<p>Sorry to burst your bubble, but there are more ways to be successful than some simple formula...The real key to success is having a valuable skill :)</p>
<p>My advice is that you go ahead and take the GMAT your senior year (score stays good for 5 years) and go work in the industry. If you enjoy the company you worked with, then after 4 years have them pay for your MBA and come back. Keep in mind that it doesn't really matter where you got your MBA if you are working for the same company--experience and company loyalty count a lot more. However, if you want to enter a new industry (Financial), you'll want to go to a top business school</p>
<p>well....it could be.......if you do the right things...</p>
<p>I have always wondered, what exactly is it that you learn when you go through a mba program? Isn't business administration basically just telling people what to do? If that is what it is then do people really need to go to school for that? I guess I could see how it could be useful if your starting a business, but it would probably be more useful to just say you have one.</p>
<p>^ You don't have to go to school for it, broken_symlink, a lot of top managers at engineering firms don't have anything beyond a B.S or M.S</p>
<p>However, it is a credential. And I'm sure these programs delve deeper into business theory, ethics, and policy.</p>
<p>These are difficult questions to answer for a number of reasons. If you judge success based on dollars and cents then any advanced degree (JD, MBA, MD, PhD) from a top school will likely lead to some sort of economic security/comfort. You needn't necessarily have an engineering degree for your undergrad work for these fields in many cases. Heck, lawyers straight out of the top 15-20 law schools are pulling in close to 200k a year when going to work for major corporate firms in NY, SF, Chi, etc. </p>
<p>So how do you define success? Liking your job? Job security? Money? Working 40 hours a week? Working 100 hours a week?</p>
<p>The bottom line to me is that you made an incredible wise decision in majoring in engineering as an undergraduate as it leaves nearly every avenue open to you. What you do with it from there is entirely up to you, but regardless of how you view success and what you want, you are likely setting yourself up for it.</p>
<p>Engineering+MD= super debt lol</p>
<p>limit of Engineering as GPA --> 0 = Business</p>
<p>^ Kind of sad, but true. I knew several colleagues who were terrible in engineering (Not like they even care about being an engineer!), but it was good for their application to business school.</p>
<p>YOU CANNOT COMPARE STARTING SALARIES FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.</p>
<p>if you live in Ohio and make 120k, you are doing CONSIDERABLY well. if you are making 120k in new york, you not actually making as much.</p>
<p>the cost of living is MUCH higher on the coasts than in cities, so saying that a heart surgeon makes 500k probably is about the same as 200-300k in the midwest.</p>
<p>In addition to location, another important factor is the kind of lifestyle you have. You say 120k in NY is not that much, but to me, I think that would be a very good salary. I have never been a big spender.</p>
<p>And by NY, I assume you mean New York City, and not just Manhattan.</p>
<p>i have no idea what a good salary is in NY. but i know that the COL is much higher and executive level management (VPs and directors) tend to make that in the midwest, so that number would be higher in (NYC, manhattan, LA, San Francisco, you choose i really dont care).</p>
<p>120k is a lot anywhere in this country unless you live some really extravagant lifestyle.</p>
<p>ok. then i gave a bad example. sue me.
you cant compare housing values or salaries from different part of the country unless you find a way to take COL into account</p>
<p>Cost</a> of Living - Cost of Living Calculator from CNNMoney.com</p>
<p>That does a neat job of it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Salary in New York (Manhattan) NY:
$120,000
Comparable salary in Pittsburgh PA:
$50,076.8</p>
<p>Salary in Los Angeles-Long Beach CA:
$120,000
Comparable salary in Pittsburgh PA:
$72,905.63</p>
<p>Salary in San Francisco CA:
$120,000
Comparable salary in Pittsburgh PA:
$63,089.15
[/quote]
</p>
<p>$120,000 isn't necessarily a whole lot.</p>
<p>there are so many tickets to so many different successes. A very small percent of MBAs become the CEOs that your probably defining as "success". And on top of that, you have to work for about 2-3 years to get into top MBA programs and with an engineering background, your probably looking at hell years on WS if you follow the path of other peeps thinking along the same train. So you have 4 years of engineering, toughest major possibly, 2-3 of work, a busy summers, very competitive mba application process, very expensive MBA tuition, then after that, Wharton's post MBA starting salary was aroung 120,000 I think. In the city, thats a small appartment, cheap car, and a rat race. Then if you are 1/10 and know the people skills to rise through the ranks, you can after probably 10 years of hard work, get that 250k salary that you always dreamed of. </p>
<p>Im not making this up, a finance professor at my local t20 university told me this and he had worked from wall street to obscure hedge funds, etc. So yes, it is one long train that can lead to a type of success that is perfect for some, not so for others. It is a good combination - so much better than bba mba. And if you want out, there ARE options, since you can seek employment on the basis of your engin/math skills, and your business/econ.</p>
<p>i think i agree with explorerCY and RacinReaver on this one...</p>
<p>$120k is a LOT of money in Cali for yourself. Its a different matter if you have a family and are the sole bread-winner.
With that kind of money you can hope to live comfortably, upper middle class, as long as you're not trying to live in Beverly Hills or Malibu.
The truth is that most people living in California (or New York) don't make anywhere near that much, and many of them are not doing so bad.
Personally, I think that shooting for a job with a really really high salary ($250k+)... well, there's just no easy way to it. You really have to try very hard and be very devoted to get that, and even then most people won't get it. Or you could get lucky, but who banks on that?
Its much much safer to try to shoot for all the other things you want from your career as well. That way if you don't get that really well-paying job, at least you won't be miserable.
I know a couple people who are on the road to "success," but let me tell you, they are NOT happy... their occupation is also their preoccupation, forever. But they are pretty much at a point of no return.
OTOH, I know a couple of people that are "successful" though they never quite planned it that way, and they are very happy. I think that simply "finding" yourself where you always wanted to be is a lot better than sweating for it all your life. And in the end, if you don't make it, it never seems to bother you so much.</p>
<p>
[quote]
$120,000 isn't necessarily a whole lot.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by "a whole lot." I have friends living in Manhattan (single) with a salary under $60k. One of them considers himself rich! Me personally, I just don't see how $120k wouldn't be enough to cover all your expenses AND have a lot left over for savings. That's assuming I'm not raising a family in Manhattan.</p>
<p>Perhaps a better way to phrase the question is "How much money do you need to live comfortably?"</p>
<p>Ofcourse it doesn't seem like a lot when you guys pick the most expensive places in the world to live lol.
Even then, its still a lot (to me). I assuming we're talking about a single person.</p>
<p>"How much money do you need to live comfortably?" Then people will ask what is your definition of living comfortably...</p>
<p>Show me someone that you know thats making 120k a year and isn't satisfied and comfortable with their lifestyle.<br>
I know you can never have enough money but thats not the case here, we're talking about living comfortably.</p>