Confused on what to do

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>Hi,
My name is Prayag Patil and I'm going to be a Junior in HS pretty soon. I'm posting because I'm really thinking of college right now and what I want to become and major in and what college I should attend.</p>

<p>My criteria for a job was always something that would pay me a good amount so I can support a family in the future and really to be honest a job that was in a right-out-of-college field that would allow me to earn a decent salary as a undergrad which would allow me to go to grad school which would pay me a good amount once I became a grad.</p>

<p>At first I kept hearing about how great the BioE field was and how bright the future was for the field. But the more I look at it, the more it seems as if it's a field requiring a doctoral degree to hold any decent position/salary. I then considered doing BioE + Business or Management as a grad. I would like to know how this would play out.</p>

<p>But more importantly, I am wondering what colleges are best for me and which ones would accept me.</p>

<p>I would say I have above average grades in highschool and my course load is fairly heavy. Last year (soph year) I got As in my major subjects and 2 Bs in secondary subjects like Art and Web Design. My unweighted GPA was I think a 3.7. Also I took Accelerated Biology but studied the extra material taught in the AP class. I gave the AP Bio exam and got a 3. I also took the SATII for Biology M and got a 710 (I think I'll retake it though). Next year I will be taking AP Precalc/Calc A-B and AP Chemistry with the other courses being all Accelerated.
I took several SAT prep courses including one given by the students at MIT, the one I took at the end gave me a 2000. </p>

<p>Please if you can reccommend to me colleges that you think would be ok with my scores and if you can please reccommend what I should do with what basic path I am going to take as far as my profession/career is considered.</p>

<p>Thanks, any help appreciated</p>

<p>-Prayag</p>

2

<p>
[quote]
My criteria for a job was always something that would pay me a good amount so I can support a family in the future and really to be honest a job that was in a right-out-of-college field that would allow me to earn a decent salary as a undergrad which would allow me to go to grad school which would pay me a good amount once I became a grad.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>many business degrees will do this, accounting being the most assured path.</p>

3

<p>What are the chances that I will land a good job in accounting or another field like it?
Should I spend more on a private 1st tier or 2nd tier school or just go to state school?</p>

4

<p>Prayag, go for accounting if you're a somewhat average student and work hard. </p>

<p>Everything depends how sharp and smart you are. If you can crack very difficult, probability oriented math problems; then you have a shot at passing actuarial exams. </p>

<p>If you can do this, then you will have no problem finding ridiculously laid back, secure jobs anywhere in the country. Oh, btw, actuaries do the "math analysis" not just for insurance companies but also for top notch consulting firms (mercer HR/ Mercer oliver wyman/towers perrin / others), and accounting firms (mostly the big 4). Lately they've even been working for pensions advisory firms within the bulge bracket investment banks.</p>

<p>Accountant is not bad. But if you have the intelligence, the talent and the math skill required - why not consider the more interesting, better paying professions? Keep in mind actuaries are more laid back than accountants even. </p>

<p>Many future actuaries start thinking and researching about their career starting from High school. Visit this site:
<a href="http://www.beanactuary.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.beanactuary.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>P.S. - I wouldn't recommend doing any of these. Especially, if you're interested in grad. school in the future but the other options that you have if and only if you make into "target" schools like ivy league, the UC's, Michigan, UVA, et... are management consulting (mercer, mckinsey, BCG, etc..) and what's new - i-banking. You also have something available to you known as quantitative finance (but keep in mind this is a cut-throat competitive profession where usually P.H.D.'s from HYPSM in Math/physics/comp. sci. get the really "choicy" jobs).</p>

5

<p>Thanks epoch,</p>

<p>Also, how about becoming a Venture Capitalist? Or is this field slowly dying out because of hedge funds?</p>

<p>If not a VC, how about Treasurer, CPA, controller assistant,</p>

<p>Also, I don't mind how laid back a job is, I am willing to work as hard as I have to, but my dad is retiring in less than 10 years and I do not want him paying for my probably very high tuition fees and potentially ruin his retirement, I am planning on taking out a loan. Thus, I ask which areas do not require significant grad school time or one sthat do but offer good money with a bachelors degree.</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
If not a VC, how about Treasurer, CPA, controller assistant,

[/quote]
</p>

<p>All of these careers are possible with a degree in accounting, however they are careers that require medium to high level work experience to achieve. Unless you have a rich family, or rich friends, or are rich yourself, a VC is not usually an option until you have made enough money to invest in business ventures.</p>

7

<p>Is it not possible to be a VC on behalf of a company? Or is that type of position very rare and/or hard to get?</p>

