Looking for a new major or something...

[Avatar of Justice]

I graduated in May of this year with my BS in Computer Science. Yay for me. Sadly, I have discovered that Comp Sci may not be my true passion despite enjoying it in high school and throughout college. Programming in the real world requires different skill sets than the pure problem solving techniques I typically got to use in classwork. I'm not particularly enjoying professional programming because of this. Another thing that clued me in was when I co-op'd for a company all of 2006 and I noticed how I didn't say much when our lunch conversations concerned career building shop talk, but as soon as the topic would go back to movies, books, or games I suddenly got super talkative. Because I don't care much about the "career building" side of being a programmer I feel like I'm not going anywhere. After working at a different very crappy job in a very boring area with very boring people, I am prepared to try something new.

Because of this, I am seriously considering going to grad school for something. I minored in history, so history would be an obvious choice for me. I like history since I have always found history classes to basically be cool political story time, but I'm not sure it would be my true passion if I became a professor. I've had story ideas for books ever since I was a kid, and I being a writer seems like it would be the best way to express my passion for fiction. However, I have to do SOMETHING productive in the mean time. Either I stick with programming jobs, write in my spare time and hope to get published in ten years or go back to school which due to all the time commitments involved will probably put a stop to any serious writing until I graduated again. Can anybody think of any majors that are a decent fit for someone who loves to talk about and dissect fiction of all kinds? Hopefully a job where I could do it for a living (presumably as a professor)? English comes to mind, but that just doesn't "feel" correct. I know a lot of the people on OC are artists of all sorts and might have some advice on some majors to look at. Thanks!

[avaris]

Haha yeah I was in a similar boat. I graduated with a BS in Management Information Systems (databases; oracle; business) but I am in grad school for Music Technology right now. A fast and up and coming field is Film Studies in the academic world. Lots of stories and fiction in there for sure. Also there is some technical to wet your beak there too. I can't think of any other post-grad programs off of the top of my mind but Film Studies or something similar might fit the bill. If you are that passionate about writing you might want to look into PhD's in certain fields that would allow you o write a book. Write the book you have always wanted and hopefully you can structure it in a way that you can get a PhD for it too.

Don't know if you're american but over in the Ireland/UK you can get your Masters in 1 year and it costs less than american schools...far less even with exchange rates taken into account.

[Dhsu]

This may sound obvious, but have you thought about a graduate computer science program? It sounds like you enjoyed the theoretical/academic side of it, and you would get to do more of that studying for a master's degree. Alternatively, you could consider a company like Google, which actually wants problem solvers as opposed to code monkeys.

[Avatar of Justice]

This may sound obvious, but have you thought about a graduate computer science program? It sounds like you enjoyed the theoretical/academic side of it, and you would get to do more of that studying for a master's degree. Alternatively, you could consider a company like Google, which actually wants problem solvers as opposed to code monkeys.

I was actually going to go on for a Master's in Comp Sci, but I was tired of school and it didn't have anything to do with my end goal of writing so I decided to work and write. But now find I'd like to try something instead of being in Comp Sci for a long time and hoping the writing thing works out.

[Native Jovian]

I graduated in May of this year with my BS in Computer Science. Yay for me. Sadly, I have discovered that Comp Sci may not be my true passion despite enjoying it in high school and throughout college. Programming in the real world requires different skill sets than the pure problem solving techniques I typically got to use in classwork.

Wait wait wait wait.

You graduated with a CS degree in May and you actually have a job in the field?

And you're complaining?

I most emphatically wish to say "screw you", good sir.

*graduated with a CS degree in July and hasn't been able to land a job outside an IT monkey at an elementary school where he spends half is time babysitting kids and the other half with such mentally stimulating tasks as setting up printers and installing programs for teachers because they don't have the privileges to do it themselves.*

[prophetik music]

This may sound obvious, but have you thought about a graduate computer science program? It sounds like you enjoyed the theoretical/academic side of it, and you would get to do more of that studying for a master's degree. Alternatively, you could consider a company like Google, which actually wants problem solvers as opposed to code monkeys.

this might actually be the route you want to take, based on what you're saying. i know you mentioned wanting to be away from cs for a while, but if you want to do theoretical stuff, the collegiate setting is the way to do it. same with music, same with writing, same with everything that hasn't already happened (like history). the collegiate setting - particularly smaller universities or REALLY large ones - is the best place to do theoretical analysis and research-based studies. hell, if you're any good, you could probably get a grant to do it, as well.

