College - For Money or Love?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>These days making a buck is really difficult for just about everyone. Unemployment is rampant, and a ton of people seem to have debt up to their ears. I am fortunate enough to not be one of them. However, I am in a similar, though less caustic situation. Going into my senior year of high school, I am buried with questions that seem to have a lifelong meaning. A few years ago my biggest decision was jelly or fluff, and now I am deciding where I am going to spend the next four years of my life? Even more daunting: what am I going to do with my life in the long term?</p>

<p>I just turned 18, and like many others on this website, am in the process of making huge decisions. Where will I go to college? Can I pay for it? What will I major in? That question in particular consistently hits me like a Mack truck going 85 on the freeway. For some this seems to come so naturally, it is just so obvious what some people want to do. End of the year, in class, a teacher asked, "What do you want to do?" The overwhelming response was "to be a doctor." That was near 50% of answers. I just don't know how one can be so certain of an almost decade process when they've only been on the planet for 17 years. </p>

<p>Really, I am sure some people do have it figured out. They are confident and driven. I, however, do not share in such honorable qualities. I am going to speak without any modesty because I'd rather not have sugar-coating taint the answers I really want to hear: I am a great verbal student. I always have been. History, English, Philosophy, Languages and the like have all come very easy to me. However, math and science have been troublesome. And I mean, very basic math and science compared to what some people consider quantitative courses - I haven't even gotten to Calculus in high school yet and I have to study my *ss off to make a B+. </p>

<p>This concept directly affects my decision for a college major. Unfortunately, all the money is in science and math related subjects. Engineering majors, most notably, do very well money wise. From what I have heard and read, I am not capable of being an engineer. I also find myself inadequate for a major in the physical sciences or mathematics and even economics or accounting seems scary to me. However, if one looks at what the highest paid people (negating outliers) major in, it is without a doubt one of these. </p>

<p>I have no doubt I could perform very well as a Spanish major, or a History major, because these things come so naturally to me. Why this is, I don't know. Why I cannot grasp numbers in the same respect, I also regretfully do not know. Spanish and History Majors do not make all that great of money as far as I have heard. </p>

<p>Now the all important question (for some...or just me): is the money worth hating what I do? Now, I am sure the wiser observers might be quick to say, "No, what is money worth if you are not happy?" But, in a broader view, I do plan to have kids one day. To have a family is without a doubt my vocation in life. Where some kids know they want to be a doctor, I know I want to have a big family. I don't know why, I just do. With that in mind, is it not my responsibility to be able to make enough money so that my (future) family will live in comfort and ease.</p>

<p>To show you where I am coming from, my Dad is a prime example. My Dad is an engineer. He went to college early, graduated early, and has been working with the same company since. Though he doesn't speak much of it, I can see it wears down on him horribly. Although he is a technical person, seemingly cut out for engineer work, he hates his job. I can see it readily, though he may try to hide it. However, he has a (rather large) family to provide for, and in that regard he is successful. </p>

<p>My question - is it irresponsible for me not to prepare myself for a technical job in the future? Is the money worth it, or should I do what I love? </p>

<p>I'm sorry this is so long. I can't fathom how boring it must have been if anyone read this, if anyone did, but at the very least it helped me to think things through. Thanks for any thoughts. Peace.</p>

2

<p>Hey, I don’t have much wisdom to give you (after all, I just graduated high school), but I think it’s good to know that other people are asking themselves the same questions I’m asking myself. I know you’re looking more for advice than anything, but I think it’s helpful to know that you’re not alone in this :)</p>

<p>I have to admit, my greatest passion (right now) is music. My most important extracurricular activities, awards, short answers, essays, etc. were all music-related. I even auditioned (and was accepted into) an exceptional music school, but chose not to go. On the other hand, I think I can do well in math/science-related fields. However, as much as I like chemistry, economics, etc., I feel that music will still give me the most personal satisfaction as a career.</p>

<p>I ask myself the same questions: is it selfish of me to pursue the career I want to pursue and risk putting my (future) family under financial pressure? Should I pursue a well-paying job and just keep up my music as a hobby? etc. etc.</p>

<p>My personal opinion at this point is that we’re too young to choose. I think the best thing is to continue keeping your options open and when the time comes and we’re mature enough to decide, then we’ll make that choice. I chose Yale because generally speaking, it was stronger academically than the music school, and stronger musically than Stanford. It is possible to take private lessons in the Yale (Graduate) School of Music, and as long as I complete required courses and maintain a high level of performance, I believe it is still possible to attend music school as a graduate student. There is even a 5-year program between Yale College and Yale SoM, etc. And we all know that Yale opens many doors academically.</p>

