<p>I am currently in high school, and i've laid out my life from now until college and beyond.
The only thing i'm having trouble with is what career i will take up after college..i'm in love with science...and i either want to be some kind of scientist, engineer or doctor.</p>
<p>I know doctors get paid well, but i've heard that scientists and engineers get paid really low for all the hard work they go through/
Is this true? do successful scientists and engineers get ripped off? because from what i've heard they get paid below 100,000 dollars and i dont think thats fair for all the hard work theyve accomplished</p>
<p>Everyone gets ripped off to some degree when becoming an employee for someone else. </p>
<p>Doctor: Four years of college, four years of med school, residency and all the other stuff. Then you can be a real doctor at thirty something, but will probably work your butt off most of your life because of your busy schedule. Your kids will hate you for not seeing them often, your patients will sue for their problems, but you’ll have the satisfaction of being an upper middle class professional who’s job will probably not be outsourced in the near future. </p>
<p>Scientist: There are so many different “scientists”. Are you an astronomer living off grant money in the Andes mountain observatories? Or are you a CTO of a major technology company? Everything depends… and who says they went through hard work? Some work hard for doctorate degrees. Some just get an associate degree and call themselves “scientists”. Some are just hacks. (<em>cough</em> steve jobs <em>cough</em>) </p>
<p>Engineer: Now that’s a decent living. Some of the highest paid jobs straight out of college are in engineering fields, and you’ll be the envy of liberal arts majors when they’re delivering pizza to your door. Now, you might not make much as a doctor, but you’ll be making money earlier at a less frantic pace. Some engineering jobs pay more than others, but you’ll learn all about that when you get ready to sell your skills out to the highest bidder. Well… it’s debatable whether your earnings will rise greatly over the course of your career, and it’s also debatable whether companies won’t outsource engineering to countries like India in the near future. Oh well… same goes for any other job anyway. </p>
<p>So… you shouldn’t plan your life out so early. Besides, your interests may change. Liking Chemistry Honors in high school and liking college organic chemistry are two different things altogether.</p>