Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce recently released a new report that maps unemployment rates across various college majors. Notably, healthcare and education majors fared best, with unemployment rates at 5.4 percent among recent graduates.  Architecture students seemingly chose the wrong.. um, foundation, with nearly 14 percent of them failing to find work after school.

While it’s tempting to view these numbers as career advice, students should remember that statistics can be misleading and one-dimensional.  The report goes on to explain that having some related work experience significantly improves unemployment rates for nearly every group of majors.  This has always been true.  It also acknowledges that many fast-employed majors (like those in education) have to make professional tradeoffs: job security instead of high salaries or plentiful opportunities for advancement.

But even if you want to read these results as study directives, there’s still no reason to shy away from your preferred major.  Look at it this way: if 86 percent of architecture majors (the worst performers of all groups measured) were able to find jobs as recent college grads, that means everyone except the two worst students in a class of ten succeeded out of the gate.  Even the second-worst student got half a job.

So if you’re headed to college, all you have to do is aim to be third-worst or better.  Of course, ideally, you should aim to be among the best.  Go beyond the required curriculum in what you read.  Apply for internships.  Find a mentor.  Write a great paper and try to get it published.  But if you’re considering shrugging off your dream just to chase the numbers, it’s good to know the numbers really aren’t that bad.

Besides, you’re more likely to be the absolute worst student in your class (who is probably unemployed in every major) if you glom onto a subject of study that only appeals to your wallet.

Any architecture majors out there want to agree or disagree?