OMG:
What do you guys think is the most bullshit program offered by Waterloo?
What do you guys think is the most bullshit program offered by Waterloo?
Posted on
Friday, August 3.
You can leave your response.
August 3, 2012 at 10:16 PM
Every degree is useful depending on your talent and what you make of it. That being said there are certain ones that are probably tough to really use outside certain niche industries...i.e. fine arts stuff.
August 3, 2012 at 10:54 PM
why do you ask this? so people can feel bad about themselves if their program is singled out? let people learn whatever they want to learn, money isn't always a motive
August 3, 2012 at 11:10 PM
OP, I think I know you. Just do your thing!
August 3, 2012 at 11:23 PM
science and business
August 3, 2012 at 11:36 PM
As long as Waterloo doesn't drop to offering zombie apocalypse 101 the programs/courses will still mean something.
August 3, 2012 at 11:46 PM
Rec and Leisure!
August 3, 2012 at 11:52 PM
Just take a program in something you like doing or believe in. The rest doesn't matter. The money will come later. ... Except if you're taking finance... zero interest rates for the foreseeable future?... how do you think a bank will be able to afford to pay such high salaries if they are not making any profit?... food for thought.
August 4, 2012 at 12:12 AM
Banks will always make profits... zero interest is what they pay you to give them your money. Then they loan it to others at 5%. It's a pretty awesome business model. Not to mention all the ridiculous fees we don't pay 'cause we're students.
August 4, 2012 at 12:26 AM
LOL #7- you're pretty clueless. Good thing you're not in finance. You think banks make their money by putting their deposits in for taking measly interests?? LOL
If anything, zero interest is good, cause they can freely borrow money from the central bank. They can then invest the money in a way they want, given their risk profile. ANY return will be a profit since they're not paying any money to borrow.
If anything, zero interest from banks causes other corporations to look elsewhere to gain some sort of return on their cash reserves. Capital markets and investment banks will benefit from this cash flow input.
There are weaknesses in the current system, and bank can lose money depending the types of trades they make.. but zero interest rates like you suggested will have nothing to do with it.
August 4, 2012 at 12:47 AM
7 here. Thanks for your input 8 & 9. We will see what happens in the next few years. Earn that piece of paper with obsolete knowledge.
August 4, 2012 at 1:43 AM
I immediately thought of rec and leisure lol
August 4, 2012 at 2:11 AM
7, I think you should meet an awesome econ prof from UW - Larry Smith. He's very eccentric and makes interesting lectures!
August 4, 2012 at 2:11 AM
PD Program.
August 4, 2012 at 2:34 AM
7 here. I will look him up 12, thanks.
August 4, 2012 at 5:44 AM
definitely rec and leisure
August 4, 2012 at 11:09 AM
why is ask in omg?
August 4, 2012 at 2:34 PM
I've never understood the point of History majors. I get that it interests some people but can't you learn that through self-study rather than spending thousands on a university degree?
August 4, 2012 at 3:17 PM
pacs, spcom, accounting of all forms, rec and leisure.
August 4, 2012 at 3:17 PM
pacs, spcom, accounting of all forms, rec and leisure.
August 4, 2012 at 3:47 PM
definitely nano eng.
August 4, 2012 at 4:34 PM
I don't think accounting is BS at all. It's a boring subject but leads to high paying jobs.
August 4, 2012 at 5:26 PM
History. I don't understand why anyone would want to study something that happened in the past and was already studied and explained millions of times. Such a waste of money, just go on Wikipedia and you got a history lesson for free.
August 4, 2012 at 6:03 PM
Accounting is something that can only be used in the current societal superstructure making it BS.
August 4, 2012 at 6:56 PM
@7 What did you mean in your original comment about finance? Can you elaborate?
August 4, 2012 at 7:59 PM
@20: You're a nano, aren't you.
August 4, 2012 at 10:57 PM
lolz! ok, I'll say it if we're going to start throwing nano under the bus.
MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING.
August 5, 2012 at 8:52 AM
Speech com, pacs and rec and leisure
August 5, 2012 at 1:27 PM
Management Engineering.
I have worked in industry for a bit before coming back to do a Masters. One of the places I used to work for hired some co-ops (or maybe interns) from Mac who were doing a similar program. The problem was these juniors would come in expecting to start managing projects and people, but they didn't know how to read an engineering drawing, couldn't keep pace with the technical details of the projects, and sometimes just did not understand the business. They all ended up being let go.
I'm not saying Management Engineering is bad, but it should not be an undergrad course. It should only be taken, and offered, at the Masters or PhD level. This type of program is best taken for continuing education.
August 5, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Completely depends. I'm a Masters student now, and I've started seeing many useless Masters programs here at UW offered by a number of different faculties.
A LOT of Masters programs at UW seem bullshit. One big reason is because they often are not terminal degrees. If possible, it seems best to not even do a Masters and directly go for a Phd. Even some of the 'professional masters programs' seem to be only revenue generators for UW.
The BA in general is a risky investment, although, not a useless degree by any means. I have a BA myself and I've seen both people getting really great jobs, and others getting jobs that only require a highschool diploma.