8

<p>I think the VC is the financial manager/treasurer of the company.</p>

9

<p>Oh, well thank you Griff and Epoch for responding, defintely a big help</p>

10

<p>VC is great exit option for experienced investment bankers. It's not feasible otherwise. As of right now, you need to be practical. Accounting is great but it's harder than Actuarial science in the sense you have to get far better grades and it's far more selective to get into top big 4 firms.</p>

<p>Actuarial science is a yes or no deal - you either pass or don't pass exams. If you're smart enough to make through specialized math exams - this is for you. The job nature IS far more appealing then accounting is. But it's do you have what it takes or not? Surprisingly, the pass rates are higher than those taking the CPA exam for accounting - for example all the actuarial exams have a 40% + pass rates but the CPA accounting exams has a much lower pass rate. Very interesting. But than again the batch that takes the actuarial exams is going to be smarter and there are many more exams so you really can't compare them. </p>

<p>My advice - if you have the talent, go w/ actuarial science. Otherwise, go with accounting. And there's nothing wrong with that. Accounting is a great profession as well if you take advantage and get top grades.!</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

11

<p>it is quite feasible actually to get into vc without investment banking experience, just depends on the college and geographics region</p>

12

<p>Well I'm sure it CAN be done. Then again anything can be done. Nothing is impossible. But the odds are pretty high. I still think it's a far better option for experienced i-bankers looking for exit options. As for our high school student here, jumping into VC right after graduation is a bit of a stretch. That's why VC isn't the best thing to bring up here.</p>

13

<p>
[quote]
Is it not possible to be a VC on behalf of a company?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>YES!!!!Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and Brown Brothers Harriman (and other banks) have a venture capital fund.</p>

<p>About being a venture capitalist straight out of college...it CAN be done. Take a look at this:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_2/candidates/ivana.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Apprentice_2/candidates/ivana.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

14

<p>"Prayag, go for accounting if you're a somewhat average student and work hard. "</p>

<p>"why not consider the more interesting, better paying professions?"</p>

<p>"The job nature IS far more appealing then accounting is."</p>

<p>"But than again the batch that takes the actuarial exams is going to be smarter and there are many more exams so you really can't compare them. "</p>

<p>:\ My God...what a series of unintelligent and uninformed comments. I don't know why in the world you would believe that being an actuary is superior to being an accountant (or that accounting students are not as smart as actuarial science/math students). They are two completely different fields that attract very different people. </p>

<p>It doesn't make much sense to compare the pass rates for both exams. Both have different educational requirements, different content requirements and are taken under very different conditions at very different times in a person's career. Your logic is, at best, flawed.</p>

<p>To the OP: if you want more information on any of the careers brought up in this thread, make use of the search button. There's a wealth of information posted already.</p>

<p>It's not really feasible for anyone to give you school recommendations based on the info given. You really need to do a lot more reaserach into what you think you want to do and what you're looking for in a college. There are many that will fit your criteria.</p>

15

<p>now im a bit confused, but thanks ryan, will give the search button a go</p>

16

<p>what does the salary look like for an actuary as you pass more and more exams?</p>

17

<p>epoch_dreams:</p>

<p>You have quite a bit of growing up to do. You clearly know very little about accounting and what accountants do. This isn't the first time you've posted silly comments and acted disrespectful to others on this board.</p>

<p>"Actuaries are far more flexible and can work different kinds of jobs than accountants. As an actuary, you can work for life insurance, accounting, business consulting, and other various kinds of firms. Actuaries report to direct management much faster than accountants."</p>

<p>For one, Actuaries cannot work in accounting without an accounting education. They can work FOR accounting firms performing certain functions (usually for pension service cost calculations), but they cannot perform actual accounting functions.</p>

<p>Secondly, you seem to think that everyone who goes into accounting is pigeonholed into accounting for the rest of their life. CPAs with Big 4 experience often leave public accounting for jobs in finance, consulting and management. Public accounting experience is highly sought after.</p>

<p>"Ryanbis, you're nothing but glorified book-keeper. I hope your happy with what you do. Sure, you'll make partner after about 13 years of book-keeping. What an exciting profession! "</p>

<p>You clearly don't know what auditors do. I am certainly not a bookkeeper.</p>

<p>"The issue isn't money here. It's the nature of the job. I have no doubt in my mind that accountants working for top firms after 13 years will become partner and make a 1 mil +. So what?"</p>

