<p>Okay, so let's say that you enter the medical field or engineering because you want to make a lot of money, a 6 figure salary. </p>
<p>Why enter either field for the money? </p>
<p>The money doctors and engineers get paid doesn't just magically pop out of thin air or grow on trees you know! </p>
<p>Someone has to pay them their salaries, and the person paying them is making a lot more money than the engineer or the doctor; and they don't even need a background in engineering or medicine! </p>
<p>So why don't the people who become engineers and doctors for the money, try to be the person who pays the doctors and engineers their paychecks instead? </p>
<p>There is more money in management and investment banking than there is in medicine or engineering, and that's a fact. Insurance companies make tons more money, as do the executives who received bailouts in 2008.</p>
<p>If you want to make a lot of money just go into robbing banks or drug dealing. But a) engineering is legal. b) engineering interest me. and c) I can get paid for doing something that I like.</p>
<p>Because only a small percentage of people make it to those positions. That’s like saying why doesn’t everybody try to win the lottery because you can get millions of dollars that way.</p>
<p>IIRC a lot of Fortune 500 CEOs did not major in business. A lot of engineering majors go into management after some time in development. There are many characteristics that go into being a good manager but having technical expertise is one of them.</p>
<p>Also, a lot of doctors who make tons of bank tend to own their own practices. That’s what my orthodontist does for instance, and he’s very very well-off. You could argue that the high-level managers and executives of an insurance company make more, but how many people who study management end up in that position? A whole lot less than the number of doctors who create successful private practices.</p>
<p>To anyone who actually IS thinking about going into these things for the money (especially medicine!): by the time you pay off your student loans from undergrad and med school, you’re generally not going to make THAT much more than someone who isn’t in one of these fields- at least not for a good 20 or so years after graduation. </p>
<p>If you’re going into medicine for the money, you’re barking up the wrong tree.</p>
<p>Actually engineering pays big after a few years in the field. Then you can move up in management and make even more money. The CEO of ford has a bachelor in aerospace engineering.</p>
<p>My orthodontist is a relatively young guy, drives a 7 series, lives in a very affluent part of town, sends his kids to private school, etc. Yeah he wasn’t doing that right out of med school but he probably wasn’t living hand-to-mouth either.</p>
<p>Be careful of judging people’s wealth by status symbols. Some people spend all of their money and then some on status symbols, and may be juggling debt to buy them. Your orthodontist may have a more expensive car and house than Warren Buffett does.</p>
<p>Note that since affluent areas tend to have good public K-12 schools, living in an affluent area and paying for private K-12 schools is often considered an either/or choice – many would see doing both as a waste of money unless the student’s needs are very unusual.</p>
<p>I agree but people around here send their kids to private schools most likely to schmooze with the elites. Some of the nation’s best public schools are located in the DC area along with some of the best privates.</p>
<p>yeah if you’re in medicine for the money you’re doing it wrong. better be a real good BSer in that case, especially during med school interviews</p>
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