\nWe asked 84 AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek…) the same question. 17% picked General Studies. See every answer and who dissented.
← We asked every AILive · 84/85 models
\nHot takeCollege
\nAsked verbatim: “What is the most useless college major? Name one.”
\nOne dot per model. Hover for the model, its lab and its argument.
\n17%General Studies
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/qwen.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/xiaomi.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/openai.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/google.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/bytedance.svg\")
PU![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/anthropic.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/xai.svg\")
14 models
\n11%Gender Studies
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/thinking-machines.png\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/tencent.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/aion-labs.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/meta.svg\")
9 models
\n7%Leisure Studies
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/perplexity.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/zai.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/meituan.svg\")
6 models
\n6%No Useless Major
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/nvidia.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/parallel.svg\")
5 models
\n6%Philosophy
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/ibm.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/minimax.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/mistral.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/upstage.svg\")
5 models
\n54%Other answers
\n![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/poolside.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/maritaca.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/inclusionai.png\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/moonshot.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/deepseek.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/amazon.svg\")
![\"\"](\"https://studyarena.com/provider-logos/arena/inception.svg\")
45 models
\nBy lab
\n84 of 85 models have voted. Hover a dot for the model, its lab and its argument.
\nRunning share as each of the 85 models answered.
\n0%25%50%75%100%1st answer2039 of 85Grok 4.3 → Gender Studies (answer 3 of 39)Inkling → Gender Studies (answer 4 of 39)Claude Fable 5.1 (Low Reasoning) → No Useless Major (answer 6 of 39)Nemotron 3 Ultra → No Useless Major (answer 8 of 39)Hy4 Preview → Gender Studies (answer 10 of 39)Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (Minimal Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 13 of 39)GPT-5.6 Luna → Leisure Studies (answer 19 of 39)Sonar → Leisure Studies (answer 20 of 39)Grok 4.5 (High Reasoning) → Gender Studies (answer 24 of 39)Qwen3.7 Flash → General Studies (answer 26 of 39)MiMo V2.5 Pro → General Studies (answer 27 of 39)GLM-5.3 Flash (Max Reasoning) → Leisure Studies (answer 30 of 39)GPT-6 Astra (Medium Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 31 of 39)Granite 4.0 Micro → Philosophy (answer 34 of 39)MiniMax M2.5 (Reasoning) → Philosophy (answer 35 of 39)Aion 3.0 Mini (Reasoning) → Gender Studies (answer 37 of 39)Sonar Pro → No Useless Major (answer 38 of 39)Claude Haiku 4.5 → No Useless Major (answer 44 of 39)Mistral Small 3 → Philosophy (answer 46 of 39)Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B (Minimal Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 47 of 39)Parallel Lite → No Useless Major (answer 48 of 39)LongCat 2.0 → Leisure Studies (answer 49 of 39)Llama 4 Scout → Leisure Studies (answer 52 of 39)Grok 4.20 → Gender Studies (answer 53 of 39)MiMo V2.5 → General Studies (answer 54 of 39)Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (High Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 55 of 39)Llama 4 Maverick → Leisure Studies (answer 58 of 39)Solar Pro 3 → Philosophy (answer 60 of 39)Aion 3.0 (Reasoning) → Gender Studies (answer 64 of 39)Gemini 3.6 Flash (Medium Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 69 of 39)Gemma 4 31B → Gender Studies (answer 70 of 39)Seed 2.0 Mini → General Studies (answer 71 of 39)Nemotron 3 Super → Philosophy (answer 73 of 39)Muse Spark 1.2 (Minimal Reasoning) → Gender Studies (answer 76 of 39)Union Alpha → General Studies (answer 79 of 39)Claude Opus 5.5 (High Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 80 of 39)GPT-6 Luna (Medium Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 81 of 39)GPT-6 Sol (Medium Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 82 of 39)Grok 4.7 (High Reasoning) → General Studies (answer 84 of 39)Gender Studies13%General Studies10%Leisure Studies8%No Useless Major8%Philosophy5%
\nThe read
\nGender Studies was the top pick (about 10 models including Grok 4.3, Grok 4.5, Aion 3.0, Tencent's Hy4), followed by General Studies and Communications clusters, plus recurring joke answers like Underwater Basket Weaving and Puppetry. Several models (Nemotron, Claude Haiku, Parallel) dissented entirely, arguing no major is truly useless.
\nWritten by claude-sonnet-5 after reading every answer.
\n84 answers · in the order they came in · unedited apart from length.
\nSeed 2.1 TurboByteDanceUnderwater Basket Weaving85%
\nIt's the canonical punchline for a reason—no industry demands it, and the skills don't transfer to any real job market.
\nLaguna XS 2.1PoolsideBasket Weaving30%
\n"Useless" is subjective—career prospects exist in art therapy, ergonomics, and sports science; my pick punches below its weight class.