<p>I never said that the issue was money. Different people enjoy doing different things. Being a public accounting and being an actuary are very different jobs. If you enjoy math and statistics, by all means, be an actuary. If you enjoy law, business and finance, then accounting may be more for you. It has nothing to do with intelligence--a smart person can become very successful in either field and different people find different things more intellectually stimulating.</p>

<p>"And yes, actuaries - on average are smarter than accountants. I have members in the family who are both actuaries and accountants so I know first hand what they do. I've shadowed their jobs. This isn't pure speculation. The nature of the actuarial work is far more intellectual."</p>

<p>Yeah, I'll be sure to take your word for it :\ Again, you're making a rather ridiculous comparison. Accounting is an extremely broad field compared to actuarial science.</p>

18

<p>I have to agree with Ryanbis. Epoch those are some pretty ignorant statements.</p>

19

<p>Ryanbis,</p>

<p>^^I changed my post so as to explain myself more clearly. As you can see, I edited and deleted various comments so as to explain myself better. Why couldn't you just wait till I had my new post typed out? A little patience goes a long way. I suggest you delete your prior post. It's completely unnecessary. Let's see just how "ignorant" and "not grown up" I am, shall we? </p>

<p>The actuarial track is superior to accounting for various reasons including the following:</p>

<ul>
<li>The nature of actuarial science makes it far more versatile. Actuaries work for business consulting corporations, accounting firms, insurance firms, government areas. Actuaries specialize in reserving, rate-making, property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, and many other different kinds of job functions. Interestingly enough, some actuaries down the track take on specialized accounting jobs (accountants can't switch out to actuarial jobs even if they want to).</li>
</ul>

<p>-Again, VERSATILITY. Internationally, actuaries can work almost anywhere. Bermuda, hong kong, tokyo, india, china, europe - almost anywhere they choose to. The reason is because there are few actuaries in this world and the work nature across the globe of exactly what an actuary does is very similar. Accountant is the complete opposite. The business and tax laws of a certain country heavily regulate the work and practice of region -specific accountants. Accountants just aren't as business versatile as actuaries.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Demand. Right now accountants are doing well in employment I admit. However, actuarial demand is also very high and unlike accounting, always has been very high. It's much more stable a profession because there is a limit to entry. Only few can do this and because of that, you can be safe that this market won't be saturated. </p></li>
<li><p>Insurance industry power. The presence of so many hurricanes and other global catastraphes as actually been a boon to the insurance industry despite the initial damage. People now know that it is a necessity to invest in insurance, no longer a back-up pleasant option. This is especially true in property and casualty insurance. As a result of this, the number of clients have skyrocketed in terms of volume. We're not done yet. Banking and insurance companies have recently worked together on many aspects including home insurance. If and when the banks profit, so do the insurance firms. I have family members who work in the insurance industry and they say that as long as the banking sector does well, the insurance industry will never die out.</p></li>
<li><p>Laid back and relaxed nature of the job. Actuaries get several weeks off (pay included) out of the year just to study for their exams. Employers encourage students to take time off to study for their exams. As a result of this, many actuaries don't really have an obligation to show up to work as long as they pass exams. And when do show up, they do statistics at work. This is why actuaries are ranked among the best professions and the most relaxed (2nd only to biology). You can verify this in <a href="http://www.beanactuary.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.beanactuary.org&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/li>
<li><p>Job security and relocation. Acturies have a 0% unemployment rate. That's right. With a few exams under his belt, anyone will hire him. Many actuaries love change. They love to move around to different locations. Some work in NYC, hate the location and switch to bermuda, then puerto rico. They can work anywhere they want to and quit whenever they feel uncomfortable. You CANNOT do this in accounting. You can't move around and relocate with such ease and poise but an actuary can. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>-Nature of the job. Acturies are statisticians. Accountants are not. I'm not going to disrespect accountants by saying they're glorified book-keepers because I know that certain areas in accounting can be interesting as well like forensics accounting, etc.. But overall, actuarial science is a more interesting and more intuitive profession than accounting - especially for non-executive, specialized roles. </p>

<ul>
<li>Job pay. Actuaries make more money. Hands down. At least for the first 13-15 years until an accountant becomes a partner. Then, they're even. Actuaries usually have a faster track into management than accountants because their work is more versatile within the company and has bigger impact than what an accountant does (at least for the initial non-exec. time frame).</li>
</ul>

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<p>Let me explain my last paragraph better. An actuary rotates within a company doing various roles (risk analysis isn't department specific). As a result of this, they see and interact themselves at a broader scale than the accountant (at least for the first several years). This is why they usually have a faster track to management - they have a broader insight to the company's infrastructure.</p>