<p>When people talk about hedge funds/investment banking, people will think about money. Not just money but someone who will get the biggest bucks. How true is that? I mean other fields (like academia) will give you the same amount of money (particularly after you get a PhD) if not more. Please correct me if I am wrong but I wanna know the truth.</p>
<p>How will academia give you the same amount of money? Don't forget PhD programs are many years long also.</p>
<p>The average Ph.D scholar will earn more money than the average banker, but remember it varies from individual to individual. Many skilled businesspeople become millionaires for investment banking and top scholars at Harvard or Oxford are paid large sums just to lecture at different places.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that each person is unique and has skill traits in different areas.</p>
<p>CRev: One word, research! Whether it be at an academic institution or a large corporation, being a researcher = big bucks (Of course you need to have the qualifications too, if you know what I mean. Not every researchers are the same. This can be applies to other fields too!).</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that these "top scholars" often have conquered much more difficult challenges (Nobel Prize or Fields Medals). While I disagree that the majority of those in Academia earn the same as Wall Street, those that do typically have very profitable side projects such as investment firms, book deals or other sources of revenue.</p>
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I mean other fields (like academia) will give you the same amount of money (particularly after you get a PhD) if not more.
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<p>No. Jobs in investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, etc. pay much more than jobs in academia. The vast majority of professors are not living in the lap of luxury. The majority of investment bankers are.</p>
<p>Check this out: Please</a>, Sir, I Want Some More - How Goldman Sachs is Carving Up its $11 Billion Money Pie</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply! I feel strange too at first since I saw this survey by MIT about their grads and how much money the grads made. If I look at the survey correctly, academia is among the highest, among business, etc!</p>
<p>I guess it is true for the average scholars/businessmen in each field. Well, I could be wrong too. So, keep the discussion going.</p>
<p>PHD's can earn you lots of money if you want to go the quant route and work at a place like D.E. Shaw(And there are lots that choose to do that just for the payout), but other than that ,I agree that you'd make more money overall in ibanking. However, do realize that at the current state, ibanking may not be such a great option, as you might not even have a job.</p>
<p>Other than DE Shaw, what are other top hedge funds/ibanking in the country?</p>
<p>The big investment banks, commonly known as bulge bracket (BB) firms, are: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, J. P. Morgan & Co., and UBS. As for Hedge Funds, check this out: Notable</a> Hedge Funds</p>
<p>Cool! Thanks!</p>
<p>True, true, however I still have trouble imagining median salaries are the same/higher if you correlate age/length in a field. And yeah side businesses added in would definitely boost it, but should that be counted as earnings in "academia"? Anyone care to comment? It's an interesting definitional problem if nothing else.</p>
<p>Researchers get paid horrible money. I know a few researchers with PHD's from good schools, usually ivy league schools (they work at Michigan State and a few at UMichigan) and they get paid something like $40,000 a year. If you manage to land an academia job and get tenure at some of the top schools, you'll be making a few hundred thousand dollars a year. The track to being a tenured professor, though, is difficult and extremely long. If you apply for tenure and get rejected, the schools usually kick you out. This process can take 15 to 20 years depending on what field you're in (including PHD), and some professors may never get tenure at the school they want. From what I've heard, it isn't uncommon for Ibankers to make 100,000 (including bonuses and if you work in the BB) in 3 or 4 years. But to be an IBanker, you pretty much have to come from an ivy league school (or something similar), get a strong GPA (I'd say 3.8+ to stay competitive), and ace your interview.</p>
<p>^I agree that it is a potentially long, arduous process to become a full professor and I think only very renowned profs are making $300K a year. I recently saw an article where the average salary of an Ivy League professor was ~ 130K per year and there are probably as many assisitant professors at $60K as there are full professors making $200K. Meanwhile, the average FIRST year analyst at a BB IB made about $100K last year. Also, from what I've seen, one probably needs a much higher GPA to get into a top PhD program than to get an offer in IB.</p>
<p>I thought first year Quant also has to have a PhD to be competitive?</p>
<p>Weasel, that article is crazy!! wow!</p>
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The average Ph.D scholar will earn more money than the average banker, but remember it varies from individual to individual.
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<p>What are you smoking? </p>
<p>True there are a few academics that are quite well off, but that's almost always because of external private interests such as a lucky patent, books or business interests. However, one certainly doesn't become wealthy by working in academia alone. True that once you're a full professor towards the end of your career (if you manage to navigate the precarious path that is getting tenure) you generally make a half decent six figured salary (although that's not true everywhere), but for most of your career you will be paid woefully low salaries considering the level of education, training and competition to get there.</p>
<p>Hahahaha average professor earns more than the average banker?? Maybe you mean bank teller, cause if you are in IB at GS you'll make ~150k first year in...I would be hard pressed to find many professors making that and that is your FIRST year out of college. PE is more like 200k and when you are at senior levels, the money is through the roof...</p>