Best Majors/Careers

[quote]LarryDavid wrote:

I don’t know how accurate the actual dollar amounts are [they seem high], but the order of the majors seems to make sense. This only takes into account people who did do any type of post-grad studying I think.

For a bachelors degree alone I think the best bet for good career options would be one that is quantitative [uses a lot of math], hence all of the engineering majors that made the top of the list.

As far as good chances for employment, I’m not sure but I think the health industry and computers/software are growing. So I imagine there.

A lot of other factors play into what makes good career other than money, though. But money’s the big one.

Either get a math-heavy major, or one that is vocational, or both [engineering?].[/quote]

As a student in Biomedical Engineering this makes me happy :).

Computer science and chemical engineering are the only degrees that give you a fighting chance at a job anymore…

not mine

I think it’s reasonably easy to determine if your degree is “employable”…is it more practical than theory, does it teach you any specific, concrete skills directly applicable to a job?

Engineering, yes. Computer science, yes. Renaissance tapestry appreciation, no.

You could also evaluate whether or not your degree can lead into an employable masters program. For example, Kinesiology is virtually worthless on its own, but can springboard you into a physio or OT program, both with good job prospects.

In the end, you have to be honest with yourself and see if you have any natural skills or talents which match up with (hopefully employable) degrees. Grade-wise I could have gotten into an engineering program, but I hate math and probably would have gouged my own eyes out with a protractor after 2 weeks.

Dont become a programmer unless you dont mind killing your remaining brain cells with for and while loops.

The loops! Oh the loops, I see them in my dreams!

Pharmacist. needed everywhere around the world

http://www.pharmacist.com/AM/Template.cfm?section=Careers3

http://pharmacy.jobs.topusajobs.com/

http://overseaspharmacist.com/foreign-pharmacy-career/ireland-pharmacists-jobs.htm

I’m in college now and I’m doubling in Finance and actuarial science.

Here’s what I need to say- money is important. It’s the only reason I’ve picked these 2 majors. I want to get onto wall street and make millions. But honestly, money isn’t everything. What are some of your interests and skills? If you’re heading into college right now and have now idea what to major in and never had a particular interest in math or comp sci, I would tell you NOT to pick them.

If you have always LOVED math, go ahead and go for it. If you really don’t know how you feel, take a few classes and see where it leads you. Take C++ (comp sci), take some math classes. If you love it, you’re set and you have no decision to make.

For my math major, I need to take C++. I’ve never been fond/good with computers, but its one of the “not-math” courses I need to take. All I have to say is that it is THE MOST MISERABLE course I have ever taken. It is boring, horrible- I hate every minute of it. I am NOT telling you this to steer you away from CS- instead, I tell you because I KNOW for me, if I had to go through college for 4 years taking these miserable classes, then potentially need to go to grad school to take MORE classes I hate, only to get a job doing something I dread, it would not be worth ANY amount of money.

Actuarial, on the other hand, is the hardest class I’ve taken so far. I would legit study from a manual for 20-30 hours for a test, and then get a 50. BUT, I find it pretty interesting. I enjoy it. I can see myself sticking with it. I had an internship over the summer and worked 40 hours a week, commuting 1.5 hours there and back. I would come home and go to the gym, then eat. That’s how I spent my last summer. The one thing I learned is that if you don’t LOVE what you do, your life will be miserable. If I had to do programming for 40 hours a week at the internship, I would have quit in the first 2 weeks.

What are some things you enjoy? What interests you? This is a huge factor in what you pick.

That’s pretty much what I would have said. These are probably the safest choices for good money straight out of college. IMO someone who’s really talented (top 1-2% of the population) can probably make more money with a liberal arts degree from a top liberal arts school, but anyone who’s less talented and gets a liberal arts degree has a very high probability of working as a bartender until they scrape up the desperation to go to law school.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY.

Google and microsoft are throwing money at comp sci grads. And Computer engineering, whatever the titles are.

Be careful with computer sci…take a programming class and you’ll want to kill yourself :). I personally would look into the consulting route. The pay is good and most consulting firms look to pick up econ/business majors. Consulting is also one of the highest paying jobs that you can get out of college(w/o an engineering degree.)

[quote]belligerent wrote:
Computer science and chemical engineering are the only degrees that give you a fighting chance at a job anymore…[/quote]


^^^

Math Degree++;

=D

It’s as good as a CS degree. But I fucking love programming so that’s important. You have love it to be good at it and you have to be good at it to get anywhere with it so find your aptitude.

[quote]Soulja874 wrote:
^^[1]

LOL @ Kinesiology being mid tier.


  1. /quote ↩︎

Don’t you have to get a PhD in mathematics to get anywhere? I was just curious since math has always been my favorite classes in college.

[quote]Soulja874 wrote:
^^[1]

there’s no way in hell astronomy is a “god tier” major. neither is psychology anything but a shit tier major; it’s about as revered as communications. otoh, philosophy, classics, and history are kinda legit. maybe low tier…they’re unlikely to get you a job directly applying the skillset, but they’re semi-respected as long as you’re not a pedantic prick. econ is probably mid tier or top tier (it can vary a lot by school. the ones that teach econ as an applied math class can get you a good job). law isn’t even an undergraduate major in the united states.

tl;dr this breakdown sucks.


  1. /quote ↩︎

If you have the aptitude and drive, go with some form of engineering. It will allow you to make the most money out of college and it also gives you the opportunity to transfer fields if you do well enough.

I say all this with first hand knowledge as I am a month away from graduating with a chemical engineering degree with a biological specialization. My GPA is above average but not outstanding, and simply because of my degree and the ‘omg he must be smart’ cred that comes along with it, I not only received two very good offers in my field, but I also received an i-banking offer and made the final round (super Saturday) for a private equity firm. That PE final round had 14 people out of 1700 applicants, and although I didn’t get the job, I at least had a chance. And as any finance/econ major will tell you, they would sacrifice their first born child to get a PE offer right out of undergrad. This is what I am talking about when I say an engineering degree will allow you to transfer fields, even right out of college. A double major in finance/accounting would be good as well if you like business, but like I said, I had a chance to take jobs away from these undergrad applicants while they would never be able to get a job in my field.

IMO, the best engineering degrees would be chemical/biochemical, nuclear, petroleum (although it is very specific) and computer. Obv you have to have some interest in these and be willing to work your ass off in order to get the degree, but it will definitely be worth it.

Sell your blood and sperm as often as your body/clinics will allow.

I’m a non traditional student with 3 dui’s and I just landed a fairly well paying internship with an international biomed company because of my 3.0+ gpa in chemical engineering…

[quote]stumpy wrote:
I’m a non traditional student with 3 dui’s and I just landed a fairly well paying internship with an international biomed company because of my 3.0+ gpa in chemical engineering…[/quote]

and by well paid internship i mean it equates to 43k a year. Chem E’s rule the world. Hey business majors how do you like them apples.