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Making 80-120k a year, what college major? or maybe no college?

U

uisgdlyast

Bluelighter
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Sep 26, 2002
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Hi in the middle with o's on the end
From the title you can see that i want to make money, now i dont want to come off in the wrong way and i'd rather not explain it but it is important that i make money when i'm older.

Again, i dont want to seem like an ass, i would really rather have a career that i enjoy than i hate.


Now i really like physics and engineering, i also like computers. Pretty much any science. The problem is i think i might not be smart enough to do physics and i would work myself too hard, i plan on going beyond undergrad and hopefully getting a PhD and i think i would burn myself out if i did that with physics(but i am good at it so who knows)

I'm also thinking about dentistry, the flexible hours seem very very nice, the only problem is the whole medical aspect and having to do minor surgery on people. I also don't know how well i would be at owning my own business, i was never good at selling Kool Aid on my street.

The other option is not go to college at all and get numerous certificates in computer networking/design. I am currently enrolled in a Cisco Netowrking class at my highschool and there si no doubt i could continue on that path(for a lot cheaper than college) My teacher knows someone with the highest certificate, CCIE, who is 28 and probably makes 120k a year. Now I could also combine this with a computer science/networking degree in college and probably really get off to a good start.


So really what i'm looking for is any science/engineer majors that would work and would allow me to advance upward and potentially pay in the 100k range. Also if you have any experience in the networking field or dentistry.

I am highly motivated to succeed in this goal, i was even thinking about doing double majors to open more options.
Once again i want a job i enjoy, which is why i have no interest in law or other well known high paying jobs.

Thanks for any help
 
i dont know what planet youve been living on..if you think any sheepsking w/o the skull & bones logo on it will get you a job...talent doesnt mean anything anymore..real jobs require connections...
 
there's more money in engineering than in science (apart from med) ... but if you want the top dollar, then do a finance major, so that you can go into investment banking. You will be 5x more employable if you also have an engineering degree.

$80 000 straight out of college at the top firms ... but expect 80 hour weeks and to sleep at the office twice per week for your first few years. When the office is in the city and you finish at 10pm and start at 8am .. not much point going home.

nobody gets paid the big bucks for doing nothing.

owning your own business/product patent is the only decent way to get $100k per year and still be able to lead the life of a bluelighter. ;)
 
Yep. There is a lot of money in Engineering :) and it can be very rewarding :)

Science is great, but there are very very very few well paid scientists. Basically I had this same sort of predicament, except that I was really good at Chemistry. I looked at doing a science degree, but then thought to myself that I actually wanted to get a job, that pays well. So I thought, hrmmm... Engineering, thats better than Science, so I ended up in Chemical Engineering, and I love it :) I'm currently in the first year of my PhD and am moving along steadily :)

Now you definitely do have options. Both the University path and the Computing Certificate path will work for you. There are a lot of well paid computer programmers out there :)

What I'd look at if I were you would be having a look at the Electrical Engineering or more specifically Computer Hardware or Software Engineering courses at some universities near you. Go in and have a talk with some of the lecturers and see what you think :)

CB :)
 
^ There arew probably a lot more unemployed computer programmers. Don't expect a good programming job w/o a masters, at least. The competition is intense.
 
i dont know what planet youve been living on..
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that's a question that often comes to my mind when i read your posts; my guess is the "conspiracy planet"
 
Chaos Butterfly said:
Yep. There is a lot of money in Engineering :) and it can be very rewarding :)

Science is great, but there are very very very few well paid scientists. Basically I had this same sort of predicament, except that I was really good at Chemistry. I looked at doing a science degree, but then thought to myself that I actually wanted to get a job, that pays well. So I thought, hrmmm... Engineering, thats better than Science, so I ended up in Chemical Engineering, and I love it :) I'm currently in the first year of my PhD and am moving along steadily :)

Now you definitely do have options. Both the University path and the Computing Certificate path will work for you. There are a lot of well paid computer programmers out there :)

What I'd look at if I were you would be having a look at the Electrical Engineering or more specifically Computer Hardware or Software Engineering courses at some universities near you. Go in and have a talk with some of the lecturers and see what you think :)

CB :)
Click to expand...


Well a lot of job websites say physicists get paid pretty well, but i always hear that scientists don't make too much. But i also hear that physics is a growing field..
I was actually thinking of Chemical engineer, how much work is it to actually obtain your PhD? I would go the route of getting a PhD in engineering.

Also i wasnt going to go into computer programming, it can be a very high paying job if your really good but i also hear that there are too many right now. What i was talking about was computer networking, like a System Administrator. They keep telling me that right out of high school with this certificate i can be making 40k, but people tell you what you want to hear.


