10 most Worthless degrees

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JohnCU

Banned
Dec 9, 2000
16,528
4
0
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: JohnCU
lulz at this turning into engineering vs every other major

engineers believe they're superior to everyone

not all of them, i'm dumb as a rock

:Q me too!

I didn't say there was any truth to it. I just said that many engineers "think" they are

:laugh:

they need something to convince themselves it was worth the massive amount of work and money to make roughly the same thing as most other graduates. (excluding LAS, Theater, etc)

lol... i make $70k+ 1 year out of school.

and I've known enginerding grads from ND, NW starting at 50k and lowly business majors starting at 60k.

sure, but that's not the norm.

And who says yours is? Even if your avg starting salary is 70k or whatever, there's still going to be a bunch of people making <50k

Its a pointless argument. Do what you want to do, don't do it for the money (as long as we're talking legitimate majors).

yeah, that's true. besides, typically, we start out high and then plateau while the other majors continue to rise. i won't get rich doing it but i enjoy it. :thumbsup:
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: JohnCU
lulz at this turning into engineering vs every other major

engineers believe they're superior to everyone

not all of them, i'm dumb as a rock

:Q me too!

I didn't say there was any truth to it. I just said that many engineers "think" they are

:laugh:

they need something to convince themselves it was worth the massive amount of work and money to make roughly the same thing as most other graduates. (excluding LAS, Theater, etc)

lol... i make $70k+ 1 year out of school.

and I've known enginerding grads from ND, NW starting at 50k and lowly business majors starting at 60k.

sure, but that's not the norm.

And who says yours is? Even if your avg starting salary is 70k or whatever, there's still going to be a bunch of people making <50k

Its a pointless argument. Do what you want to do, don't do it for the money (as long as we're talking legitimate majors).

Engineers <---- I think the median speaks for itself
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings

Accountants
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm#earnings


Based upon observation, I would say engineers start higher and tap out, unless they get an MBA and then go to management

Business types start lower but have an easier time moving up the ranks
 

Farang

Lifer
Jul 7, 2003
10,913
3
0
My brother is an econ major and his first job he was bossing around electrical engineers. The electricians make more than the engineers. If you don't enjoy the work engineering does not seem like a good field to get into... those BLS medians are less than journeyman carpenter wages.
 
Oct 25, 2006
11,036
11
91
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Dont wanna be an asshole but most of those should be obvious.

I think they are hold overs from Ye Olden Days when ANY degree was a surefire way to a nice job.
As a child of the 80's my parents told me this constantly.
By the time the 90's rolled around they were more like: "Get an engineering degree."

Also, most of us know that the school itself is a big help.
Those 10 degrees might seem like crap but if you got one of them from Harvard you still have a good chance of the Rich & Shameless lifestyle.

My mom talks about this all the time. She's a senior/master/uber paralegal in her law firm and she sees tons of idiots who cant do anything right holding on to jobs for decades, all because they went to one of the top 10 Ivy League universities. Big law firms and corporations will suck up those guys instantly and never let them go, even if they are useless.


Originally posted by: Saint Michael
Originally posted by: invidia
Don't forget engineers and scientists. Without their academic nerdiness, we won't have the internet to post on ATOT with our computers today.
A misconception. Not all engineers are sitting around inventing the internet and making the world a better place. Most engineers are sitting around doing mundane tasks and designing forgettable, worthless things, and of course occasionally popping onto tech sites to talk shit about how they are doing such a service for humanity through their chosen profession.
This is true. I took the Advanced Electronics program in the Navy. Got out and worked for Hynix Semiconductor (microchips) and then Tektronix (test equipment). Am going back to school soon and I can honestly say I will major in anything except engineering.
The idea of building new toys and devices and machinery and stuff sound fun and profitable, but its always the business major (your boss) who gets the glory and the money, because he told you to do it.
You will just sit around all day with a dozen other miserable souls trying to figure out some ridiculous problem because the 27 people between you and the customer are complete idiots.

CASE IN POINT!!
http://philhord.com/phord/wp-content/development.jpg

Thats another thing I learned working in the industry. About 200 things can go wrong in any given project. 3 of them will be your fault. The other 197 are still your problems.
Engineering isnt that awesome.

Thank you for ruining my dreams

 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: JohnCU
lulz at this turning into engineering vs every other major

engineers believe they're superior to everyone

not all of them, i'm dumb as a rock

:Q me too!

I didn't say there was any truth to it. I just said that many engineers "think" they are

:laugh:

they need something to convince themselves it was worth the massive amount of work and money to make roughly the same thing as most other graduates. (excluding LAS, Theater, etc)

lol... i make $70k+ 1 year out of school.

and I've known enginerding grads from ND, NW starting at 50k and lowly business majors starting at 60k.

sure, but that's not the norm.

And who says yours is? Even if your avg starting salary is 70k or whatever, there's still going to be a bunch of people making <50k

Its a pointless argument. Do what you want to do, don't do it for the money (as long as we're talking legitimate majors).

