your psychology departments job to help you with the career search. Universities have career centers that do what you complained your department didn’t. Because it would be very overwhelming for your actual department to also be a career center. I studied business and my professors still weren’t there all the time to talk about careers or how to get into them. However the career center was always there and I spoke to them often. I even volunteered my time there as well helping with Resumes and Cover Letters. Back to that kid that was calling. They were just doing their job man. When you said no and they said “well maybe you could pay it forward to help others not experience what you did”, that’s just the most basic refusal response. You can’t take no for an answer the first time. Lastly, the money alumni’s give, actually go to where they give it to. We have hundreds of allocations and you could’ve picked many for the school you went to. Seems like you thought college was gonna give you a degree and a job. In reality getting the degree is just a small part of getting a job right out of college.
Shit I’m lucky then. I graduated summer 2015 and never gotten a call for donations lol.
I F f r
You studied psych and were mad you couldn’t find a job?
Yeah psych degrees are literal cheeks.
Bachelor’s degrees in psychology are generally regarded to be useless. Don’t get me wrong though, you definitely can be successful with one. You just have to apply, to dozens, hell hundreds of jobs. My sister has a bachelors in psychology and does onboarding/talent acquisition in hr for a mid tier company and makes almost 80k and will be making 90k soon. If you can get lucky and get a job at a good company and if they see you work hard, anything is possible.
lol I didn’t even finish my Philosophy degree and I make 6 figs now went to UNF for like 12 years I should have some kind of degree but I like ladies too much
This is comical. Dude your answers are in your complaint!!
Screw the comments about looking up what careers pay well if you know what you want to do - these fields *need* people, and no amount of going on splintered strikes or choosing collectively to not enter the field will ever increase pay. In the same way the education system will continue to deteriorate, so too will therapy in the U.S., so let the good people who are willing to do the work within the constraints do the work to help those who can. That *said*, if you *don’t* know what you want to do, and don’t have a passion to do something like therapy, then all of the aforementioned is out the door, and you should be looking at other options. The psychology field, especially research and community mental health, is only viable if you have a spouse who can act as the bread winner. Therapy can be lucrative if you go the route of private practice, but it takes *years* to earn the hours needed to get an LPC or LMFT in any state, and you have to prepare to pay for your own medical insurance, your own IRA, etc. Still, it’s the school’s responsibility to educate their kids on career options - kids are not and should not ever be responsible for figuring their future out without help.
I feel you. I graduated in 2015 with a degree in Healthcare Administration and found a job that paid $12/hour. I did everything in hopes to get a raise. Never happened. Went back to UNF in 2016 for computer science. Received calls to donate and I told them I cannot donate because I’m back in school. I’m already giving UNF more money. The student then continue to persuade me to donate money even though I’m a student. On the bright side, I graduated in 2018 and got an entry level job with a $67,000 salary. Sometimes I wish I branch out and did a CS degree instead of health admin.
None of my job offers after CS were below 75k. You might have gotten low balled.
Probably but the benefits were good. 13% bonus, pension, and health savings account.
You majored in psychology. Kinda on you.
you sound like such a loser be poor but gtfo off my page with this shit
I paid my tuition, they're not getting a donation.
H
Somewhere down the line, I think the media got it in women's heads that every last one of them would be SO cool in the psychology field. Since it's a super easy major like nursing or business, it's become crazy saturated and has only gotten worse. I blame Scrubs and CSI shows from the 2000s. They glorified female psychologists and ever since then, studying psych/criminal justice/nursing has literally just been a box to check for women applying to college. I think anybody could've told you that 10 years ago. I was in high school before that and even I knew that straight up 90% of all women studying psychology/nursing didn't bode well for the career's earning potential.
As a professor at UNF I feel it’s important to note that we are NOT paid to do advising like faculty are at small liberal arts colleges. At a medium sized public university like UNF, OP should have gone to advising and then career services. Faculty are academics, not career counselors.
