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Common Degree Programs Matching Real World to Game Mechanics Degree Programs Agriculture Air Force Academy Biology Botany Business Chemistry Communications or Journalism Computer Science Dentistry Economics Electrical Engineering Engineering English Foreign Language Forestry Geology History Law Medicine Meteorology Military Academy Naval Academy Nursing Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Sociology Veterinary Medicine Zoology

Common Degree Programs

 

     Keep in mind that some members of the Morrow Project have multiple degrees, or post-graduate degrees. The main use of this table is for the referee to generate non-player characters. Also note that very few engineering majors end up on Recon teams before 1987 (they're busy building stuff for the Project, or are assigned to Engineering teams).

 

college bachelor's degrees awarded in the United States 1980, by field
field	1d100
Business (inc. accounting, marketing, operations, real estate)	1-22
Education	23-34
Health Professions (inc. nursing, pre-med, pharmacy)	35-41
Art, Dance, Theater or Performance	42-45
Psychology	46-49
Biology or Microbiology	50-53
English	54-56
Communications or Journalism	57-59
Political Science	60-62
Agriculture or Natural Resources	63-65
Humanities (inc. literature, linguistics, anthropology, geography)	66-67
History	68-69
Sociology	70-71
Economics	72-73
Public Administration	74-75
Computer Science	76-77
Criminal Justice	78-79
Foreign Languages	80
Chemistry	81
Mathematics or Statistics	82
Architecture	83
Philosophy	84
Theology	85
Physics	86
minor programs:  Fitness, Consumer Affairs, Library Science, Military Science, Gender Studies, Botany, Zoology, Veterinary Science, Astronomy, etc.	87-90
Mechanical, Industrial, Manufacturing, or Systems Engineering	91-92
Civil or Environmental Engineering	93
Electrical Engineering, EECS, or Computer Engineering	94
Chemical, Petroleum, or Process Engineering	95
Biomedical Engineering	96
Metallurgical or Materials Engineering	97
Aerospace or Marine Engineering	98
other engineering fields:  Nuclear, Mining, Engineering Management, etc.	99
no college degree	00

 

     The top five college awarding bachelor's degrees in engineering for women are Georgia Tech, MIT, University of Michigan, Purdue, and UI Champaign-Urbana.

 

Matching Real World to Game Mechanics

 

     These programs represent about 90% of the Project's members. The skill levels represent someone just barely able to pass the exams, residency programs, license tests, etc. required to begin professional practice -- if you don't put any occupational or personal interest points into your degree program skill, you probably graduated at the bottom of your class. Note that the curriculum at the service academies changes a lot between the Sixties and 1989.

 

     Background:  in 1984, for every 10 persons with a baccalaureate degree, there were 3 persons with a masters degree, and 1.5 people with a professional (usually J.D.) or doctoral degree. The Project's membership was skewed a bit towards bachelor's degrees, so it's about a 10:2:1 ratio.

 

     To represent a lot of the skills not listed here, the referee will ask for a roll based your character's EDU and degrees possessed. I've decided not to build a complicated system for this; the generic roll is EDU x 5%. The roll is based on the highest level of EDU you reached while in that program (and the difficulty of the task, of course). If you took an undergraduate pre-law program, but then got a doctoral degree in philosophy, you have your full EDU for philosophy stuff, but might be down 4 or 5 points of EDU on law facts. I think it'll be easier to use than it sounds "in print".

     The skill levels listed are for persons who attended college after about 1960 ... things like Computer Use are less likely the further back you go.

     All college graduates get an academic base skill of one Other Language at 10%, for some modern language, in addition to the base skills shown. Remember, base skills don't add to each other -- use the highest base skill you have among your various academic, background, and Project training packages.

