What are some careers in science that make ALOT of money?

Unfortunately as a scientist you may have to accept making a $100,000 salary/year doing what you like to do. I know. Its a nightmare. I don't know what this country is coming to.

Mathscience wrote:

So I'm really really good at science, I got a perfect score on the science ACT section and a 5 on the AP physics and AP bio exam. I also happen to love it. What are some careers in science, other than inventing something or starting a company, that make alot of money? I'm going to college next fall and I'm trying to start thinking about a major. Thanks.

you guys are dicks. so what if he spelled something wrong? He likes science. not english.

Meth cook, of course.

Geology.

Law school, med school, and dental school all require an undergraduate degree. Science would be a good choice for any of them, but especially med or dental.

wrong_approach wrote:

afksdf wrote:

1. don't go to school for science.

2. go to school for software engineering or compsci

3. ????????

4. profit

1 is good advice. 2 is bad. Those jobs are outsourced these days and totally saturated. 1980s was the peak for those jobs. Today they max out fast too unless you go into management.

You want something professional and not outsourceable.

Law school--patent lawyer

Med school- Anaesthesiologist

Dentistry.

The best is dentistry by far for the amount of work you put in to make it and the flexibility (work your own hours) when you are done.

AP ACT SAT is rote memorization and isn't freshman level STEM in the least. For example, Chelsea Clinton did well on standardized tests but couldn't handle college STEM. So don't be surprised. Most people can't do college STEM.

PAGING WALTER WHITE

(you guys are slow today...)

biotech

Good format!

afksdf wrote:

1. don't go to school for science.

2. go to school for software engineering or compsci

3. ????????

4. profit

Mathscience wrote:

So I'm really really good at science, I got a perfect score on the science ACT section and a 5 on the AP physics and AP bio exam. I also happen to love it. What are some careers in science, other than inventing something or starting a company, that make alot of money? I'm going to college next fall and I'm trying to start thinking about a major. Thanks.

What is a lot? 50,000? 100,000? 1 million? 10 million?

Engineering starts out very well for a bachelors degree, but it is a hard major. And they max out at 100,000 unless they get into management.

Medicine normally ranges from 180,000-250,000 for the "normal specialties" but you have 11-15 years of post HS work accruing negative net worth.

PhD? Long road also, usually they are funded but they aren't making "big bucks." Look at the publicly available salary figures of professors at any public university.

To get paid BIG bucks you really need to get into business.

Ho Hum wrote:

Of course scientists and engineers can make money. A lot of engineers are CEOs of huge companies, either because they worked their way up or they started their own business. And honestly the hours aren't bad compared to other good-paying professions. You think doctors have it easy? Lawyers? Dentistry isn't gravy either, it's about 50-60 hours a week and super stressful if you have your own practice $1 MM sunk into it. I don't know of any job that you can make >250k at without a lot of hours.

And the guy who said not to major in CS should take a look at the employment stats for that major.

If you want to make a lot of money as a pure science major working in science, you'll need a PhD in something like chem or biochem.

No. The average general dentist works about 32 hours a week. Look at the official stats at the ADA. I have. I've also talked to a LOT of dentists and worked in the field for a bit.

Mathscience wrote:

Thanks for the responses. The more I think about it, the more I realize that finance might be the way to go. I like math, and I'm pretty good at it, just not as good as I am at science. I'm actually going to Georgetown next year. I was accepted into the college, but I am thinking that the smart move might be to transfer to the school of foreign service, and major in international economics, and then get my MBA. For all of you who didn't know, the school of foreign service (sfs) is by far the strongest school at georgetown, so if I an get my degree from there with pretty good grades, I should be able to get into Wharton or Harvard or something. Thoughts? What careers would a degree in international economics lead to and how lucrative are they?

TBH, grad school is way more selective. You will need work experience (no bs like red lobster) as well. I don't think you should go for your MBA though. Do what you enjoy. If you like the sciences, do med, pharmacy, dentistry. Something that you will honestly enjoy learning.

But, Financial Engineering is probably one of the best careers out if you want "ALOT" of money.

Midlevels are just too dumb for some medical specialties. They tried "hospitalist" mid levels, they couldn't do it because they were too dumb. They were too dumb for complex inpatient medicine. I would say that any procedural specialty where you don't have to understand the medicine behind the procedure (anes) is under thread from midlevel encroachment.

Mathscience wrote:

Thanks for the responses. The more I think about it, the more I realize that finance might be the way to go. I like math, and I'm pretty good at it, just not as good as I am at science. I'm actually going to Georgetown next year. I was accepted into the college, but I am thinking that the smart move might be to transfer to the school of foreign service, and major in international economics, and then get my MBA. For all of you who didn't know, the school of foreign service (sfs) is by far the strongest school at georgetown, so if I an get my degree from there with pretty good grades, I should be able to get into Wharton or Harvard or something. Thoughts? What careers would a degree in international economics lead to and how lucrative are they?

No no no no no no. Please do not go with finance as your undergrad. You will end up writing reports on the profitability of lines of jeans for Aeropostale and hate your life.

