<p>Is there such thing as such a career. With the state of the economy and unemployment, I'm trying to find the best option, financially, for me. I'll be attending a top LAC for almost nothing and I'd like to keep my debt minimal (almost non-existent) and would like to be working straight out of college and earning a decent amount of money. Graduate school seems like a risk for me. Any suggestions on careers or majors.</p>
<p>Computer Science, engineering</p>
<p>I know at least here at Cal the average starting salary in CS was about 80k last year.</p>
<p>engineering and economics can land you some good jobs. Then again, you can major in anything and with connections end up in a good career.</p>
<p>Depends on how you define lucrative, I suppose. </p>
<p>No matter what, it’s less about the major most times and more about the connections you make, skills you acquire, and your resume.</p>
<p>There is NO magical degree. Period. It’s all about what you do when you’re in school that matters.</p>
<p>Accounting offers you some pretty decent job opportunities directly after college? Especially if you go on to become CPA certified. I’m an Econ major and I’ve heard a lot of success stories of students graduating with an just an Econ degree and becoming pretty successful. Don’t be fooled though work experience, connections, and luck all play a part as well.</p>
<p>My degree is in political science and I landed a great job in insurance-- at a wholesaler, not at an agency, so it is not a sales type job like many people dread. It pays quite well enough though not on the same level as something like computer science or engineering. If I’d gotten my degree in insurance, though, I VERY likely could have gotten a 5-10k larger salary at my company than I have now, especially if I’d had internships, and then it might have been comparable. I was at a disadvantage going in because I had no insurance or even office experience.</p>
<p>My LAC offered a nursing program (BSN) through a local hospital. RNs are fairly in demand and offer a decent starting salary.</p>
<p>Define lucrative.</p>
<p>K-12 teachers generally enjoy good job security and earn above-median income in most school districts, but it’s not as much money as some college grads are hoping for.</p>
<p>Computer science majors can get very decent jobs straight out of college, but they don’t offer much job security. (Many middle-aged programmers are laid off and replaced with cheaper recent college graduates, for instance.)</p>
<p>Actuarial science seems fairly secure and well-paying, but it’s a dead-end job for most. (I’ve met several former actuaries who quit because they got bored doing the same computations year after year, but not a single one who left the field because they couldn’t get a job.)</p>
<p>
Luckily not everybody has to pay for their graduate degree. PhD students, for example, are usually funded. (I get a full tuition waiver, health insurance and a $30,000/year stipend.) Sometimes that system gets taken advantage of: students will enroll in a PhD program and then drop out with a Master’s degree instead of enrolling in the pay-your-your-own-degree Master’s programs.</p>
<p>I’d define lucrative as being financially secure with a steady, generous income that would be capable of sustaining a small family in the future (if I planned on settling down). My passion is the Arts (I love TV/Film Production–behind the scenes work), but unfortunately I don’t think that field would be able to support my lifestyle if I didn’t make it big (real big). And to even assure that I had a steady flow of “jobs” in that field, I have to at least have a graduate degree and that would mean tens of thousands of dollars (that I don’t have).</p>
<p>
But what’s a generous income for you? According to Wikipedia, the median income of a full-time worker aged 25-64 in 2005 was $39,509. Those with Bachelor degrees had a median income of $50,959. Would you be happy with a median income or do you want significantly more than that? (Take those numbers as a lifetime average median income. The median starting salary is a lot lower than that.)</p>
<p>Those numbers just look so low to me… As a student last year I made just above $30,000 (I do live on my own and make car payments) and to be a fully fledged grown adult with a family on an income of around $50,000 is just something I wouldn’t be comfortable with.</p>
<p>But back to your question I would definitely say Engineering, Nursing, Accounting, and maybe even Economics are pretty good degrees that can lead to a “comfortable” wage directly out of college. Just do keep in mind that nowadays a Bachelors degree is not what it used to be.</p>
<p>Sales. Especially technical sales, a quality, high-end, cutting edge product or service, especially selling to Fortune 500’s or better- which does not require a technical degree, just smarts, tech aptitude and some polish. </p>
<p>Not saying sales is for everyone. Not saying any old sales. You can’t sleepwalk through it, you have to know your stuff, but you can make money and, as time goes by, set some of your own hours. It helps to have some technical courses behind you, something that says you can handle the learning and keep up with the info flow.</p>
<p>You have to earn your stripes, so to speak. And there have been ups and downs in the tech market, especially in the last 10 years- but all the seasoned reps I know weathered each storm.</p>
<p>Look, if you get a major in a field you don’t like, just because that field objectively holds greater job opportunities and pays better, 15 years from now, you’ll be miserable, you’ll hate your career, you’ll have no motivation to go to work, and you’ll wonder why the heck you aren’t making as much money as your colleagues with the same degrees.</p>
<p>Terenc is very very spot on with that. You can’t just go for money.
- You’ll be miserable.
- You’ll never get ahead.</p>
<p>I understand where you guys are coming from, really I do, but I can’t deny the terrible state of the economy, right now. Plenty of students with staggering student loan debts, about half of graduates from college are under- or un- employed, etc. I’m afraid if I stray away from the “highly-profitable and secure” fields of study that I’ll end up unemployed with thousands of dollars of debt (if I pursue the career choice that I believe I am passionate about)</p>
<p>You can major in something you adore- and still wind up hating your job down the road. Because not all jobs are what you loved to study in college. And, they’re certainly not on a school schedule. And, there’s some sort of profit motive behind every employer- even a non-profit is constrained by how much it brings in. </p>
<p>So, study what you love, but supplement it with something likely to lead to the first career-path job. Or, if you have the talent and enough interest, study something career oriented or pre-professional- and cram in every class you can in that other field that turns you on. Get good summer and intership experience. Make contacts with the people you work for.</p>
<p>It’s a legit question and hard to find just the right answer.</p>
<p>Aren’t you going to Bates? Sample a range of classes, watch out for weeder pre-med courses, get involved, and visit career services. Use your summers wisely, to get a jump start on your resume. Good luck.</p>
<p>Why do you feel that a graduate degree is a risk for you? What are you passionate (or what do you think) your passionate about?</p>
<p>I feel like a graduate degree is a risk because I’m worried that I won’t have the funds available to go to graduate school and I’m afraid of going into thousands of student load debt for a career that isn’t necessarily “secure” or “profitable” for the average pursuer. I’m passionate about entertainment industry (Cinema in general–but I wouldn’t mind branching out from there). I’d like to work for TV/Film production agencies if possible, but my parents have never been supportive about my interest in this industry. They think I’m wasting my time and I’m sure they won’t help me pay for grad school if I decided to major in Television production.</p>