 

Degree Programs

 

Agriculture

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	10%	15%	20%
Chemistry	10%	15%	20%
Zoology	10%	15%	20%

 

Air Force Academy

 

     This is a B.S.-only program, but cadets choose majors which include the assigned skills from the bachelors' program for either biology, chemistry, computer science, electrical engineering, engineering, history, mathematics, physics, or political science. Note that cadets headed into actual flight status will end up with much higher Pilot skill! Not everyone at the Air Force Academy is going to become a pilot.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Chemistry	5%	--	--
Computer Use	10%	--	--
Electrical Repair	15%	--	--
Electronics	5%	--	--
Fieldcraft	15%	--	--
History	25%	--	--
Law	10%	--	--
Mathematics	15%	--	--
Military Science	10%	--	--
Navigation	20%	--	--
Operate Heavy Machinery	10%	--	--
Physics	10%	--	--
Pilot - Fixed Wing	10%	--	--

 

Biology

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	20%	40%	60%
Chemistry	10%	15%	20%
Pharmacy	10%	15%	20%

Also represents one type of pre-med program.

 

Botany

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	10%	15%	20%
Botany	20%	40%	60%
Chemistry	10%	15%	20%
Fieldcraft	15%	15%	20%

 

Business

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Accounting	30%	40%	--
Computer Use	10%	15%	--
Law	15%	20%	--
Mathematics	10%	15%	--

doctoral business programs are really not the same skills as a bachelor's degree program;

for our purposes a masters program would cover an MBA degree, as well

 

Chemistry

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	10%	15%	20%
Chemistry	20%	40%	60%
Mathematics	15%	15%	20%
Other Language:  German	5%	5%	10%
Pharmacy	5%	5%	10%

 

Communications or Journalism

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Fast Talk	15%	15%	20%
Own Language	80%	85%	90%
Persuade	20%	30%	40%
Psychology	15%	20%	25%

 

Computer Science

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Computer Use	20%	40%	60%
Electrical Repair	15%	20%	20%
Electronics	10%	15%	20%

 

Dentistry

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	--	--	10%
Chemistry	--	--	10%
Dentistry	--	--	60%
Medicine	--	--	10%
Other Language:  Latin	--	--	5%
Pharmacy	--	--	20%
Surgery	--	--	10%

Also take either the Biology or Chemistry B.S.

Economics

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Accounting	15%	15%	20%
Mathematics	15%	15%	20%

 

Electrical Engineering

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Computer Use	15%	20%	20%
Electrical Repair	20%	30%	40%
Electronics	20%	40%	60%
Mathematics	15%	15%	20%
Physics	15%	15%	20%

 

Engineering

 

     This includes programs for mechanical engineering, naval architecture, civil engineering, aeronautical or aerospace engineering, nuclear engineering and many others. Cartography is probably only for civil engineers, though.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Cartography	25%	25%	30%
Chemistry	5%	10%	10%
Electrical Repair	15%	15%	20%
Electronics	5%	10%	10%
Mathematics	15%	15%	20%
Mechanical Repair	25%	25%	30%
Operate Heavy Machinery	15%	15%	20%
Physics	15%	15%	20%

 

English

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
History	20%	25%	30%
Own Language (English)	90%	95%	99%

 

Foreign Language

 

     Remember the Other Language skill available to all college graduates -- that's in addition to the two available from this program. The commonest languages found in the Morrow Project are (in order) Spanish, Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Tagalog, Italian, Arabic, Russian and Japanese. Navajo, Nahuatl, Cree and Ojibwe are valued but rare; Latin is more common than those (but not very valued).

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
History	20%	25%	30%
Other Language	50%	60%	70%
Other Language	40%	50%	60%

 

Forestry

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	5%	10%	15%
Botany	10%	15%	20%
Cartography	10%	15%	20%
Fieldcraft	15%	15%	20%
Operate Heavy Machinery	5%	5%	10%

 

Geology

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Cartography	20%	30%	40%
Chemistry	20%	40%	60%
Geology	20%	40%	60%
Operate Heavy Machinery	5%	5%	10%

 

History

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Archaelogy	--	5%	10%
History	30%	50%	60%
Library Use	--	--	30%
Other Language	--	5%	10%

 

Law

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Accounting	--	--	15%
History	--	--	25%
Law	--	--	40%
Library Use	--	--	30%
Psychology	--	--	10%

Also take either a bachelors or masters program.