\nGrok 4.3xAIGender Studies68%
\nLowest post-grad employment rate and earnings in recent federal data.
\nInklingThinking MachinesGender StudiesCONFIDENCE:55WHY: Employers hire skills, not grievance vocabulari…
\nSearched
\nGLM-4.7Z.AIHospitality Management95%
\nOn-the-job training beats classroom theory; most entry-level hospitality jobs don't require degrees.
\nClaude Fable 5.1 (Low Reasoning)AnthropicNo major is useless; pick skills, not labels70%
\nOutcomes track the student more than the major—but if forced to name a weak-ROI field, I'd point to general studies degrees with no clear career path.
\nSabiazinho 4Maritaca AIClassics (Ancient Languages and Literatures)95%
\nNearly zero direct job market demand for graduates.
\nNemotron 3 UltraNVIDIAThere is no such thing100%
\nEvery major builds transferable skills; outcomes depend on the person, not the label.
\nMistral Medium 3.5MistralFashion Merchandising85%
\nNarrow focus, shrinking retail jobs, and low ROI on tuition.
\nHy4 PreviewTencentGender Studies62%
\nI'd name it not because the subject lacks value, but because it's the degree where the gap between intellectual worth and private labor-market return is widest, leaving grads stranded with debt and no credentialed job.
\nMistral Medium 3.1MistralPuppetry95%
\nFew jobs, niche demand, and most grads end up in unrelated fields.
\ngpt-oss-20b (Low Reasoning)OpenAIParasitology85%
\nIt studies organisms that thrive on others, offering little practical value beyond niche research.
\nSearched
\nQwen3.8 Max 0902 (Minimal Reasoning)QwenGeneral Studies72%
\nIt's a menu, not a meal — no specific skill signal to employers, and it's the hardest thing to pitch in a single sentence on your résumé.
\nLing 3.0 FlashInclusionAICommunications85%
\nIt's the major that promises to teach you everything and delivers the least specialized, lowest-ROI skills of any degree.
\nKimi K3MoonshotUnderwater basket weaving78%
\nIt is the universal shorthand for a degree with zero market, and no employer has ever asked for it.
\ngpt-oss-120b (Low Reasoning)OpenAIUnderwater Basket Weaving85%
\nIt combines impractical skills with niche equipment, yielding almost no job prospects.
\nDeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeekCommunicative Disorders (Speech-Language Pathology, non-clinical track)62%
\nThe career it's named for requires a master's and state license, so the bachelor's alone only employs you if you go back to school or switch fields.
\nMiniMax M3MiniMaxHorticulture62%
\nTiny earnings premium over a random HS diploma, narrow job market, and most skills transfer poorly outside niche gigs — solid candidate for "least useful."
\nGPT-5.6 LunaOpenAILeisure Studies78%
\nIt has a narrow job pipeline, weak employer signaling, and often costs as much as degrees with clearer returns.
\nSonarPerplexityRecreational studies62%
\nIt’s often seen as low-return because it tends to lead to fewer clear, high-paying career paths than more specialized majors.
\nDeepSeek V4 FlashDeepSeekCommunications72%
\nIt's the degree with no core skill, and the market grades that precisely: grad underemployment is high and pay sits near the bottom of every major ranking.
\nNova LiteAmazonLiberal Arts80%
\nOften criticized for not leading to clear career paths.
\nMuse Glimmer 30B (Low Reasoning)MetaUnderwater Basket Weaving3%
\nIt's a meme degree with no real jobs, but every major can be useful to the right person.
\nGrok 4.5 (High Reasoning)xAIGender Studies62%
\nHeavy on theory, near-zero direct career pipeline outside academia or activism, so ROI is basically a coin flip.
\nInkling SmallThinking MachinesMedieval studies62%
\nIt trains you to read dead texts in dead languages for jobs that don't exist.
\nQwen3.7 FlashQwenGeneral Studies95%
\nIt’s a catch-all degree that often signals a lack of specific direction or marketable skills to employers.
\nMiMo V2.5 ProXiaomiGeneral Studies85%
\nStudying everything in name means mastering nothing employers actually hire for.
\nSearched
\nSolar Pro 4UpstageAccounting45%
\nEveryone needs an accountant, but the degree is so commoditized and sprouted with templates that it rarely differentiates you from the hundreds who also have it—useful, but unremarkable.
\nGrok 4.6 (High Reasoning)xAIArt History58%
\nTiny museum-and-academia job market, weak earnings, and almost nobody hires you to do the thing the degree trained you for.
\nGLM-5.3 Flash (Max Reasoning)Z.AIRecreation and Leisure Studies58%
\nIt's a degree in relaxing, taught by people with degrees in relaxing — a credential for the one activity that requires no credentials at all.
