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Does College Major matter?
- Thread starter jooman360
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I taught NROTC for a few years as the Aviation Instructor at Ohio State. At least as recently as 2005, your ASTB and GPA were the most important factor and not the major. Between the two, ASTB seemed to trump GPA. I had an engineering student with a 9/9/7 on their ASTB and a 2.5 GPA in engineering select SNA but a business major with a 3.4 GPA and a 5/5/6 not select. That may not be the best example but choose something you really enjoy because you are more likely to do well in it. On a side note, one of my buddies in my community had a degree in Theology and was pretty good in the air.
Bugsmasher
Another Non-qual SWO Ensign
I said it in the last thread (which we just discussed a week ago), but if you pick a major you hate just to "look good" on your application, then get NPQ'd or DOR from OCS, you'll be up shit creek. Pretend you have a 0% chance of getting into the Navy and pick your major that way, because you might end up having to actually use it.
As an English/Creative Writing major, I certainly shared in the worry that my choice of education would make me unappealing to the selections board.
But the GPA was good, so was the ASTB. And here's the thing I think most people forget. If you're into aviation, you likely have been for a while. If you're motivated enough to consider becoming a Naval Aviator/Flight Officer, odds are you've been learning about airplanes for a good long while--at least peripherally.
Don't know about anyone else, but as a child I used to talk about aircraft specs the way other kids talked about sports. Nerd? Yes, but that was the personally motivated side of my education. Doesn't everyone have interests that don't find expression in the institutionalized educations they receive?
Being an English major didn't make me a writer or a literature professor. It just increased my knowledge of those areas (and gave me a pretty well-rounded education, I believe). We're multidimensional, and our interests are too. If you want to fly, you have a reason, and that reason has led you to do some of the basic homework already. I would say just build on that. Education, after all, is not something you receive; it's something you pursue.
So I would side with those who say to major in what you enjoy. I see too many people--and this is outside of OCS/ROTC circles--focus their college careers on what job they want, rather than what they want to learn. Result: dissatisfaction.
/Soapbox
But the GPA was good, so was the ASTB. And here's the thing I think most people forget. If you're into aviation, you likely have been for a while. If you're motivated enough to consider becoming a Naval Aviator/Flight Officer, odds are you've been learning about airplanes for a good long while--at least peripherally.
Don't know about anyone else, but as a child I used to talk about aircraft specs the way other kids talked about sports. Nerd? Yes, but that was the personally motivated side of my education. Doesn't everyone have interests that don't find expression in the institutionalized educations they receive?
Being an English major didn't make me a writer or a literature professor. It just increased my knowledge of those areas (and gave me a pretty well-rounded education, I believe). We're multidimensional, and our interests are too. If you want to fly, you have a reason, and that reason has led you to do some of the basic homework already. I would say just build on that. Education, after all, is not something you receive; it's something you pursue.
So I would side with those who say to major in what you enjoy. I see too many people--and this is outside of OCS/ROTC circles--focus their college careers on what job they want, rather than what they want to learn. Result: dissatisfaction.
/Soapbox
The only gouge you need about college major is do something you are interested in. End of story.
I know the common pearl of wisdom is to choose what interests you, and not what will "look good", and I agree that there is a lot of truth to that.....I've even given out the same advice myself. BUT, there are certain jobs once you are "in" that are only really open to engineers. For example, I never liked math or science in high school.....but TPS sounded interesting to me, which requires an engineering or hard science/math degree. So I decided I would become interested and good at the technical stuff. Luckily it worked for me, and I got my mechanical engineering degree.....so that option is theoretically still open for me (provided I wing 
). Just something to think about, but don't let this complicate your decision if there isn't a SPECIFIC job that you want aside from just generally being a pilot/NFO.
). Just something to think about, but don't let this complicate your decision if there isn't a SPECIFIC job that you want aside from just generally being a pilot/NFO.
As noble as it is to do what you're interested in, and while I recommend follow your interests, I really (PERSONALLY) would never get a degree in English or History (these two are strictly an example. There are other degrees to which this applies).
It may be short-sighted or ignorant, but honestly, everyone I've talked to who had one of those degrees when I've asked them what they're going to do once they graduate has responded with some variant of "I'm going to Law school/med school/becoming a teacher/doing something completely unrelated/getting a job with requires A degree but not a specific one).
If you like english or history, get a degree that will afford you a certain successful future and buy novels and history books for your leisure. I'm sure you can get a job with these degrees, but I personally would not want to be on the job market submitting my resume for jobs with that degree....
That being said, don't go get a technical degree (engineering or something) if you're a history/english/basketweaving person. Just get a degree which provides many opportunities for you on the civilian side.
It may be short-sighted or ignorant, but honestly, everyone I've talked to who had one of those degrees when I've asked them what they're going to do once they graduate has responded with some variant of "I'm going to Law school/med school/becoming a teacher/doing something completely unrelated/getting a job with requires A degree but not a specific one).
If you like english or history, get a degree that will afford you a certain successful future and buy novels and history books for your leisure. I'm sure you can get a job with these degrees, but I personally would not want to be on the job market submitting my resume for jobs with that degree....
That being said, don't go get a technical degree (engineering or something) if you're a history/english/basketweaving person. Just get a degree which provides many opportunities for you on the civilian side.
Good to be friends with the Big Man...
Get a degree in whatever interests you. What would you major in if you if you knew you were going into the civilian world after college? You should do that. You're the one who's gonna be doing the work for 4+ years. You might as well have a passing interest in it.
This is true for a good many English majors, absolutely. History majors too, Philosophy--the list goes on. But (forgive me if I misread), your implication seems to be that entering careers that do not require a specific degree is a "bad" choice, somehow. Or that doing a job that has no direct, obvious correlation to the given title of your degree is bad. I would contend that that position leads to a great many disappointments. Most people don't end up in careers directly related to their undergraduate degree. Have they made a mistake? I'm not prepared to say so.
Obviously certain careers require more focused and technical training than others, but that does not make one choice inherently better than another. And since, for many positions, the military is not asking for specific degrees for a commission, the implication that careers requiring non-specific degrees are inferior includes a great many military careers...including aviation, ironically enough.
Really not trying to be a toolbox, just expounding on the point.
If I wasn't clear, then this is NOT AT ALL what I was attempting to convey in my post. My father was a Lawyer for like 15 years and absolutely hated it. He dropped it cold turkey when we moved and he became a salesman. The company he works for only requires a 4 year degree. He is obviously in a career not at all related to his degree (besides I guess schmoozing skills) and he makes more money than he did as a Lawyer. I guess it pays to do what you love!