English, Business, Economics, Finance, History, Journalism, Philosophy, Political Science and Psychology are good choices.

 

Medicine

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	--	--	10%
Chemistry	--	--	10%
First Aid	--	--	40%
Medicine	--	--	40%
Other Language:  Latin	--	--	10%
Pharmacy	--	--	20%
Surgery	--	--	20%
Library Use	--	--	30%

Also take either a biology or chemistry bachelor's degree.

 

Meteorology

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Chemistry	10%	15%	20%
Physics	10%	15%	20%

 

Military Academy

 

     West Point offers a B.S.-only program. Note that Ranger School has not been mandatory for Army officers since 1972; West Point graduates who enter the combat arms (infantry, armor, cavalry) have priority slots to enter Ranger training just after graduation, however.

      While there are no "majors" at West Point before 1985, and only 8 elective courses, there are "concentrations", most of which mean you took one of the elective courses (and did some other non-course stuff). Concentrations seem to have included English, philosophy, history, a foreign language, political science, and some STEM fields (see the Engineering description). Taking a concentration (which wasn't required) gives a 15% bonus to some base skill.

     This set of skills may also be used the ROTC programs at the "senior military colleges":  The Citadel, Virginia Tech, VMI, Texas A&M, Norwich, Augusta Military Academy (closed 1984), and The Military College of Georgia (aka North Georgia College).

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Cartography	10%	--	--
Chemistry	5%	--	--
Fieldcraft	20%	--	--
History	25%	--	--
Indirect Fire Weapon	10%	--	--
Law	10%	--	--
Military Science	20%	--	--
Physics	5%	--	--
Psychology	10%	--	--
Direct Fire Weapon	10%	--	--

 

Naval Academy

 

     Annapolis is a B.S.-only program, but midshipmen choose majors which include the assigned skills from the bachelors' program for either biology, chemistry, electrical engineering, engineering, English, history, mathematics, political science, or physics.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Astronomy	5%	--	--
Boat/Row	15%	--	--
Cartography	15%
Mathematics	15%	--	--
Military Science	10%	--	--
Navigation	20%	--	--
Operate Heavy Machinery	20%	--	--
Sail	10%	--	--
Signals	10%	--	--

 

Nursing

 

     This represents an R.N., EMT, or very fully-trained combat medic.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
First Aid	40%	--	--
Medicine	20%	--	--
Pharmacy	10%	--	--
Surgery	5%	--	--
Biology	5%	--	--

 

Philosophy

 

     Not usually available as a masters degree program.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
History	20%	--	30%
Persuade	20%	--	30%

 

Physics

 

      Emphasis on theoretical and nuclear physics for Project members.

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Computer Use	10%	15%	20%
Electrical Repair	10%	15%	20%
Electronics	10%	15%	20%
Mathematics	15%	20%	20%
Physics	20%	40%	60%

 

Political Science

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Anthropology	10%	15%	20%
History	20%	25%	30%
Law	10%	15%	20%
Psychology	10%	15%	20%

 

Psychology

 

     This is a combination of B.A. and B.S. programs. People with bachelors degrees in psychology often enter "non-therapeutic" fields -- business, advertising, industry, English or foreign language study ...

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Hypnosis	--	10%	15%
Medicine	5%	10%	15%
Own Language	--	EDUx6	EDUx7
Persuade	20%	25%	30%
Pharmacy	--	10%	15%
Psychology	20%	40%	60%

 

Sociology

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Anthropology	20%	25%	30%
History	20%	25%	30%
Psychology	10%	15%	20%

 

Veterinary Medicine

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Medicine	--	25%	30%
Pharmacy	--	10%	15%
Surgery	--	10%	20%
Zoology	--	10%	20%

Also take either a biology or chemistry B.S.

 

Zoology

 

skill	bachelors	masters	doctorate
Biology	10%	15%	20%
Chemistry	10%	15%	20%
Zoology	20%	40%	60%