What Majors are Best for Aspies? What Majors are Worst?

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schleppenheimer
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23 Sep 2007, 6:41 pm

If I were asking about what majors were good for Aspies, I would like a list --

So, here's what I've heard other people on this site mention as good majors . . .

For technical types . . .
Math
Engineering
Computer Science
GIS
Architecture
Geography
Geology
Physics

For artistic types . . .
Art
Playwriting
English
Acting
Music performance
Film

(the above about artistic types is PURELY my opinion, whereas the the technical majors I have read over and over on this site as well as others.)

So what do you all think of this list? Tell me the pros and cons . . .

Kris[u]



ToadOfSteel
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24 Sep 2007, 1:20 am

I am currently an Information Technology major (with a Multimedia concentration)...

My life obsessions have changed around alot, from medical technician, to meterologist, to video game programmer, to graphic design, which is where I am now. The one thing that is common amongst all 4 is the high usage of computers involved. So I went for that in my major.

And that is my advice for major-picking (should you choose to go to college): examine ALL of the obsessions you have had in your life, and try to find a common link. Once you do, find the major closest to it. The College atmosphere is much better than in High School, especialy considering I go to a technology university, where being weird IS being normal.



schleppenheimer
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25 Sep 2007, 9:38 am

ToadofSteel, are you at Caltech or some place like that?

Kris



lonelyLady
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04 Oct 2007, 11:51 am

I actually started out as a liberal arts major (history and languages), but when I began exploring the job possibilities with such a major, I realized it's not for me. While I was very interested in history, the jobs one typically gets with such a major involve a lot of work with people and require "people's skills." After working for two weeks at a summer job, I understood that I hate people and hate working with them, and that I would much rather be working with a computer. (computers don't lie to you and don't play dirty office politics). While it was too late for me to change my major into something more technical by the time I realized that I was in the wrong major, I decided to double minor in math and statistics and also take some computer science classes. I enjoy my classes and the "nerdy" environment often present in those challenging, technical classes. My advice to you, based on my experience, is to stick with your major. Getting a minor in stat is also not a bad idea--especially since upper level stat courses are very "mathy" in nature, so if you like math you'll probably like stat too. from a bureaucratic standpoint getting a minor in stat with a math major is probably easy--most of my stat courses double-count toward my math minor. If you get a chance, I'd also take liberal arts classes in your area of interest, just for fun. However, unless you love people and working with them I wouldn't trade your major for a liberal arts one. I have deep regrets about my major, and I wouldn't want you to make the same mistake.



morpheus316
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08 Oct 2007, 12:42 pm

I guess in my experience, I was caught between the technical and the non-technical fields. Since my case manifested with discalculia, it made the math side of my computer science major very difficult. The language part was easy, it was the math part that was not. Currently I'm persuing a degree in biblical languages at the graduate level and am finding that aspect of it interesting. The biggest reason I got out of the tech sector is because I realized that only the best of the best were going to get the jobs that stayed behind and that I was not one of them.

While I'm not totally antisocial, being social is not one of my core inclinations -- the exception to that is when I'm playing a gig or helping teach a class. I don't mind working with people in certain situations, just not at random all the time. Also, if I'm in a position of authority, it's a lot easier for me to deal with people.

In terms of majors, I'd say go with your passion (since that will make it easier) and then find a way to make it work for you. Eccentricity is common in academia so if you want to go on to get an advanced degree and teach or research, more power to you.



matrix
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08 Oct 2007, 10:50 pm

My childhood obsessions:

-MAPS, drawing routes was an obsession. Whenever I was at dad's state warehouse office over the summer, I got calendar-sized paper and drew little towns and vroom-vrooms. The female inmates (working their time for state warehouse) just creepily stared at me. Those were interesting times

-MANSIONS, drawing houses with robots on demand to wipe your posterior was an obsession, along with a sensor-claw to clean my room for me. heh heh :lol:

-HALO, STARGATE, AND EVERYTHING SCI-FI

-a strange connection between FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT and the base on Stargate Atlantis

These and many more obsessions lead me into enginnering and architecture.


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lastcrazyhorn
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11 Oct 2007, 10:22 pm

Well, I got my undergrad in music education (with an instrumental concentration). I always spent multitudes of hours as a child teaching my stuffed animals random topics that I thought they should know. I used to make out complex grading systems and carefully write down all of the grades in a grade book my mother got me. And then came student teaching . . . which was horrible. I mean, seriously, 60 kids staring at you for an hour and a half? And on top of that, you had to be assertive and sometimes downright mean??? I really didn't handle it well. I graduated, but I think I only passed the student teaching segment of it so they could get me out of there.

So then I took a year off, worked at a gas station for 6 months (not the worst thing in the world; it's mostly a one-on-one experience) and saw a psychiatrist for the first time in my life.

Now, a year after graduating, I'm in grad school studying for a masters of arts in Music Therapy. I still love music (always have) and Therapy is still teaching, but with significantly smaller groups and a tendency for a one-on-one experience. Psychology plus Music. It can't really get any better, you know?

Just my two cents. And as always, a bit rambling . . .


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