Mugzy6

What's the most lucrative major to go into, in your opinion?

vbuser

I'd say something along the lines of Business Management.

In Toronto, many careers/classifieds list Business, or Management, both, or in combination with other occupations. The salary looks attractive too ;-)

Grancey

Get your MBA

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la petite moi

I'm in Business Administration as my major with an emphasis in International Business and a minor in French. I want to get my Masters in French; Is this a good or bad idea?

kolila

theres more money in finance than business management.

Furry

Economics. Any flavour thereof.

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maleficent

What your major is doesn't matter one bit, unless you are picking something really specific like Engineering. It's the degree you are going after, proof to a prospective employer that you can stick to something for four years (five years for some) and follow thru on something. Whether it's Finance, History, Underwater Basket Weaving, doesn't really matter...

What will get you money after graduation is where you went to school... (Harvard looks better that West Podunck State College) (colleges are graded by Most Competitive, Highly competitive, Least competitive etc.... you go to the best school you can get yourself into)... The internships you had while you were in college...and your willingness to work your butt off.

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maleficent

Depends on what you want to do with it when you get out of school... Talk to people in the field you want to go into, and ask around.

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StanT

I'd really go at it from the opposite direction:

What do you like to do?
What are you good at?
How can you make money from the above?

Rather than:

How can I make the most money
Get good at the above and learn to like it

asaris

Also, many businesses like people who have a humanities background, because a major in, say, philosophy, teaches people how to think and write, and these skills are probably more important than whatever you might learn in a business management major. Most of the learning takes place on the job! So I'd recommend doing a philosophy major with a foreign language major or minor and a minor or major in economics or business or something along those lines. Get an MBA or JD (or both) after you graduate, and you'll be set.

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Janey

I have to agree with Mal. My major was Physical Geography. But I've been a computer consultant with PwC since grad. IMHO, the best money is to be made in this field (bang for buck).

Internal training leads to business management, plus i can work, and the firm pays for MBA later on.

stingc

The problem with a business major is that everyone who doesn't know what they want to do majors in that. Although a lot of jobs may require that type of degree, I don't think it guarantees anything.

I agree with StanT's advice. Don't go into anything you don't like. Also, I don't think there's any magic major unless you have special skills. If you think you can be a good lawyer, and enjoy that type of work, then you might want to go into that. If you're good at math, there are very lucrative consulting jobs available. In any major, you'll have to distinguish yourself in order to get a particularly good salary.

ianthegoat

If you can handle sitting in front of a computer and coding all day, I would recomment Computer Science. Many times you can enter the job market at 50k/yr.

I, for one, flunked out of the CS program, and after two years of recuperating (1 at comm. col, 1 at Fred Meyer) I got back in school as Food Science and Technology.

I love Food Science becuase it is a conglomeration of many sciences: engineering, chemistry/biochem, microbiology, buisiness/marketing, sensory, and more. 100% placement in the industry, too. I think that's becuase there aren't that many FST programs in the country.

Me, I chose to narrow down my choices for employment even farther, to perhapse one of the more difficult industry niches to get into: brewing. Especially the craft brewing industry, where job turnover is small, and wages are small, and they like a couple years of industry experience.

But the beer is great!

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TimeTested

I can tell you most of the people I hire that are looking for money don't last long. Not because the pay is no good, but rather because they think they can work form 8:15 am to 4:45 pm and be at the top in a year. For the most part I agree with Maleficent as to what will get you money. But that evens out very quickly. A snob from Harvard who has no work ethic will get pushed aside from a state school grad that has a "can do" attitude and puts in the hours very quickly. Your degree is your door opener; your work ethic and attitude is your money maker.

clavus

You want money? Go into sales. You want to major in French? Get a job selling something where French is an asset (i.e. wine, oil rigs to Africa, white flags (kidding)).

Take a look at the want ads. Around here, they are want scientists with advanced degrees to work for burger-flipping wages. They are looking for nurses and heavy machine operators and willing to pay good money.

I know a couple where she has a number of degrees, including a very specialized, advanced degree. She had a job with tremendous responisbility and really needed to know know some techinicalities. He had a BA in some bullshit and a job selling machinery.

Who got paid more? He did. Why? because he was a man. NO. I mean, because he was in sales. He paid more in taxes than she made total.

Life ain't fair, and doesn't make sense.

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greyeyes

I am finally going to change my major from Biology to... well... I have no idea. I know that I love the outdoors and travel, and I want to be able to move about the world or the US while keeping the same job or at least having enough job security to know that I will have one waiting for me wherever I go. Wages aren't really important to me, I just want to be able to support myself. I know that there is no way that I could stay indoors everyday for work. What would you guys reccomend as a major for me?

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clavus

Wildlife & Fisheries Biology.
Wildlife and Fisheries Management
Forestry
Marine Biology
Geology

Be a Ranger (the Smokey Bear kind, not the Airborne Assault kind).
Be a Game Warden
Be a geologist

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0energy0

Orthorpedic surgeon

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BigBen

Amen brother. And by the way... There are lots of reasons to study Economics, not just for the money:

1. Economists are armed and dangerous: "Watch out for our invisible hands."
2. Economists can supply it on demand.
3. You can talk about money without every having to make any.
4. You get to say "trickle down" with a straight face.
5. Mick Jagger and Arnold Schwarzenegger both studied economics and look how they turned out.
6. When you are in the unemployment line, at least you will know why you are there.
7. If you rearrange the letters in "ECONOMICS", you get "COMIC NOSE".
8. Although ethics teaches that virtue is its own reward, in economics we get taught that reward is its own virtue.
9. When you get drunk, you can tell everyone that you are just researching the law of diminishing marginal utility.
10. When you call 1-900-LUV-ECON and get Kandi Keynes, you will have something to talk about.

