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I'm 20 and in college, taking pre recs. I really want to go into some sort of engineering. Was nursing but now engineering as I love working on things and designing things and what not. More along the line of mech engineering. That leads me to my question what are the best degrees to be able to have a job when you graduate?
When he registered for classes, he realized that the first quarter at UW would be the last math class he'd take. He liked math more than anything else so he switched majors.
Since changing to a comprehensive (pure) math major, I've been amazed at the interest he gets from a whole bunch of sectors. He's only taken probably 3 CS classes in his life, but this summer he received a pretty serious 6 figure offer from the CEO of a tech company that included paying him while he finishes his bachelors degree this coming year. He also gets some stupid inquiries from Wall Street type firms. The last 2 summers he's been approached by firms that were talking internships of 7-9K per month for 3 months along with free housing and a lot of other perks to work in Manhattan for the summer.
I was amazed at the demand for math majors, had no clue that it was that high.
He's pretty set on getting his PhD and doing research, but if you have a real talent for math there is some stupid money to be made.......
I'm 30 and I'll be graduating with my BBA in CIS come next May. I like the IS world simply because there is SSSSOOO many options. If you don't like coding, you can go into engineering. If you don't like that, there is security. If you don't like that, you can be an operator. Good Database Admins make crazy money. The list goes on and on. And the more areas you have experience in, the more valuable you are. And it's not THAT difficult if you just apply yourself.
My kid already has his CCNP, CCDP, CISSP, CEHv8, WCNA, Sec+, and is currently working towards his CCIE.
The Shop
The thing with math is exercising your brain to work a certain way is how I look at it. Not like you'll be doing calc at your job, but being able to think in a detailed critical way is what it's about.
I majored in Computer Information Systems and mathematics.
the other fields you might be cubicle confined. No matter which engineering degree you get, you'll
be very well compensated. Or you could just get out quick with a polisci degree and go hungry later.
Keep in mind that mechanical is very difficult and time consuming.
TM
The latest "offer" from a CEO was actually pretty funny. He was at a party for his friend, the son of the CEO, who was just finishing this year. When the son introduced him to his father and told him about his papers, accomplishments, etc., the father googled his work and started recruiting him right away! True mathematicians are pretty good to find, apparently, and if they have decent, basic social skills it's a big bonus.
I'd say that if you are more into building, designing, etc., then engineering is the best choice but if you are truly mathematically inclined, perhaps look into a double major?
Being a math professor probably (definitely) won't pay as much as my son could get on the "open market", but it'll pay enough for him to be happy with a new snowboard every couple of years and such. Plus he'll actually be getting paid to get his PhD and that will only increase his worth.
As mentioned, an IS career is crazy lucrative. My brother in law has banked nearly a million dollars in signing bonuses alone over the last decade from being recruited by MS, Amazon, Twitter, Amazon again, and Facebook. Add in his Director level salary and performance bonuses and it's mind boggling to me. And he travels all over the world trying to acquire top talent, too!
I'm a Facilities Engineer. I enjoy the variety of work that I do and I don't think I have the stress that a Mechanical Engineer would have. Also, I get to be a part of a lot of different projects for the companies I work for and learn about different ways things are produced and the engineering behind them. You get to help with layout planning for different products and you get to help people make a better product in many cases.
I know the CEO of Raytheon was an Industrial Technology major, and many other successful people have that degree as well.
Good Database admins are hard to find.
Nursing is probably one of the most secure professions- not once in the 10+ years my wife has been a BSRN has she ever feared losing her job even through the recession- That is not the same for most any other profession. Pay right out of college was $60k+ a year....
Pit Row
I was honestly not "smart" compared to others in my class. 5 Year plan and graduated with a 2.7 gpa. After being out of school almost 3 years I decided to start studying for the fundamentals of engineering exam this spring in order to further my career. It's amazing how motivated one can be when money is on the line.
If you have the motivation, you can overcome your current lack of math knowledge, a tutor is a great place to start!
The tutor thing is a great idea. I think most schools provide it free, also. My son has worked for the engineering department since first quarter of his freshman year in their 'study center' and also been a 'lab instructor' for Math 307 (Diiff. Eq.) and Math 308 (Linear Algebra) since the second quarter of his freshman year. He says that there is a pretty obvious correlation between the usage of the study centers and success in the classroom.
Whatever you do, don't get something worthless, like my BA in Music.D'oh!
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