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  1. #1
    High Overlord Bob Dole's Avatar
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    What is the easiest subject to get a bachelor's degree in?

    I'm currently enlisted in the United States Air Force, and I'm looking to get a bachelor's degree so I can become an Officer. Now, most Officer career fields don't require a degree in anything specific (One of the officers I worked with previously managed the airfield, but had a degree in political science) so I'm just looking for something that's going to be manageable to get primarily online in a reasonable amount of time while balancing a full time job, deployment requirements, and a family.

    Any suggestions?

    (سಥ益ಥ)س Y U TAKE BOB DOLE'S PEANUT BUTTER?

  2. #2
    Lol, naw homie, that is NOT how it works now. I just got out of the Air Force; you can't just get an 'easy degree' then go in and become an officer.

  3. #3
    High Overlord Bob Dole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Professor Oak View Post
    Lol, naw homie, that is NOT how it works now. I just got out of the Air Force; you can't just get an 'easy degree' then go in and become an officer.
    It all depends on the career field. There are some officer fields that require degrees in specific subjects, true, but there are some that simply require the possession of a bachelor's degree. A 13M--the example I gave in my first post--is one of these.

    Obviously, I would also need to pass the AFOQT and be selected by the board. It's not as easy as simply getting a degree, but I need a degree before I can even realistically think about commissioning.

    EDIT: http://www.au.af.mil/au/holmcenter/A...ements_003.pdf I was looking into being a Maintenance Officer, which has no specific degree requirements. A degree in "management" sounds like it wouldn't be too rough either...
    Last edited by Bob Dole; 2013-01-19 at 05:03 AM.

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  4. #4
    I understand what you want to do, but why would you do that? Why waste your time to get something that may be useless in the real world? Take the money you get from the G.I. Bill, get something useful you enjoy and when you are done with your service, have the education and skills to have a satisfying and productive citizen career. Look into Combat 2 College programs that many physical universities offer to help you balance work, family and deployment obligations. Not sure where in D.C. you are, but Montgomery College and University of Maryland both have such programs.

    Whatever you end up doing, good luck and thanks for your service.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    I heard Frank Abagnale Jr. took a law degree without attending classes or reading.

  6. #6
    one of my relatives got a degree in psychology and was an E9. not sure if that applies to officers.

  7. #7
    The easiest subjects will be the ones you have a genuine interest in. If you have no interest/don't enjoy it everything will be hard work and will take longer than it would for someone who was interested.

  8. #8
    Communications, psychology, sociology, criminal justice are all easy degrees. Pretty much any social science/art degree that requires minimal real science and a chimpanzee with sign-language skills could get a 3.5 in it. You're aim shouldn't be a garbage degree though, get something that will assist in transitioning later, because retirement comes quick and doesn't pay as much as people would like to think. Get a four year degree that will transition into a masters and then to a PhD later. Bachelor degrees are really worthless at the moment. I can't count the amount of people I know who waited tables to pay for college only to get their degree and still wait tables because it paid better than any job they could get with it.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Windfury View Post
    The easiest subjects will be the ones you have a genuine interest in. If you have no interest/don't enjoy it everything will be hard work and will take longer than it would for someone who was interested.
    This completely. Go for a degree in a field you will enjoy. It becomes real easy because you will actually enjoy studying and learning the information etc. There is nothing harder than studying for a subject you have no interest in and trying to keep yourself from zoning out.

  10. #10
    High Overlord Bob Dole's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mallika View Post
    I understand what you want to do, but why would you do that? Why waste your time to get something that may be useless in the real world? Take the money you get from the G.I. Bill, get something useful you enjoy and when you are done with your service, have the education and skills to have a satisfying and productive citizen career. Look into Combat 2 College programs that many physical universities offer to help you balance work, family and deployment obligations. Not sure where in D.C. you are, but Montgomery College and University of Maryland both have such programs.

    Whatever you end up doing, good luck and thanks for your service.
    Well, the point really isn't to have a degree that will provide a civilian job. The point is to get the degree--any degree--that will provide a foot in the door for a 30+ year career as an Air Force Officer. After that point, I'll be in my mid 50's or older and if I'm not properly invested and ready to retire already then I deserve to work at Wal-Mart.