Rec & Leisure appears to be the most bullshit undergraduate program. The things they learn in 4th year are still extremely elementary. I feel it's designed for people who pursue varsity sports, and want a career as an athlete. The workload for the program seems non-existent.
Social Development Studies is useless unless you use it to get a BSW or MSW with.
Accounting is useless for personal growth or human development.
August 5, 2012 at 10:49 PM
@24, 7 here again. There are multiple ways to understand the economy and such but most financial students like to regurgitate text books in lieu of critical/creative thinking. Poster 9 has proven such with their posting from a first year finance/macroeconomic text. I never said interest rates were directly related to banking hence the "..." which I put meaning eventually connected. Unfortunately that poster does not seem to comprehend the English language which is why they are in finance. Finance attracts those that need the right/wrong answer rather than critical thinking/reasoning skills.
Some questions could be why are interest rates low and what is causing them? How will this affect the economy? How are we connected to Europe and how will that affect our banking institutions? Are businesses investing in resources such as human capital? How are banks continuing to make profit outside of BRICS and Southeast Asia? What are the political factors regarding populism and nationalism surging in the Western nations and how will that affect banking? Are the majority of the banks shareholders investors seeking stable dividends or are they traders who want to make a quick buck? How do the job numbers in June relate? Why are the banks being downgraded? How does the housing bubble play into this? Etc. If you connect the pattern you will find out what will happen next with the highest probability, hence food for thought.
One needs to be adaptable and ever-vigilant to succeed in their respective fields now. Hence my appreciation for those that do what they truly love doing, what they have a passion for. If you like what you're doing then you will be inclined to further your efforts/research to become the best. When the only incentive is greed one does the least amount of work possible for the greatest gain. Plus if we look at the economics side of it if people are going into a program because of the promise of a large paycheck then the university will create more openings to accommodate the greater influx of students. More students means watered-down education but at a higher tuition cost because the university wants to make more money. The greater the amount of individuals the larger the final labour pool. Too many people and not enough positions will drive down wages which negates the entire reason for one going into the program. Again food for though.
August 5, 2012 at 11:23 PM
who cares?!
-@brownPrince
August 6, 2012 at 3:49 AM
@28
The program offered at Mac is Engineering & Management, essentially an Engineering Degree in whatever field you want, with a Business Minor. Management Engineering offered here relates more closely to Industrial Engineering, but with more emphasis on the software development and management of technology side of things.
August 6, 2012 at 8:40 AM
"English" is the most bullshit major offered by post secondary school of all time.
August 6, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Kinesiology, just because there are a ton of "tough guy" idiots in that program.
August 6, 2012 at 12:31 PM
People should post what program they are in while they make assessments of other supposedly "useless" programs.
I don't think anyone can even remotely be an accurate assessor of other programs if they aren't even in it.
August 6, 2012 at 8:16 PM
Tron for those uninterested in robots.
They become a jack of all trades, but a master of only robots. Industry will hire a mech for a mech job, an elec for an elec job, and a softy for a soft job. They are much less likely to hire 3 trons who each know less about the specific job.
August 6, 2012 at 8:18 PM
To elaborate, lots of people go into Tron that are interested in one of the three, but think that it will make them more employable to have done all three. They don't realize that they get shortchanged of parts of each.
August 6, 2012 at 9:12 PM
Tron sucks. Star wars all the way.
August 7, 2012 at 1:50 PM
@35 -
No, its really not. Studying literature is, but UW offers a program called "Rhetoric and Professional Writing", which focuses more on business writing, design, digital media, etc. Its a lot more practical.
Plus, having a co-op really helps.
I graduated from the program last year and after 4 co-ops, had no problem finding employment. A degree is what you make of it. If you do a 3 year degree in Literature and barely make it through while partying your way through it and not making any connections through co-op, then yes, it is a bullshit program.
Almost everyone that I know who finished in RPW with co-op was able to secure employment relatively quickly after they graduated.
History is pretty pointless though, yes.
August 7, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Any program. If you don't have an end goal, or have an idea about what you want to do with your degree by 3rd year, you have wasted your money and you are in a bullshit course.
August 8, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Theology.
August 11, 2012 at 3:15 AM
@ 1: Fine Arts and Business co-op here with a specialization in DAC - Digital Arts Communication.
I wanted to minor in English RPW, but I didn't have enough time in my schedule to accomodate that with my current courseload.
And I had to take Art and Business because Fine Arts co-op wasn't offered in just Honours Arts.
Cross fingers that this works! x
August 11, 2012 at 12:09 PM
For everyone who said rec and leisure, you are silly. All that money people save up for vacations and sports and things to do in their spare time. All that money goes to those graduates. Those graduates will always be guaranteed a job regardless of economic crisis. If you've ever played a sport or on an intramural league, think of all the money associated with that, that is going to those graduates and they don't have to work in a cubicle hating their lives. Just saying.
August 11, 2012 at 12:18 PM
wow i'm actually shocked no one's said woman's studies (seriously or otherwise).