What undergraduate degree is good for employment without grad school?

<p>if u get a Wharton undergrad degree, you're pretty much set for your career since statistics show that only 45% of wharton undergrads go on to grad school whereas its like 80-90% for most colleges. And most of the 45% go on to grad school only because of a change-of-mind in career field.</p>

<p>Perhaps it's more to it than just getting a Wharton degree. Perhaps it has to do with the type of person that does this, what this person does, and how well they do it. If an average cat just went to a top school, would he do as well as the truly average person at the top school (as in the one who is amazing when compared to the rest of the population, but is the average fellow at his or her school)? Well, the person would probably do better than he or she would otherwise going to a "regular" school, but the person wouldn't do what the other people in the school would be doing- the kinds of things that really got them admission to the school. What I'm saying is that what you do with where you are is a huge factor, perhaps in general more important than just where you are.</p>

<p>What the hell r u talkin bout, lol.</p>

<p>what you said doesn't make sense. Not having to go to graduate school doesn't mean a career is set for you. Where did you find the statistics that about 80 to 90% of most college graduates go to get advanced degrees?</p>

<p>I recently just went to a Wharton info session for undergrads. The speakers gave me the impression that a Wharton undergrad degree is in itself equal to an MBA. The numbers, I can't confirm with data, but that's what was mentioned. Essentially, the Wharton undergrad degree suffices as a grad school degree for most people except for the ones who completely change career tracks.</p>

<p>Perhaps this is so. Even if the degree does not do that, the important thing is the types of people in Wharton tend to be very business savvy. They got in somehow! Do you think Wharton has some special insight as to how to convey the knowledge they want conveyed? Or, do you think that many of these people would probably be about as successful with similar degrees if they went to other top business schools? I think that in some ways the contacts met and the environment influence success, but this is largely determined by the people, who are a certain way prior to attendance, and may or may not change significantly while at Wharton.</p>

<p>yeh, you're absolutely right, but you're missing the point. The person asked what undergrad degree is good for employment without grad school, and I think a Wharton degree is probably the most qualified 4-yr undergrad degree you can obtain.</p>

<p>I agree with you in that a business degree, particularly a Wharton degree, can be great for employment, but the engineers make far more straight out of college than the business majors.</p>

<p>Perhaps business majors at other colleges, but certainly not at Wharton. Wharton finance majors easily make over $100k coming out of undergrad. I don't think you can say the same for MIT or Cal tech engineers</p>

<p>Wharton finance grads do not easily make $100K their first year. Most will probably make between $75-90K their first year, and many engineers will make more.</p>

<p>What the engineer doesn't have is the opportunity to make $500K in five years, like Wharton grads will.</p>

<p>The average UW engineering grad makes $51,500 out of school, the average business major makes about $50,000 to $53,000 including bonus which is rare in engineering. Seems about even.</p>

<p>One that nobody thinks about but is in HIGH demand and pays fairly decent with the BS is Geology. Geologists are needed all over the country and the average age of geologists is approximately 55. Currently geology student enrollments are decling at a rapid rate and our generation is going to have to do something about it in order to fill the job gaps...</p>

<p>Food for thought:</p>

<p>Who finds oil reserves? (geologists)
Who surveys land to make sure the ground is suitable for building? (geologits)
Who determines how polluntants will travel underground and whether they will affect water supplies, etc.? (geologists)
And there are many many more opportunities...public, research, and private</p>

<p>Numerous opportunities and you can easily get paid 45k starting out of your undergrad. Opportunities increase when you get your MS (which most times is free with a TA/RA and tuition remission) which includes oil exploration which averages about 75k out of grad school. </p>

<p>Just wanted to make sure people know that there are opportunities in geology...I didn't know about them until I switched my major as an undergrad...</p>

<p>And most of all...you don't have to go to an Ivy to take advantage of the opportunities in geology! The best geology programs are usually at large state schools or schools such as MIT and CalTech.</p>

<p>Pitt alum. '04
UNC-CH grad student</p>

<p>"Wharton finance grads do not easily make $100K their first year. Most will probably make between $75-90K their first year, and many engineers will make more."</p>

<p>I highly doubt engineers will make anything over $70k their first year out. Avg. salary for Wharton Finance grad is $65k (last year's numbers), avg. sign-on bonus is $10-15k, and avg. year-end bonus is $15-20k. That's $90-100k right there, and that's an average. So imagine some of the people at the higher end of the spectrum.</p>

<p>But when you figure in 80 hour weeks the pay is about $25/hr. Not too great. The average NYC waiter in a good restaurant does better.</p>

<p>This thread puts a smile to my face, because here you all are, talking about people who have just completed a bachelor's degree making 40-60k a year.</p>

<p>Here at NIH, one of my co-workers (and boss to be when my current boss leaves for Japan), has a Ph.D (postdoctoral fellow) and she makes less than 50k. Then my current boss (also has a Ph.D) makes around 75-85k per year.</p>

<p>lmao.</p>

<p>if you're doin 80 hrs a week, I think the salary would be closer to 150-200k. If avg base salary salary is 65k, then its about $35 an hr. That's working regular 9-5. If you're doin 80 hrs a week, that's a shi tload of overtime. And during overtime you usually get 1.5 or even 2 times as much as you do normally. And all this isnt even including bonuses. So you're definitely making more than a waiter or no one would go and pay for a $180k education and waste 4 years of their life.</p>