Finance V Law V Medicine V Other

I have never considered law or medicine, neither are interesting to me. With the job market the way it is I sometimes wonder whether school was worth it. I certainly wouldn't have had the motivation to study back during school.

If this economy/country gets any worse I'm gonna call it quits on "corporate" life and open up a bar on an island in the South Pacific. Maybe I should just make the move anyway...

I have a passion for the world of business, especially finance. I do not have any regrets and would do it all over again. Law is boring and Medicine is too much studying.

Life is too short to waste time doing something you don't have a passion for. I sure hope the majority of people here are in their current job/studying business because they have a genuine interest in it, not because of the money or prestige (those are nice side benefits). Most of the posters here will probably have passion for the field. If they didn't, I don't think they would spend time on forums like this one.

As far as medicine goes, my girlfriend is a med student right now. While she has a real passion for science and medicine, you'd be surprised how many people are there bc of pressure from parents to be a doctor. This might be even more true in the Asian community. I'm a little worried that many of the doctors that will be practicing in the future may have wished that they could do something else with their lives.

i personally would go back and major in engineering considering i went to Virginia Tech and dont have any job offers in finance as of yet. i also feel that as an engineer you have the option to create actual value in the world, where as in finance you are just moving other people's wealth around for fee's. i love finance and the prospects it has, but if i had to do it all over i would definitely major in aerospace engineering.

I thought about doing law for a long time and that was kinda my goal until I came across finance. One, I liked finance more (at least that was the thought at the time) and two, when I liked the idea of law, I had no clue how boring it would likely be.

At any rate, proforma has a great idea. I have often thought that when I do have enough money...and wife possibly...to semi-retire somewhere tropical with tourists and open a restaurant/bar to provide some income and then buy a boat and do dive charters everyday.

Who knows, things change all the time so we will see what path I choose when I come to that road.

Regards

Gold Man Sack:

Part II of the question is what would you have done with your life sans decent degree from top tier school? Better yet, where would you be with no college education at all?

Great Q bro...I recently paid a guy an analyst's signing bonus and then some to replace the dock at my lake house. Dude has a high school education, makes a 1/4 mill/year, works outside in the sun all day and literally lays pipe for a living. Hmmm....what were ya sayin' again? 8)))))

Ugh, Medicine. Never even considered it. Spending an extra ten years (I honestly have no idea how much extra schooling on top of UG) in school to touch disgusting body parts or cut into people just never was appealing to me. I have lots of respect for those in medicine because I would never be able to do the things that they do.

This thread feels like the collapse of capitalism.

Would have done engineering. Opens more doors. Engineers can do engineering but also finance and consulting, not the other way around. Also, way easier to be an entrepreneur if you know how to code. Like the idea of medicine but that takes some real serious dedication and sacrifice. Wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger, however glad I'm not, it sounds way more glamorous than it is.

If I could, I'd globe trot while writing for lonely planet or some other similar travel guide.

I'm a true Finance guy! But I think if I could have done it all over again, I would have done LAW.

Law is boring as fuck IMO. You memorize chunks of text. I mean it. But if you like word and language (many people do), then being a lawyer might be for you.

But med... if you're heart isn't 100% behind treating people in high school and/or college, don't even think about it (i.e. the length of time should largely be a non-issue)

I would have definitely considered a Law degree...even if it isn't as glamorous as it sounds. Understanding the complexity and intricacies of laws isn't going to hurt you in any way other than make you the most boring person in the world

Part II - If I didn't go to college I would working strenuously at my boss's mercy trying to satisfy his every whimsical need so I can make enough money to pay off my weekend bar tabs....oh wait, that's exactly what I'm doing now.

Law is really boring, and its not well publicized, but you can make a pretty crappy living as a lawyer. I have a few friends who went the law route, and were all top 10 guys in our high school class. They all regret it. My one friend hated law school so much he just smoked himself to a crappy GPA (after a 3.9 or something similar from an ivy) and then couldn't find a decent job. He was doing house closings for a long time before he got a "real" job and a lawyer, and is not even so much about your billable hours. It is about your ability to make relationships and bring business to the firm. I don't know anyone who has become a lawyer and been entirely happy with the decision.

Medicine isn't necessarily a slam dunk either. It is recession proof and the job security is unmatched, but you need to put yourself in the hole for several hundred thousand and forgo about 8 years of earnings on top of undergrad before you make a real salary. Imagine being 30, and still as piss broke as you were the day you graduated college. If you decide to not specialize, you will be only be clearing about 125k a year. Specializing is the best thing you can do though, it seems most specialties are another 2-3 years, and double or triple your starting salary. No one will ever be pissed off that there is a doctor in their midst ever.

