Originally Posted by
Jaimecbr900
To be honest, most of the "numbers" that all these places come up with are very skewed. I know people that have "accounting degrees" and are not making $40k/yr.
If you use these numbers in order to choose a course of study, you will likely end up both dissapointed and frustrated when you graduate because you won't merely step into these high dollar salaries like you thought.
The only course of studies that you can truly bank on starting salary figures on are professional type jobs, i.e. doctors, dentists, pharmacists, lawyers, policeman, fireman, etc. All those jobs have a pretty tangible starting salary history. Everyone knows that a doctors starts out making money the second they start their residency. The hours suck ass for a few years, but eventually they make oodles of money in a private practice or specialize in something. Police start out, as most gov't jobs, with a definite and predictable pay scale. The same goes for the rest of the jobs listed above.
My point is that noone should really put too much emphasis on published "pay scales" except for jobs that are pretty standardized. If you get an "accounting" degree, you could use that in several completely different jobs and therefore two completely different salaries.
Choose a major by looking at what you're likely to do, rather than chasing money. If your family owns their own business and you're likely to follow suit, then choose a major that would help you in that rather than something you'll never use. For example, if your family owns a widgit business that exports widgits to China, well you would be well suited for a management degree or an business degree or even a double major with a minor in foreign language to be able to manage the business one day. An accounting degree probably wouldn't help much there because most of the actual accounting in a business is usually done by a dedicated OUTSIDE accountant once or a few times a year. Follow where I'm going?
Too often people enter college with only their imaginary pocket book in mind and daydream about the days when all that imaginary cash is going to simply roll on in. Reality is that a degree is merely a starting point to anyone's intended career. It guarantees noone any salary. It only guarantees that you learned some basic skills you will fine tune and emerge out in the real work field. High salaries are not usually just given because of a degree. Sometimes the lack of a degree will KEEP you from getting more money in a certain position, but I've seen quite a few people overcome that too.
Reply With Quote