zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on May 27, 2011 8:32:56 GMT -5
I think you need to be smart about it. We need social workers, we need teachers, we need a lot of people that we don't pay very well. That being said, running up thousands of dollars of student loans for a low paying job just isn't smart. My girlfriend's daughter wanted to be a teacher. She lived at home (free) went to local college on a full ride (free again) and worked to support her car and other expenses. She got paid the same starting salary as anyone who ran up a lot of debt doing the same thing.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 9:01:12 GMT -5
Jenny, there is some truth to your to your belief, but accounting is really more than just the debits and credits. I tend to look at financial and other data as a big puzzle. I've worked with many accountants and there's a wide variation. The good ones really are creative problem-solving types. My brother is a tax partner with a CPA firm and he loves what he does. He's extremely honest and ethical, but if there's a legitimate way for you to pay lower taxes, he'll find it. I've also worked with the colorless, boring ones and they don't get very far. While I think this study can help students weigh their potential income against the cost of their education, there's a lot of variation. "Math" can mean teaching it or being an actuary. Even being an actuary can mean middle management or CFO. Same with accountants. They should give some measure of variation around the averages; I suspect it's lower for areas such as teaching and social work.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on May 27, 2011 13:38:24 GMT -5
I still can't believe how low all the psychology majors were. I thought that area paid pretty well. It jumped a bit with continuing education, but was still lower than I thought it'd be.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 13:47:52 GMT -5
Dark, it has a lot to do with what they end up doing with that degree. If they go to grad school and become a clinical psychologist, that's not so bad. Or they could get an MSW and become a counselor. Or an MD and become a psychiatrist. The problem is that a good deal of these disciplines require graduate level study in addition to the BA.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on May 27, 2011 13:51:03 GMT -5
It's really that my perspective is getting skewed by the area I live in, and the fact that I don't have a degree. There's still a part of me that figures everyone who did go to college is making more than I am. However, I live in a HCOL area, so salaries here are inflated a bit. The longer I live here the less realistic my idea of what a normal salary is gets.
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Post by illinicheme on May 27, 2011 13:54:07 GMT -5
It's really that my perspective is getting skewed by the area I live in, and the fact that I don't have a degree. There's still a part of me that figures everyone who did go to college is making more than I am. However, I live in a HCOL area, so salaries here are inflated a bit. The longer I live here the less realistic my idea of what a normal salary is gets. Salary is also so field dependent that degree or not is not always a good indication. If it makes you feel any better, you're killing my DH, who has a PhD but only makes $58k as an assistant professor at one of the CSU campuses.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 13:55:29 GMT -5
We both live in HCOLAs. But private IT pays well, I don't know if it matters what your education level is. If you have experience in what the companies need, they make very little mention of education level. Most can get away with an Associates degree, but if you really know your stuff, the company would probably overlook it if you only had a HS diploma.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 13:58:33 GMT -5
It's really that my perspective is getting skewed by the area I live in, and the fact that I don't have a degree. There's still a part of me that figures everyone who did go to college is making more than I am. However, I live in a HCOL area, so salaries here are inflated a bit. The longer I live here the less realistic my idea of what a normal salary is gets. Salary is also so field dependent that degree or not is not always a good indication. If it makes you feel any better, you're killing my DH, who has a PhD but only makes $58k as an assistant professor at one of the CSU campuses. I sent DH a job listing for a reference librarian position at UCLA. Any librarian position requires a MLS. They start their faculty at $40k. WTF is able to raise a family on $40k in Los Angeles!?!?!?!
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on May 27, 2011 13:59:32 GMT -5
If it makes you feel any better, you're killing my DH, who has a PhD but only makes $58k as an assistant professor at one of the CSU campuses. See, my brain can barely process that. I kinda figure any job that requires a PhD has a starting salary of somewhere north of $150k.
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Post by illinicheme on May 27, 2011 14:06:45 GMT -5
If it makes you feel any better, you're killing my DH, who has a PhD but only makes $58k as an assistant professor at one of the CSU campuses. See, my brain can barely process that. I kinda figure any job that requires a PhD has a starting salary of somewhere north of $150k. I've got a PhD (in YM-approved chemical engineering no less!) and 6.5 years of industry experience. I make $124k salary in the Bay Area. Your perceptions are very skewed. ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 14:06:59 GMT -5
Someone with a PhD isn't in it for the money - they're in it for the love. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) But once tenure kicks in... BAM! Tenured faculty in this are make well into the 6 figures and have insane job security. A few years ago a tenured professor assaulted a student and it took the school over 5 years to strip him of tenure then fire him.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on May 27, 2011 14:10:27 GMT -5
Someone with a PhD isn't in it for the money - they're in it for the love. ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png) Suckers! ![:P](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 14:53:25 GMT -5
If it makes you feel any better, you're killing my DH, who has a PhD but only makes $58k as an assistant professor at one of the CSU campuses. See, my brain can barely process that. I kinda figure any job that requires a PhD has a starting salary of somewhere north of $150k. When I finish my degree, I'll be lucky to get half that.
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Miss Tequila
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Post by Miss Tequila on May 28, 2011 23:51:23 GMT -5
It's really that my perspective is getting skewed by the area I live in, and the fact that I don't have a degree. There's still a part of me that figures everyone who did go to college is making more than I am. However, I live in a HCOL area, so salaries here are inflated a bit. The longer I live here the less realistic my idea of what a normal salary is gets. I think you are right...I don't know how accurate those cost of living adjusters are but according to bestplaces.net, we would have to make just under $200K in your town to have the same standard of living as we do in our town. Housing is 111% more expensive for you than it is for me and overall your COLA is 36% higher than mine. If you lived in my area you would be making about $75K.
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murphath
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Post by murphath on May 30, 2011 13:36:00 GMT -5
Graduated from San Diego State Univ. in 1975 with B.A. in French. Didn't really have a clue what to do but just loved that language!! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) So, I worked for the State Dept. in D.C., then L.A., before landing a job with a French company's L.A. office. Transferred to the Bay Area where I've been since. After 2 kids, however, I could no longer travel as required and found work closer to home, but not language related (other than having to help write grant applications). After that, I worked many years at the local community college running their testing department. Not sure how French prepared me for that although we did occasionally get some folks from French speaking countries and it was fun to surprise them by speaking French!! Bottom line: I would not have changed a thing. I didn't make oodles and oodles of money, but I travelled extensively, used the French, and managed to raise three great kids with my DH. However, we are very frugal. Kids went to community college first and then transferred. Our gift to them was their college education debt free. Post grad work is on their dime--one is in process of getting her doctorate in physical therapy, second just finished 2nd year of med school, and the third just completed third year of undergrad. We encouraged all three to follow their dream in deciding a major. Just a final opinion (for what it's worth) re the expensive 4 year universities and student debt: in my experience, it's the parents who want the bragging rights of where their child is going to college. Who cares? Our 2nd daughter got offered "significant financial package" to play basketball at one of the ivy league schools (they don't give athletic scholarships, but intimated that it would be the full package) and she didn't want to go there--did not feel ready to be so far away. People thought we were crazy allowing her to NOT accept the deal. We just said, it's her life, not ours. Not matter the career path, kids should know that they will spend a significant part of their life in the work world, so they need to choose something they find interesting. I would have hated going to work day-in, day-out doing something I absolutely hated but paid more. I know too many folks who were "directed" by their parent to pursue certain degrees (law, engineering, nursing), have good paying jobs, but absolutely hate their work. That has to eat away at you in some way.
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