Engineers <---- I think the median speaks for itself
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings

Accountants
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm#earnings


Based upon observation, I would say engineers start higher and tap out, unless they get an MBA and then go to management

Business types start lower but have an easier time moving up the ranks

Accounting has a lower median because some of the accounting jobs pay less (like 2 year, 4 year programs) but an actual CPA should make pretty good pay starting out from what I understand.
 

Ns1

No Lifer
Jun 17, 2001
55,420
1,600
126
Originally posted by: TruePaige
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: JohnCU
lulz at this turning into engineering vs every other major

engineers believe they're superior to everyone

not all of them, i'm dumb as a rock

:Q me too!

I didn't say there was any truth to it. I just said that many engineers "think" they are

:laugh:

they need something to convince themselves it was worth the massive amount of work and money to make roughly the same thing as most other graduates. (excluding LAS, Theater, etc)

lol... i make $70k+ 1 year out of school.

and I've known enginerding grads from ND, NW starting at 50k and lowly business majors starting at 60k.

sure, but that's not the norm.

And who says yours is? Even if your avg starting salary is 70k or whatever, there's still going to be a bunch of people making <50k

Its a pointless argument. Do what you want to do, don't do it for the money (as long as we're talking legitimate majors).

Engineers <---- I think the median speaks for itself
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings

Accountants
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm#earnings


Based upon observation, I would say engineers start higher and tap out, unless they get an MBA and then go to management

Business types start lower but have an easier time moving up the ranks

Accounting has a lower median because some of the accounting jobs pay less (like 2 year, 4 year programs) but an actual CPA should make pretty good pay starting out from what I understand.

Most accountants aren't CPA's....
 

krunchykrome

Lifer
Dec 28, 2003
13,413
1
0
Originally posted by: TruePaige
Originally posted by: Ns1
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: ric1287
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: TecHNooB
Originally posted by: JohnCU
Originally posted by: krunchykrome
Originally posted by: JohnCU
lulz at this turning into engineering vs every other major

engineers believe they're superior to everyone

not all of them, i'm dumb as a rock

:Q me too!

I didn't say there was any truth to it. I just said that many engineers "think" they are

:laugh:

they need something to convince themselves it was worth the massive amount of work and money to make roughly the same thing as most other graduates. (excluding LAS, Theater, etc)

lol... i make $70k+ 1 year out of school.

and I've known enginerding grads from ND, NW starting at 50k and lowly business majors starting at 60k.

sure, but that's not the norm.

And who says yours is? Even if your avg starting salary is 70k or whatever, there's still going to be a bunch of people making <50k

Its a pointless argument. Do what you want to do, don't do it for the money (as long as we're talking legitimate majors).

Engineers <---- I think the median speaks for itself
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings

Accountants
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm#earnings


Based upon observation, I would say engineers start higher and tap out, unless they get an MBA and then go to management

Business types start lower but have an easier time moving up the ranks

Accounting has a lower median because some of the accounting jobs pay less (like 2 year, 4 year programs) but an actual CPA should make pretty good pay starting out from what I understand.

Accounting grads don't have the best starting salaries....between $40K-$60K. Technically, there is no such thing as a starting salary for a CPA. Accounting professionals who become CPA's have usually been working for a few years before they obtain their CPA license. From my observations, and based on the firm I work for, you don't get a bump in your salary when you get your CPA. You get a bonus, something like $6K. And then once you have your CPA, it's easier to move up the ranks. Our firm won't promote anyone to manager unless they have a CPA. I know quite a few people who are well qualified to be a manager, and who have been with the firm for 6+ years, but they dont have their CPA license, so they're stuck at the senior associate level. People get stuck in this position because they never find the time to go back to school to fulfill the 150 credit requirement to sit for the exam; or some of them start families and the time to study for classes becomes harder to manage.

Once you have that CPA license though, you're set.
 

bullbert

Senior member
May 24, 2004
717
0
0
Originally posted by: invidia
Don't forget engineers and scientists. Without their academic nerdiness, we won't have the internet to post on ATOT with our computers today.

WRONG! The Internet was invented by Lawyers-Politicians, specifically Al Gore. However, they appear to be nerdy Lawyers-Politicians, since they chose to Dual Class and split their EXP points between the two classes. Can lawyers also make claim to academic nerdiness?
 

bullbert

Senior member
May 24, 2004
717
0
0
Originally posted by: Farang
My brother is an econ major and his first job he was bossing around electrical engineers. The electricians make more than the engineers. If you don't enjoy the work engineering does not seem like a good field to get into... those BLS medians are less than journeyman carpenter wages.

If you don't enjoy the work, it does not matter what the industry pays, since you will be miserable.

You were comparing apple and oranges and orangutans. I would wager that those EEs were recent grads and salaried, and the ETs were well experienced and hourly paid. At my first employer, the 20 year ETs made more than the <5 year EEs, assuming they made an effort to keep their billing hours up.

On the other end of the scale are the 20 year EEs who specialize. There are several dozen in my circle that make over $250K, assuming we keep our vacation time down to several weeks. And no, we are not salaried. We make sure we get paid for each hour the managers flap their lips as well as each hour we work to save those managers' arses, and continue to get paid top hourly wages because we can solve problems that others can not.