What academic advice would you give a college freshman pursuing a lucrative career?

[lrobe22]

politician
onlyfans
drug dealer
lobbyist

[LATB]

Originally Posted by lrobe22

politician
onlyfans
drug dealer
lobbyist

All lead to Hell.

[SurfnSun]

Only go to college for a skilled degree job.

Doctor, Lawyer, CPA, IT etc.

Skip the generic degrees and go get a job and learn.

[Unsuspicious]

Go somewhere cheap, in a warmer climate with hot babes, have fun, it's probably your only chance to easily bang the kind of girls we see in the friday 5 thread without paying them.
Don't forget to network with the rich kids.

[theandies]

Find a good trade and skip college. That's what my youngest son did and he is now an electricians apprentice making close to $30 an hour and is only 20 years old.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by AUTOHOLIC

A few years ago my 40 year old niece told me that many of her college graduates (some with masters degrees) were going to trade schools because they could not find well paying jobs.

There will ALWAYS be jobs for people in service type professions such as plumbing, HVAC etc. start your own business and keep it small not a lot of employees if any as often you end up making less net income wit a lot more headaches.

When I started my toolmaker apprenticeship in 1968, there were jobs everywhere. When I finished the apprenticeship and started working in job shops, the standard work week was 55 hours. That was the minimum; you could work more if you wanted to.

And you could get a good-paying job anywhere (in or near a city) in the country. I don't think that has changed. Throughout my 53 year career, all job shops were always hiring, because there were never enough tool/moldmakers.

In the true tradition of a "journeyman," I would usually quit somewhere after a year or two, take a week or two off, then go get another job for more money. So you learned tricks and ways of doing things from different masters, which was the original idea of being a journeyman.

And stories I've heard, and still hear, is that in any type of construction trade, everybody is always looking for good help. Unfortunately today, too many kids have no work ethic, they don't realize that you'll have to start at the bottom and work your way up, and to do that you cannot be ****ing with your phone all day.

Oh well.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by theandies

Find a good trade and skip college. That's what my youngest son did and he is now an electricians apprentice making close to $30 an hour and is only 20 years old.

Skilled tradesmen (carpenters plumbers electricians HVAC techs masons roofers etc) are making 30-50 an hour. And would be earning twice that if the politicians didn’t allow all these Hispanics to invade the country and the trades.

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by Onebadcad

Advanced math doods do well with hedge funds that use quants.
Know a few of them, all can retire comfortably by age 40, the lion's share of their wealth is from monies they and employer put into the fund.

Here are the best universities for math, as per usual, CALIF schools are always the leaders, ADog can explain:

https://internationalcenter.ufl.edu/...eport-rankings

1 University of California, Los Angeles
2 University of California, Berkeley
3 University of Michigan -- Ann Arbor
4 University of Virginia
5 University of North Carolina -- Chapel Hill
6 University of Florida
6 University of California -- Santa Barbara
8 Georgia Institute of Technology
8 University of California, Irvine
8 University of California, San Diego

Caltech not on list due to private.
Stanford must have pissed someone off, as always in Top 5.

UNC > UF



Fact is, NC State is the school of choice over UNC in the practical sciences.

[Yadkin]

Originally Posted by Bruze

When I started my toolmaker apprenticeship in 1968, there were jobs everywhere. When I finished the apprenticeship and started working in job shops, the standard work week was 55 hours. That was the minimum; you could work more if you wanted to.

And you could get a good-paying job anywhere (in or near a city) in the country. I don't think that has changed. Throughout my 53 year career, all job shops were always hiring, because there were never enough tool/moldmakers.

In the true tradition of a "journeyman," I would usually quit somewhere after a year or two, take a week or two off, then go get another job for more money. So you learned tricks and ways of doing things from different masters, which was the original idea of being a journeyman.

And stories I've heard, and still hear, is that in any type of construction trade, everybody is always looking for good help. Unfortunately today, too many kids have no work ethic, they don't realize that you'll have to start at the bottom and work your way up, and to do that you cannot be ****ing with your phone all day.

Oh well.

I started working in my field after my second semester of college. Worked as a draftsman, then designer, all through college when I was not in school. Even during one week "vacations".

