You would think I'd have all this figured out by now..... So I applied to Portland State as a marketing major, I do not plan to change that. I do, however, wish to have a 2nd major and a minor. At first i thought creative writing, because I love writing and have always wanted some form of degree in it. I decided that wasn't exactly the smartest 2nd major. I have since settled on a first major in marketing, 2nd major in communications, and a minor in creative writing. I wonder what those with more college/life experience think of that?
I did classes at a four year university for a while and i did online college as well. Just ask yourself all the relevant questions. Not just what do you enjoy doing. But like...is this something you'll have lots of job opportunities in? Would you be able to support yourself on entry level income? Is there room to move up or specialize or whatnot if you want to? Is this something that's a passing major interest? Or is it something you think you could tolerate doing, no matter how annoying or stressful, for many years to come? I've changed my dream job like five times now but currently, I'm gonna settle for trying to be a pharmacy tech. For now. I've only changed ideas like five times now. All i want now is something i can do well, that i both tolerate and can enjoy, and earn my own living on without having to get a roommate. That's all i want. Cause life's shown me these past few years that its not money or a successful job that make you happy, its your outlook on life and the people you surround yourself with.
Like LunarLyric said, what opportunities are you going to have with those majors? Is it something you could get a good job with only a bachelors or would you need graduate-level education? If you're double-majoring with a minor, are you prepared (mentally and financially) to have to take summer courses and/or stay in college for an extra year or two? I went in as a Business major and quickly realized two weeks into my first semester that it wasn't for me. I went to an advisor about double-majoring in Psychology and after talking it through, they convinced me to just change my major completely. Getting a job in the actual psychology field is next to impossible without a graduate degree, but I don't regret my decision. I minored in English. One of my roommates graduated with a double major. She came in with AP credits, took summer courses every year, and still had to stay an extra semester. It's not an easy thing to do. I think Marketing and Communications solid majors if that's what you're interested in going into. I'd encourage you to reconsider a Creative Writing minor if it's going to be a lot of extra classes. You can always take classes in that department as electives without going for the full minor.
I was going to write this long post explaining how I settled on marketing, but I dropped my phone and lost it somehow. Basically I want a career as a market research analyst. But I keep my options open and will take a job in anything a marketing degree will. A secondary communications major i guess is pretty much like insurance. Pretty much told it is a degree that can be useful in any job. I am currently enrolled in a technical college, so the first 2 years are mostly done with. I've been taking fall, spring , and summer classes since I started college so it isn't that big of a deal for me. Finicially I am worried. I am able to afford to go to this technical college through the pell grant. A four year university means I have to take out loans. Marketing is the degree that I settled on when I realized that my creative writing degree was unreasonable, both because it was ruining my love for writing and because I wasn't sure if there was a career to match it that I would enjoy. I once wanted to work as a book publisher (or at least have some role that dealt with books) but realized I really hate editing.
You seem to be pretty certain you will want to do something in market research so your marketing degree of course makes sense. And you are right about communications, skills learned with education in this area are transferable and can be played up when applying for almost any job. (I have a BA in communications/journalism). That being said I wouldn't get too stressed about major/minor choices etc. The important thing is to get your Bachelor's Degree. Many jobs will have 'must have Bachelor's Degree' as a minimum requirement to apply. From there you can explain how your education can transfer to meet the needs of the position... A Bachelor's Degree in general shows and employer that you had the ability to get through those four years (stuck with it), did all those required college 'group projects' (learned how to work with others, can be a team player). It also prepares you to pursue a graduate degree if you should want to do this. And some jobs will encourage you (and may even help pay) to pursue a graduate degree. Most schools require you to complete an internship(s) to graduate. My big advice would be to take advantage of all the internship opportunities you can! (and some colleges allow you to intern over the summer too...mine did and I took advantage of this! I did three internships all together.) The education and experience you get in your internships will be invaluable. Who knows, through internships you could realize that you love your major but you really don't like the working environment, or you could realize you love the working environment! I'm 49 have had a few careers directly related to my major, but my current profession (for MANY years) is not directly related at all, though I love it! Having a Bachelor's Degree is a requirement for my position at my company, and allows me to be in a supervisory role. And as a side note I actually don't think the minor in creative writing is a bad idea at all--especially if you love writing and are good at it! Writing is something that can be done on a freelance basis in the future...and can be done in so many different ways. Writing books, articles for magazines of course, but companies also need marketing materials written, catalogs, advertisements--the list is endless. You can do a lot with writing, even on a part time basis. Best of luck in your educational goals!
