What's the "best" major/career path?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am 50 years old (for the context). I was always good at math, so 30+ years ago when I was making my choices, everyone urged me to go into CS.

One very wise woman who was in CS and was in her 40s at the time steered me a different way. She told me that the key to a good life work-wise is to pick a job with relatively high barriers to entry and, especially for a woman, where your age adds to your value. Basically something where you can't mint a bunch of qualified people in a couple of years, and where what you knew 10 years ago is beneficial to your work. CS is failing spectacularly on both counts.

I became an actuary. This will not work for your daughter since she doesn't want additional study, but I seriously urge her to consider what my mentor said.

What is your day to day life like as an actuary? Do you work long hours? Do you work alone? Do you need good people skills? How much stress to you have? How much do you earn?

There is a wide variety of work environments for actuaries. The answer to all of your questions is, basically, it depends. Long hours, working alone, people skills, stress are all choices that you can make, and different people choose differently.

As far as $$$, get your answers here https://www.dwsimpson.com/about/salary-survey/.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

To elaborate a little, friends I've known in these fields have had found it easy to blaze a path because they are constantly bombarded with job offers from both expected and unexpected places. It's a whole different ballgame of job searching when people actually want you. I know physicists who have been quants, actuaries, worked at chip makers and high end instrumentation makers, taught for a few years and then done something more remunerative, etc. Totally different than my experience as a humanities major. I'm throwing things against the wall to see what sticks - they are the wall. And the job prospects for applied math and CS are if anything even better than physics.

If you don't want to do engineering, a high level quanty major opens up a lot of doors.

PP who is an actuary. This is a good point. To add to this, you have to have a good base knowledge of theoretical math-y stuff so you can quickly branch out into new fields as they emerge. I have friends who did very well in data science before it was an official career because they could build upon the math/CS background they had when the advances in computing allowed people to do things they do with large data sets. But by the time everyone and their uncle has a certificate in "data science", it's too late unless you are one of those geniuses who are actually doing some trailblazing stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

To elaborate a little, friends I've known in these fields have had found it easy to blaze a path because they are constantly bombarded with job offers from both expected and unexpected places. It's a whole different ballgame of job searching when people actually want you. I know physicists who have been quants, actuaries, worked at chip makers and high end instrumentation makers, taught for a few years and then done something more remunerative, etc. Totally different than my experience as a humanities major. I'm throwing things against the wall to see what sticks - they are the wall. And the job prospects for applied math and CS are if anything even better than physics.

If you don't want to do engineering, a high level quanty major opens up a lot of doors.

PP who is an actuary. This is a good point. To add to this, you have to have a good base knowledge of theoretical math-y stuff so you can quickly branch out into new fields as they emerge. I have friends who did very well in data science before it was an official career because they could build upon the math/CS background they had when the advances in computing allowed people to do things they do with large data sets. But by the time everyone and their uncle has a certificate in "data science", it's too late unless you are one of those geniuses who are actually doing some trailblazing stuff.

Data science bubble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

sure those are good options for many people.
go for it if it fits your definition, however this is a college forum, so people are more interested in college related careers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

sure those are good options for many people.
go for it if it fits your definition, however this is a college forum, so people are more interested in college related careers

Also you destroy your body in the trades. Back, knees, all kinds of problems.

[Anonymous]

Regular old business administration seems to be undervalued here.

[Anonymous]

If there is an obvious, God-given talent (math, writing, drawing, sports, talking effectively, whatever) your job should exploit that. Not only will you be world-class in what you do, you will also enjoy it (and not to mention make good money.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

sure those are good options for many people.
go for it if it fits your definition, however this is a college forum, so people are more interested in college related careers

Also you destroy your body in the trades. Back, knees, all kinds of problems.

Yeah because sitting on your ass all day is so healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

sure those are good options for many people.
go for it if it fits your definition, however this is a college forum, so people are more interested in college related careers

Also you destroy your body in the trades. Back, knees, all kinds of problems.

Yeah because sitting on your ass all day is so healthy.

Fortunately with my job I can afford a good gym. What are you doing on the college board anyway? Seems like a strange hobby trying to convince the mother of a high school girl to take up HVAC or drive a bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is early in her high school career but we recently had a discussion around majors/career paths and I am looking for input. What are some of the best major/career paths that balance income with quality of life?

Daughter wants to obviously make good money but doesn't want to do 8-10 years of schooling. She's good at math so we've talked about CS, finance, engineering, accounting (which of course are super competitive) but what career paths are traditionally high-earning but still have a "good" quality of life component to it. I know it's subjective but we define good income as mid $100s within 5-7 years or so of graduation and quality of life as work/life balance, job security, satisfaction, low stress, etc. What career paths have you talked to your kids about that balance the two?

Based on your definition of "a good income", consider plumbing or becoming a bus driver in a major city.

read the whole thing

quality of life, work/life balance, satisfaction, etc.

yea you can argue you still can get those with plumbing or bus driver, but there are better options

Better by what definition. Plumbers, electricians, craftsmen. Own your own business. Entrepreneurship. Set your schedule. Scale your business and income at your pace. Build wealth. Pass it on or sell it. Sounds like job security to me,

sure those are good options for many people.
go for it if it fits your definition, however this is a college forum, so people are more interested in college related careers

Also you destroy your body in the trades. Back, knees, all kinds of problems.

Yeah because sitting on your ass all day is so healthy.

Fortunately with my job I can afford a good gym. What are you doing on the college board anyway? Seems like a strange hobby trying to convince the mother of a high school girl to take up HVAC or drive a bus.

Agreed, very strange indeed. This mom is asking for majors and PP responds go pursue plumbing. Smh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

Exactly backwards logic there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

Exactly backwards logic there.

I was thinking the same. I think any major that focused on critical thinking and analysis will be useful (I was going to add focus on writing but maybe chat gpt/AI will replace that, too …). Long live the liberal arts degree!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

Exactly backwards logic there.

ChatGPT is better at writing essays than any proof assistant is at pure mathematics. As usual wordcels discount and don't grasp the creativity and art involved in
high level quantitative scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With AI around the corner, a high degree of abstraction is a good bet. You can't beat the SCAMP majors (Statistics, Computer science, Applied math, Math, and Physics).

Exactly backwards logic there.

I was thinking the same. I think any major that focused on critical thinking and analysis will be useful (I was going to add focus on writing but maybe chat gpt/AI will replace that, too …). Long live the liberal arts degree!

Physics and math are liberal arts degrees, friendo.