who here is happy with their degree? [Archive]

nubly

11-21-2005, 04:49 PM

at 28 years of age, i went back to college to be an RN. i've been a medical biller for a few years now and it just doenst pay that much ($12-16/HR). ive spoken with some people that went through the BS of college/university and make a little more than i do. thats from various different fields like business, accounting, computers, etc. why go through the hassle of all that schooling for a paycheck that will barely get you through the day?

BlairH

11-21-2005, 04:53 PM

I'm doing a Law Degree right now...I HOPE I'll be happy with it, but right now it almost doesn't seem worth it (it's taxing me)

Sabrinaset

11-21-2005, 04:57 PM

Still going to be a surgeon, but right now, it's real hard to leave my daughter at home while I go. I kind of wanna be a stay-at-home mom now.

Davideaux

11-21-2005, 04:57 PM

I mostly use Right Guard.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 04:58 PM

I'm doing a Law Degree right now...I HOPE I'll be happy with it, but right now it almost doesn't seem worth it (it's taxing me)

When I read this post I thought Ed wrote it. Ed is in law school?!?!

And then I remembered today is Ed Day.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 05:00 PM

To answer the question, I'm satisfied with my degree, mostly because I have many options. That's most of the reason I'm trying to make the best decision for graduate school. I don't want to sell myself short.

Tadhg Adams

11-21-2005, 05:00 PM

Well the thing is, I've noticed for notable advancement much of the time, you need a degree in your field. Yes, even getting a degree you are likely to start off not making a lot, but your potential earnings is much higher. I'm working IT at the moment and am making pretty good money but I've hit the ceiling without going back and getting my degree. Which is a big reason why I am going back to school, I don't want to be 50, making the same hourly rate that I'm making today.

Expletive Deleted

11-21-2005, 05:01 PM

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 05:27 PM

Once I've got my Master's (in . . . a little more than two weeks, if I can finish my thesis in time), I'm switching out of Chemical Engineering. Just lost the drive for it, I guess.

I'll be applying to a few Library & Information Studies programs.

Very interesting.

Are you interested in working as a librarian? Or in the IT field?

I was at Columbia this weekend and lots of their librarians at the Mathematics and Science Library have Masters' in Engineering, Chemistry, Maths.

K'Nort

11-21-2005, 05:30 PM

Well if you have a liberal arts degree, there's about a 90% chance that your job has zilch relationship to it. But people also know that when they're in school. There's not supposed to be a direct correlation.

If you have some sort of professional industry-specific degree, I can see that being annoying if it doesn't pan out.

I have a cousin who got a masters in psychology and then realized about six months later that he hated working with people. So then he did a six month Oracle training instead. That would suck.

Tadhg Adams

11-21-2005, 05:33 PM

Oracle Database? EWWWWWW.

K'Nort

11-21-2005, 05:35 PM

Oracle Database? EWWWWWW.

This was like 2002. Finished his training -- it may have been six weeks rather than six months -- and his starting salary was $65K. Heard all about that from my mother.

Tadhg Adams

11-21-2005, 05:38 PM

The pay is so nice because the job sucks so bad. Designing and maintaining databases is probably the worst job we've conceived for ourselves in our technological enviroment.

Michael P

11-21-2005, 05:40 PM

I'm gonna be an author. My degree doesn't mean shit, and I knew that going in.

Noah Johnson

11-21-2005, 05:54 PM

I actually haven't quite finished my degree, but frankly I appreciate my education. The degree will be nice, but I really like the greater levels of enjoyment I can get from art, literature, people, and life with the skills I've acquired.

Expletive Deleted

11-21-2005, 05:58 PM

Very interesting.

Are you interested in working as a librarian? Or in the IT field?Probably the former, but I haven't made any decisions yet.I was at Columbia this weekend and lots of their librarians at the Mathematics and Science Library have Masters' in Engineering, Chemistry, Maths.I've talked to a bunch of 'em at a few different schools, yeah. Evidently, it's a marketable combination.

K'Nort

11-21-2005, 06:03 PM

Well and most university/college libraries require their librarian, particularly the reference ones, to have a masters in their field of reference as well as the MLS. It's considered necessary for collection development and proper reference services. Not to mention communicating with the faculty in that area. University librarian positions are also frequently tenure-track, which is a mixed blessing at best.

