The College Majors Handbook: A Guide to Your Undergraduate College Investment Decision [Paperback]

Paul Harrington (Author), Thomas Harrington (Author), Neeta Fogg (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: JIST Works (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563705184
• ISBN-13: 978-1563705182
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Business & Investing > Job Hunting & Careers > Job Markets & Advice

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful book, April 27, 2005

By 

S. S. (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The College Majors Handbook: A Guide to Your Undergraduate College Investment Decision (Paperback)

I'm a college freshman, and this book has helped me tremendously in trying to decide my major. The guide starts with a chapter devoted entirely to assessing your abilities (interpersonal, spatial, clerical, leadership, etc.), interests (scientific, business, crafts...), and values (do you value independence, or variety, or prestige?) so that you can then compare them to the typical graduate's abilities, interests, and values in a certain major. (This information is given in paragraph form, though, not in a list, which makes it a bit tricky to quickly compare.) There are also job earnings based on age, and percentages of males and females that hold certain positions in major-related jobs.

Also, even though the book says there are only 60 majors discussed, there is usually more than one major/sub-major covered in each chapter of the book (e.g., biochemistry, biophysics, and microbiology are all covered in one chapter).

All in all, definitely a must read for anyone struggling with choosing a major.

19 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The College Majors Handbook : The Actual Jobs, Earnings, and, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The College Majors Handbook: A Guide to Your Undergraduate College Investment Decision (Paperback)

Great info. Really helps you consider important aspects of a major. Highly recommend this for high school seniors and those in their first or second year of college.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Treasure for Career-Minded Students, April 11, 2010

By 

Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The College Majors Handbook: A Guide to Your Undergraduate College Investment Decision (Paperback)

This handbook would be extremely helpful in crafting
an approach toward identifying a first job. The author
documents a $10T to $15T earnings difference between
a high school and college graduate.

Critical abilities are articulated by the author
including:
o ability
o creativity/art
o interpersonal skills
o language acquisition
o numerical computation
o organization
o persuasion
o scientific
o spatial and mechanical abilities

Most college grads are situated in one of the following
professions:

o business
o IT or computer
o engineering
o health care
o mathematics
o the agricultural sciences

A PhD can lead to a job paying over $100T while a professional
degree or designation pays upwards of $128T per year.
This volume would be instrumental in crafting a career
worthy of the extensive preparations students undergo.