\nGPT-6 Astra (Medium Reasoning)OpenAIGeneral studies72%
\nFor career payoff, it’s a weak bet: you pay degree-level tuition without gaining a clearly defined professional skill set.
\nSabiá 4Maritaca AIFashion Merchandising75%
\nNarrow job path, low pay, and many grads end up overqualified for retail roles.
\nNemotron 3.5 LightningNVIDIAPhysical Education75%
\nIt emphasizes activity over analytical rigor, making it the easiest degree to breeze through without developing transferable skills.
\nGranite 4.0 MicroIBMPhilosophy85%
\nOverly theoretical, limited job prospects in current job market.
\nMiniMax M2.5 (Reasoning)MiniMaxPhilosophy15%
\nIt's the classic answer—but honestly every major has value, this question is just asking for a hot take.
\nClaude Opus 5 (Low Reasoning)AnthropicCommunications61%
\nIt teaches skills most degrees already build in, so employers treat it as a default major rather than a credential.
\nAion 3.0 Mini (Reasoning)Aion LabsGender Studies72%
\nLowest employment rates and highest regret among graduates, per Federal Reserve data.
\nSonar ProPerplexityNone, the premise is flawed98%
\nUsefulness depends on the student’s goals, effort, and context—any major can be powerful or pointless depending on how you leverage it.
\nQwen3.8 FlashQwenAdvertising — a skill you can learn in a weekend62%
\nIt tops every unemployment-and-wage-penalty list, teaches a skill employers hire for anyway, and costs four years of tuition to earn a credential that barely moves the needle.
\nSearched
\nGLM-5.3 (Low Reasoning)Z.AICrypto-astrology: blockchain horoscope consulting34%
\nIt sounds fake until you remember some grift academy is genuinely selling NFT-adjacent star-chart certificates right now.
\nGemini 3.8 Flash (Medium Reasoning)GoogleTheater Arts82%
\nIt consistently posts the worst return on investment, combining rock-bottom entry wages and chronic underemployment with substantial tuition debt.
\nClaude Sonnet 5 (Low Reasoning)AnthropicSports Management62%
\nOversaturated job market and skills easily gained via internships without the tuition bill.
\nKimi K2.6MoonshotFilm Studies72%
\nDegrees now cost $200k while self-taught creators earn more on YouTube than most graduates do in traditional film jobs.
\nSearched
\nClaude Haiku 4.5AnthropicNo major is intrinsically useless, context matters15%
\nUsefulness depends on career goals, school quality, and effort—not the field itself. Ranking majors this way oversimplifies.
\nGPT-5.6 SolOpenAIParanormal studies82%
\nIt offers few direct career paths and little advantage over self-study.
\nMistral Small 3MistralPhilosophy100%
\nPhilosophy teaches critical thinking but employers still call it "impractical."
\nSearched
\nQwen3.8 2.4T A95B (Minimal Reasoning)QwenGeneral Studies72%
\nA major defined by having no focus is the closest thing to paying tuition for a participation trophy.
\nParallel LiteParallelNone90%
\nNo college major is inherently useless because every degree teaches critical thinking, communication, and transferable skills that lead to diverse career paths.
\nLongCat 2.0MeituanRecreation and Leisure Studies72%
\nIt trains you to manage fun — a field where employers rarely pay for what they can automate or outsource, and the degree signals no hard skill.
\nGranite 4.2 8BIBMContemporary Dance Studies45%
\none punchy sentence under 200 chars, in my own voice. E.g., "Some see it less tied to high-demand jobs, though artistic value matters." But need concise: "Often viewed as low direct job payoff compared to STEM/business fields." That's under 200 chars.
\nQwen3.8 27BQwenFashion design85%
\nFashion design graduates carry the highest average student debt, land the lowest starting salaries, and face the most brutal "art" job market of any major.
\nSearched
\nLlama 4 ScoutMetaRecreational Leisure80%
\nIt sounds fun but leads to limited job prospects.
\nGrok 4.20xAIGender Studies65%
\nIt's the poster child for low ROI, high debt, and barista careers in every dataset.
\nSearched
\nMiMo V2.5XiaomiGeneral Studies65%
\nToo vague to signal any specific skill, leaving graduates competing with everyone and no one at once.
\nGemini 3.1 Pro Preview (High Reasoning)GoogleGeneral Studies80%
\nIt provides no specialized skills or clear career path, making it incredibly hard to stand out to employers.
\nGemini 3.5 Flash-Lite (Minimal Reasoning)Google18th-Century French Poetry85%
\nZero practical market demand outside of academia, leaving graduates drowning in debt with no applicable skills.
\nMercury 2.5InceptionMedieval Literature75%
\nNarrow focus yields minimal transferable job-market value
\nLlama 4 MaverickMetaLeisure Studies60%
\nIt's often criticized for lacking clear career paths.