Finance wins in my opinion, though that is not why I chose it, I found the subject fascinating. In fact I only got into finance after hearing my b major roommates bitching about their econ homework and I looked at the problem they were struggling with when they went to the bathroom. It immediately popped out at me from the wording of the question that the answer was the area under the curve (the integral). The combo of very interesting + relatively easy + employable made it the right choice for me.

I think if I were born into an earlier time, when law and medicine were at the forefront of cutting edge developments or helping shape society, finance would certainly take a back seat. I am sure this is the case for most of the alpha types actually in the business today.

It just appears as though these professions have somewhat abandoned their core (noble) competencies. Law was responsible for building this great country and gives us the civil liberties that we can all equally enjoy today. However, the BigLaw jobs that every HLS or Yale kid dreams of, normally rotates around PE, M&A, VC. Not terribly noble.

Medicine is easy- Penicillin, Vaccines, etc. . However, it appears that todays medicine is simply a hoe for big business (and M&A is its Pimp). I mean, when was the last true great breakthrough in Medicine?

This is not the case for everyone, and I know you may know some kid who works for the ACLU or does Doctors without Borders. It just appears that everything is rotating more and more around business and greed, so why not be apart of the most blatantly greedy of them all? Calling a banker/trader greedy is like calling double dribble in a pickup game for the mentally challenged- it’s expected.

However, if I had to do it all over again, it would most likely be engineering/physics. Those (except the trading engineers) dorks seem hardcore on developing technologies. How dope would it be to create a transporter and screw over the airports? Take a look at the physics dept. webpage for Princeton and tell me that isn’t the most intriguing thing ever. These will be the individuals that push our society ahead.

When someone uses the word "greed" the only thing I hear is "motivated."

Am I crazy?

Regards

I think law is undergoing a major restructuring at the very least. Medicine is regulated as far as entry so as long as you have the chops and ability to do it there's a need for your expertise. Finance see's very few "transient" workers, ie "I'll try this for a while and see how I like it,". Most kids entering finance already have somesort of 5-10 yr plan within that career path. The point of this is most of the people I know entering law school are doing so because they don't know what else to do & they have the idea that law school will automatically point them in the right direction of fulfillment, money, and prestige. It's not the case for law grads anymore. Many of my friends graduating (from top 20 programs) are without any offers and most aren't even planning on working in law.

The fact of the matter is, is to succeed out of law school nowadays you need to know what you want to specialize in by your first summer and be in the top 15 preferably in the top 10% of your class (sans serious connections) because all the top firms I've had communication with say that's where there entry level associate search begins and ends. To them any casual applicant outside that ranking hasn't taken their time as seriously at law school as those who are in that bracket. There's plenty of room still for motivated, goal driven law students. But the days of putting off a career decesion by going to law school are over.

PLEASE CHANGE YOUR AVATAR. EVEN THE MODS WANT IT CHANGED (IE: AnthonyD).

I'm actually in a joint medical program. After I complete my undergrad, I may either elect to continue onto med school or go straight into finance. My father is a physician and I have a difficult choice, take over a thriving practice and graduate medical school with no debt, help during residency etc. or go into finance. The issue is as a physician there is a high income floor. Even the lowest paid specialty peds is averaging 150k and the specialty my father does is vitreo-retinal with average earnings 5 times greater than that. My conundrum is do I go into a "sure thing" with a much lower ceiling or go into something where the sky is the limit, with much bigger risk of failure. People who go into surgical specialties have a lot in common with those that go into finance and there is a lot of overlap. If you can get into medical school you can get into a decent BB.

My two cents.

I have a great deal respect for students who can complete their medical residencies as opposed to choosing to go into medicine. Nelly0 is right, there is a great deal of pressure in Asian communities for children to obtain advanced degrees and specifically to go into medicine. Most of my friends are doctors and while I'd like to say that some of them genuinely want to go into medicine, I feel that others are entering the field due to their parents or they honestly think that medicine is their only option. I think this stems from the mantra of Asian immigrant parents that "education is paramount" and that they seek a stable and better life for their children. Naturally medicine is appealing since it's a respected, highly educated, well compensated and admirable profession (maybe not if you are a derm but surgeons/internists work their asses off). My parents were the same way and felt that education was very important--probably since they uprooted their lives to move to America to seek one. I think this is why we see so many foreign students who go after their PhDs or other advanced degrees--it is drilled in their head that they need to get a strong education and that if they do, a stable job follows.