Tech skills are certainly popular in the field. You have to do all kinds of tech regardless, but the field still has lots of people who hate computers so they're happy to see anyone who doesn't.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 06:05 PM

Probably the former, but I haven't made any decisions yet.I've talked to a bunch of 'em at a few different schools, yeah. Evidently, it's a marketable combination.

May I also add that the three folks who I spoke to over here love their job. They, among other things, and as far as I've been told, work with M.S. and Ph.D students in need of research assistance. Obviously their MS and PhD science degrees made them very marketable for this particular field.

Edit: Helping folks with their research without suffering through the pains of thesis writing yourself.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 06:09 PM

K'Nort

11-21-2005, 06:11 PM

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 06:13 PM

They do frequently allow you to at least pursue it. Especially if you don't feel the need to start out high level right away. You can get a lower level librarian job and then use the free employee tuitition to earn the second masters while working and then get promoted when you're done.

The Dean at Pratt Institute told me that if I received my MLS first, I can apply to a university and tell them, "if you hire me, I will make a committment to complete my second degree." She says this works.

But, apparently, she says I can go either way. A significant number of folks already have a graduate degree in Art, Law, Biology, and I think I met one man with an IT degree.

K'Nort

11-21-2005, 06:25 PM

The Dean at Pratt Institute told me that if I received my MLS first, I can apply to a university and tell them, "if you hire me, I will make a committment to complete my second degree." She says this works.

Exactly. Although you'll be competing with some people who already have that second degree and blech.

If you're not sure you want to work in a library but are very sure you want to do something in... history? Then it makes sense to get the history MA first. And vice versa. Just do whichever one you're most passionate about, I figure. Makes it easier to get through the process.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 06:30 PM

Exactly. Although you'll be competing with some people who already have that second degree and blech.

If you're not sure you want to work in a library but are very sure you want to do something in... history? Then it makes sense to get the history MA first. And vice versa. Just do whichever one you're most passionate about, I figure. Makes it easier to get through the process.

Exactly. I think I may just start the non-MLS degree first because it'll take the longest of the two. I'm still sorting all of this out.

When do you graduate with your MLS?

Expletive Deleted

11-21-2005, 06:30 PM

I don't know how it works in a less technical field, but wouldn't it be easier to do the subject MA with the undergraduate work fresh in your mind?

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 06:34 PM

I don't know how it works in a less technical field, but wouldn't it be easier to do the subject MA with the undergraduate work fresh in your mind?

Ding Ding!

I'm so glad you said that because that's what I've been thinking all along. Most of the programs I'm being directed to are PhD programs. I've been researching my topic for the past 6 months already.

I reach new levels of Nerdom daily.

thik_3rd

11-21-2005, 07:06 PM

seeing as i don't have a job yet, no.

Ronald Bryan

11-21-2005, 07:10 PM

I'm happy with my degree. It's what I didn't do when getting it that I am unhappy with.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:12 PM

Sure, I'm happy. With both of them.

Not that I can make a living with either one of them.

Which is why I'm back in school for the third time, an RN program.

Only in America can a man have a Bachelor's and Master's degree and make more money from an Associate's degree.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 07:19 PM

Only in America can a man have a Bachelor's and Master's degree and make more money from an Associate's degree.

Yep! I think that's why a lot of folks go for 'professional' ('career') degrees.

Ed Cunard

11-21-2005, 07:20 PM

I'm happy with mine, but I want more. I'm considering MA and MFA programs, as well as teaching certification programs. I'm tired of what I'm doing, and I think reinvesting myself in an academic environment will help me get out of my current doldrums--a temporary fix, sure, but I'm not really a three-steps-ahead kind of guy.

Bard

11-21-2005, 07:26 PM

*Shrugs* I now have a master's degree in nursing and education. I still don't get paid what i think I ought.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:27 PM

Yep! I think that's why a lot of folks go for 'professional' ('career') degrees.

Our generation (late boomers, early X-ers and Y-ers) was sold a bad bill of goods.

We were told to follow our hearts/dreams and we would be happy. What we weren't told is that dreams don't usually pay the bills.

