What degree field does ARFCOM suggest? I'm going back to college. - Page 2

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - What degree field does ARFCOM suggest? I'm going back to college. (Page 2 of 2)

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:14:36 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
No matter what you get your not going to be able to get a job right out of the gates anymore.

I have two friends that graduated in 10' from KU, one is a petroleum engineer (top 5% of his class) and the other is electrical, they both work at home depot.

A lot of companies don't have R&D money right now and the engineer pool is getting pretty deep.

Sad times...

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:23:08 PM EDT

[#2]

Quantitative economics.... aka Econometrics. Pays very, very well.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:32:05 PM EDT

[#3]

Petroleum engineering will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:32:15 PM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Quantitative economics.... aka Econometrics. Pays very, very well.

Scary, scary, scary.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:32:27 PM EDT

[#5]

Double tap

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:33:46 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:

IT management, computer sciences, or petroleum engineering.

Assuming equal aptitude and interest in all three, I'd go with the two in green.

ETA: Also consider where you want to live and look at the job market there. No sense getting a degree in underwater basket weaving and then moving to the Kalahari desert.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:36:04 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:

Quoted:

IT management, computer sciences, or petroleum engineering.

Assuming equal aptitude and interest in all three, I'd go with the two in green.

I'm colorblind, had to quote in order to see which were green, haha.

The only thing about CS is the amount of math... I'm sure I can do it. (Calculus wasn't very difficult for me in high school)
I just don't like it.

Petroleum engineering is definitely worth looking into. I am unsure of the employment opportunities available in the field.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:36:41 PM EDT

[#8]

We need people with hard science degrees. Physicists, mathematicians.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:36:57 PM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Medical, become a Murse

Not so much anymore....at least where I'm at. If you have a good gig as a Focker here don't leave it. You won't find something better.

It ain't how it used to be.

EDIT: I should have kept reading.....hammer/nail.

Quoted:
Sure, if you have 5-30 years experience. If you're just out of school, sucks to be you. In a lot of markets, it's very, very hard for new grads to get jobs. It isn't the 2004 heydays anymore.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:39:21 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

Quoted:

IT management, computer sciences, or petroleum engineering.

Assuming equal aptitude and interest in all three, I'd go with the two in green.

I'm colorblind, had to quote in order to see which were green, haha.

The only thing about CS is the amount of math... I'm sure I can do it. (Calculus wasn't very difficult for me in high school)
I just don't like it.

Petroleum engineering is definitely worth looking into. I am unsure of the employment opportunities available in the field.

In that case, no EOD for you.

My wife hated the math, but pushed through and got her degree. The coding she does now doesn't involve any math and she considers it a waste. But she loves coding and has a great job, so it was worth it in the end. Keep your grades up and try to score a co-op early if you can. Some will help pay for school, send you straight to a Master's, or line you up with a good job when you graduate.

Best of luck.

ETA: Didn't mean to be unclear–– wife works in software engineering with a CS degree.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:53:31 PM EDT

[#11]

Definitely black studies.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:55:14 PM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Medical, become a Murse

This you can work anywhere

If only I was the nurturing type... I wouldn't do well with changing bed pans and getting pissed on.

I'm not the nurturing type. I hate when people whine to me and can't stand fat people who claim to be helpless. I've been a nurse for > 15 years. How? It's a job. Go there, do what is expected, go home and cash the check. You do not have to be defined by your job.

Posted: 3/12/2011 3:55:17 PM EDT

[#13]

Chemical engineering or BioTech.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:01:44 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Medical, become a Murse

This you can work anywhere

If only I was the nurturing type... I wouldn't do well with changing bed pans and getting pissed on.

I'm not the nurturing type. I hate when people whine to me and can't stand fat people who claim to be helpless. I've been a nurse for > 15 years. How? It's a job. Go there, do what is expected, go home and cash the check. You do not have to be defined by your job.

But it would be nice to be challenged and maybe even enjoy your job.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:02:47 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:
The engineering fields are good choices. Might check out alternative fuel engineering. It seems like it is a growing field.

What the fuck is alternative fuel engineering? Sounds like electrical blended with chemical and a dash of mechanical.

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Not sure exactly. My cousin was into it and ended up getting a large grant and a straight-to-phD program right out of college. Not sure if it was its own degree in undergrad or not. I know there is a lot of research and funding going into bio-fuels. Sat through an interesting seminar on manufacturing bio-diesel from algae. Eastern Kentucky has a new program dedicated to it.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:03:35 PM EDT

[#16]

Bureaucratic studies, with a minor in socialism.

It's the future.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:04:27 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Bureaucratic studies, with a minor in socialism.

It's the future.

I lol'd. Thanks.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:06:09 PM EDT

[#18]

Not Construction Management.

Unless you want to work endless hours, weekends, travel all the time, and have no life outside of work. All that fun for what averages out to about $15 - $20 an hour for most jobs.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:06:58 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Not Construction Management.

Unless you want to work endless hours, weekends, travel all the time, and have no life outside of work. All that fun for what averages out to about $15 - $20 an hour for most jobs.

And that's if you can find a job.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:07:28 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
So I am finally to the point in my life where I can afford to go to college.

What should I major in? I was thinking IT management, computer sciences, or petroleum engineering.

Does ARFCOM have an opinion on these fields?

Does ARFCOM have any other suggestions?

petroleum engineering/chemical engineering - 22 y/o kids fresh out of college make $60-80k. Plus bonuses.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:10:49 PM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Medical, become a Murse

This you can work anywhere

If only I was the nurturing type... I wouldn't do well with changing bed pans and getting pissed on.

