Lucrative and Secure Careers that only Require a Bachelor's Degree?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>If you are so concerned about secure high-paying jobs that you can get with a Bachelor’s degree, WHY IN THE WORLD would you attend a liberal arts college? You should be getting a vocational degree: accounting, nursing, engineering, anything like that would be way more employable than a liberal arts degree. Even TV production.</p>

<p>I graduated from Bryn Mawr, which is fairly similar to most top 10-30 liberal arts colleges in admission standards and academic program. Most of the students in my class <em>really</em> struggled to get any job at all. There were 3 main exceptions:

  • Computer science majors.
  • Students who were very aggressive about pursing internships and building their resumes from their first year on campus.
  • Students who got a job through family connections. </p>

<p>Ever noticed that liberal arts colleges send students to graduate school at much higher rates than most universities? LACs like to sell that as their students being more ambitious after a richer undergraduate experience, and better prepared for the rigors of graduate school. My own theory is that LAC students attend grad school at much higher rates because they don’t feel competitive on the job market. That’s why most of my friends (including myself) went to grad school, anyway.</p>

22

<p>I chose Bates because it financial aid offer was VERY generous (more generous than most of my back up local in-state universities), to continue my sports, and I felt more comfortable in a smaller campus than a large research university. When applying to colleges I had no idea on what I wanted to do (I still don’t, honestly) so I just applied to colleges with decent aid hoping that I wouldn’t put a big debt on my financial situation for the future.</p>

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<p>Don’t dwell so much on “this might happen” or “that might happen” and focus more on getting very good grades. If you work hard, get excellent grades, and gain solid internships work/experience you can be successful with any degree. Of course this is a lot easier said than done but believe me hard work never not paid off.</p>

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<p>If you do however feel that you absolutely must major in something that will automatically guarantee you a job after you graduate then yes engineering, accounting, and nursing are the way to go.</p>

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<p>My dad did a bachelor in computer science and got a long-term contract with an oil company. One year he made $160k (with no benefits). Actual employees made around $90k/year, but they had awesome benefits and intensives.</p>

<p>I’m going into nursing, which I’m starting pre-nursing this August and plan to complete a bachelors degree with pre-med reqs (to keep my options open). New nurses make around $45K-$60/year right out of nursing school. The medium pay range for nurses with experience is $70K-$80K/year. Nurse directors/managers can make easily over $100K/year. Later, I can go to Nurse Practitioner school (grad school) and become a APRN, which make over $100k/year, or a CRNA, which make $150K-$200k/year. Plus, I could even go another route and go to medical school.</p>

<p>Another nice thing about nursing? You can work 3-12 hour shifts a week and you’re done! That way I could have 4 day weekends!!! : o)</p>

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<p>Right now I’m torn between pursuing what I’m passionate about (Production) or taking the safe route and attaining a profitable bachelor’s degree (Computer Science, Nursing, Engineering). I’m feeling really distraught about the future right now, I just don’t want to make a wrong decision. I’ve heard horror stories about hard-working, intelligent people who end up with lowly jobs and debt.</p>

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<p>

Did you ever investigate merit scholarship opportunities outside of your public university? If you qualify for admission to a selective LAC, there are universities who would give you a scholarship covering almost the full cost of attendance (tuition, room & board, textbooks).</p>

<p>I’ll stop my rant now. I just wanted to say that I have absolutely no empathy for liberal arts majors who are unhappy with their degree not being very employable. You are absolutely free to prioritize a small student body and athletics over the employability of your degree, but then you have to live with the consequences.</p>

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<p>I didn’t have many choices. My stats, in actuality, would not merit much aid within public (in-state or out-of-state schools). It’s a bit of a miracle that I got into Bates, I was pretty shocked I got in, to be honest.</p>

<p>I had heard positive reviews about their Pre-Med, Pre-Law, and Economics department (which at the time I was vaguely interested in). They were also a school that offered 100% of my need met (and I was a low-income student) and they had a nationally ranked team for the sport I plan on joining so I thought I might give it a shot as a reach school. It turned out I got in and I fell in love with the campus. I was looking for my safest options at that point in time because I really didn’t know what to do with myself for the future.</p>

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<p>Why not see if there is something that catches your interest as well as decently employable? You are not the only person to ever be in this situation! I personally had a secret desire to teach and see others learn but luckily found a subject I loved, was good at, is decently employed, and later after some years could transmission into a teaching path.</p>

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<p>Bates Economics all the way! No further question.</p>

<p>No I’m kidding you have plenty of time to decide a major/career path.</p>

31

<p>

I promised that I would shut up, but now I am really curious: how would you study any of those fields at Bates? Would you go to grad school or are you considering a transfer? (Transfer students generally get very little if any financial aid. If it is likely that you’d transfer, you’d actually be better off to take a gap year and re-apply as a freshman.)</p>

