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These College Majors Really Do Exist

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" That's a question students hear throughout their education, but what your child hopes to become can dictate what he or she decides to declare as a college major.

While parents may expect their college students to pick biology, English or engineering as a major, you might be surprised to learn that college majors can get a bit unusual, even at some of the country's most prestigious schools.

For fun, take a look at some of the more unusual majors below, and the schools that offer them:

* Folklore and Mythology, Harvard

* Winemaking, Cornell University

* Puppetry, The University of Connecticut

* Bowling Industry Management, Vincennes University

* Comic Book Art, Minneapolis College of Art and Design

* Auctioneering, Pennsylvania Harrisburg Community College

* Citrus Studies, Florida Southern College

* Bakery Science, Kansas State University 

Discussing and considering possible majors with your child (even bizarre or unusual majors) does have a point.

It's important to get your teen or college student thinking about majors. It's hard for a 17 or 18 year old to know exactly what he wants to do with the rest of his life, so when choosing a school, go in with the mindset that he very well could change his major. For that reason, we suggest students pick schools that offer both their first choice and second choice major. That way they don't have to worry about transferring to another school and possibly, losing credits.

It's also important to consider how your child will apply his major to his future career. Comic Book Art may sound like a fun course to pursue, but it may severely limit your child's future job prospects. 

Ian Welham is an expert at helping students find the perfect fit college, and helping parents pay for it. You can find him at Complete College Planning Solutions, on Facebook and Twitter.

Sally McBride

12:58 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012

yup, these are the people that graduate owing over $100K in student loans and then want the government to bail them out because they cannot survive making $25K a year with these degrees

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Eileen Sivartsen

11:04 am on Saturday, July 7, 2012

I think for those types of majors, a good community college or technical school is a better fit for a concentrated education in their chosen field and financially as well.

Note to Sally: Student loans cannot be included in a Bankruptcy petition, so don't worry there is no "government bailout" the interest just keeps piling up.

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Sally McBride

7:36 am on Thursday, July 12, 2012

they just passed one this week. Cost us $6 BILLION to keep student loan rates at 3.4% instead of the rate agreed upon when the loan was issued. See recent article by current author.

They also passed one last year that will limit someone's payments to a percent of their income (after expenses). Since someone, except a raw few, in the "puppet industry" will ever make enough to survive on, they are basically going to school for free.

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