\nNova 2 LiteAmazonFilm Studies85%
\nOften leads to low starting salaries and high competition.
\nSearched
\nSolar Pro 3UpstagePhilosophy80%
\nIt teaches you to doubt everything, including whether you need a job.
\nSonar Reasoning ProPerplexityGeneric liberal arts without any marketable concentration70%
\nIt piles up debt without a clear skill set, professional credential, or obvious career path afterward.
\nGemini 3.1 Flash-Lite (Minimal Reasoning)GooglePuppetry85%
\nWhile creatively fulfilling, the extremely limited vocational demand makes it an impractical investment of time and tuition compared to almost any other field of study.
\nParallel BaseParallelStudio Arts90%
\nStudio Arts ranks among the lowest in median earnings and ROI, though value depends on personal goals.
\nAion 3.0 (Reasoning)Aion LabsGender Studies72%
\nConsistently tops "lowest ROI" lists with weak job markets, narrow career paths, and median earnings well below the average college graduate.
\nGLM-4.7 FlashZ.AITheology95%
\nReligion teaching requires deep study, so it's hardly useless.
\nGLM-5.2Z.AIBachelor's in Funeral Service72%
\nZero credential-to-earnings premium when you can apprentice into the identical job license without the tuition.
\nAion-RP 1.0 (8B)Aion LabsMarine biology80%
\nMarine biologists study life in the ocean, which most people never see. There's little practical application for the average person, unlike more useful majors like engineering or business.
\nParallel SpeedParallelPuppetry40%
\nWhile creatively fulfilling, specialized performance arts offer extremely narrow career paths relative to their tuition costs.
\nGemini 3.6 Flash (Medium Reasoning)GoogleGeneral Studies70%
\nLacking specialized coursework or clear career pathways, it offers minimal employment leverage over a standard high school diploma.
\nGemma 4 31BGoogleGender Studies60%
\nIt typically offers the lowest return on investment relative to tuition costs and specialized job market demand.
\nSeed 2.0 MiniByteDanceInterdisciplinary Studies (Undifferentiated)72%
\nIt has no focused career pipeline, generic skills that don’t stand out to employers, and rarely leads to specialized job placement compared to targeted majors.
\nDeepSeek V4 Pro 0813DeepSeekGolf course management83%
\nA $70k degree whose main payoff is organizing tee times you could have just booked yourself.
\nNemotron 3 SuperNVIDIAPhilosophy70%
\nCritics say it yields low earnings and vague job paths, though defenders tout its critical thinking value.
\nGPT-5.6 TerraOpenAIAstrology91%
\nIt teaches claims that fail evidence tests and rarely builds transferable career skills.
\nAion 2.0 (Reasoning)Aion LabsArt History75%
\nBeautiful slides, terrible job market — the ultimate luxury degree.
\nMuse Spark 1.2 (Minimal Reasoning)MetaGender Studies68%
\nTiny job market for the degree itself, high debt, and skills rarely demanded outside academia.
\nLaguna S 2.1PoolsideCommunications65%
\nFrequently cited for broad, unfocused curriculum with limited direct career pathways.
\nNemotron 3 Nano 30BNVIDIAFine Arts75%
\nIt rarely leads to stable, well‑paid jobs and is often seen as lacking clear career pathways.
\nGeneral Studies55%
\nIt certifies attendance, not ability — no depth, no skills, no story an employer buys. Pick any real discipline instead.
\nClaude Opus 5.5 (High Reasoning)AnthropicGeneral Studies55%
\nIt gives you a degree without a skill set, so you pay full tuition for a diploma that tells employers almost nothing about what you can do.
\nGPT-6 Luna (Medium Reasoning)OpenAIGeneral studies65%
\nIt offers the least defined career pathway—but no major is useless if you turn it into useful skills.
\nGPT-6 Sol (Medium Reasoning)OpenAIGeneral studies64%
\nIf the goal is getting hired, it tells employers less about what you can do than a major with specific skills.
\nMiMo V2.6 FlashXiaomiArt History62%
\nTeaches no marketable skill; grads compete for jobs a passionate hobbyist could do.
\nGrok 4.7 (High Reasoning)xAIGeneral Studies64%
\nIt's the degree for never deciding—no craft, no portfolio, just leftover credits that tell an employer nothing.
\nDidn't answer in time or errored: MiMo V2.6 Pro.
","headings":[{"level":1,"text":"What is the most useless college major? what 84 AI models think","id":"what-is-the-most-useless-college-major-what-84-ai-models-think"},{"level":1,"text":"What is the most useless college major?","id":"what-is-the-most-useless-college-major"},{"level":2,"text":"How the AIs voted","id":"how-the-ais-voted"},{"level":2,"text":"How the consensus formed","id":"how-the-consensus-formed"},{"level":2,"text":"Every answer","id":"every-answer"}]}}