As my username suggests I was an engineer. I still think engineering is a damn good major if you aren't really sure what you want to do or if you want versatility. Engineering jobs (depending on the specialty) are usually stable and due to their perceived rigor, it can open up opportunities in finance/law/consulting. However I want to say that the idea that all engineers "build things" isn't really true. Some engineers find their jobs ridiculously boring, monotonous and unsatisfying. It's hard to be inspired when you are spending hours reviewing a single bolt in a huge refinery--you are just expendable cog in a giant machine. Don't get me wrong that there are engineers that build things (civils, architects and programmers to an extent) but you''ll find that most engineers can become quickly jaded as the novelty of "building things" wears off.

Finally I think research/academia is interesting but after finishing my degree I found that the novelty of working on "cutting edge research" wears off and is often just a myth. In fact I found analogs between a top PhD program and an investment banker. In both cases your MD (Adviser/PI) will work his analysts (MS students), Associates (PhD students) and VPs (post-docs) for insane hours (my adviser demanded 60 hour weeks minimum). In both cases you'll be spendings hour on modeling (research) or pitch books (proposals/grants) that usually won't come through. You'll work hours in hopes of getting a great bonus (diploma) and try to get your name on a great tombstone deal (publication). You'll do it all over again just to get more deals (funding).

I think finance is the most interesting thing in the world and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. I used to want to be a lawyer but only because that's what my dad does and he makes a damn good living for the amount of hours he puts in (not many).

I am not interested in science at all and I have a strong dislike for computers.

If I didn't want to go into finance I would without a doubt go into the military become an officer and then try and be a special ops soldier. I would lean towards the Navy and become a SEAL or the marines and do recon. I don't know why but their is something that is especially appealing to me about being a combat swimmer. My grandfather was drafted into the army during WWII and was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and a few other medals that aren't as significant so it's something I've always been around. I've always liked structure and discipline and have been a competitive athlete since I was very young so I imagine I would be a good fit.

what happened to removing his sack?

"If you can get into medical school you can get into a decent BB." - Futuredoc I'm going to have to disagree with that one. The target issue is almost non-existent in medicine. Although it does matter somewhat which undergrad institute you go to, nowhere near as much as finance.

I worked for a judge. It was really boring. My experience with law hasn't been great.

Medicine would be pretty sweet, but in the end you're not doing much decision making to make society better. Making people healthy doesn't necessarily mean you're making the world a better place.

Finance is interesting. Depending on what area you end up in you'll never be bored.

If I was to do it all over again I would have stuck with Biological Engineering. If I had no college, I’d make a career out of the military. There's not much else you can do that will provide that much excitement.

I'm afraid Patrick may have to have you neutered by the time we're done. It's not work safe and is scaring away industry people. It's only a matter of time; you can make it easier on yourself if you just take it down now and maybe replace it with a guy painted in gold wearing a potato sack.

You have a right to publish what you want- you might not have the right to plaster lewd images on Patrick's front page that scare away business not because people are prudes but because their managers and coworkers might take offense if they look at their screen at the wrong time.

This is only related because it discusses doctors, lawyers, and business people, but I found it interesting nonetheless

http://hbr.org/2010/07/the-big-idea-no-management-is-not-a-profession/a…

although i see lots of stuff i wanna comment on, i just want to say one thing at the moment. that is, although i'm not a doctor, i'm skeptical that you can compare getting into a BB with med school. they are different things, and require different skills, different knowledge, different ways of thinking and different interests. not everybody thinks and acts the same, so i don't think it's right to view merit on a single spectrum.

and futurectdoc, forgive me for prying, but i'm kinda concerned that you're writing about salary and financial stability. yet again, i'm not a doctor, but i would think that if you were suited to be a doctor, money would be one of the last things on your mind. pls correct me if you're a doctor reading this and i'm wrong

and GMS, if the Man does tear down your avatar, you can always photoshop a pic of lloyd to make him gold

I would rather a doctor monitor my blood pressure while a lawyer takes care of the due diligence on the health care company I'm bidding for in hostility. Finance all the way baby.

Whoa whoa whoa, I think you're forgetting the oft-overlooked, highly-educated, extremely capable sex worker. I could be a banker, lawyer, or doctor, but why the fuck would I want to do any of those things? My banker got me nothing in the crash, my lawyer couldn't get me out of a frickin parking ticket, and my doctor keeps telling me I have a rash. But my IT guy, my IT GUY, now that guy got me back masturbating and sex working in no time. He's the real hero in all this. Computers are the future, you stupid fucks, just ask this Roomba.