I'm not the nurturing type. I hate when people whine to me and can't stand fat people who claim to be helpless. I've been a nurse for > 15 years. How? It's a job. Go there, do what is expected, go home and cash the check. You do not have to be defined by your job.

But it would be nice to be challenged and maybe even enjoy your job.

Nursing is challenging.

As far as enjoying the job, not all of nursing is about nurturing. I work in ICU and try to get the intubated, sedated, and paralyzed patients.

Failing that, I put having a good income and great flexibility above having a hard-on for my job.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:11:10 PM EDT

[#22]

With the push for independence from foreign oil, petroleum engineering might be a good bet to hedge. Worst comes to worst, work elsewhere in the world.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:12:12 PM EDT

[#23]

explosives engineering

thread over-

If your school doesn't have it you're at the wrong school.

I'm in nursing, there are 350 some types of nursing, everything from bed pans to law offices, got into it off an ambulance and may head back to a helicopter. I know I'm happy with it.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:13:04 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:
A Major in Women's Studies with a Minor in African-American History.

You'll be either flipping burgers or running for office, in no time!

Or organizing communities.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:16:46 PM EDT

[#25]

Until the recent recession, Education and Health Care were always hiring.

Now, I think a trade, plumbing, electrical, auto mechanics, might be the way to go.

TRG

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:20:03 PM EDT

[#26]

Computer science. My wife and I are approaching that 250k range in small town Tennessee.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:22:17 PM EDT

[#27]

I thought an IT degree would be good to go, but the decent jobs all stress a minimum of 5 years of full time work experience.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:32:06 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Until the recent recession, Education and Health Care were always hiring.

Now, I think a trade, plumbing, electrical, auto mechanics, might be the way to go.

TRG

One of my biggest regrets is that I never went to school to learn a trade. It's far from too late, but I wish I did that first instead of what I'm doing now.

I work in health care now, and it sucks. In fact, if you asked me to describe the absolute worst job I could ever imagine, I would say it's nursing. Every time I think about how bad my job sucks root, I always think, at least I'm not a nurse. The amount of bullshit most of them get from patients, asshole family, and asshole doctors astounds me more and more. The documentation they have to do is mind boggling, both in length and complexity. Every other day, it's new rules and regs.

Then there's the whole death, destruction, chaos, filth, and greed thing you see all day every day. I never had even the slightest clue how much pain and agony there was in the world, and how unfairly it's distributed until I worked in a hospital. Decent people die all the time, and shitbirds go on to do it again. Fucking sucks. My perception of the world has been radically altered, and not for the better. The only positive is that I've come to appreciate how lucky I've been in regards to having good health and a strong body. I'll never take that fact for advantage, because I've seen how quickly, and badly it can go downhill.

Do I make decent money, yes. In the work environment nice, sure. Is it for me, absolutely not. My advice, if you want to be a nurse, be a nurse because you want to be a nurse, not because you think you can make good money at it. This business is filled to the brim with assholes, like me, who just got into it looking for an easy score. If that you, you're gonna burn out fast, and be miserable. Ask me how I know.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:33:34 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:

IT management, computer sciences, or petroleum engineering.

Assuming equal aptitude and interest in all three, I'd go with the two in green.

I'm colorblind, had to quote in order to see which were green, haha.

The only thing about CS is the amount of math... I'm sure I can do it. (Calculus wasn't very difficult for me in high school)

I just don't like it.

Petroleum engineering is definitely worth looking into. I am unsure of the employment opportunities available in the field.

If you got through AP calculus, you are GTG. The math isn't excessive and you can handle it. FWIW, the concepts and problem-solving skills in computer science are VERY similar to being able to break down a word problem in math into manageable pieces to solve. If you can do it, you can do it. And if you consider calculus "not difficult," you can do it.

Posted: 3/12/2011 4:49:08 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:
Health and Safety / Industrial Hygiene

Why?

Posted: 3/12/2011 5:16:10 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
You can't lose with engineering but I'm not sure petroleum would be a good career choice. I wish I would have done mechanical engineering... if nothing else you can build cool stuff. I got an MBA and i just sit at a desk.

If you makes you feel any better, look at it this way. An ME designs a model airplane (Mechanical Design), a skilled laborer assembles it (Manufacturing/Assembly), and then an EE gets to fly it (Controls/Software Design).

As an EE, I spend my days on the shop floor playing with the machines the MEs design. I get to drive, they have to ask me to make their machine do what they want.

So, you should really wish you were an EE if you don't like sitting at a desk all day.

Buddy of mine got an EE. He always liked signals. Now he works for northrup doing cool stuff he can't talk about.

There's alot of interesting stuff around. Just take a course or two and see what you like.

Posted: 3/13/2011 6:18:50 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Medical, become a Murse

This you can work anywhere

If only I was the nurturing type... I wouldn't do well with changing bed pans and getting pissed on.

There are other types of nurses...

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Most registered nurses will likely never touch a bed pan.

Although, you might have to grab a penis and shove a catheter in it. I saw this at the local ER during my EMT "ride along" (mostly spent in the ER). Not a pleasant spectacle.

Posted: 3/14/2011 9:33:13 PM EDT

[#33]

I have decided on management information technology. This may change but that's what I'm focusing on right now.

It seems like a good field and it will hopefully open up several career oppurtunities.

Wish me luck

Posted: 3/14/2011 10:03:06 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:

Quoted:
No matter what you get your not going to be able to get a job right out of the gates anymore.

I have two friends that graduated in 10' from KU, one is a petroleum engineer (top 5% of his class) and the other is electrical, they both work at home depot.

A lot of companies don't have R&D money right now and the engineer pool is getting pretty deep.

Sad times...

Not my experience. Here, most ME's that wanted employment have landed jobs 3 to 6 months before graduation.