"One of the Highest Paying Jobs You Can Get Out of College"

[bhikkhu]

...a nice work-up from the AFL-CIO:

http://www.upworthy.com/one-of-the-highest-paid-jobs-you-can-get-out-of-college-is-one-ive-never-even-thought-twice-about-5?c=fea

One of my smartest friends sat down with his kid a couple of years ago, looking at future job prospects while he was a high school senior; they decided on chemical engineering, where the pay is great and demand is high.

[JEFF9K]

1. highest

The highest paying job is right-wing pundit. But you have to DROP-OUT to qualify.

[bhikkhu]

3. That's very true

Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Rush Limpbaugh, all college drop-outs who think they have all the answers. Dunning-Kruger well demonstrated!

Though (on edit) I should admit that I never quite finished my BA. I went to work as a mechanic after high school, which has been good-paying steady work. I don't expect to change careers, but I still have just two more courses to take...maybe next next spring.

[NYC_SKP]

2. I know two, both are highly paid, but one works for big pharma...

...the other works in the world of Light Emitting Diodes and semiconductors, which is cool.

[exboyfil]

4. My daughter is most likely majoring in Mechanical Engineering

She does not like Chemistry enough to do Chemical Engineering. Still I think she should do well. She will have most of her Sophomore year done while still in High School. I do worry a little bit about my younger daughter. She wants to go to med school and will pursue a high risk strategy of getting a B.A. in Biochemistry instead of a B.S. I figure if the med school thing does not work out then she can do the extra math classes for a B.S.

[Bazinga]

7. If she has a good gpa, and does well on the mcat med school doors should be open.

I have a classmate in my med school class now who got a BA in linguistics and he's one of the top in my class. Tell her to work hard and learn how to love learning, and then make sure she figures out a plan to pay for it. If you think student loans for undergrad are bad, I'll graduate with people who have $3-400,000 in debt when they're done! Talk about indentured servitude!

If she wants to be in medicine there are wonderful opportunities to help patients without that high of a price tag, but if she is dead set on wearing the white coat, help her to see that she will be a whole lot more effective in helping the patients who really need help if she can make a plan to avoid Sallie Mae.

[exboyfil]

8. Thank you for the advice

She wants to be a surgeon (not because of the money but because of her interest). She is mostly interested in general surgery. I attribute it to her having her appendix removed when she was in kindergarten.

Since she plans to stay home for her B.A. I already have the money saved for her tuition and books. I told her med school is on her ($200K+ if she can get into our state med school). She is considering scholarships like the medical services (military and civil service) as well as serving in underserved areas like rural or Native American reservations. These opportunities will help with the student loan debt.

[Bazinga]

10. I have lots of friends in the rural route and in the armed forces.

Those are fantastic ways to go.

The other route to get school paid for is the MD/PhD combined degree programs. That's the route I chose, and I was very fortunate to get in. There are a lot of advantages, but it definitely isn't for everyone. It is very research intensive and focuses on hard science, so if your daughter is getting a BA to avoid math and hard science classes, it might not be a great fit. But if she is driven and excels scholastically then MD/PhD can open a lot of doors while paying for school and providing a living spend. It requires an extra 3-4 years in order to get your PhD, but that extra degree means you are much better qualified to choose your residency on graduation, and there is no post-graduate obligation like the rural or military routes.

It's not a silver bullet for student loans, but have her look into it and see if it's a fit for her.

[Recursion]

5. I took some Mfg classes as an EE because I was studying control systems

Chemical is always hungry for bodies; it's just a hell of a lot of coursework.

[quaker bill]

6. There is truth to this

My son earned a PhD in materials science and engineering. He works in manufacturing designing new materials and processes at working factory. His starting pay with all the benefits and bonuses was north of 6 figures.

[Paladin]

9. Same for petroleum engineering.

Particularly if you snag a degree from an elite place like Colorado School of Mines.