Study engineering for your undergrad. THEN after you've worked the field for 2-3 years, go back for your MBA and you can play with finance. You have no idea how precious an MBA with a technical background is. Especially an engineering background.

I did the reverse. Finance first, then realized my mistake and went back for engineering. You wouldn't believe the way employers' eyes used to light up when they realized I know science AND business. But doing it the way I just laid out is the right way.

I've read that oil engineers make the most money per actual hour worked of all professions. Unfortunately, I don't remember the source. Engineering is great if you want to have a comfortable lifestyle working 40 hours most weeks with a couple of weeks working more, but the problem is that unless you start your own business you generally cap out at 120k-200k depending on the type of engineering (but that is very good money in most areas of the country). That is engineering is probably the best bet if you don't want to base your life around your career.

If you want to make big money, prepare to be working all the time. And become very, very good at what you do. You can do this with many careers without starting your own company. It is a matter of getting your foot in the door and working very, very smart and hard. Anyways, I would recommend the following blog for more information. They do have a wall street slant:

http://wallstreetplayboys.com/guidelines-for-choosing-a-career/

the MF chronic wrote:

But, Financial Engineering is probably one of the best careers out if you want "ALOT" of money.

I have a MFE and have never had the chance to elaborate to Letsrun before/give advice specific to my line of work so I'll take that opportunity here. If anyone has questions feel free to ask.

I worked at 2 smallish Hedge Funds for a total of 10 years, first as an analyst grunt eventually working my way up to portfolio manager. At my "peak" I made over 500k gross. As of now I teach and coach after almost literally killing myself with stress.

Many think that Finance is for New England rich kids born with a daddy at Goldman Sachs but in reality anyone can work their way into it if they work hard enough, and Finance loves quant/math/CS guys in general.

I was a comp sci major at a pretty good undergrad public school, but money being my primary motivator as a young buck I soon discovered that Finance is where the big money is at. 99% of people wouldn't work in Finance if it wasn't for the pay. Who else would want to sit at a desk for 90+ hours a week? Don't kid yourself, you are going to work your tail off only to get a job where you will have to work your tail off even more for at least the next 20 years if you really want to become rich. Don't walk into it thinking you will instantly become the next "Wolf of Wall Street"...you make good money, but the cost of living is pretty ridiculous in big cities so salaries are therefore inflated.

Elite finance in general (HF/PE/IB) is obviously competitive, but Investment Banking (which most people go into first as the primary route into HF/PE) can be pretty tough to break into.... where 90% of landing the job/internship out of undergrad is about networking and pedigree/grade inflation.

However, if you do find a job somewhere in Finance even if its not at Goldman Sachs right out of undergrad...you can get some respectable work experience under your belt. On your own time starting as soon as possible you should do the following things if you want to go the Financial Engineering route

1. Familiarize yourself with the markets (become a financial news junkie, this means reading the WSJ everyday and keeping yourself updated with all the major happenings. I like dealbook.nytimes.com

2. Master the concepts of Financial Modeling, theres a ton of guides out there for this. Work your way up to the more advanced stuff.

3. Dig into interview prep materials. As a math/programming nerd theres a good chance you aren't yet up to par soft-skills-wise with the alpha-male maniacs in $5000 suits fresh out of Wharton MBA. I definitely wasn't.

4. Learn everything you can about Finance (Investment Banking, sales and trading, Private Equity, and Hedge Funds in that order) Learn all the lingo, terminology, hierarchical structure, common career paths etc...

5. Learn advanced concepts of game theory, economics and statistics.... continuously brushing up on your programming/math skills as applied to real world situations in Finance/the markets that you'll hopefully soon be working on. If you have the money play around in the market a bit, although I don't recommend doing this if you're a true beginner.

6. Get a masters in financial engineering from a reputable school. Undergrad GPA/extracurriculars to go with a great GMAT/GRE is a must here.

7. network, build a good resume with some community service/volunteer work and send it out to every firm you can think of. attend networking/career development events hosted by your school

Now the bright young minds of Letsrun have a clear path to making 250k+ and running sub-14 5ks like us wealthy old-timers with numerous Ivy League degrees.

noNOnoNO3 wrote:

No. The average general dentist works about 32 hours a week. Look at the official stats at the ADA. I have. I've also talked to a LOT of dentists and worked in the field for a bit.

Yes, yes, look at the official stats because they're believable. Also, the average radiologist and orthopedist make $350,000 a year. LOL

Point: nobody has any incentive to provide or distribute reliable information about how much high-earning professionals work or how much they take home.

Geneticists can make up to $159,000 to $210,000 a year. A geneticist is a scientist whom studies genetics.

idiots all around wrote:

This is idiotic. With one parent as a dentist and one as an electrical engineer I can say this is bullshit. My mom is an engineer and her STARTING salary was 125k a year with not to much debt.

This is all gone in 2015. Did "the bank of mom and dad" put your Mom through school? You can't work to pay for school any more either.

A starting salary of 125k isn't much in a major metropolitan market.

OP has to find a very valuable niche that is 25 years out to being industrialized.

All the money is in management.