So I decided to take a test and get out of highschool 1 year early. I am now enrolled at my local community college soon transferring to a university. Problem is I have to choose a major so I can take the specific courses, but I can’t make up my mind. Anyone here a college graduate or have an interesting career they would like to share? any business men…doctors?
What are your interests?
I am interested in investment banking, mangement consulting and being a dentist. Problem with the first two is that they can work up to 120 hours a week the pay is great though. Dentist on the other hand make good pay and sometimes work only 30 hours a weekly. I am open to other career paths you never know what may come up.
Well, take your pre-requisites first. Dentistry and finance are two very different career fields. You could research both fields fully, and ask several people that have worked in those fields and ask them their opinions.
Or you could flip a coin.
[quote]determined88 wrote:
I am interested in investment banking, mangement consulting and being a dentist. Problem with the first two is that they can work up to 120 hours a week the pay is great though. Dentist on the other hand make good pay and sometimes work only 30 hours a weekly. I am open to other career paths you never know what may come up.[/quote]
30 hrs a week looking into and working in people’s mouths.
120 hrs a week pretending to work and looking busy. Hmmmmm…
How many people enter college knowing ewxactly what they want to do. Now, take that and divide it by 2 and you get how many then go through college and don’t change their mind. Now divide that number by 4 as to those that then find work in their chosen field.
I received my business degree, then went back to get a teaching degree because I couldn’t find anything interesting. When I went to student teach, I got married and needed a job. I started tending bar. Moved to Vegas and washed cars. 20 years ago I started part-time with the company that I still work for. Ahhhh…An overnite sucess.
My Fiancee is in Dental school and her parents are dentists.
Her parents work 2.5 days per week and bring home low six-figures. Not bad at all if you ask me.
Keep in mind that for basic dentistry you will be in dental school for 4 years on top of your undergrad. If you are very smart, you could probably do 3 years in undergrad and then apply for dental school.
I would say your other 2 choices would be much higher stress, but could potentially pay a ton, if you are really good at it. Personally there is no way I would work that many hours. What good is making a couple hundred k if you have no time to yourself to spend it?
Good luck
[quote]determined88 wrote:
So I decided to take a test and get out of highschool 1 year early. I am now enrolled at my local community college soon transferring to a university. Problem is I have to choose a major so I can take the specific courses, but I can’t make up my mind. Anyone here a college graduate or have an interesting career they would like to share? any business men…doctors?[/quote]
Just going to point out that whatever major you choose, which will lead to whatever undergraduate degree you receive, doesn’t much matter in the grand scheme.
What’s most important is that you maintain a high GPA, especially for those competitive careers you mentioned. So choose a major in something that really interests you – it will make your studying easier and more rewarding.
I heard from a son of a dentist that they have the highest suicide rates.
I generally work 100+ hrs & 7 days a week, usually for 4-6 weeks straight as a field consultant in the oil patch. Once I’m burnt out i’ll take a week or two off and consentrate on my family and being a dad. It does take a serious dedication to what you do & enjoyment of your job to get up every day know that its gonna be another long day, and a very understanding woman to stand behind you. I would say enjoyment of work & the opertunity to learn something new every day to keep the grey matter going are the most influencial factors. Good luck in your decision.
I’m majoring in Kinesiology and I’m either going to go to dental or physical therapy school. There are two degrees at my school, one you can basically do nothing with unless you know people, and the other is towards pre-med. I do have to take some extra sciences and things like that, but I don’t mind. Since you are on this site I assume you are interested in the human body. Maybe you could do something related to Kinesiology. Just a thought.
I’m pretty sure you could have a business major and have plenty of time to get the requirements done for dental school (i.e. be in a Pre-Dental program.) A lot of dentists own their practices, so a stronger business background would probably be a good thing.
I’m an acting major. Being an actor is an interesting career–interesting hours, success is dependent on your own ability to motivate yourself and train yourself, and also how to market yourself.
and it’s a tough field so you have to work extremely hard, but if you “make it,” well, you can clearly do really well.
But it’s what I love, and if you’re not doing what you love to do then why are you working at it?
.02
The Boomster
[quote]JimmyBoom wrote:
I’m an acting major. Being an actor is an interesting career–interesting hours, success is dependent on your own ability to motivate yourself and train yourself, and also how to market yourself.
and it’s a tough field so you have to work extremely hard, but if you “make it,” well, you can clearly do really well.
But it’s what I love, and if you’re not doing what you love to do then why are you working at it?