I'm going old school Cleaver on my kids. I'm telling them to get a job that pays and spend another 5-20 hours a week doing the work they "love". If it eventually pays the bills, all to the good.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:28 PM

*Shrugs* I now have a master's degree in nursing and education. I still don't get paid what i think I ought.

well, that's anybody.

I can show you NBA players making 5 mil who don't think they get paid enough either.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 07:38 PM

*Shrugs* I now have a master's degree in nursing and education. I still don't get paid what i think I ought.

Then you're living in the wrong place; nurses with masters degree in New York make $80,000 and up.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 07:41 PM

Well, at least the ones working in the top metropolitan NYC hospitals do.

My friend graduated from SUNY Binghamton with a Bachelor's in Nursing two years ago and is making $60,000 at Mount Sinai, night shift. She loves the night schedule- extra $$.

howyadoin

11-21-2005, 07:45 PM

Then you're living in the wrong place; nurses with masters degree in New York make $80,000 and up.I've got lots of friends on both coasts of Canada making fat cash, too. From what I hear we've got a nursing shortage up here; quite a few of the aforementioned friends had cross-country moves paid for.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:46 PM

I've got lots of friends on both coasts of Canada making fat cash, too. From what I hear we've got a nursing shortage up here; quite a few of the aforementioned friends had cross-country moves paid for.

She's gotta be in Nursing Education is all I gotta say. (which puts her in the same boat as every other educator in America.)

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 07:47 PM

I've got lots of friends on both coasts of Canada making fat cash, too. From what I hear we've got a nursing shortage up here; quite a few of the aforementioned friends had cross-country moves paid for.

Same here. Major nursing (RN) shortage. They even have pretty sweet sign on bonuses: $5,000 isn't bad at all.

It's the reason my mom became one. The jobs are there and in abundance.

howyadoin

11-21-2005, 07:49 PM

She's gotta be in Nursing Education is all I gotta say.You'd be wrong if you said that. None of them (I'm talking like 20 different people) are involved in education; they're all RNs as far as I know.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:49 PM

Same here. Major nursing (RN) shortage. They even have pretty sweet sign on bonuses: $5,000 isn't bad at all.

It's the reason my mom became one. The jobs are there and in abundance.

bingo.

I'm getting paid 8,000 bucks just to get the degree (more than pays for it).

Then, starting out, I'll make about 40K. And my kids will get to go to Ole Miss for 1/2 and I'll get state retirement after 20 yrs.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:49 PM

You'd be wrong if you said that. None of them (I'm talking like 20 different people) are involved in education; they're all RNs as far as I know.

no, no, Bret. Bard, not your peeps.

i_mmmchocolate

11-21-2005, 07:52 PM

The one thing I learned from my mom is that nurses earn every penny. The work is tough, but the pay is damn good.

Nate C.

11-21-2005, 07:57 PM

The one thing I learned from my mom is that nurses earn every penny. The work is tough, but the pay is damn good.

I'm very excited about my prospects, both for me and my family.

Siddon

11-21-2005, 08:53 PM

I got my degree in English which means nothing but I am getting my master's in education ofcourse I am paying for my master's which means I better get some teaching money and not start out at 20K like all those BAer's.

Lesson to the voters in America, want better teachers, pay them the medium income of our country (40,000K) when they come in and they will stick with it. I work with 6 teachers at Borders who can't make ends meet and have to sit in front of a register 15 hours a week.

Grant

11-21-2005, 10:08 PM

Don't know. Ask me in 10 years.

nubly

11-21-2005, 10:09 PM

howyadoin

11-21-2005, 10:14 PM

i havent heard of a nursing shortage till a few years back.In Canada, there's been one for 10 or 15 years.

SteelTownr

11-22-2005, 04:58 AM

I mostly use Right Guard.

You still stink.

Mark B.

Lone Ranger

11-22-2005, 05:55 AM

I have 3 degrees and love each one dearly - a B.A. in History and Political Science, a Master's in Public Administration and a law degree.

My work is only directly related to one of those degrees, but the others have helped me to build a solid foundation.

I'll never understand why people want to see a direct connection between their degree and a paycheck - sometimes it's ok just to learn for learning's sake. I love knowing about different aspects of early 20th Century English Literature or the de-colonization of French West Africa. That knowledge does not impact my salary - but helps define who I am as a person.

