What to Study

It is not uncommon for current high school seniors to be completely clueless concerning their future. What to study, what career path, will I like it, will I make enough money? There are other kids who are already dead set on specific career goal, whether they actually follow through is a different story. If you talk to a jaded college student, chances are they will tell you it is not that hard to choose. Assuming a reasonable work ethic and intelligence, the following fields are most highly recommended with a career goal in mind. If you have an extraordinary talent for something, the following probably does not apply to you, as you will succeed in whatever something that is. This post is more for the average undecided student. Also the following is more of a list with opinions and not definitive overviews of each discipline. Wikipedia exists for that. Forgive me for being so one track minded but Barrett Strong knew what was up.

Engineering- Electrical, Chemical, Mechanical
 
   I would say these are the big three of engineering. Each is well worth taking a look and seriously considering. Electrical is very solid as technology is everywhere today. Chemical is good, the energy industry provides an almost insatiable demand and a high starting salary. Mechanical is a very fundamental discipline and people who study it are in demand wherever mechanical systems are involved (everywhere). In addition, because of the rigor of most engineering programs, engineers tend to be well respected for their problem solving skills, analytical thinking, and quantitative skills so it is not uncommon to work in an unrelated industry after school.


Engineering- Civil, Bio-medical, Environmental, Systems -

  I am personally less familiar with each of these fields. Civil is the oldest discipline and involves infrastructure from bridges to waterworks. Bio-medical is hard to define, I guess it's the engineering that's involved in medicine, such as medical devices. Environmental is basically a subset of Civil. Systems addresses stuff like process control and manufacturing efficiency. These fields are generally stable, many work in governmental agencies and municipalities. Less exciting in my opinion.


Computer Science

A very good field, lots of prospects in any industry. Teaches a fundamental understanding of computation which leads to software engineering, artificial intelligence, graphics, data processing, and much more.

Maths-

Excellent if you are willing to study it. A bit of mental agility would help.


Physics- Same as maths.


At this point, all of the disciplines I've mentioned tend to be viewed as tough fields, and that's not an incorrect assumption. But one certainly does not need to be anything close to genius to study them, especially at the undergraduate level. A good work ethic and strategic planning is far more important.

But of course there are other very good careers and fields.

Pre-med/other health- You can major in pretty much anything, biology and chemistry often preferred as those majors automatically satisfy the science requirements for med school.

Law- Go to law school after college, become a lawyer.

Economics- At top 10 or top 20 schools, studying economics is usually a very good choice as financial firms are drawn to prestigious schools as moths are attracted to light. Can expect to make 60-80k out of college at a Wall Street firm. If you survive for 5 years, rising up the ranks 200-300k annually is reasonable. Other finance locations are Boston and Chicago. There is investment banking, trading, asset management and each contains many subcategories.



Am I missing anything? Other common career paths for college students that I failed to mention? Please leave a comment if you know of one or would like to voice an opinion on anything else.