Recent college grad. Having a hell of a time finding a job.

Yes!

#1. Goal

#2. Strategy

Get an MBA.

Or, get a trade.

Plumbers, electricians and carpenters are rarely out of work, and chicks love them

Or, go to law school.

Either way, a BS is worthless since the 1990's.

A MS or MBA of toaday is equal to a BS of 1980

Pretty sure it is substantially higher than that...

Pottery? What?

Not even close. I am nearing the completion of my PhD. If I want to stay in research, I have to take a job for about 5 years as a post-doctoral fellow. I will start at $40k and if I'm lucky, I will be up to $60k by the time I'm done. Then, 5 years out of my PhD, if I stay in academic research, I will be lucky to make $100k. Beyond that, I will continually have to fight to keep my job by applying for grants which are virtually impossible to get for young researchers. PhD is a far worse payoff than other common doctorates (MD, JD, DPT, etc).

Very few people end up getting PhDs, so this is certainly not the goal of academics.

Any sort of PhD that "gets the work done" as you mentioned (ie, stuff in science, math, engineering, etc) gives aid to everyone in the program (tuition plus a salary). This is standard everywhere in the US.

Not even close to true.

Getting graduate teaching fellowships? This is unbelievably easy to get.

That and, you know, we have the ability to conduct high level scientific research, which takes more training than you would think.

Don't be mad at the academic community because you did horribly in undergrad, barely graduated, couldn't get into a PhD program like you wanted, and then got a job as a janitor.

B of Sci wrote:

I graduated in May and got a good summer job, but it ended in September. Since then I have been looking for work. Nearly every job I've come across within my field (a science) requires either an advanced degree (MS or PhD) or several years of experience. I have neither. After over a month of looking, I'm thinking I might just try to get a job at subway or something and go back to school asap. This sucks.

...and yet you young people keep voting for Obama. Eventually you will figure it out

Believe it or not, I'm familiar with the system. B.S also generally requires more lab work. The lab work combined with the math is what seperates it from a B.A. Those things are important in the sciences.There are certainly people with a B.A. who had a heavier courseload than those with a B.S. but in general, people serious about science choose the B.S. option. B.As are more for professions such as teaching where the concepts are more important than the practice.It all depends on the program, but most sciences are going to require at least calc I. Even if it is just college level algebra, that's important in science.

Gradulations wrote:

How likely is it that I'll get a paid position as an MS student in mechanical engineering? Is there anything I need to be doing in the application process to increase my chances?

I've got about 2 years of work experience, but no research.

Advice is to get research experience. Are you planning on staying at your same school? If so, start talking to professors about it now. If not, try to form contacts with professors who are research advisors at other schools. You really only get a paid position if you're a research assistant or a teaching assistant, so experience in one of those areas is important.

Raptured wrote:

Don't be mad at the academic community because you did horribly in undergrad, barely graduated, couldn't get into a PhD program like you wanted, and then got a job as a janitor.

I have a law degree and currently work as a janitor because I choose to. It's honest work. Probably much more so than what I would be doing as an attorney.

No Way wrote:

Believe it or not, I'm familiar with the system. B.S also generally requires more lab work. The lab work combined with the math is what seperates it from a B.A. Those things are important in the sciences.

There are certainly people with a B.A. who had a heavier courseload than those with a B.S. but in general, people serious about science choose the B.S. option. B.As are more for professions such as teaching where the concepts are more important than the practice.

It all depends on the program, but most sciences are going to require at least calc I. Even if it is just college level algebra, that's important in science.

This is true. I got a BS in one science and a BA in another (was double-majoring but decided I really hated the second and opted out for a BA), and the BA required a lot less rigorous classes. I took easier versions of a few classes and skipped several lab classes. Plus I only had to take Calc II where the BS required Calc III.

Schools are different, but in general, yes, a BS requires more work, usually in the form of more labs and more math. Spot on.

Boy did you take a long time to write a bunch of snobbish bullshit, with no evidence supporting any of it.

Raptured wrote:a bunch of snobbish bullshit

THe Jews and Japs are taking all of our tax money for the Chosen People of Israel and Emperor of the Short Slanty Eyed.

Bad Wigins wrote:

Boy did you take a long time to write a bunch of snobbish bullshit, with no evidence supporting any of it.

Raptured wrote:a bunch of snobbish bullshit

Snobbish? No, I just pointed out that literally everything you said is ridiculous, right from the start when you claimed that pottery is a good "professional" major to enroll in. Did you even go to college? Literally everything I said is a well known fact.

But you're right. Calling me snobbish is a better rebuttal than attempting to argue with me.

Get Real wrote:

Exactly. Surviving (and that means paycheck to p-check), and that's about all you'll do in SF on $70K. Sunset District - that's about one step up from the Tenderloin District. No thanks.

Something is obviously off in your perspective. The following blog was written by a guy who lived in SF, made around $40k per year, figured out a way to save more than 80%+ of his pay each year, and retire in 5 years.

That is certainly better than the "paycheck to paycheck" you claim is guaranteed. That is thinking outside of whatever box you seem to be trapped in.

No Way wrote:

Believe it or not, I'm familiar with the system. B.S also generally requires more lab work.

That depends on the school. Many schools require nothing more than a year of college-level math. So all the "BS" part really tells anyone is the least common denonimator, which is that you passed algebra. That ain't much.

If you finish a science major, calling it a BS is redundant. If you learned a language in the process, you might as well show breadth of education by calling it a BA.

Math majors exceed BA language requirements, so they're either BS or BA, take your pick.

$700 a month for rent for your own place in Oakland?

In East Oakland maybe! Buy a good bulletproof vest!

A 1BR in Uptown, Temescal, Rockridge, Piedmont, i.e. any good part of Oakland is MIN $1k/month.

23 year old dude wrote:

Get Real wrote:

$70K in SF won't buy you a pot to piss in. That's about the equivalent of $20K in Omaha. You can't even survive on that.

You're wrong. Rent is 1k, 700 if you live in Oakland. Bars are cheap and so is food. It's a myth that life in sf is expensive. Rent is costly, yes, but you can commute and pay 700 bucks, which is normal or pay 1k which still isn't bad.

more than you think wrote:

Get Real wrote:

Exactly. Surviving (and that means paycheck to p-check), and that's about all you'll do in SF on $70K. Sunset District - that's about one step up from the Tenderloin District. No thanks.

Something is obviously off in your perspective. The following blog was written by a guy who lived in SF, made around $40k per year, figured out a way to save more than 80%+ of his pay each year, and retire in 5 years.

That is certainly better than the "paycheck to paycheck" you claim is guaranteed. That is thinking outside of whatever box you seem to be trapped in.

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/about

Utter ridiculousness. Only way that's going to happen is if you're living with mommie/daddie or in a homeless shelter. Don't believe me, find ten people in SF that are grossing $40K and find out how they are living. I'll guarantee you they are not saving money unless their rent/mortgage is completely paid for by someone else.

Lets Be Honest wrote:

Utter ridiculousness. Only way that's going to happen is if you're living with mommie/daddie or in a homeless shelter. Don't believe me, find ten people in SF that are grossing $40K and find out how they are living. I'll guarantee you they are not saving money unless their rent/mortgage is completely paid for by someone else.

You're wrong. For god's sake, the guy blogged all about it, and you can't read enough of it to learn how before you say it's impossible. You are the ridiculous one.

I don't have to find ten people. I already found one. Just because the average person isn't doing something doesn't mean it can't be done.

Again, your guarantee is worthless. You've already been proven wrong.

Carry on. I know you will.

Join Obama's militants and murder white people in the Middle East !!!!