Granted, I understand that university education in the United States is prohibitively expensive, so you want a decent job after graduated with $80,000 in loans - but just appreciate the fact that you've grown as a person and you have dowloaded lots of cool information to your brain.

Personally, I think more US students should look at coming to Canadian schools. I had a ton of American friends at McGill in Montreal. I don't know what tuition is today for US students, but it was something like $4,500 CAD back in the early 90s.

thehod

11-22-2005, 06:18 AM

why go through the hassle of all that schooling for a paycheck that will barely get you through the day?

For the life experiance my friend.

My uni years were three years of the most fun I've had in my life ever.

Sure it was hard work, I never had any cash, and I dressed like a pillock, but I would go back and relive them in a shot (even the part where I lived in a one-bedroom flat with my ex-fiance for six months).

I came out with a journalist degree, and ended up working for the railways, so, employment wise, my degree ended up counting for squat. Still, I consider them three years well spent.

Sentry

11-22-2005, 06:39 AM

i did my degree in jewellery and silver smithing and im now a jewellery designer although the degree did not help at all, only to get the job in the first place.

i do not regret my degree at all though and if i were to live my life again i would do it again.

Davideaux

11-22-2005, 08:06 AM

You still stink.

Mark B.

Are you going to be cranky all week? Look up, Ben's coming back on Sunday.

K'Nort

11-22-2005, 08:36 AM

When do you graduate with your MLS?

MAY!!!!

Our generation (late boomers, early X-ers and Y-ers) was sold a bad bill of goods.

We were told to follow our hearts/dreams and we would be happy. What we weren't told is that dreams don't usually pay the bills.

Huh? The version I always got was more along the lines of follow hearts/dreams to help compensate for the fact that most of you won't be able to pay the bills regardless. I spent way too much time in various recessions to expect guaranteed prosperity in anything.

Nate C.

11-22-2005, 08:49 AM

Huh? The version I always got was more along the lines of follow hearts/dreams to help compensate for the fact that most of you won't be able to pay the bills regardless. I spent way too much time in various recessions to expect guaranteed prosperity in anything.

I didn't start hearing the ugly truth about the post boomer generation salary realities until the last ten years or so.

By then, I had heard hundreds of "follow your heart" speeches.

For every Kobe, Pollack, and Brittany, there are millions who should have gotten some real life training that pays.

YMMV.

K'Nort

11-22-2005, 08:54 AM

I didn't start hearing the ugly truth about the post boomer generation salary realities until the last ten years or so.

By then, I had heard hundreds of "follow your heart" speeches.

For every Kobe, Pollack, and Brittany, there are millions who should have gotten some real life training that pays.

YMMV.

YOU ARE NOT IN PENNSYLVANIA.

But that could be part of it. I was in a state with a super crappy economy and scads of us had out-of-work parents. They knew to be realistic with the speeches. There was a lot on improving security, but it was still from the angle of preparing for the inevitable. But yeah, a lot of people my age or a few years younger were so shocked by the dot-com crash and I was shocked they hadn't been planning for it all along.

Flying_Postman

11-22-2005, 10:17 AM

Well I am almost finished with mine (April 2006) B.Tech Information Systems majoring in Network Management and it has opened up a range of options for me. And I know I will be happy with it.

SilverSequence

11-22-2005, 10:47 AM

For those teachers out there. I work for the New York City Board of Ed (for the moment anyway) and I can tell you that there is a serious shortage of teachers here in the city. The starting salary ranges from 43-53,000 a year depending on qualifications, so if you're stuck in some crappy school system that doesn't pay anything give it some thought. I know that Memphis, where i grew up, payed teachers something like 23,000 a year. In Memphis you could actually make more working at a supermarket (and many teachers did just that on the side).

Any thoughts on MUP (Masters of Urban Planning)? I'm applying to graduate schools right now and that's what I'm looking at going in to.

Good luck.

Best,
Elliot

i_mmmchocolate

11-22-2005, 03:16 PM

That's funny because I know lots of NYC teachers who want to move to the 'burbs (ie Rockland County) for higher salaries.

