Forbes: The Most Lucrative College Majors

[Dave_Berry]

In reading the various comments on this forum and others, I see a lot of the "Which jobs pay $100,000+?" and "Can I get rich as an I-banker?" types of questions from high schoolers. Many young people believe that money will bring success and happiness. As those of us who have been though the career wars know, it ain't necessarily so. So, what's a high schooler to do?

First s/he should find out "who they are," as best they can. There's a cool first step, which I've seen mentioned before here on CC: The so-called Jung Typology Test:

Personality test based on Jung - Myers-Briggs typology

The results of this little exercise can open the door to a whole universe of self-discovery. Once one knows his or her preferences about living, s/he can then begin zeroing in on certain areas of passion for a life's work.

There's an excellent book out there whose title offers some excellent wisdom:

"Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood" by Marsha Sinetar. See

Amazon.com: Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood: Marsha Sinetar: Books

Thus, for all you high schoolers, college students, mid-lifers, and others, try checking out Jung and Sinetar. Time well spent, IMO.

[NY_Democrat]

I'd rather just go get a law degree preferably w/ a scholarship at somewhere like NYU, study my buttox off and get into the top 10% of my class, get out of law school and begin in BigLaw with a starting salary of $150,000 per year.

Honestly, making money is pretty easy as long as you are willing to sacrifice, enjoy it, work your butt off, and are smart as heck.

Of course, you got to enjoy it too, otherwise you just suck. I would never do a job I couldn't enjoy, I'm just not that kind of person. I love being a lawyer though, even after researching the 100 hour work weeks and etc. it's seriously my dream job Woohoo for Type A personalities!!

[mini]

According to PayScale (from which this story was supposedly generated), an RN with a two-year degree in my state would on average start at $51.6k, which is just slightly below a four-year degreed civil engineer.

[MiamiDAP]

Quote:
I think the Computer Engineering group is misleading. It does not differentiate computer hardware design or computer software engineering. I have the impression that salary for computer software engineering raises faster than other majors although the starting salary may be lower.

Software developers (to use "engineering" is misleading, Programmers are not Engineers) usually have Computer Science background. I do not know what Computer Engineers do, just as a wild guess, they probably are involved with computer hardware design.

[coolweather]

Nobody uses the word Programmer anymore. The job title is software engineer. Computer Engineering major sometimes is a vague term. It depends on each school. In some schools CE major has most course work in software engineering (in some case the major requires more CS courses than CS major) and students work in software engineering after graduation. In some schools CE major deals mostly with hardware engineering courses. And a lot of EE major graduates become computer hardware design engineers.

[slecman]

how do econ majors make more than finance, accting, and marketing majors? youd think econ majors go into business jobs but make less than the business majors...

[bclintonk]

Originally Posted by Forbes

Anyone who acquired an advanced degree was excluded from the study.

That's silly. At my school half the poli sci majors knew all along they were going to go to law school, and the other half figured it out in their senior year, while in grad school, or after a few years of relatively low-paying employment. Why would you exclude those who get advanced degrees when a sizable fraction of undergrads in some majors are there precisely to prepare themselves for graduate or professional programs?

[BCEagle91]

"how do econ majors make more than finance, accting, and marketing majors? youd think econ majors go into business jobs but make less than the business majors..."

The math for econ is supposed to be pretty heavy - perhaps they go into math-heavy aspects of busines.

[chris07]

BCEagle19 is right, this is what lots of economics majors have told me.

I'm actually surprised to see slecman's post - at my school econ majors look down on business school students (not that I agree, I have a lot of friends in the business school who are good at what they do).

[afan]

Dave_Berry,

I will certainly concede that choosing a career one likes may make you happy, but "do what you love, the money will follow" is just irresponsible advice. Much more to the point would be "do what you get paid for, the money will follow". There are all kinds of enjoyable things people do with little or no pay. The things they do for money are called jobs.

Many young people believe that money will bring success and happiness.

Well, it might bring success, almost by definition. Happiness is tough. But remember, for every unhappy rich person, there are lots of unhappy poor people.

[Mr Payne]

That's silly. At my school half the poli sci majors knew all along they were going to go to law school, and the other half figured it out in their senior year, while in grad school, or after a few years of relatively low-paying employment. Why would you exclude those who get advanced degrees when a sizable fraction of undergrads in some majors are there precisely to prepare themselves for graduate or professional programs?

Apples to apples, obviously. One also doesn't have to calculate the massive opportunity cost of going to grad school.

[rainynightstarz]

Quote:
well you can't make much from Chemistry right out of college
most chem majors go through grad school then PhD programs.
But you can get 6 digit salaries with a PhD in chemistry, might take a couple years though.
Nope, my sister's coworker's husband just graduated from Stanford with a PhD in chemistry and his starting salary is in the low 70. And they had to move to a different state for the job. The coworker is working remotely from home and flying in every month to meet with the team.

Yup, when your sister's coworker's husband becomes associated professors and get a few things published as first author or last author. I know a close relative who had their PhD for about 10 years and earns 6 digit income now.

[coolweather]

What kind of job do you think people on this site do?
In Pictures: Most Lucrative College Majors - Forbes.com

Here is my guess:
1. Computer engineer guy - computer repair technician guy

2. Economics lady - loan officer

3. Electrical engineering man - power installation supervisor

4. Computer science guy - new IT technician graduate

5. Mechanical engineering guy - white collar machinist

6. Finance guy - can't figure out what does this nice guy do (may be teacher)

7. Mathematics guy - psychologist

8. Civil engineering guy - land surveyor

9. Political science guy - investor

10. Marketing ladies - human resources personels

11. Accounting man - accounting man (closest so far)

12. History guy - software developer

13. Business management lady - horse race better

14. Communications lady - insurance representative

15. English lady - clothing designer

16. Biology guy - chiroproctor

19. Psychology lady - veterinarian

[Flibb]

Umm...i always heard it was medicine that gave most high salaries...:S

[bclintonk]

Originally Posted by Mr. Payne

One also doesn't have to calculate the massive opportunity cost of going to grad school.

What massive opportunity cost? For a poli sci major going to law school, opportunity cost = $39,400 X 3 = $118,200, plus the direct cost of law school (you need living expenses either way, and these are likely lower while in school), less grant aid. So call it $250K total?

Median salary for lawyers:
1-4 years $67,178
5-9 years $91,221
10-19 years $95,901

Median salary for poli sci majors w/o advanced degree:
1-5 years $39,400
6-10 years $55,000
11-20 years $74,400

By year 8 or 9 the median lawyer has easily recouped her investment in law school and the rest is gravy. Not so hard to understand, which is why even poli sci majors see the benefit.

And these are median lawyer salaries. These are dwarfed by starting salaries at major firms in major legal markets, which average $145,000 in Chicago, LA and DC, and $160,000 in New York. At those rates it takes 2-3 years to recoup the investment, opportunity costs included.

I maintain it's silly to compare salaries of an undergrad degree as a terminal degree in fields in which many, perhaps most, view it only as a stepping-stone to a more lucrative advanced degree.