BTW, not just any flavour of... Go into monetary theory. Macro stuff. Those poor pathetic slobs who major in social or environmental economics only make the world a better place. They don't get rich and all the hot babes.

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abaya

What does "lucrative" mean to you? If it's monetary value, then ask yourself why that's so important and what your life is going to look like in 20 years as a result. Do you want to be married, have kids, a happy family where you participate in the home as more than just a moneymaker? I'm not saying that you can't do both things, that is work hard and also have a strong family, but they are often competing desires.

Lucrative for some people means emotional or intellectual satisfaction, not just the money. Personally I'd take intrinsic satisfaction over something like monetary fulfillment (is that possible? can money satisfy your deepest needs?), but that's just me on my highly idealistic horse.

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Kalibah

I'm looking into Political Science/History double major, but I'm not really sure what kind of job I could get with it other than teaching

I'm content on studying something I enjoy, but I'm not sure what to do after that.

I was also interested in CS but when I see the amount of math required... no thanks. Anyone familar with MIS have any information on it? its more buisness oriented ?

heccubusiv

if you can handle the math and science, pharmacy. They make a ton more money than anyone expects, they automatically get jobs and most work more than one job to bring in the cash. My friend pulled in 101 dollars and hour this one weekend.

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Janey

it's true, I entered the market at 40k but was making 102k after 3 yrs plus a 15% variable pay bonus. Plus it wasn't coding all the time. After a couple of years youget pushed up into team lead/PM roles. Which may or may not be more interesting, but it is much better than lets say bank clerking, or middle management in a non -IT role...

a-j

I would only suggest CompSci if you actually have a love for computers, not just money. I've seen people get into CompSci just for the money and end up having problems when it comes time to do even the simplest of things for what a CompSci person should know how to do. It also requires you to have strong problem solving abilities.

outdoor

I was a recreation major in college. I don't make a ton of money now, but it's enough. I love what I do and have a very interesting job.

Kalibah

Do you know anything about MIS and how it compares to CS?
Seems like CS would be more math and theory oriented... MIS would be more buisness oriented? Just also trying to get a feel for what kind of job someone with CS or MIS would get

the420star

I would agree with the jist of this thread... no major will make the most cash, i mean i am an engineer all that means is i will have a higher starting pay then most majors but everyone will catch up... long story short, how much you make is a product of your school you went to, and then how hard you are looking to work.... i would look into a career in sales, if you are good there is an endless amount of money to be earned

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EULA

Knowledge won't get you jack, but skills will.

a-j

I didn't really look into MIS, but I had a few friends do it. I think you've pretty much nailed the difference. There is less focus on Math and more on the business side -- maybe a few accounting/management type classes. My CS degree required up to Calc 2, and I don't think MIS had to go that high.

soccerchamp76

There is no certain major that will make the most money. It is all about skills, grades, and test scores as well. If you are a pre-med major, and have a sub 3.0 GPA, you won't get into medical school and won't earn money.

Do what you like. If you like science, do science. Don't do a job for the money, you'll hate every minute.

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Zeraph

That's laughable. For a simple example, just give me the knowledge of next week's powerbowl numbers and we'll see if I make any money.

SiNai

Yep.. The MIS here is in the College Of Business, so you take the business core (accounting, statistics, marketing, management, etc, etc). Then you take a few VB, SQL, etc, kind of classes, as well as a few management classes. Mostly, its a business degree. CS, on the other hand, has an empasis on computers- programming, hardware, math, algorithms, networks, all sorts of approaches to computing, some inside and some outside the business spectrum.

But basically.. yep. You hit the nail on the head. MIS is a business degree, and you might know the basics of how to program. CS, you know everything about computers, but almost nothing about business. At least, thats the way it works here.

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passthru

But if you take MIS instead of CS, be careful not to become a pointy haired boss.

A degree really is just a foot in the door, or an example of what you may be capable of. Knowledge and skill is what will let you advance. I dropped out of high school but was able to get a foot in the door at a local company when I was 17.. When I was 19 i was making 20$/hour even though I had no formal education whatsoever.

astrahl

For major? Chemical Engineering or engineering of any kind. Quick bucks, but then you'd be an engineer. Get your post-grad accreditation and you'll make a good living.

Career choices? If you can handle the stigma, be a pharma sales rep. You only need a BS (funny that) and lots of positive communication skills. Big money, lots of travel (if you want).

If you are in this life for more than just the money, find something you like/love and move your career in that direction. I started out thinking I wanted to do ortho. surgery and then realized that my days would be spent operating on rotator cuffs or ACLs... YAWN! Nurse practitioners deal with sickie people all day. YUCK!

I liked biology so I majored in it...no jobbies.

Went to grad school for a MS in genetics and got an MBA at the same time, now research administration is my career. I get to keep my hands in the biological aspect of research and that's ok by me.

True goal? To get a nice piece of property and have a dog shelter-boarding facility. I like DAWGS!

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ranger

culinary/hospitality

cooking and being nice is the fastest growing source of jobs worldwide. you can teach anyone to cook. if you can be nice you are "hospitable".

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questone

I'd recommend doing a philosophy major with a foreign language major or minor and a minor or major in economics or business