A for aggravating: The degrees with the most annoying graduates

If there’s one thing that university taught us, it’s that some degrees produce more annoying graduates than others. 

Whether it’s the motormouth communication students who never shut up about anything – even things they don’t know – or the MIA medicine friend you made in the first year who disappeared off the face of the earth because they started practical training, there’s plenty of annoying graduates to go around.

You’ve definitely met some of them – or perhaps you’re one of them? 

Is Pope Francis annoyed or praying? It’s between him and God — literally. Source: AFP

Annoying people can be found anywhere

Let’s get things straight – it’s honestly tough to generalise annoying people. While someone may be annoying to you, others may seem to tolerate them better. We all have different perspectives and thresholds to what an annoying person is. 

But don’t forget, people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or even anxiety are sometimes labelled as annoying. Admittedly, while it may not be comfortable to acknowledge this truth, it’s important to do so.

The reason? Neurotypical people have to gain more insight into where some of these annoying behaviours might be coming from. At the same time, neurodivergent people have to gain a better understanding of the effects of their symptoms and how they can sometimes affect their relationships with others.

For example, people with chronic anxiety often become overwhelmed with their own thoughts and insecurity, which makes them overthink what others think of them. They may have difficulty controlling their actions and words, causing them to appear annoying or awkward.

If you happen to find yourself in a similar situation, it’s okay to express how you feel to friends.

Better yet, seek support from a professional who can help you navigate these turbulent times. Finding a balance between your needs and awareness can be tricky, but it’s a crucial step towards healthier, more enjoyable interactions. 

But in general, annoying – possibly neurotypical – people share many traits that contribute to their being viewed as such. Here are some examples:

• Constant interruptions

They could speak loudly out of turn, disrupting the flow of the ongoing conversation. God forbid you meet the worst kinds – those who somehow manage to make the conversation entirely about themselves.

• Unreliable

They make excuses for everything, especially if it benefits only them. Never count on them for a favour or important task but when they need something, they’ll be all up in your business. 

• Always unaware

Annoying people tend to find it hard – perhaps impossible! – to read the room. They do things like take a phone call in a library or attempt to make jokes during a serious moment. Talk about awkward. 

• Constantly fidgeting

Nothing worse than sitting next to someone who jiggles their leg endlessly in the classroom or clicks their pen repeatedly during an exam. While they aren’t doing anything to you per se, it’s still enough to get on your nerves. 

• Drama up the ante

Some annoying people tend to overreact to anything. Ask someone how their day is going, and you may be stuck listening to someone gripe about how their privileged life is horrible. Or worse, they’re the kind of person who makes themselves out to be the victims of any situation. 

If you’re someone like this, maybe it’s time to dial it back and work on being a little more self-aware. 

Just ask anyone about the most annoying graduates, and a fair few will say law. Source: AFP

Hear it from the people — degrees with the most annoying graduates

Just putting it out there – if you happen to be pursuing one of these degrees, we’re sorry. Of course, if your personality is not what’s being described, then it’s not about you.

Now with that out of the way, let’s get into it. 

Law

If you asked the people around you about which degrees had the most annoying graduates, most of them would say it’s law. 

You’ll hear their take on the latest hot topics and how everyone around them is wrong. They’ll pick out nine flaws in an argument and treat their peers and partners like the prosecution.

A Redditor sharing their experience in law school says, “A lot of students would openly gossip and badmouth others so much. Many students lacked empathy and basic decency. I saw a lot of behaviours that seemed straight out of a Netflix high school TV show. Even high school wasn’t filled with so much drama, nor was it so chaotic. I feel that the law school environment is not healthy and brings out the worst in people. It’s concerning how commonplace this all is throughout law schools across the nation.”

Like, okay, you’re literally saving lives, but some of you are just downright annoying. Source: AFP

Medicine

Let it slip that you have a cold, and suddenly the medical students are asking you 1,000  questions about your family’s medical history and why you may have pneumonia or lung cancer. Sure, perhaps they genuinely have your best interests in their heart. But most likely, they’re just looking for a chance to flex their knowledge.

Even medical graduates have their complaints about medical students in residency. This Redditor shares their horror story working with a “gunner,” a term used to refer to someone who is trying to succeed at the expense of other students.

