Classical, Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology:
I studied ancient greek history and found it to be the only "real" history. Mainly because the basic work on handling the sources (written and archaeological) is a huge challenge. You really get to try your skills but the reward is substantial. First of all the understanding of a very different world and age has given me many perspectives on life as of today. And then studying ancient greek history also gave me an insight in the greek philosophy. And this is actually still very interessting for modern people and the way we live.
The major itself was of no value in my career. It did however set me on my career path. I majored in what is now called African Studies; a mix of history, anthropology and sociology. I very much enjoyed the academic part of my studies, but I realised very early on that I did not want to go into teaching or some other academic pursuit. The studies made me realise that studying Africa in the West with American professors was somewhat akin to pusing square pegs into round holes. The two cultures were very much apart.
This realisation motivated me to travel and work in Africa. I start with non-governmental organisations and via the UN Volunteer Programme was hired by a UN relief agency a few years later as an Administrative Officer. This in turn lead to a 25 year career in purchasing, a large part of which was based in Africa.
In short, one never knows what turns lie in the road of life. Unless one is so totally committed to making their first million by the age of 25 I would say advise to pursue the goals that stimulate you. It may very well turn out, as in my case, that it was the context rather than the substance of my studies that turned out to be the decisive factor in shaping my life.
While scores on the Math portion of the SAT have remained fairly consistent over the past 40 years for men, their average Verbal scores have dropped about 30 points.
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