Bloopinator

11-22-2005, 03:31 PM

Um...I don't have one...not even studying for one... :D

Sir Tim Drake

11-22-2005, 03:33 PM

I have a BA in comparative literature and art history. If my current career plan (going to graduate school for comparative literature) doesn't work out, I don't know how much this degree will be good for, but the fact that it's from an Ivy League school should hopefully count for something. Also, I got my degree in the subjects I'm passionate about, and I don't think that's regrettable at all.

Puma

11-22-2005, 03:36 PM

K'Nort

11-22-2005, 04:59 PM

woohoo! another one!

Gorman should put us on commission or something.

Puma

11-23-2005, 08:29 AM

Gorman should put us on commission or something.

sometimes I just feel like Darth Vader (paraphrasing of course) "come to the Dark Side -insert name here- it is your destiny!"

i_mmmchocolate

11-23-2005, 08:33 AM

Also, I got my degree in the subjects I'm passionate about, and I don't think that's regrettable at all.

See, I feel the same way. I would feel sad if I couldn't 'use' my degree, but I wouldn't regret it at all. So far I've lucked out and have put my undergraduate degree to some use this summer and even now.

As far as graduate school is concerned, that's all up in the air. I'm evaluating everything before making a committment to any program yet. I have too many interests and passions, and it's tough deciding between them!

Forefinger

11-23-2005, 09:00 AM

I'm close to my BS in Psychology. Now I have to choose what career in that field I'm going to pursue. And I have to figure out if I can continue to work full time while going to school. I at least need a Masters to make any money in that field, but I really need to get a PhD or PsyD to be succsesful, in that field. I wish I was interested in something else, but I have no interest in anything but comics, pro wrasslin', porn, sex, and video games. Oh well, maybe I'll graduate by 40 or so. (I'm 28 now)

Xetal

11-23-2005, 02:28 PM

I took my BA in Spanish, then became a bank manager (degree-level exams for that, too.)

No regrets at all: I spent 13 years in or responsible for Central America and saw a whole lot of the rest of the world I'd never have seen without the degree.

The fact that being able to work as comfortably in Spanish as English used only a tiny bit of what the degree was about is quite beside the point.....

phoenixrising

11-23-2005, 05:36 PM

I certainly wouldn't be where I am without both of my degrees. If I hadn't gotten my Masters (in online media management), I'd probably be working for my hometown newspaper right now instead of a metro. I leapfrogged my friends who had been in the workforce a few years as soon as I graduated.

Andy S.

11-23-2005, 07:23 PM

im excited about being a nurse too. but im afraid of the field getting too flooded. i havent heard of a nursing shortage till a few years back. now, its hard to get into some classes because a lot of people are in them, trying to be a nurse. just like when computers jobs were popular. everyone wanted one. now they arent as great as they used to be. i hope this wont be the case for nursing

I really don't think you have anything to worry about in that respect. For one thing, unlike the computer jobs, nursing jobs can't be outsourced to Asia. For anther thing, nursing jobs will always be needed. It's a fairly high turnover field, and some people do get burned out with it and that's why they advance and become practitioners, doctors, etc. Its a good career choice as long as you find a good hospital to work in, and can manage to stay with it.

Xetal

11-24-2005, 02:03 PM

I really don't think you have anything to worry about in that respect. For one thing, unlike the computer jobs, nursing jobs can't be outsourced to Asia. For anther thing, nursing jobs will always be needed. It's a fairly high turnover field, and some people do get burned out with it and that's why they advance and become practitioners, doctors, etc. Its a good career choice as long as you find a good hospital to work in, and can manage to stay with it.

No outsourcing, they bring the nurses over instead. England's NHS hospital system would be in big trouble without foreign nurses....

Gilda Dent

11-24-2005, 02:22 PM

No outsourcing, they bring the nurses over instead. England's NHS hospital system would be in big trouble without foreign nurses....

As would many American hospitals if it weren't for the importation of Filipino nurses.

I'm finishing up my PhD. In terms of financial gain, it's going to cost more than the increase in income it will produce, but it does open up more choices as far as teaching at the college level is concerned. The ironic part is that I'll most likely be taking a pretty decent pay cut to switch over from public school teaching to an entry-level position at a state university, and might never catch back up to the same salary I'd have had in public school. The main difference would be that I'd be giving up, at this point, eight years of experience pay.

Still, as the second income in the family, it's less of a concern.

Gilda