a good major for college?

[krazykanuck]

Originally Posted by picus

I wonder how many folks actually work in the field they have a degree in? I know Stew doesn't!

Not many, at least from my experience.

A good friend of mine got his degree in History (maybe with a double major) from Brown, became an investment adviser in NYC, and just recently moved to Florida and became a real estate agent where he makes just as much, if not more money than he did in NY.

Oddly enough some of the wealthiest people I know didn't even go to college.

[007e92]

Originally Posted by Daneel

No it does not work that way.

1. Analysts start at about $60K at major I-bankin houses The annual bonus starts at about 10K, goes up 10K each year (10K, 20K, 30K).

2. After that, most analysts are asked to leave the firm. They usually go to get an MBA.

3. They come back as an associate. A first year associate will make between 150K and 200K INCLUDING bonus. Goes up between 50K and 100K each year after that.

4. Next step is vice president. Veeps make about 500K a year.

5. Next step is either Senior Veep or Managing Director. MD is the holy grail in investment banking. The average MD makes between 1M and 10M.

6. Beyond the MD, some select few make partner status.

NO ONE makes over 100M in income at Goldman. Even the CEO's income was in the high 90s.

The hours in Mergers and Acquisitions (the "glamourous" side of I-Banking) is a LOT worse than 8am-8pm. It's usually 8am to 3am the next day. My sister works in investment banking and there was a week where she slept only 5 hours (the whole week).

i can vouch for this. this is actually a very good/valid representation of how it is in i-banking. theres a good amount of money if you can put in the work at first and make it as a senior/2-3 year associate. i did a lot of research on this because its definitely where i want to go after finishing up a couple of years at bloomberg. need to work for Bloomberg for a couple of more years until i get accepted in a good MBA program. hopefully, at that point i can get into i-banking as an associate. its definitely tough and a lot of hard work (insane hours as mentioned above), but rewarding if you can bring it.

[picus]

Originally Posted by krazykanuck

Not many, at least from my experience.

A good friend of mine got his degree in History (maybe with a double major) from Brown, became an investment adviser in NYC, and just recently moved to Florida and became a real estate agent where he makes just as much, if not more money than he did in NY.

Oddly enough some of the wealthiest people I know didn't even go to college.

Same here. My wife's degree is in journalism, she's an insurance underwriter. My degree is is comp sci, I clean cars. I actually don't know anyone that works in the same field as their degree I don't think.

[Couch]

Originally Posted by picus

Same here. My wife's degree is in journalism, she's an insurance underwriter. My degree is is comp sci, I clean cars. I actually don't know anyone that works in the same field as their degree I don't think.

That's why I went with a general business degree, that and I had no idea what I wanted to do.

Ended up in the real estate field when I graduated in Aug. '05. Plan on getting my commercial appraisal licence this year.

[picus]

Ya, I worked for some times as a comp engineer, and still do sometimes when I feel like it, but I wish I'd have gotten a business degree of some sort too; just makes more sense since it applies to a way wider selection of jobs. Oh well.

[krazykanuck]

Originally Posted by picus

Same here. My wife's degree is in journalism, she's an insurance underwriter. My degree is is comp sci, I clean cars. I actually don't know anyone that works in the same field as their degree I don't think.

Yeah...sometimes I think you just need to get through college to get the degree and then more doors open. From my experience knowing the right people can be just as, if not more important than your degree. Yesterday's high school diploma is today's college degree...