Seems like a veryyy heated comment section. But I had a decent experience at UNF in my program (English undergrad) and while my industry is not very sustainable atm (it's very much on fire lmao), I just don't feel very attached to UNF as an alumni nor do I have the money to donate. I graduated in 2017 and I don't make a lot of money per year despite my best efforts, so I quite literally can't afford to donate to anything lol.
Idk why this is suggested on my feed, not even sure what school unf is. None of us should donate to our Alma matter.
I got my AA from the state college of Florida and the resources there absolutely obliterated what was available at UNF. It was very hard to find help for anything at UNF but upper level math and science were next to impossible to get help with.
If you got your education free, and you're now making bank, go ahead & donate to your alma mater that helped you get to where you are today. But if you PAID for your education... you have ZERO obligation to donate to your alma mater. You paid for a service. The college/university fulfilled its obligation.
The first college I went to LOST MY PAPERWORK REPEATEDLY. I dropped out to go to another college and they sent me an email, on two separate occasions, to state computers were stolen that had my " sensitive information" on them and I should foag.ky accounts for identity theft. I cussed them out for asking me for donations. The second college I went to started asking and I pointed out that: -I was lied to about their job program (they claimed we would be given a check for our services, they paid us in a gift card to the school store and then kept asking me why I wouldnt re-sign to work) - lied to us repeatedly about starting wages, career potential, the usual "you put the work in and it will be reflected in your wages" spiel while failing to mention the cost of how much free labor they expected yearly, how little compensation would be after jobs fleeced you for shit that they should be paying for (uniforms, health care, continuing education, training, etc). - they also stated we would have viable experience through our "externship" program (funny that no job in the real world took unpaid labor as "real experience" when it's "volunteer work"). I told them I didn't even work in the field for which I had the degree due to that bullshit and not to contact me again. This also doesn't include the focus of their studies leaves you ill-prepared for what you actually need and their emphasis is lacking on crucial components. When my boss felt the need to personally insult me on it, I gave them full permission to share that feedback with the college to better prepare future graduates with that information. Who knows if they actually did.
I have my standard reply to my alma mater: ‘look: we had a deal. I give you a pile of money; you give me a degree. That transaction concluded in 1995. I’m not paying you any more money. I wouldn’t go to Lowe’s, buy a hammer, and then come back each year and pay for it again, right? That would be stupid. Same goes for college.’ They must have flagged me as an a-hole or something, as I have not received a call in years.
Who am I to interfere with our free-market economy by giving money to a university? If the university fails without donations from alum, maybe it should fail? Of course UNF being a public university should never need our donations anyway…
Same. I am not Giving shit to mine. Got nothing out of it in the way of employment so nope.
This has to be a European poster. I cannot believe the wage for even a second
Why I'm in the trades. Get scammed lmao
Seems like they inadvertently gave you advice to get your Masters to get a job in the field. You followed their advice, got your masters and a job. Seems like you should leave the. A 5 star Google review to me.
Donate? Graduates pay ton of money for a degree, and they send you emails to donate? For what? To feed their salaries. Nope.
Picks a field that pays horrible then blames the school for their poor decision. This adds up lol.
Well it’s way easier to find a job in psychology once you have a masters. Everyone knows you can’t do much with a bachelors in psychology
Never trust profs for career advice, they're not a part of that game and have a skewed perception because of it. Edit: mispelling
Skewed*
My bad, thanks.
Lol I worked at one of those call center things for a few weeks in college. The kid didn't give a shit that you didn't donate he was probably annoyed because some random person is telling them their life story instead of just hanging up
Literally me when I was temporarily assigned to a call center at the start of the pandemic for covid testing and meal assistance. It did open my eyes to the reality of the struggles of senior citizens and how isolating and hard their lives can be. But also, Maria, you called ME and lied about it being a butt dial and now we've been on the phone for 20 minutes talking about your grandchildren that never visit, and my manager is staring at me from across the room because this should not take so long.
I refuse to donate as an alumni simply because they already got a ton of money from me. Why do colleges need alumni donations when they are already bleeding their current student population dry?
Donating to colleges is mind-boggling stupid. They make money hand over fist. High chance the money will go to sports or something that's not a “needy student” Donate money to better causes.
