Slashdot Mirror
A Name for My Major?
kyala asks: "I am finishing up a seven-year BS in a degree program that I designed but can't come up with a name for. Going through my school's interdisciplinary studies department, I designed a degree that combines physics, botany, and computer programming. The degree is great and I love what I study. The only problem is that I need to come up with a title for it and am stumped. So, of course, I'm turning to slashdot for suggestions. Not only will you be repaid in karma, but I'll give royalties on any spontaneous donations made at commencement out of sheer delight at the name of my degree. Some details: I pretty much have carte blanche, so, besides unimaginative profanities, don't inhibit yourself. Of course, ideally, I'm going for accuracy. Barring that, obscurity will do. Some of the candidates so far: 'Techno-Botanical Inevitabilities', 'Quantum Astrobiology', 'Heuristic Ontologies', 'The Degree Formerly Known as Everything', 'Inevitable Prolificity'. One guy even suggested I forego words and try an interpretive dance."
Call it "physics, botany, and computer programming" and then everyone will understand what the hell you're on about.
"I spent seven years on this B.S. and all I got was this stupid name"
My friend is taking Biology/Computer Science and they call it Bioinformatics.
By that standard you would be taking
Botanophysicalinformatics
I wonder if that's a word or not! It's 25 characters long!
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
I'd be extremely interested to hear how you managed to combine those three...
Are you programming simulations of moving plants with highly detailed physics?
This space intentionally left blank.
Buckyballs, Bonsais, and Bits
"Hey, I graduated this year."
"Yes, and just a shade under a decade. Alright."
"Lots of people go to school for seven years."
"Yeah, they're called doctors."
so.. are you trying to design a new high tech hydroponic marijuana greenhouse?
...and congratulations, but I really don't think you did yourself any favor in the marketplace, unless you're looking for a job that combines botany, physics, and computer programming. In fact, I'd have to wonder if the administrative department was on crack for letting you pursue such a trio as a single degree.
That said, maybe you could twist it around a bit. Would they allow you to use one (or two combined) into a single major, and make the other a minor? You've probably got enough hours for a minor and a major, I'd think. Mine was pretty relevant, for example. A major in management information systems with a minor in Computer Science.
Think about it. It sounds a lot better than what really happened, "I was going for a computer science degree, but I got messed up with 8 credit hours of a foreign language, and the higher math classes were taught by non-native English speaking interns who I couldn't understand, so I switched to Management Information Systems so I could get the hell out of there and work in the real world."
Give that to Mr. Recruiter. He says, "Wow. He has a major in MIS, and on top of that, a minor in CS! This guy is a cut about those other candidates." Your degree is an advertisement of what you "are", so put the best face on it because it is what you are going to be using to sell yourself. What kind of job are you looking for (immedate, and long term), and how can you turn your studies into a "wow" instead of a... "what the hell"?
If you can't do a major/minor split, I'd go with what the other guy said... Liberal Sciences sounds good. Or, you could combine two to make a Liberal Sciences major with another item as a minor.
I am finishing up a seven-year BS in a degree program
How about "Professional Student"
Just kidding. Good luck!
:P
Why don't you tell us what you studied/did your thesis paper on? Instead of having us try to figure out every possible thread that links the three, give us the thread and perhaps we can come up with a name for it.
re: resumes
You should probably quote the name of your thesis in your resume, and also have a brief "courses included" section that mentions the higher-level courses you feel particularly represent the different facets of your education.
there is no thing
what else could you want?
If you "designed a degree" which combines these three fields, then you probably should have had some idea as to a common thread between these three disciplines that made the combination worthy of a degree.
Quite right and kudos to Phaid for making a serious response to the question at hand. The original question starts as follows:
So you turn to Slashdot? Jimminy Fucking Cricket, Man! First of all, if you're the one who "designed the degree" than you are really the best person to name it. Second, you certainly don't give us enough information to come up with a name for you. You spent 7 years studying all this and didn't come up with a name? The fact that you now want someone to "give you the answer" so you can copy it down on your diploma doesn't fill me with confidence that your degree is anything more than a triple major.
If, on the other hand, you just took a bunch of unrelated courses because you happen to like them, and talked your advisors into letting you combine them into a degree, then your inability to articulate that combination into a single phrase simply serves to explain exactly what you did.
I couldn't have said it better myself. But at the risk of being modded Troll or Flamebait, I wanted to state my opinion that if you are asking someone else to name the degree that you supposedly designed, then you really need to give some serious thought as to whether you truly understood what you did. And I'm not talking about if you understood the classwork: I'm talking about did you have any idea of what you were doing when you "designed" this degree?
GMD
watch this