<p>I agree mom60 I don’t think you can make blanket statements as Indianaparent is asking. It’s been a long known fact that salaries - entry level, mid-career, whatever while slightly adjusted for cost of living are still tight in the high cost areas of the country. Look at my example. A fine arts graduate in the midwest earning a starting salary of $30,000 can live alone pretty comfortably…A fine arts graduate in NYC earning a salary $10,000 higher probably can’t live alone because the housing costs are 3x the housing costs but the salary is not. But in general, ambitious young people can “escape” the family home and strike out on their own regardless of their major and with some compromise on life-style or living alone or driving a new car etc. Not too shabby. Now if only the economy would pick up so that the unemployment numbers would go down I’d be happy.</p>
<p>Seems like FA grads are having trouble making a living wage then?</p>
<p>Maybe the FA grads are HAPPY doing something, even just starting out, in a field they ENJOY. Can you consider being supportive or congratulatory for a change, IP? Sorry, but you are sounding a bit like an automaton. Not everything is about the big bucks.</p>
<p>That is off topic.</p>
<p>No, to me that is not off the topic. I grew up with a Dad who said do what makes you happy. If you want to be a bricklayer then be a bricklayer. I work in Social Services, I was told countless times that I would not ever make much money. Do I regret choosing this career, not in the least. I wish I made more but I love what I do. My D1 will be pursuing a BA degree and she knows that she will probably have to have two jobs to make ends meet. Does that deter this child, not in the least. She loves what she is doing and would not change it at all. This is what she wants and she says she is frugal enough that she will make do.</p>
<p>Well, actually my original post was about whether fine arts graduates were finding jobs, not really on how much they were making. I know entry level salaries can be low, especially for art majors, and at this point, I’m more concerned about whether she can find a job related to her field, than if I have to help her out some to get started, though the discussion on a living wage in the different parts of the country is very interesting. </p>
<p>Mine is not a graphic designer, but actually is getting a BFA w/a concentration in Printmaking - Teaching. Means she has all the art classes, plus all the education classes and passed her core content exam for teaching in Texas, but in order to get certification she’d have to do student teaching, which if done through the university means I’d have to pay full time tuition, plus she’d be working for free. She’s pretty sure she doesn’t want to work in a public school setting, most private schools don’t require certification for art teachers and if they did, she could pursue alternate certification while working. But she’s aiming for a job in a museum education department, city art program, after school art program or private art studio if she goes the teaching route, she wants to work with elementary age kids. In the long run, she’d like to open a private art based preschool program of her own, but she’s got a way to go there. </p>
<p>To start with, she’d be satisfied with at least a part-time job in one of the above areas, coupled with another part-time job in an art related field, as most schools have done their hiring for the year. We shall see.</p>
<p>I liked this article:</p>
<p>[News:</a> The Myth of the Starving Artist - Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/05/03/graduates_of_arts_programs_fare_better_in_job_market_than_assumed]News:”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/05/03/graduates_of_arts_programs_fare_better_in_job_market_than_assumed)</p>
<p>I think arts grads also have a little more flexibility starting out, as far as their own expectations. I feel like I’ve read about a lot of business or STEM majors who are disappointed that the opportunities aren’t there now, that they’re being recruited for “lowly” positions that paid less than their tuition…I don’t know anyone in the arts who is shocked by that! Generally it’s just thrilling to get a foot in the door.</p>
<p>lamm and scribbulous-</p>
<p>IP’s post #24 is merely mocking a post made in another thread in response to an off-topic and personal question. Ignore it. Its irrelevant.</p>
<p>As was said upthread, its hard to predict what majors will lead to excellent career paths. So, IMO, its fine to major in what one enjoys. That said, one of my s’s changed is major from chemistry to chem E when he decided not to pursue med school and wanted to be more employable after college. I think he made the right decision, as does he.</p>
<p>Hey, check this out [Entrepreneurship:</a> Nothing to Lose and Everything to Gain | Power Your Future - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/power-your-future/entrepreneurship-nothing-lose-everything-gain-183145165.html]Entrepreneurship:”>http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/power-your-future/entrepreneurship-nothing-lose-everything-gain-183145165.html)
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<p>"A fine arts graduate in NYC earning a salary $10,000 higher probably can’t live alone "</p>
<p>but in NYC living alone isnt really the standard for a living wage. there are investment bankers who take roommates there, IIUC. My DD is starting an Arch program. IF after she graduates she were to end up in NYC, I would EXPECT that she would live with roommates. Thats just par for the course there - not a sign you are getting less than a living wage.</p>