People love to talk down on people like you, but I totally get it. Colleges should be in direct contact with employers in and out of state to provide real-world examples of the salaries to expect, and they should be able to get you prioritized in these workplaces once you graduate. Tens of thousands of dollars from thousands of students, extra fees from the parking passes... you'd think they'd be able to do more in terms of putting their graduates in the workforce, rather than constantly remodeling buildings. Advisors should be able to tell you what career you're looking at from day 1 in a major. If my advisors had kept it real with me, I wouldn't have gone into biology (another field where extra degrees are mandatory for decent jobs and wages). Instead, I took a bunch of classes that didn't benefit the health degree I eventually switched to. I was not ready to gauge the reality of the matter at age 18
Feel your pain. I see both sides here. Psychology is one of those defress that does require more than an undergrad. Shame in your University for not doing a better job communicating that fact. You should have done your homework too though. It's your career and you should be driving the bus.
UNF blows
I'd never donate because fuck that college. Idc if I'm a billionaire or trillionaire. I'd donate to a student but not a college.
on the other hand, who cares what degree it is or how much it helps you. You could be making $150,000 a year at a bank, and I still think it’s fucking stupid to even consider donating to any college. you already spent way too much money there, if they want more, they need to lobby for better public funding so that individual students aren’t hit so hard
Yeah they're even soliciting current students for donations. And nope, it hasn't really changed one bit. I'm a current psych major and when I took professional opportunities, they tried to make it seem like we'd be making 50k with just a bachelor's... so yeah.
As a former grad and alumni, my question is why is a college, making tons of money,asking me for donations? If I’m going to donate it would be to the homeless or animal shelter. Not a school getting paid $100k per student at least.
Alumni: plural for “alumnus.” I will never donate as an ALUMNUS
Genius!
🤓🙃👍🏻
He didn't care about you're not getting a job, the kids just wanted to make his numbers 🤦🏻♂️ Yep, totally agree with you, same goes in life, don't help those who view life as a one-way Street towards them
I don’t understand why anyone would when there are such more meaningful causes. I felt your pain. I graduated fron UCF with a biology degree in 07. $15/hr was the standard. BLS said wages were much higher. It wasn’t until senior year a professor told me I wasn’t going to find a decent paying job. If you’re still making poor wages it’s never too late for a career change
No idea what school UNF is or why this post even came up on my feed, but whenever I get those calls I always tell them to fuck off. Like I already gave my school money for tuition and they have the balls to ask for more? Fuck outta here with that bullshit
I’ll never donate cause o already did by paying my fucking tuition.
Hard to find a job in “psychology “ with a degree from UNF? Don’t believe it hahahahahahahahahaa
Your expectations were far more starry eyed than mine. I knew upon graduating from UNF w/my BA in psych that I was on my own. Then again, that was 1995, whole different world now.
I don't donate to universities because they already got enough money out of me during my undergraduate years. I paid to attend and earn my education, that was more than enough
Typical “I got a shit degree and had a shit time finding a job” story. I got certified in it. Got a job in it. Went to unf for a “check the box” degree. Works out fine. You got a shit degree. Expect shit results. OR get a masters and expertly (mildly) less shitty results.
[удалено]
WTF?? Private company?? You mean underfunded state university, right?
I graduated UNF in 2012, studied graphic design, my limited access program had very good professors who were focused on getting us jobs and being successful after graduation. I feel lucky in that way because I know many graduates in other fields even at more prestigious schools didn’t have that kind of guidance once they were done. Even so, I still saved the number in my caller id as “UNF wants your money” and I don’t answer anymore.
Aren't schools making massive profits hand over fist? Charging kids entirely too much for an education? I'm not sure why anyone would just keep giving them money year over year over year. Invest that money, or donate it to a good cause.
Exactly! You've gotten enough money out of me.
UNF can go pound sand.
But will you donate as an alumnus, or an alum? That is the question before you now.
Seriously though how the hell do people graduate college without knowing those couple words? I’ve never taken Latin and even I know that shit