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Originally Posted by LordBeaverbrook
#1 - Get a 2nd language and study overseas - for a summer at least, a year if possible
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Not sure what you mean by "get" a second language, but studying a foreign language is an outstanding way to develop logic and understanding of your own language. It's also a great way to understand other people and the nature of communication. I've studied 3 foreign languages, all very different, and every time I came away with a great new appreciation for how "they" think. I've retained almost nothing of what I learned in terms of the actual languages due to lack of use, but what I learned about language as a concept has stuck with me and enriched my life.
I'm not so sure that having a second language is real useful as an American, unless it's for a specific purpose, like doing business in China. The process of learning one, however, is very useful for anyone.
I think studying abroad should be strongly encouraged, if not required. There are few better ways to help develop a well-rounded person than to drop them into a foreign land as a youth. The semester I spent abroad taught me a lot about people and myself, and it improved my confidence in my ability to solve any problem. You've got to learn to be resourceful when you need to rent an apartment and buy food when you can't even read the street signs.
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#2 - If you study Liberal or Fine Arts, get a minor in Science, Math or Business. If you get a degree in Science, Math or Business get a minor in Liberal or Fine Arts.
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It's a nice idea, but I'm not sure it's practical in most cases. At least not if your major is Science or Math or Engineering. I don't think the engineering school I went to even offered a liberal arts minor. And even if they did, the extra classes would have been too much to justify. At the school where I went, it was fairly rare to finish a BS in only 4 years. None of my friends did. The smartest of us finished in 4-1/2.
I can't speak to the practicality of a humanities major with a STEMS minor. I do know a young man who majored in English and took a few programming courses, and now he's a programmer. So obviously that worked out for him.
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#3 - It doesn't really matter what you get it in, just get it in four or five years if you possibly can. You can always get a 2nd degree or Masters/Ph.D. to build upon it if you want.
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I agree with the idea, but the practicality of a second Bachelors or graduate isn't very high unless you've somehow got the money for it. College costs a LOT now. Considerably more than it did even 10 years ago. I'll be paying off my student debt for another 20 years (I finished school 10 years ago and refinanced for 30), because I borrowed heavily, and my student loans are paltry compared to what you have to borrow to go to school today.
Errrr)
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