Article: The Highest (and Lowest) Paying Majors

[Deleted]

Woo physical sciences! I'm obviously not in it for the money, though.

[mrssandro]

My husband is #2 on the list. I find it funny because I think someone said that Software developers don't do well in the economy. The good ones do!

[Deleted]

Interesting list. I assumed the business majors would be #1 solely b/c of the investment banking folks. I guess the portion of business majors who end up in that part of the industry are relatively small.

[jene]

Yeah for Biological Sciences and Ag!

[aspentosh]

Woo woo biological sciences.

[Deleted]

Good points RnV. I definitely screwed up the stats too. lol. Now I want to know what grad degrees are highest/lower paying.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Oct 12, 2012 10:09:10 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oct 12, 2012 9:58:46 GMT -5 @choco said:

Interesting list. I assumed the business majors would be #1 solely b/c of the investment banking folks. I guess the portion of business majors who end up in that part of the industry are relatively small.

The bankers I know came from all kinds of different majors (look at me, LOL). Plus I find that these kinds of studies only look at the most common types of jobs/titles--people in finance like investment bankers and PE/hedge fund professionals are never on the list. They're probably too big a statistical outlier!

Agree. I also think that something that choco said in the related thread from yesterday is relevant: Most people who end up at banks and funds went to the top schools where the networks are so strong that you can major in whatever you wanted. A large percentage of hockey and football players at some of the Ivies, for instance, go to banks and funds because of the sports networks, and I assure you they were not majoring in challenging disciplines.

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2012 10:37:05 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

Oct 12, 2012 10:09:10 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

The bankers I know came from all kinds of different majors (look at me, LOL). Plus I find that these kinds of studies only look at the most common types of jobs/titles--people in finance like investment bankers and PE/hedge fund professionals are never on the list. They're probably too big a statistical outlier!

Agree. I also think that something that choco said in the related thread from yesterday is relevant: Most people who end up at banks and funds went to the top schools where the networks are so strong that you can major in whatever you wanted. A large percentage of hockey and football players at some of the Ivies, for instance, go to banks and funds because of the sports networks, and I assure you they were not majoring in challenging disciplines.

Well also, for every business major who ends up in a lucrative IB/PE/HF position, there are probably 10 who at best will languish in middle management for their high points of their careers. There are a lot of schools putting out a lot of business majors.

Also, don't a lot of elite schools not have true business majors anyway?

My cousin wrestled at an Ivy in college and he ended up at the "wrestling bank" -- the bank where the wrestlers at his school tended to end up. I always thought that was kind of funny. (In his defense, my cousin is very smart and did major in a challenging discipline).

[h]

Oct 12, 2012 10:47:05 GMT -5 v said:

Oct 12, 2012 10:37:05 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

Agree. I also think that something that choco said in the related thread from yesterday is relevant: Most people who end up at banks and funds went to the top schools where the networks are so strong that you can major in whatever you wanted. A large percentage of hockey and football players at some of the Ivies, for instance, go to banks and funds because of the sports networks, and I assure you they were not majoring in challenging disciplines.

Well also, for every business major who ends up in a lucrative IB/PE/HF position, there are probably 10 who at best will languish in middle management for their high points of their careers. There are a lot of schools putting out a lot of business majors.

Also, don't a lot of elite schools not have true business majors anyway?

My cousin wrestled at an Ivy in college and he ended up at the "wrestling bank" -- the bank where the wrestlers at his school tended to end up. I always thought that was kind of funny. (In his defense, my cousin is very smart and did major in a challenging discipline).

My school didn't have a business major. I had quite a few friends from college who became investment bankers--pretty much everyone I knew who didn't go straight to law or med school either went into investment banking or management consulting. The investment banking people had totally random majors--art history, English, whatever.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Oct 12, 2012 10:51:57 GMT -5 h said:

Oct 12, 2012 10:47:05 GMT -5 v said:

Well also, for every business major who ends up in a lucrative IB/PE/HF position, there are probably 10 who at best will languish in middle management for their high points of their careers. There are a lot of schools putting out a lot of business majors.

Also, don't a lot of elite schools not have true business majors anyway?

My cousin wrestled at an Ivy in college and he ended up at the "wrestling bank" -- the bank where the wrestlers at his school tended to end up. I always thought that was kind of funny. (In his defense, my cousin is very smart and did major in a challenging discipline).

My school didn't have a business major. I had quite a few friends from college who became investment bankers--pretty much everyone I knew who didn't go straight to law or med school either went into investment banking or management consulting. The investment banking people had totally random majors--art history, English, whatever.

I don't think mine had one either but couldn't swear to that given that I never took a single business-related class while I was there! But from what I gather from my friends who work in this industry, unless a class teaches you modeling and how to make spreadsheets look perfect and uniform, the classes aren't that relevant for your day-to-day life anyhow.

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2012 11:25:02 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I've never heard of the "wrestling bank." Which one is that?

Back then it was SSB. And yeah, it wasn't that you'd instantly be hired by any means, but there was apparently a very strong network of wrestlers from my cousin's school there.

[protozoa]

Hooray Math! :drink:

[ijack]

I am the most underpaid engineer ever

[anna7602]

I haven't clicked on the full article, so maybe this is already there. But I'd be interested in seeing some kind of correlation between stress/hours worked and salary/major correlation. Kind of like price per square foot in real estate. Some majors lead to jobs that give you better work/life balance. It's not just all about making the most money.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Oct 12, 2012 11:25:02 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I've never heard of the "wrestling bank." Which one is that? There were certainly a large number of Princeton football players in my banking class but I was pretty involved in recruiting and I'd say that while participation in certain activities or clubs at elite schools would get you an interview, you still had to pass muster with the overall group or you wouldn't get hired.

foodie, are/were you in the industry?

I'm not but DH and several close friends are.

[cjeanette]

Coming into to represent social science.

[childofhiphop]

Yeah Engineering!

[Deleted]

Oct 12, 2012 11:57:25 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

I haven't clicked on the full article, so maybe this is already there. But I'd be interested in seeing some kind of correlation between stress/hours worked and salary/major correlation. Kind of like price per square foot in real estate. Some majors lead to jobs that give you better work/life balance. It's not just all about making the most money.

This is what I keep telling myself about my ¢¢ job. Then I get home at 10 pm with two hours of grading yet to do. Woe is me. :-(

[Deleted]

#8! Woo! This made my morning.

[mollz007]

Well my bachelors is 11 and my masters is 13. Obviously I never plan to be rich

[mollz007]

Oct 12, 2012 11:57:25 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

I haven't clicked on the full article, so maybe this is already there. But I'd be interested in seeing some kind of correlation between stress/hours worked and salary/major correlation. Kind of like price per square foot in real estate. Some majors lead to jobs that give you better work/life balance. It's not just all about making the most money.

Good point.

[fortmyersbride]

Weird that they say "physicians and surgeons" since surgeons are a type of physician.

As to the bang for your buck: my profession is high earning, but also long hrs and high incidence of substance abuse and related death. Go us!