.02
The Boomster[/quote]
What your saying is motivational, but I don’t know anyone that would want to clean shit off toliets, yet the world has a lot of janitors.
You want to do something that makes you happy, even if it doesn’t make you a lot of money. A janitor who works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, might be happier than a VP of a Bank who works 30 hours a week. You want to enjoy your job and get a sense of accomplishment from it.
When I was in college, I though the basic classes were unnecessary, but in hindsight, they helped me to figure out what NOT to major in. If you don’t like Biology, then you know not to be a biologist. I have an undergraduate degree in business, and going back to do my graduate degree in Sports Management. Currently, I work in retail sales, which is what I enjoy doing.
Also, make sure to keep your GPA high, and join clubs or interests groups, and be an active member in those organizations. When your school offers career fairs, attend them and get as much information as you can from different companies. Talk to the representatives and get a feel for the position and company.
If your school offers Career Services, definitely sign up and speak with a Counselor, who can guide you in the right direction. Hope this helps.
I love my job. I’m a regulator for the EPA. Basically I do unannounced inspections to ensure that companies are operating in compliance with EPA regulations. I oversee clean ups and remediations and make the bad guys pay for it.
I am a civil servant so I only work 40 hours a week with no evenings or weekends. I won’t get rich doing this, but the benefits are great and there is a tremendous amount of satisfation that I get from wearing the “white hat”.
You need at least a four year science degree and an advanced degree helps since there is a lot of competition to get into the agency.
Actually, you could probably do both if you really wanted. Most major universities now offer combined grad school degrees (MBA/MD/JD/etc). That said, I would focus on the pre-med/dental requirements and maybe minor in business/finance. That would leave you with the most options.
Either way you will have to go to grad school. You’ll need the pre-med req’s to get into dental school, but you do not need a business background to get into an MBA program.
As a side note, do not let earning potiential be your only motivator in selecting your career. Making great money will allow you to tolerate your life for awhile, but if you do not enjoy your job, odds are you will not be that good at it.
I don’t think I would go to a bad dentist, or hand my retirement money over to an average investment banker.
GOOD LUCK!!
Most likely you’ll change your mind several times. Many people complain that US colleges require too many unrelated prerequisities but it does help young people try out different things before deciding on a major.
As far as getting a business degree to help with your Dentistry practice…I don’t really agree. Finance majors aren’t going to delve too much into personal finance–it’s more corporate stuff. Most dentists aren’t going to issue bonds or arbitrage FX. And you probably won’t do your own taxes. I majored in Finance and have worked at investment banks for the last 5-6 years. Worked in retail banking before that for a few years. Prior to that I was in the Peace Corps.
I’m a hybrid analyst and programmer. Have enjoyed my job until the last few months. Getting a bit bored with it lately. Maybe just a rut. A few misconceptions–not all investment bankers work 80 hours per week. The big money now is in hedge funds–which are risky (see ‘unregulated’) as hell. Google ‘Amarinth’ in news. If you decide you really want to be an investment banker it would help to go to a ‘name’ school. Find out what companies recruit there. Try to intern someplace during the summers. Tough field to break into. Finally, be really strong in math. Financial products are getting increasingly advanced.
Stocks and bonds are simplistic. Swaps, derivatives, swaptions. All sorts of exotics are the norm now. Alot of the guys that actually structure the deals are phds in financial engineering or physics. Thus you’ll see fewer Americans in these roles.
Best of luck. Try different things while you are young. There are literally millions of jobs out there. Don’t have to map your exact path at 17
Here’s advice I give to folks starting their education: Figure out what you love to do (hobbies, sports, activities, etc.) and pick a major that has a job title associated with it that can make the money you need to support your hobbies and interests.
[quote]gojira wrote:
I love my job. I’m a regulator for the EPA. Basically I do unannounced inspections to ensure that companies are operating in compliance with EPA regulations. I oversee clean ups and remediations and make the bad guys pay for it.
I am a civil servant so I only work 40 hours a week with no evenings or weekends. I won’t get rich doing this, but the benefits are great and there is a tremendous amount of satisfation that I get from wearing the “white hat”.
You need at least a four year science degree and an advanced degree helps since there is a lot of competition to get into the agency.
[/quote]
Funny, you work for the EPA and supervise cleanups. Yet you’re the reason for most of these cleanups with that god damn tail of yours.
The most important thing is to study something you find interesting. If you’re split down the middle between medicine and banking, a double major of economics and biology would be a good idea. I’m told that at most universities, the business school econ programs do not require many electives so you can use your free electives to major in one of the sciences.
It may seem ambitous but I’ve seen it done.