<p>So basically … I would say you still have time to decide. Keep your options open? I’m in the same position as you so I can’t give very wise advice ;)</p>

3

<p>try to find balance between your passions and practicality. the key is balance.</p>

4

<p>Last evening I was watching the News Hour. In one segment, a very thoughtful, well-spoken, youngish guy spoke at length about the political situation in Somalia. I was curious about his background so I Googled to a Wikipedia article about him. Turns out, he majored in philosophy at Cornell. After graduation he did a stint in Ethiopia as a Communications Officer for Save the Children. Then he earned an M.Phil. as a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, where he was the first American to become editor of a major student publication. After that, he spent a year as a city hall and cop reporter for a newspaper in Florida. From there, he has worked his way up to become East Africa bureau chief of The New York Times, based in Nairobi, Kenya. </p>

<p>There are countless stories of liberal arts majors who have gone on to pursue interesting, productive, often even lucrative careers in jobs that you probably cannot even imagine. If you did a little research, I think you would find that over the long run, liberal arts majors tend to earn more than engineering or business majors. Getting started straight out of college can be a little extra bumpy with a degree in history compared to accounting; this is why you need to keep your antennae up in college for good internship and employment opportunities. Try to develop some practical skills and experience in an area that interests you. This could be journalism, city planning, environmental policy, banking, foreign relations … whatever. In any of these fields, the kind of thinking and communication skills you develop as a liberal arts major will be one of your most valuable qualifications.</p>

5

<p>I’m a parent and have little advice to give but want to say how heartened I was to read such a thoughtful, reflective (and self reflective), and wise post. I often marvel when people ask my daughter, a senior in high school, what she wants to do. If she chose based on what she has discovered in 17 years on the planet, as you say, and still living at home with her family taking the very limiting high school college preparatory classes, she’d be missing a lot of information with which to choose.</p>

<p>You are asking questions that we ask ourselves as adults, in fact, your questions are the stuff of mid-life crises. As an example, I did some work (as a freelance writer) for a renowned pastry school. Its classes were filled with older students: lawyers, bus drivers and accountants who had always had this creative yen but who chose to pursue more conventional paths. People sometimes don’t choose well for themselves and they correct later. Sometimes those who choose doctor, as you mention in your post, also are artists or writers for pleasure. </p>

<p>Life is a creative pursuit and you can cobble it together any way you want. You have no obligation as a future parent to provide for your family extravagantly, but to provide enough so that bills are paid and mouths are fed and there is a great range as to what that entails. Needless to say, good parents have much more to offer than simply financial well being. One great offering as a parent is to know who you are and act in accordance with that. It will offer your children the opportunity for same.</p>

<p>One last thing, and I’m trying to limit my comments because this is a topic about which we could probably talk forever: there are always issues created by whatever choices you make. I was somewhere in the last year or two where I noticed that many of the people there who made great money seemed to be wistful about their roads not taken and the drudgery of their lives and the ones who had taken more creative paths seemed sort of bitter about not having more money. This was just one example of one small group but it reminded me that there are no perfect answers about how to do life and that we do the best we know how to do at any given time given our understanding-circumstances-opportunities-abilities-luck. Just my opinion, but a life well lived has movement and the opportunity to change and respond to the needs involved in its different phases. </p>

<p>A dear friend of mine was pushed by her family to take business courses to be practical and she always felt out of place and not terribly talented, not to mention unfulfilled. She discovered later in life the areas of training, organizational development and Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. These were her! She feels pretty comfortable in her shoes these days not to mention compelled by her work with her own company that has these offerings.</p>

<p>Becoming a doctor, lawyer, or engineer are simply some of the career options whose paths are fairly well known. If these aren’t a fit for you, you may have to fashion a path that takes all you are into account, as tk21769 wisely alluded to in the post above. This won’t be a singular decision but a series of little decisions as opportunities and circumstances arise. </p>

<p>This has been no answer at all to your very real concerns right now, rather, a few thoughts. You are smart, insightful, and are able to ask the tough questions. Your post reflects that you have heart. Your answers may not be easy ones but your questions really take into account who you are at this point and excellent observations and understanding of what’s around you. I’m betting on an interesting life for you!</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>