Also the finance major would produce good money but i dont want to be working 80hr weeks so i ruled that one out awhile ago

EDIT: this is what i found on a job website for physicists
"Earn $85,020 per year (national average)"
 
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uisgdlyast said:
how much work is it to actually obtain your PhD?
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A lot. Its not like being an undergraduate where you can slack off, copy someone elses lecture notes (someone just came round my room to pick up my lecture notes for 4 courses because he has missed so many lectures!!) and still manage to have a half decent attempt at the question sheet a lecturer gives out. Its more like a 9 to 5 job, where the onus is on you to produce results.
If you're a hard worker and/or enjoy it, it'll be okay, but not the "easy ride" a lot of people find being a student is.
 
okay...I'll ask it.
Why do you require ~100k/year?
The only really sure plan is getting your hands on the flow of capital and working your ass off. You won't be able to buy back the hours you'll lose to having your soul crushed in the office.

ebola
 
^^ So true.


It really depends on what field of physics you get into. Astro-physics is growing, along with quantum, and material. You need to have at least a masters in many of those positions though. It's a lot of hard work, and like most of the students here, if you are on the internet, it's because you are working on a paper, otherwise you are wasting your time here, and basically on the computer wasting the time you could be using to learn about your chosen field.
 
Do what I am going to do. Major in business and psychology, go back to Russia, join the mob. But you have to be Russian in the first place. My parents will kill me after I do this.
 
I just have a BA and have been out of school for roughly 1.5 years... I have had my current job for just under a year... I am on pace to make just over 80K for my first year... and i didnt really make much money in my first 3-4 months.. I am actually a mortgage broker... This is a booming field right now and should be for at least a few more years... Now this business requires no degree, what it requires is people skills and minimal math skills... one finance class will teach u all u need.... My job is essentially a sales job... It is 100% commissions so I work as much or as little as I want.. The key to it is networking. Letting everyone know that if u need a mortgage in any form, Im your man...

The amount of money you can make is limitless... I make money when the loan closes.. My goal is 6 loans a month and 4000 in fees to my company for each loan... I get between 40 and 60 percent of the fees...

Another field that you could do well in is finance... advisors and brokers make good money if they are good.... however 60-70 percent are weeded out in the first 6 mo's because they make nothing... Its all about knowing people with money to play with...
 
laovienax said:
that's a question that often comes to my mind when i read your posts; my guess is the "conspiracy planet"
Click to expand...

Ummmm...actually a lot of teachers have told me the same thing (not necessarily about the Skull & Bones), but I've been told by plenty of people that it's not always your grades in college, or skills or any of that, but who you know and networking that are just as important as anything else in finding a good job. I've found it to be true from plenty of people I've talked to.
 
bc4130 said:
Ummmm...actually a lot of teachers have told me the same thing (not necessarily about the Skull & Bones), but I've been told by plenty of people that it's not always your grades in college, or skills or any of that, but who you know and networking that are just as important as anything else in finding a good job. I've found it to be true from plenty of people I've talked to.
Click to expand...

agreed...

and for all the hatred around here for frats/sororities and other campus related groups... they can go a long ways in helping you after college...
 
^^ i do agree that connections can be important; in some cases; in others not; generally, they do make things easier, but there are plenty of opportunities even if you do not have them; what i object to is anna's paranoid style: "talent doesn't mean ANYTHING anymore"... that's just bullshit
 
Different connections help in different fields though. With my field (psych) and related ones, getting into grad school is often easier if you have worked or had letters of recommendation from a prominent prof. That's a connection, but technically it's based mostly on your own ingenuity and hard work, because they don't just write a letter because they know your parents or something. You work with them for a semester or two, and that ends up getting you that connection. The whole old boy frat and sorority thing is not really valued in the upper levels of my field, and most people don't mention having been in one if they were, or they talk about it jokingly. I'd say out of 60 grad students in my dept about 3 were in the greek system. I'd see it being a lot more important in fields such as politics or business.
 
No degree....retail "Big Box" (such as Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes...etc...) store manager. Salary of $103,000 per year, with a bonus of upto 150% of my salary. Last year I maxed out, and will again this year. So total bonus was about 90,000 after taxes.
Not too shabby. Mostly knowing the right people, making the right connections....working my way up...and most of all....I am a very lucky person.
 
David said:
^^ So true.


It really depends on what field of physics you get into. Astro-physics is growing, along with quantum, and material. You need to have at least a masters in many of those positions though. It's a lot of hard work, and like most of the students here, if you are on the internet, it's because you are working on a paper, otherwise you are wasting your time here, and basically on the computer wasting the time you could be using to learn about your chosen field.
Click to expand...


Yeah i know its a lot of hard work.
When I talk to a few people who are making good money its because they got into a growing field.
I heard nanotechnology is growing so i'm going to look into that a little bit more too
 
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