“This student would not listen to residents because she thought she knew more than us and only ever listened to the attending,” writes the Redditor. “[She] would rudely interrupt us with basic facts that she would spout out about pathophysiology or recommendations like we didn’t know basic things. Call us by our first names in front of patients and loudly proclaim that we weren’t surgeons, so we didn’t know what we were talking about in terms of surgery.”

Finance

Did you know that about 10% of finance graduates are psychopaths? No, we’re not kidding. But before they turn into psychopaths, they are just downright annoying. 

You’ve probably been annoyed by financial advisors or finance “bros” giving unsolicited advice. These annoying graduates try to come off as confident, but in reality, they just become arrogant. 

They are usually pushy, lack empathy, and constantly throw around confusing jargon – what does the average non-finance student know about stocks, bonds, hedge funds, and venture capital? Make no mistake; they know that you don’t know, and they will make it their mission to ensure they bombard you with that information condescendingly.

Computer Science

Know-it-alls, geeks, weirdos – you name it, computer science has it. Computer science students can be some of the most annoying graduates in the world, especially the extra-nerdy ones. 

This passionate Quora user says, “Computer engineering and computer science majors are by far the biggest douchebags on my campus. They carry around with them a huge ego; taking every opportunity to brag about their major and proclaim how much more intelligent they are. They relish in the fact that they have the highest paying internship and the hottest job outlooks. All your discussions with them are about their accomplishments and how you should be worshipping them for the work they do.”

Most mass communication students have their phones glued to their hands. Source: AFP

Mass communication

You can find a communication student in almost every fifty yards you take – and you’ll probably even hear them before you catch sight of them. These annoying graduates excel at talking but not much at doing. 

They’ll groan about the pile of essays they have to complete, but in reality, it’s probably 500 words on Instagram marketing, a forum discussion on the Internet’s impact on digital marketing, or a couple of paragraphs on branding. But one look at their smartphone’s average screen time and you’ll probably see a weekly average of eight hours spent on TikTok. 

Political science

It’s the backup plan of academia. Can’t handle doing psychology? Opt for political psychology instead. Is philosophy too demanding? Go into political theory. Tired of maths in economics? Become a methodologist in political science. 

At least if it’s a communication student talking, it may be interesting and relevant to current trends. But when a political science student starts talking, it can be agonising to listen to. Similar to lawyers, they also cook up a mean argument. 

Some of these students tend to be passive-aggressive, especially when it comes to talking about politics, government, and law. They are smug, thinking themselves a step above lawyers, when all they do is go on Reddit and comment on r/worldnews. 

And at the end of the day, if they’re not working in the government or the United Nations, they’re probably working in a consultancy – and we have enough of those. 

Psychology 

Make no mistake, as society advances and we learn more about mental health, it’s become apparent that we need more trained psychologists in the field. But God forbid you run into a psychology graduate who makes money off diagnosing others through social media like TikTok.

There’s always a chance for a thought-provoking and interesting conversation with psychology students. But the most annoying graduates are the types that are impossible to debate with – it’s all about the chemicals in your brain, and every action you take is because of science. 

They may scan you up and down, ready to spew out random diagnoses for every action you take. You could be jiggling your leg because you’re stressed about upcoming exams, and a psych major could say you have ADHD or anxiety. 

You can find a fair amount of cosplayers who are art majors. Source: AFP

Art

The most annoying graduates think they’re the next Picasso. 

Some go around judging and criticising others’ work in art galleries or university displays but are most sensitive about how they are perceived by others. They are mostly pretentious, making a show about how everything has to “mean” something to them while dissing others for not being able to see on their level. 

Otakus — that is, those who have a vested interest in anime, manga, video games, or computers — can be the most annoying graduates in the art industry, wearing their anime pins and badges every day like medals of honour. Some even show up in a full cosplay to class, thinking it’s a fun and quirky way of expressing themselves. 

These nerds, in particular, probably signed up for art, dreaming they could one day make their own manga or draw for anime, even though the anime industry in Japan is one of the most gruelling industries in the world.

Disagree with this list? Drop us an email at editor@studyinternational.com and tell us which degrees should actually be on here.