What would you advised a teen who is looking for a college major with good earning potential?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the kid just wants a comfortable life with a stable income, STEM is the way to go. But if he wants to be Richie Rich rich, school is not the answer.

OP here. He doesn't want to be Richie Rich. He just wants to have a good income to great a nice situation for his future family, and I think he envisions that his parents will need assistance too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finance major with accounting minor. Sit for the CPA exam. Go into I Banking and have the CPA as a fall back plan.

This

+100

Yep, totally this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any kind of engineering job will give you decent income. Chemical engineering would probably be the highest paying, especially if you work for an oil or gas company. Software engineers have the most flexibility because you can live anywhere. FPGA designers are in high demand too.

Second previous posters who mentioned finance, but you do need the background in accounting as well. If you don't have the math, accounting, or computer science background you would need the old boys network to break in. It's very difficult to get an i-banking job without the right contacts and background. Read the book Pedigree).

Pharmacists also make decent money. If you don't mind being blue collar but do well for yourself, become a plumber. Female engineer here, and sometimes I think I should take up plumbing and work for myself

Look at the salaries of various engineers on college websites. Chemical engineers are not the highest paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 17-year-old nephew asked me for advice on a college major that would provide good earning potential. He's a smart, hard-working, and has good people skills. He thinks he'd be happy in a variety of professions. He grew up with his parents having very limited income, and I think he'd just like to provide a comfortable life for his future family. What would you advice him in this situation? Thank you.

Also, if he likes bio/chem and thinks he'd like medicine, he could become a specialist physician. Specialties like GI, Neurology, Dermatology, etc. are particularly lucrative with still having a good lifestyle. Also, Dentistry.

[Anonymous]

Tell him to get top grades, go to med school and choose one of the E-ROAD specialities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the kid just wants a comfortable life with a stable income, STEM is the way to go. But if he wants to be Richie Rich rich, school is not the answer.

I don't understand the obsession with STEM. Yes - they do start off doing well at age 22; a 22 yr old making 80k is a solid start. But am I the only one who knows engineer after engineer whose job was outsourced once they got into their 40-50s? It happens in every engineering field from mech to electrical to IT; there are countries where there are a lot of grads with very solid math skills -- companies like GE and many small players move entire projects to those companies bc they pay engineers there 30k/yr, instead of 100k to a 50 yr old here. Sure when an entire project requiring 50 engineers is outsource, only about 35-45 jobs will go and 5-15 will be retained here to "manage" the project -- but you're still playing a numbers game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the kid just wants a comfortable life with a stable income, STEM is the way to go. But if he wants to be Richie Rich rich, school is not the answer.

I don't understand the obsession with STEM. Yes - they do start off doing well at age 22; a 22 yr old making 80k is a solid start. But am I the only one who knows engineer after engineer whose job was outsourced once they got into their 40-50s? It happens in every engineering field from mech to electrical to IT; there are countries where there are a lot of grads with very solid math skills -- companies like GE and many small players move entire projects to those companies bc they pay engineers there 30k/yr, instead of 100k to a 50 yr old here. Sure when an entire project requiring 50 engineers is outsource, only about 35-45 jobs will go and 5-15 will be retained here to "manage" the project -- but you're still playing a numbers game.

I say medicine or finance or law (top 14 only and with a finance or engineering background) is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Healthcare administration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That when they get to be about 45 or 50 they will look back on things and realize they shouldn't have focused on making money but instead on being happy.

The majority of Americans need to worry about earning potential. Only wealthy people like you see on DCUM have the choice to pursue passions like native zimbabwean basket weaving studies or alternative theatre.

I studied theatre (not "alternative theatre" ) and while I'm not wealthy, my family and I don't hurt for money. I loved quite comfortably on my own before getting married, and contribute a healthy amount to my HHI. No help from mom & dad.

My brother is actually the wealthy one in the family. He studied electronic media & film, and is now a songwriter/producer in LA. It's a good life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would advise him that college is not about maximizing your earning potential. To work on his writing skills and make the most of the experience.

+100

If he is chasing money and only money, be a plumber. He will never get out-sourced, And he can own his own business after awhile.

Otherwise, he needs to learn and grow and figure out what he wants from life. Chasing money if he is from modest means will only make him unhappy given that social mobility is down in the US. Maybe he should consider moving/going to college in a country with better social mobility now that I think of it.

Writing skills are highly over rated.

The kids wants a stable job... accounting, Information Technology, Engineering will get him a stable job.

Finance is a who you know not what you know path.

People skills help much more than writing skills.

Not they are not.

Yes. They are. There are many, many, many jobs that don't require writing skills. Most need very little to no writing skills. Actually I can't really think of many jobs that require writing.

Here are some fields with which I am intimately acquainted and they all require high degrees of literacy. Not that this kid can't get it from reading tons of books, but I've seen people discredited in their field because their communication and writing is so sub par.

- economic
- engineering
- architecture
- design
- marketing
- public health
- project management in any field
- teaching (any subject, including math)
- and of course the obvious lawyer, journalist, professor, etc.

[Anonymous]

Is healthcare administration really a high paying profession? I was under the impression that most healthcare administration jobs on management level want clinical experience as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is healthcare administration really a high paying profession? I was under the impression that most healthcare administration jobs on management level want clinical experience as well

I also clicked through to recommend health care administration. It's true that some MDs move in this direction, but I know several finance undergrads that got MHAs and have good careers. Also know one RN that moved in this direction. Healthcare is a difficult job to outsource (although it seems like Radiology is moving that way).

[Anonymous]

In undergrad, pursue the passion. Get a broad ranged liberal education -- include science and math classes (I love physics majors from a small liberal arts college). Learn to write well.

Then, specialize in grad school. Medicine, if inclined, sciences, finance....


As for writing, writing is the difference between being a follower and a leader. Everyone needs to communicate with other people; if you write well, higher ups will look at your work. If you do not write well, someone else will write it and take credit.

[Anonymous]

Also seek out the premed hotties

Make sure to date for good earning potential too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That when they get to be about 45 or 50 they will look back on things and realize they shouldn't have focused on making money but instead on being happy.

The majority of Americans need to worry about earning potential. Only wealthy people like you see on DCUM have the choice to pursue passions like native zimbabwean basket weaving studies or alternative theatre.

I studied theatre (not "alternative theatre" ) and while I'm not wealthy, my family and I don't hurt for money. I loved quite comfortably on my own before getting married, and contribute a healthy amount to my HHI. No help from mom & dad.

My brother is actually the wealthy one in the family. He studied electronic media & film, and is now a songwriter/producer in LA. It's a good life.

I would have studied something creative except my parents were financially strapped by whole life. So now I'm in my 40s and financially good but missed out in other ways.