What job to do to earn at least 100k per year? (Chicago: for sale, loans)

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by souvikroy1111

What do i study in University to earn at least 100k per year??
I have interest in Computer Science

Then go with Computer Science and see where it takes you. The biggest mistake you can do is aim at whatever is a hot career now, or what you perceive will make you money. We are going to have glut of nurses and nirsing assistants, as well as graphic designers for years to come.

I am in a field where people make over 100k on average....but the key here is everyone came at it from a different direction, different major. Those that get into what I do explicitly for the money don't last...I see interns burn out, and new grads who think a task or salary is beneath them wash out pretty quick.

The only thing that will sustain you in a field is genuine interest in the work that you do. If you enjoy it, developing a skill set come effortlessly, and the rewards come with it.

[pfc]

Dentistry. ( 8 years of school though, plus at least 2 more if wanting to specialize). It's pretty easy to find starting jobs as a general dentist making 125-150k year. Yes you will probably have 200-250k student loans,but it is pretty affordable to pay it back in 10 years. Malpractice Insurance is cheap,several companies actually pay for it as part of their benefits package. You need to love it though, or the burnout could be quick and brutal. Long term the sky is the limit as far as salary, most dentists who have their own offices make 200-300k, and specialists could potentially make more

[Chitownohioan]

For the Medicine route, you need a bachelor of science (2-4 years) and an MD (4 years) plus a residency in whatever you choose to specialize in (another 3-7 years). And you come out with a LOT of debt and you don't earn much at all during residency.

[DowntownSnob2011]

Train Dispatcher. You will start off at $85k. Not $100k, but close- and you don't even need a degree or any prior experience.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Chitownohioan

For the Medicine route, you need a bachelor of science (2-4 years) and an MD (4 years) plus a residency in whatever you choose to specialize in (another 3-7 years). And you come out with a LOT of debt and you don't earn much at all during residency.

Plenty of my medical school classmates did not major in science. We had English majors, business majors, probably even had a few CS majors. It is a long haul, for certain, and there's a fair bit of uncertainty regarding the future of the whole field of medicine (as a career).

[jimmythegreek]

I didn't know you must live in Chicago to earn 100k or more a year.

[grapico]

Actually... if I were advising somebody to do an UG degree with the most options afterwards that wasn't sure what they wanted to do when they declared a major, I would say do a degree in Math and take a variety of other classes like bio/chem/stats/econ/english/cs. Pretty much all your professional degrees will apply math in some way outside of like English Lit/Classics/Creative writing/theater.

Can you go to the hard sciences with a math degree? Yes
Can you do law school with math degree? Yes
Can you do social sciences like poli sci/sociology/econ/criminology/geography with a math degree? yes
Can you get into MBA with math degree? yes
Can you do med school with math degree? yes
Can you do a computer science degree with math? yes
can you do a philosophy degree with math? yes

UG is about being well rounded IMO... not training for a specific vocation... You could get most entry level jobs with a math degree anyway if it was from a reputable school. If you want something else, keep your gpa high and apply for an MA in what you want to do, i.e. MSCS/MS Econ/MS Accounting/MS EE, etc. Math is always in demand and can be applied to more fields than anything else.

I mean if you are *sure* you know what you want to do in the future, by all means choose a more specific major, but if not I think math is pretty solid.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by grapico

Actually... if I were advising somebody to do an UG degree with the most options afterwards that wasn't sure what they wanted to do when they declared a major, I would say do a degree in Math and take a variety of other classes like bio/chem/stats/econ/english/cs.
...

This is actually pretty practical advice. Math skills are one of the strongest indicators of income potential, period. There is always demand for people who are strong in math, and all those examples grapico gave are true, too.

If you want to earn $100,000/yr in IT, you can certainly do it, but it will be far easier to do if you have a strong background in math, especially statistics and algorithms. The other thing that can make a difference in IT is a willingness to take calculated risks and to work hard. Probably the best route to high dollars in IT is to get a strong math/CS degree, then work for 2-4 years in a company with a strong reputation among those in the IT world. it doesn't have to be an "IT company," it just has to be respected for the ways it uses IT in its own business. Then take those skills anywhere you want that offers you challenging work with strong performance pay. If you are a crack developer with strong experience at reputable company, you'll be able to command $100k within 3-5 years, and if you stick with it and stay fresh, taking and mastering challenges, you could earn double that in 5-8 years in certain industries (for example, proprietary trading).

But to do that, you will almost certainly need a very strong background in math. I am not super-strong in math, but I have a good understanding of it, when to use it, and the logic that stems from it. I'm also willing to work hard when it really counts, and to try and find ways to save the company money. My first $100k year was my fifth year out of undergrad, and I got it by starting at a reputable company, then switching to a well-funded startup that had strong performance pay, after starting at $38k with what was essentially a BS in Sociology and a minor in comp sci.

At the end of the day, it's not so much what you study that matters, as long as it includes some math, it's how well you know how to use what you know.

[Caldus]

Wow, emathias, you are one smart person. You talk intelligently about so many topics!

Anyway, I'm a CS graduate and I'm making around 70K with a year-end bonus after working 4 years in the field. It's not 100K but still pretty nice. Honestly, looking back at it I could have asked for more $ with the recent job I got but oh well. I just joined the financial sector so more potential for higher raises and such depending on performance obviously. Whoever said CS is not in demand has no idea what they are talking about, so don't listen to them. CS can cover a broad array of jobs ranging from server management, database management, software engineering, technical support jobs, mobile apps development, etc. etc.

[deaner]

Originally Posted by chet everett

CS grads rarely are in high demand, and starting salaries tend to avg about $60k -- well sort of your goal.

It depends on what school you get your CS degree from. I'm about to graduate from a very well regarded CS program and I can confidently say that there is great demand right now for good software developers. Companies such as Microsoft/Amazon/Google/etc are hiring record numbers of college grads. I had multiple offers in the 85k-90k range (when you add bonuses to that it gets very close to your 100k threshold). If you're on top of your stuff you can make that kind of money as a computer science grad in Chicago right out of college.