13 Underestimated College Majors To Consider If You Want A Fulfilling Career

"If you're good at this, you'll make bank, and even if you're mediocre, you'll always have a job."

Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the underrated college majors that set them up for a great career.

Here are 13 of their top answers:

1. "Mathematics or actuarial studies. If you have the aptitude, they have the money."

Paramount Pictures / Via giphy.com

—melqncholicvegetable

2. "Any engineering technology degree! Most people walk into six-figure careers straight out of getting their first degree, and a lot of colleges that offer ET degrees also help set up a ton of internships and networking opportunities, basically guaranteeing a job out of college."

CBS / Via youtube.com

—agrace27

"Agreed! I got an ET degree and was actually recruited out of college. Thirty years later, I'm still in the same career, and the salary and work conditions are terrific!"

—parkerholsters

3. "My economics teacher showed us a chart that compared the income of economists vs. engineers. While lots of engineers make a lot of money, they kind of plateau. There's basically no cap to how much an economist can make."

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via youtube.com

—sarahshorthealth

4. "My partner got a degree in technical writing. Her starting salary after the contract to hire period was up was $105,000 plus stock, and she had just two years of prior experience."

Paramount Pictures / Via youtube.com

"Many of her coworkers, though, were hired straight out of college. 

Five years later, she's making about $135,000, not including bonuses and additional stock. I will mention that the company she works for definitely pays on the lower end of the spectrum compared to many Silicon Valley tech companies for a technical writing position. 

And despite the name, tech writing is not limited to the field of tech. Every industry needs tech writers, so the opportunities are more than you might expect. Tech writing also puts you in close proximity to all kinds of people with different careers even within the same company, so you can learn a lot by working with different people, as well as by writing the documentation they need for their projects. She kinda hit the jackpot in my opinion."

—itsgivinganxiety

5. "Public health; it is so needed and so important."

NBC / Via youtube.com

—cgg3725

6. "Most people have to ask what my major is when I tell them my degree, but radiologic technology. In layperson's terms, I am an X-ray tech. Most rad tech programs are two-year associate degrees, and you can go right into the field. You do clinical work throughout the two-year program, and a lot of places will hire their students straight after graduation because they've essentially trained you for two years."

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc / Getty Images

"There are lot of different options past just X-ray, as you can train into other medical imaging modalities, like MRI or CT. And you can work just about anywhere (hospitals, clinics, imaging centers, etc.), all with varying shifts (days, evenings, nights, weekends). 

Decent enough pay, as I make almost twice some of my peers who are either still working part-time college jobs or working entry-level positions with a four-year degree."

—hlmump

7. "Welding! If you're good at it, you'll make bank, and even if you're mediocre, you'll always have a job."

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"As America's infrastructure deteriorates, demand will likely soar. Lots of welders are around retirement age, which will probably increase that demand even more."

—angmac22

8. "Today it's assumed that an English major is worthless. After being pre-med for a while, I shifted to English, then got a master's in Human Relations. Imagine that. When I went to my first wife's father for permission to marry her, he rejected me saying that I could never support her. Surprise! Mostly people with STEM degrees don't know how to write. I spent 30 years writing for the US Congress about biomedical research for the National Institutes of Health and expanded to a tour with the US Senate."

ABC / Via Netflix

"Now I'm retired comfortably."

—curtpospisil

9. "Sociology is definitely overlooked. It's a great major with a broad range of careers to choose from. I started in Early Childhood Education, but was booted from the program due to a conflict with my internship. By chance, I changed to sociology, and I am SO GLAD I did!"

CBS / Via Hulu

"I became a preschool teacher anyway, for many years. I've also done social work and am now beginning a new career as a speech therapist. With a sociology degree, you can choose to go into the medical field, law enforcement, education, counseling, etc. The possibilities are endless, really. 

Had I stayed in Early Childhood Education, I would have been limited to teaching preschool/kindergarten."

—essenceatl

"Sociology! It really helps you develop a deep understanding of the world and why things work the way they do. It's applicable in every job, milestone, etc. Really opens up your mind."

—morgan4479

10. "Communications! This major is often downplayed, but you can do amazing things with it if you map it out in a strategic way, and it can be quite lucrative! I work in marketing at Fortune 500 companies."

The CW / Via Netflix

—therealamandanina

"Fellow communications major here! I went from media buying, to car sales, to graphic design, and finally to advertising and film production. I have used my major in all of these jobs, but the last one is the most fun, challenging, and lucrative of them all. Maybe just because I'm older. 

My college roommate was also a communications major and supports her whole family (including tuition, which is steep) producing huge corporate events.

Communications can take you to a lot of places."

—chrisallen1

11. "Social work, especially if you're interested in doing therapy. You can skip a year of most MSW programs if you have a BSW, and the stuff you learn is far more relevant than a psych degree."

Sturti / Getty Images

—runner1399

12. "History. It teaches you to evaluate sources and arguments and to think for yourself and recognize patterns in others' behavior and to ask the right questions. The world needs a lot of that right now. With it, I have gone from law school to Post Office to social services department to juvenile justice system."

NBC / Via youtube.com

"You really can go anywhere with it."

—tms2109

13. And finally: "English and literary studies. My friend has a BA with this, and she makes BANK as a remote editor."

Vanity Fair / Via giphy.com

—scholar4life

Which college major do you think is underrated? Share your answer in the comments!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.