No, its not. And especially for people like you in the echo-boom generation. The people that get promoted are those that put in extra effort that sets them ahead of their peers. You don’t get A-B-C-D-F grades at work, but the managers are noticing who just does their job and who does it plus more. When you need to come in on a Saturday to do some work or stay late the nite your friends are getting together, its that much harder when you hate your job to begin with. And you just won’t be able to put in the same effort as those that enjoy or love the work. The working world is like a pyramid, which is quite different from the educational experience that has guided your life so far. Everyone goes from 3rd grade to 4th en masse, and so on. But at work only some get the promotions and raises.</p>

<p>I do empathize with you; few people really know what they want to do the rest of their life in 12th grade, and a big problem of course is that few 12th graders even have an idea of the breadth of career options. They see what their parents and a few other adults do, get some other ideas from TV shows and their community, but that’s about it. So if you already know that you’re not interested in a vocational field like engineering but don’t know what else to do they you need to be working with your college career center to explore what’s out their and might be a fit. You’re not making an irrevocable choice in college, if that takes some of the pressure off, its quite possible (esp. in your 20’s & 30’s) to change paths as you discover something more to your liking. One book I’d highly recommend you read now is “Major in Success” by Combs, which is aimed at the college student and is about exactly what you should be doing – finding a way to marry your passions with a good job.</p>

7

<p>

I doubt this is true. What you need to think about are salary distributions; engineers are going to be clustered in a somewhat narrow bell curve and a pretty decent salary. For liberal-arts majors, a bell curve isn’t a good analogy. Think instead of a line from low salary to high salary with a lot of bumps in it. Those that have chosen lower-paying areas such as teaching are in some of the lower bumps, those that have reached the upper echelons of businesses are going to be in high bumps, much higher than the engineers. </p>

<p>But when someone says “tend to earn more” this is talking about a median, and I’d be pretty sure the median for liberal-arts grads (even though the median is not a good description because the salaries have so many clusters from low to hi) is less than engineers.</p>

8

<p>Thank you for all the replies. You have given me a lot to think about. </p>

<p>What I have really gotten out of this is that whatever I have to do, I have to do it with heart. There are more important things than money anyway.</p>

9

<p>All jobs have bad parts and good parts. Even highly paid executives have a life that might not agree with everyone - away from home much of the time, long hours, etc. It’s really important to like what you do. Luckily, you can make changes along the way. Nothing is set in cement. You can go for something initially that will earn you a living and modify it as you gain skills. For example, consider teaching English in a Spanish speaking country - you never know where that might lead. Or consider being a court translator. You might decide you like the courtroom so much that you go back to law school.</p>

10

<p>Why don’t you just get a JD?</p>

11

<p>If you really like languages, there are some wonderful opportunities. Languages combined with foreign area studies might also interest you. Once you start college and begin looking around at all the things that are our there, you will find many options that fit your interests. The federal government also offers some nice scholarships and internships for those who want to study languages. You may have to branch out beyond Spanish.</p>

12

<p>Many people hate their jobs. I think that most hate their jobs because of the time invested in work and the lack of freedom. Your dad as an example, why not speak with your father on this, I would be willing to bet this is the case here also. You mentioned you live in a large family, your father obviously loves his family, or he wouldn’t have such a large one, and I am sure he would love to spend more time with them. It is most likely not the work that he does that he hates, But the fact that he would like to have a little more freedom.</p>

<p>Find something that you will be able to spend quality time with your family, The money allways seems to work itself out as long as you don’t live beyond your means.
Good luck</p>

13

<p>Thank you all for your responses. I am planning to major in engineering. I talked to my Dad, as suggested, and he said he was not a great student but hard work brought him through school. I am sure I can do the same. Colldad thank you for the input, spending time with family is going to be important to me and I did not really think about that enough. My dad works 6am - 3pm, and I see him when I get home from school everyday. As much as his job bothers him, and it might bother me, getting to see my family will be more important.</p>

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<p>Technical jobs are often well paying, but the economy changes all the time, and it’s foolish to major in something you aren’t interested in only because you think it will yield a secure job or a certain lifestyle after college. I know plenty of people who majored in things like computer science primarily because they were told there would always be good jobs. Well, there aren’t. I also know people who wanted to be teachers because of the alleged security and benefits who are watching their pensions and health insurance coverage slashed. It’s not wise to go into any field primarily because of tangential considerations (working conditions, belief in long-term security). All of these can change on a dime. You will generally be better off in the long run by choosing a field you like and are good at than pursuing something alien to your nature (and in competition with others for whom it is natural), just because you think it will give you more money. There are many different ways to align your abilities and gifts with the needs of the marketplace.</p>

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<p>You should pick a new life goal besides trying to start a big family because the world’s already overpopulated. Then you can also do what you love instead of become a corporate slave!</p>