<p>

Good for you! I am happy for you (really, I am) that it all worked out. I am actually from a low-income background too and all too familiar with the predicament of trying to get an education with no financial resources. I know that I can be very… “direct” when I share my opinions, but I really don’t intend to be mean.</p>

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<p>I was using those “profitable bachelor degrees” as just examples. I’d probably look into Economics, Finance, Biology, etc, as those are offered at Bates. As for Production, I considered transferring my Junior year to a film school (hopefully USC or UCLA) but, again, I don’t exactly know what I want to do. All majors I’ve listed I have vague or mild interest in.</p>

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<p>Just as an FYI, biology majors earn on average less than film production majors (or literature or philosophy majors). The job market is flooded with pre-med biology majors who end up not going to med school after all.</p>

<p>Maybe you’d find this interesting: [Best</a> Undergrad College Degrees By Salary](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/degrees.asp]Best”>Common Jobs for Majors - College Salary Report)</p>

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<p>thank you b@r!um</p>

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<p>Yes be very careful with Biology it is a very very difficult major. Many major in Bio for medical and don’t make the cut because it is so competitive. I have heard many sob stories of Bio majors who are miserable and distraught because they spent $50,000+ in loans and couldn’t get into med/dental/pharm school.</p>

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<p>Is there anything else besides production that your interested in?</p>

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<p>Well, Bates doesn’t have majors in nursing, accounting, business, production, and I’m not sure what they do for computer science. They do have 3-2 engineering ed arrangements with other schools- but if you’re not prepared for that today, it’s arduous, not to be taken as an idle thought. And, the courses that typically fall into pre-med tracks- bio, chem, higher math…are reputed to be brutal.</p>

<p>What they do offer is the ability to make something of yourself. As I understand it, you end up with a major, something like a minor or concentration, plus a focus within your gen ed requirements. Plus, there’s something about a senior thesis. You have some leeway to create something unique for yourself. And, they promote internships and externships, in various ways. It’s a great LAC- but it is no USC or UCLA in regard to film/TV. You will need to lace up your bootstraps and move forward, be empowered. </p>

<p>You really need to see, when you get there. Look at the course catalog and requirements now. Don’t be afraid to take easy classes, while you get your bearings. I’m pretty impressed by the school.</p>

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<p>To the OP, how do you even know that TV/film production is your passion? Have you been exposed to it? Have you done such work in high school? What specific aspects of it do you like (filming, editing, scriptwriting, etc.)?</p>

<p>I think that you should avoid engineering/math/science/nursing unless you actually know what you are getting into (i.e. you’ve sampled a few classes and are good at it and like it, etc).</p>

<p>You should just get a liberal arts degree in a creative or artistic field you enjoy. But don’t take that as an opportunity to relax. CS majors and engineering majors have to go through an extremely tough workload with low GPAs, and later have an easier time finding a job. What you should be doing is aggressively pursuing internships in TV/film, and doing work on your own - filming your own short films, etc., in order to “compensate.”</p>

<p>In my opinion, for ANYONE to break into TV/film production, even if your degree is from USC/NYU/UCLA/Chapman, etc., you need to get internships and do independent work.</p>

<p>If you’re really concerned about a job, I would major in either Economics and/or a humanities/a design-related field, and keep a career in business or advertising/marketing an option. Business/advertising/marketing is not as secure as a STEM field, but it might be easier to get a job than in the TV/film industry.
Plus, there’s a lot of cross-over between advertising/marketing and TV/film (i.e. shooting/directing/writing commercials, media campaigns, etc.).
It also helps that many, many degrees lead into business/advertising/marketing, assuming you have internships: economics, psychology, philosophy, English, rhetoric, sociology, Arts & Visual, American Cultural Studies, etc.</p>

<p>I also think you shouldn’t just narrowly focus on TV/film, but also expand your focus to the media industry in general.</p>

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<p>Solution: Double major?</p>

<p>I’m currently at community college and should be at a university by next (2013) fall. I decided I’d double major in Philosophy and added Economics and Accounting. I figure if I like accounting, I can potentially get a well paying job and study philosophy, win-win. If I end up hating Accounting? I quit and pick up a history or sociology major, which have always interested me as well. I’ve thought about law school or graduate school as well, but I’m not counting on them.</p>

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<p>10-16-26-29-44 / 03</p>

<p>Buy yourself a Powerball ticket. It’s your lucky day.</p>

<hr>

<p>Seriously, we can’t give you an answer the this question. If there were such a field, by the time you graduate it will have been discovered and there will probably be a high level of competition.

So, why do you deserve a standard of living above almost everyone else on the planet?

You’re assuming that majoring in X field will lead to a career in X field.</p>