My first job after graduation started a week prior to my last final exam. The company that I worked for during school breaks had landed a project on my campus, removing asbestos. I did inspections and worked 70 hour weeks. Made union rate, plus overtime over 40 hours, plus per diem, plus a hotel room. I went from being poor, $200 in my checking account, to my first new car.

I have never been unemployed. When I moved from Boston to Syracuse to be with my girl, I made four phone calls to engineering firms, got three interviews, and three job offers. Eleven years later we decided to move to NC for a better environment for our kids; one phone call, one interview, one job offer.

[Trapper Sean]

An AACSB-accredited MBA from the most prestigious school that they can get into and complete will multiply the value of whatever else they get into.

MBA alone is not so great unless from truly top tier school.

[Tikiman]

Double-E. Hands down the winner these days. Opens many, many doors. These days, there are few of us who will actually end up doing anything even remotely related to our degrees. We may start out there, but it rarely ends there. Put him or her in a good, no-nonsense engineering college and the world will be their oyster.

[Frankie the Fink]

Operative word is "lucrative" - for my money (politics aside) engineering or cybersecurity or nursing. Those jobs will be around and in demand for a LONG time. And I was shocked recently to see what a nurse makes at the top of their scale - and they often get hiring bonuses.

This assumes the freshman isn't planning on post-grad work like becoming a doctor. Wouldn't consider law personally, I was an IT manager for years and had many lawyers working for me that hated the profession once they got a taste of it.

[DAB]

there's no money in custom woodworking.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by DAB

there's no money in custom woodworking.

Actually there is. It requires a marketing plan and a lot of networking. If a custom woodworker gets in the right crowd and develops a reputation he can have more work than he an handle. And for BIG money. We are talking 10 thousand and 20 thousand dollar tables and chairs at 2-3 grand each.

I know a man with a small shop (pales in comparison to yours) and he specializes in wood outdoor benches. Usually cypress or pine but often oak and other hardwoods. I commissioned him for a client who spent $5500 on a custom bench for their porch.

The key is get in the good graces of the “Mercedes Ladies”

[Datawiz]

Software programming, security, AI, database management, ...

The tech industry has served me handsomely, and I have no regrets. I have a formal degree in accounting, but everything in my life that's tech is self-taught. 37 years and counting...

[SurfnSun]

Originally Posted by LATB

Skilled tradesmen (carpenters plumbers electricians HVAC techs masons roofers etc) are making 30-50 an hour. And would be earning twice that if the politicians didn’t allow all these Hispanics to invade the country and the trades.

Good to start but there needs to be a plan for the future/retirement. I can’t imagine doing hard physical labor at 60-70 yrs of age.

[dvarapala]

Don't got to college. Become a plumber or an electrician and start being lucrative immediately, rather than having to dig yourself out from under hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of student loan debt (ain't no way Trump is gonna forgive that shit).

[JRD77VET]

Originally Posted by Yadkin

Take a major that has a career path. If it has anything to do with advanced math, you will never have to be unemployed.

Switch to a trade school and become a machinist. To excel for maximum pay growth, get hands on experience on both manual machines plus CNC.

Great money to be made and more folks are retiring than entering the field.

If I were so inclined, I could quit first thing in the morning and have my choice of well paying jobs before lunch.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by SurfnSun

Good to start but there needs to be a plan for the future/retirement. I can’t imagine doing hard physical labor at 60-70 yrs of age.

I’m 64 and do it almost every day. I’ve been at it for 50+ years and will probably only quit when I am completely physically unable.

Even though I have daily aches and pains I still enjoy it. If I go a couple of days without working with my hands/tools/tractor/equipment, I get a little stir crazy.

[LATB]

Originally Posted by dvarapala

Don't got to college. Become a plumber or an electrician and start being lucrative immediately, rather than having to dig yourself out from under hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of student loan debt (ain't no way Trump is gonna forgive that shit).

I was college material and had the grades. My interests were architecture and agriculture. Gave it serious consideration but I made the decision to go after the career path in the construction industry. Because I worked with my carpenter dad as a youth, I had a bit of a head start right out of HS and was able to earn great money for my age.