<p>Just as in NYC middle class families routinely live in apartments, and in DC, in suburban townhouses, while in many parts of the USA living in anything less than a single family home on a quater acre lot would be a sign of poverty.</p>
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<p>However, one can check recent past history to get some idea of which majors’ job and career prospects vary between good and bad (depending on economic and industry cycles) versus between mediocre and bad (again depending on economic and industry cycles). It is fine to major in what one is interested in, but one should be aware of job and career implications to avoid the surprise of “huge debt and no job at graduation”.</p>
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<p>Well, that’s a pretty good decision – chemistry has poor job and career prospects, while chemical engineering has much better job and career prospects. Since they are not that much different, it does not seem to be a hard decision to make for a student interested in chemistry but is aware of the job and career prospect differential.</p>
<p>Apologies for typos which might be confusing- DS changed to Chem E when he decided NOT to go to med school. I agree that some majors will much more easily lead to career opportunities, especially in this fragile job market. But with banking being so severely affectedand many jobs being sent off-shore, its hard to know for shrew what will happen. </p>
<p>We got a fax in our office the other day from someone looking for front office work, with a recent grad degree in philosophy.</p>
<p>Well…my S still has a few years to go but I worry less about him getting some kind of job where he can be creative/happy/independent than I would if he were a “business” major. He already has a lot of skills that can be applied in a lot of jobs. It helps that he has a lot of computer skills but I really think he will graduate exuding confidence that he can do pretty much anything if asked to do so…foundation year seems to force this on all of them. I thought that some of the schools he looked at, like MICA, had a good curriculum for the kids to get some marketing and business sense before graduating. I am not sure how much CMU does to prep them but I am optimistic seeing how active they are in promoting internships and job opportunities for the art students. </p>
<p>It will help our arts-kids that their expectations are low in terms of income and security so they may be willing to apply and try things and not get so frustrated or disappointed by jobs that other graduates won’t look at. My D is talking premed but what will happen to her if she gets a mediocre biology degree and doesn’t make it into med school?..she will have few practical skills except to wash lab equipment and yet she will have had her heart set on (for years) a long term, well paid prestigious career…so she may be facing more frustration and bitterness if things don’t pan out than S…</p>
<p>Happiness is the gap between reality and expectations. So lower expectations mean higher happiness.</p>
<p>I was genuinely curious about the jobs FA grads are getting. I personally believe that one should pursue their dreams, be it fine arts or accounting or math or philosophy. Life is too short to not pursue ones dreams. Indeed, that may cut off other options, but that’s the price to pay.</p>
<p>Happiness is … well never mind … :)</p>
<p>"?..she will have few practical skills except to wash lab equipment and yet she will have had her heart set on (for years) a long term, well paid prestigious career…so she may be facing more frustration and bitterness if things don’t pan out than S… "</p>
<p>MBA and hope big Pharma is hiring</p>
<p>Law or econ or policy as minors or grad degrees, and head into enviro or other bio related policy. </p>
<p>Or do as your son did and take Comp sci, and combine that somehow. Or statistics. </p>
<p>Main thing I think we need to teach ALL our young people, but especially the ones in less obvious majors, is to not to think too narrowly about what they can do. </p>
<p>BTW, our DD will be required to take freshman bio, by her ARCHITECTURE program. Integrating Bio with Arch is, apparently, the hottest thing in Arch.</p>
<p>Being able to achieve realistic expectations can lead to happiness for some. How’s that for a generalization? I think arts grads are told so repeatedly that it will be hard to find a job, hard to make a living, hard to be successful in their field…and it makes the success that much sweeter.</p>
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<p>OH PLEASE…stop this ridiculous banter. What YOU might consider an “adequate wage” as a professional adult midcareer…might be VERY different than what a 20something might consider as such. I don’t put my standards of salary or standard of living on my two college grad kids. That is THEIR decision and I’m proud that both of them are doing things that they find fulfilling…and will build on their potential for the future.</p>
<p>^^ Yes absolutely. I know for my twenty + year old living independently is a huge success barometer. Most in this age group don’t “care” if they have a beater car, a shabby little apartment, holes in their socks and little spending money. There is a richness that I will never forget, and they are living, to being “independent” for the first time in life. We should feel more sorry for the kids that are unhappy because they aren’t living a lifestyle that we, their parents, took decades to achieve.</p>
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<p>Why is that?</p>