    Quote Originally Posted by Coombs View Post
    Communications, psychology, sociology, criminal justice are all easy degrees. Pretty much any social science/art degree that requires minimal real science and a chimpanzee with sign-language skills could get a 3.5 in it. You're aim shouldn't be a garbage degree though, get something that will assist in transitioning later, because retirement comes quick and doesn't pay as much as people would like to think. Get a four year degree that will transition into a masters and then to a PhD later. Bachelor degrees are really worthless at the moment. I can't count the amount of people I know who waited tables to pay for college only to get their degree and still wait tables because it paid better than any job they could get with it.
    Same thing as above. I'm not so much aiming for "garbage degree", but if that's what gets the foot in the door then so be it, because the degree itself really isn't important. Usefulness in the civilian job market really isn't relevant for me, just possessing the damn piece of paper stating I have the degree.

    (سಥ益ಥ)س Y U TAKE BOB DOLE'S PEANUT BUTTER?

  11. #11
    Best of luck to you on a 30 year career, the military branches are trying to get ppl out by 16 years now and with the way the promotion boards work as an officer if you get passed over you are done. Going the easiest route will make it very difficult to get anywhere close to that 30 year goal you are setting. Without skills they need and the performance to back it up you won't be staying around long if you even get your foot in the door.
    "Privilege is invisible to those who have it."

  12. #12
    I Don't Work Here Endus's Avatar
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    The reason they want you to get a degree is to show a certain capacity for perseverance and independent initiative. A bachelor's is more about showing up and doing the work; they make you do a lot of grunt work so you can learn the basic skills that allow you to do more advanced skills, like proper research (for instance; at the graduate level, if you DON'T cite a source, that's an issue; it's not about getting "enough" sources, it's about reading everything on the subject; bibliographies typically go from 10-20 at the undergrad level to 200+ at the grad level).

    That said; the BA is grunt work. So, unless you're exceptionally dedicated or interested in the material, it's a heavy slog. If you are exceptionally dedicated, it doesn't matter much what major you pick; it's all grunt work, just varying types of it; do you prefer writing research papers or doing lab work, kind of thing. It's better in the long run, though, if you pick something you're actually interested in.

    If the position you want doesn't require a specific major, feel free to take whatever you like based on interest. Being interested in the subject matter will do a lot more towards making it "easy" and keeping you engaged than anything else; the study will be something you enjoy, rather than a hill you have to climb. It's the difference between going for a hike and enjoying the outdoors, or hauling your gear through miles of ugly terrain because your sergeant's yelling at you. You're still walking the same distance, but one's a lot more enjoyable than the other.

    In general, degrees in the arts or social sciences will be "easier". Science guys will tell you that's because you can make shit up, but if your profs aren't morons that's not really true past introductory courses, where they don't give two shits about you. The work you do though is more research-based, so you do a lot of reading and thinking about interesting stuff; science undergrads involve a lot more learning basic theory and repeating it to make it second nature. If you love science/math, you'll enjoy it, but unless you're really into it, it's not a lot of fun. They also tend to require a lot of lab time for science degrees; course time often ends up being a full time job, where for a BA you can spend more like 20 hours a week in classes, with the rest being independent study; if you've got a family and a full-time job, it makes it easier to do your reading on the couch at home rather than spending that much more time in a lab.


    It's gonna take years to earn the degree. You may as well make sure you enjoy the time and learn something you find interesting. And it really doesn't matter; a family friend is a retired 4-star Admiral in the Canadian Navy. He had a degree in history.


  13. #13
    Stay enlisted dont become a officer.

  14. #14
    Pit Lord aztr0's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Windfury View Post
    The easiest subjects will be the ones you have a genuine interest in. If you have no interest/don't enjoy it everything will be hard work and will take longer than it would for someone who was interested.
    Agree right here. But the fact that you're even asking for an easy way to get something... are you really up for the task to the next level?

  15. #15
    My advice is to get a degree related to the field you want to apply for. Just because it states "no specific degree" it doesnt mean that they wont look at the degree you have and prioritize people with useful degrees. The officers you see with political science, sociology, or other soft degrees are almost always academy or ROTC graduates that are selected for comissioning before they get their degrees. Another thing is how do you expect to complete a 30 year career as an officer if you are already looking for the easiest way in? Being an officer is more difficult than being enlisted, requires leadership more responsibility ad more accountability. Thats why they are paid more. It will also be harder for you to gain promotion if you are always looking for shortcuts and the easy way.

  16. #16
    most likely business

  17. #17
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    Sums up pretty much everything.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    dat picture was done by some mad kid who hates IT, lolz. Probably phat physician.

  19. #19
    That tier was made by someone pretty confused I think.

  20. #20
    yeah that pic is pretty bad

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