<p>Thread title was cut off. Last word is "goals."</p>
<p>I have several options for my plans. </p>
<ol>
<li>Top ranked state university. BS in Biochemistry. Ph. D in Biochemistry. Academia or industry work. Salary: 75k+ starting. Job prospects poor. </li>
<li>Top ranked state university. BS in Biochemistry. BA in Finance. Ph. D in Biochemistry. Academia or industry work. Banking if biochemistry doesn't pan out or I need supplementary income and can't find a job. Salary: same. Finance offers similarly poor income. </li>
<li>Ivy League university. Degree in Applied Economics and Management. MBA at top ranked business school. Go directly into private equity or investment banking. Salary: 300k+ starting (including "compensation"). </li>
</ol>
<p>Points to consider. </p>
<ol>
<li>Biochemistry is fun. Working with money is also fun. I love money. </li>
<li>Ultimate goal is to make enough money to reduce my parents' workload by at least 50%. Ideally I can make enough so that my parents can retire at least 10 years early or simply work part-time jobs. Ultimate salary goal is 300k+. Ideally, 700k+. </li>
<li>Ph. D job market for biochemistry is getting oversaturated. Everyone outsources to China. Ironic, because I'm Chinese. </li>
<li>Income can be supplemented and augmented by day trading. I have already begun to practice. With eight years, I am quite sure I will be able to learn how to do it rather well. </li>
<li>Marriage will always wait after Ph. D or MBA. It will not interfere with educational plans. </li>
<li>I will be living in my parents' house even after marriage, as according to tradition and custom. </li>
<li>Cost of undergraduate education is rather high for the Ivy League university. Cost is low for the top public state university, but still significant. </li>
<li>Admission into both universities is almost guaranteed. </li>
<li>It would be embarrassing for me to only have a job of ~100k when all my friends are doctors with incomes of 300k+. </li>
<li>The economy is rather bad. </li>
<li>I have no talents aside from math, science, and piano. </li>
<li>Any profession I undertake must be suitable in terms of both income and appearance. I must raise my family's position and elevate my parents' standings. That is the ultimate goal. </li>
<li>I must be able to fund a wife as well as the education of at least five children, including private piano and violin lessons as well as mathematical tutoring for competitions and olympiads such as the American Invitational Mathematics Examination and the International Mathematics Olympiad. </li>
<li>I cannot fail in any undertaking. </li>
</ol>
<p>Above all else, my professions must follow the Buddha's teachings as per the Noble Eightfold Path. Enumerated below are professions which are forbidden. I have copied and pasted this list from Wikipedia; it should suffice. Quite a few of these restrictions are not even really applicable to my situation, but it does not hurt to elaborate more. </p>
<ol>
<li>Business in weapons: trading in all kinds of weapons and instruments for killing. </li>
<li>Business in human beings: slave trading, prostitution, or the buying and selling of children or adults. </li>
<li>Business in meat: "meat" refers to the bodies of beings after they are killed. This includes breeding animals for slaughter. </li>
<li>Business in intoxicants: manufacturing or selling intoxicating drinks or addictive drugs. </li>
<li>Business in poison: producing or trading in any kind of toxic product designed to kill. </li>
</ol>
<p>For my Ph. D I plan on attending the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, if I do indeed end up deciding to pursue a doctorate. I have already begun planning for my admission into this esteemed college. Admissions should be fairly simple as long as I make the proper preparations. Failing Harvard, I'm sure I'll still be able to attend a top 10 biomedical sciences graduate school. MIT, perhaps, or Stanford. I hear Berkeley's reputation is falling quite rapidly these days, though, so I am not quite so sure about Berkeley. </p>
<p>I would like to decline to reveal the precise identity of this state school which I mention for purposes of personal privacy. Please understand. </p>
<p>My current state: senior in high school. </p>
<p>I am at a crossroads in my life. I do not know which path to take. Please, does anyone have any advice for me? I seek guidance in this matter. Forgive my poor English, my native language is Chinese and I do not utilize English particularly well.</p>