[Red Shadow]

crappy job in a very boring area with very boring people

This is exactly the reason I haven't graduated yet. I knew already just from the first few programming classes i took that my coworkers would not be the kind id get along with.

My major has since been changed to air traffic control, and its awesome. However im an asshole that loves to multitask, and i think you kind of have to be one to go into this field without having a nervous breakdown.

Aviation in general is always a neat thing to look into though.

[Bahamut]

This may take some effort, but you could try math. You probably have some of the skills needed to do well in math, although it will require a good deal of class taking to get a graduate degree in it.

[Dhsu]

I was actually going to go on for a Master's in Comp Sci, but I was tired of school and it didn't have anything to do with my end goal of writing so I decided to work and write. But now find I'd like to try something instead of being in Comp Sci for a long time and hoping the writing thing works out.

In that case, I'm sure you've looked into this already, but literary criticism is probably your bag.

[Avatar of Justice]

In that case, I'm sure you've looked into this already, but literary criticism is probably your bag.

No actually. I'll look into it and how difficult it would be for a Comp Sci major to get involved in it at the graduate level. Anybody know how hard it is to completely switch gears like that as far as getting admitted goes?

[Reaif]

One thing you might be interested in is Editing, or being an editor for a publishing company. Might not be your thing, but you get to critique all kinds of literature. I don't know what it takes to become such, but it is certainly worth looking into at least. The reason I even mention it, is because you seem to be into the technical aspect of things, and editing seems to fit that persona.

[Hobocop]

No actually. I'll look into it and how difficult it would be for a Comp Sci major to get involved in it at the graduate level. Anybody know how hard it is to completely switch gears like that as far as getting admitted goes?

In my experience, it should be pretty easy to go from the sciences/applied sciences into the humanities or social sciences, as long as you have a good research statement/interests that correspond to the department. I'm in Communications right now, and there's a guy who did his undergrad in CompSci too. I guess Cmns probably wouldn't be the thing for you, but you never know. For the most part it's just a discussion on media, technology, culture etc. Now that I think about it, if you want to bridge a background in computers with a more literary discipline, this one might be pretty good. It's also new enough that you can get in with almost any background and interest.

[Avatar of Justice]

In my experience, it should be pretty easy to go from the sciences/applied sciences into the humanities or social sciences, as long as you have a good research statement/interests that correspond to the department. I'm in Communications right now, and there's a guy who did his undergrad in CompSci too. I guess Cmns probably wouldn't be the thing for you, but you never know. For the most part it's just a discussion on media, technology, culture etc. Now that I think about it, if you want to bridge a background in computers with a more literary discipline, this one might be pretty good. It's also new enough that you can get in with almost any background and interest.

I'll look into it. Sounds like it could be a decent fit for me and allow me to not totally throw my Comp Sci degree away.

[TheHands]

The joke I make at my university is that there are are three fields you go into when you don't have a direction in life: English, Philosophy, and Psychology. I ended up in English.

You can still make a living off of your degree, which is something much more difficult to do if you had an English BA/MA/MFA. But if you really love something, don't make it your livelihood. As soon as you have to do something you love for money, it detracts from the satisfaction you'd received from it, just because it didn't make what you were hoping it would for something as high quality as it is in your eyes (depending on the piece.)

Whatever your choice, good luck. I'll probably be doing that in the near future too.

[DJMetal]

Well here's my two cents. Since you minored in history, that's a good place to start. But I can tell you from my parents experience that there wasn't a lot of work for history majors 20 years ago...I dunno about now, but I'm guessing that things haven't changed much. If you're interested in fiction/movies/pop-culture stuff, a lit or film major are probably good bets, but once again, employment opportunities aren't great (in my area, anyways ).

If it were me, I'd just go back to school and try more stuff out. You have a degree in CS, so if you want a stable lifestyle I'd just go to grad school for that and get a higher paying job afterwards. But if you're anything like me, you're probably not gonna be happy doing that if it isn't your passion. So I'd play the field for as long as I could, if I were you. Test-bite things, shadow relevant jobs, interview people in professions that interest you, take a class here or there, the works! That is a great way to get a feel for what you may wanna do and not waste all the time/money in lots of classes.