Anyone know which grad degrees are most useful?

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

All I know is that I am home by 4 pm every day and, while I certainly don't make "big firm" money, I'm comfortable. It's all a matter of choice.

That sounds awesome to me!

And let me just say this about academic work. You will work as hard as anyone in the private sector but will make far less money.

I'm switching careers now, and a lot of people have tried to scare me with horror stories of the 80-100 hour week--not realizing that I've been living that reality for 5 years. Don't kid yourself: academics work their asses off, and the compensation they get is frankly insulting.

What I'm saying is: don't get a PhD. A friend of mine recently accepted a tenure-track job at a school in the south, with a five-course teaching load, and a salary at just under 40 grand. Not an adjunct position--a tenure-track job!

Seriously. I almost puked when I saw that. They pay you nothing, expect you to balance a research career with the heaviest teaching load possible and expect you to be grateful that you got a job at all, since most of your colleagues didn't.

I'm so glad I left that life behind.

[Sainters7]

Sounds like there's a few Law grads on here. I know a guy in UofA Law right now, he's told me some interesting stories about the program too. I hear its just ridonkulously cutthroat competitive. Is that true that students actually rip pages out of library books so other students in the program can't read the same info? That sounds f'ing horrible.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Sounds like there's a few Law grads on here. I know a guy in UofA Law right now, he's told me some interesting stories about the program too. I hear its just ridonkulously cutthroat competitive. Is that true that students actually rip pages out of library books so other students in the program can't read the same info? That sounds f'ing horrible.

I know this happened for sure at UofToronto pre-med. Would not surprise me if it is the same in Law.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by troutman

Never understood why that was the goal for so many. It's a soul destroying, life-shortening, substance abusing, stressful existence.

I really don't know much about other options. What are they?

[Ozy_Flame]

A grad degree will require you know quite well what you plan to do afterwards. There are, for example, quite a few engineers who return to do an MBA because they know crunching numbers isn't for them; they want to expand their business horizons.

I personally am doing a Master in Strategic Studies, which has a military and defense focus. It's a lot of fun, but you really have to know what you're getting into and know that you have to make something of yourself when it's done. This "placement" thing is a pure myth; we live in a capitalist, market-oriented society, and anybody with any education still has to market themselves accordingly.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by amorak

I suggest an MBA and then an accounting designation such as a CA if you just want to work an easy 9-5 and make comfortable money, with spare time and spare cash to pursue your interests in your spare time.

I am a 25 year old CA with an executive role in town here and easily make 6 figures a few times over without having to give up a home life.

Business is where it's at.

do you need a prior degree in business or business-related fields to get into a decent MBA program? I'm also concerned about the tuition. I've been very careful with spending at the undergrad level, and I won't be more than $4000 in debt when I graduate. Obviously paying off a $75,000 debt scares me.

I've been thinking about getting certification to teach ESL. My mom has done it her whole life and currently has a permanent job at a good college that pays $80,000 plus. Decent hours, comfortable job. Plus, we are showing no signs of significantly slowing immigration or stopping refugee intake, so there should be a decent field of competition. And you can always work abroad.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Sounds like there's a few Law grads on here. I know a guy in UofA Law right now, he's told me some interesting stories about the program too. I hear its just ridonkulously cutthroat competitive. Is that true that students actually rip pages out of library books so other students in the program can't read the same info? That sounds f'ing horrible.

You here rumors of it occurring, but I've never actually seen anything like that. The culture of the school often changes things, I went to school in the midwest and the attitude was pretty laid back. I've heard that the competitive culture dominates at some of the Southern California schools. Oddly enough the schools in the Northeast don't generally have a reputation for being super competitive.

Lawschool is full of a lot of different types of people, many of whom I couldn't stand, but there are good people throughout the profession.

[Hustle]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

do you need a prior degree in business or business-related fields to get into a decent MBA program? I'm also concerned about the tuition. I've been very careful with spending at the undergrad level, and I won't be more than $4000 in debt when I graduate. Obviously paying off a $75,000 debt scares me.

No you don't need a prior business background to get into a good MBA school. You do require a decent-good undergrad GPA, min. 2 years of work experience in some capacity, a good GMAT score and an interesting way to sell yourself to the adcom.

Tuition gets to be a little bit iffy but if you know what you want to do.. it can be a very worthwhile investment from what I understand.

[Russic]

If I could have done it all over again I never would have gone to the UofC. I would have learned a trade from Sait. If current me could have a chat with 18 year old me I probably would have advised differently than my parents.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I really don't know much about other options. What are they?

Depends what kind of law you think you might be interested in. There are lawyers who handle almost everythign you can imagine, and pretty much every industry has some sort of legal element to it. Some areas don't lend themselves to smaller firms or solo practice very well (mergers and acquisitions or large scale finance for instance) but there's the option to go in-house (generally after working at a big firm, but not always) and do that work under typically much more relaxed conditions.

I think some other posters might have a better idea of the options in the smaller firm lifestyle, I'd be interested to hear as well as I'll likely head in that direction in a few years.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Sounds like there's a few Law grads on here. I know a guy in UofA Law right now, he's told me some interesting stories about the program too. I hear its just ridonkulously cutthroat competitive. Is that true that students actually rip pages out of library books so other students in the program can't read the same info? That sounds f'ing horrible.

Urban legends. Maybe that crap happens at Harvard, but at U of C we had very small classes (65-75 people in the year), and people generally helped each other. I basically just coasted through, borrowed people's notes the night before the exam, and memorized them. People were helpful.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by Sainters7

Sounds like there's a few Law grads on here. I know a guy in UofA Law right now, he's told me some interesting stories about the program too. I hear its just ridonkulously cutthroat competitive. Is that true that students actually rip pages out of library books so other students in the program can't read the same info? That sounds f'ing horrible.

I went there, heard the rumours, it's untrue, no one really uses books anymore, most of your research is done online.

It's competitive but not cutthroat, there are people who are crazy hardcore but frankly they end up in the most trouble because they won't study with other people/people don't want to study or help them.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Iowa_Flames_Fan

That sounds awesome to me!

And let me just say this about academic work. You will work as hard as anyone in the private sector but will make far less money.

I'm switching careers now, and a lot of people have tried to scare me with horror stories of the 80-100 hour week--not realizing that I've been living that reality for 5 years. Don't kid yourself: academics work their asses off, and the compensation they get is frankly insulting.

What I'm saying is: don't get a PhD. A friend of mine recently accepted a tenure-track job at a school in the south, with a five-course teaching load, and a salary at just under 40 grand. Not an adjunct position--a tenure-track job!

Seriously. I almost puked when I saw that. They pay you nothing, expect you to balance a research career with the heaviest teaching load possible and expect you to be grateful that you got a job at all, since most of your colleagues didn't.

I'm so glad I left that life behind.

I know that academics work their asses off. I've seen them do it. They also do it in a field they love. I know I hate the corporate world. It isn't even a matter of 'those corporate s!', it's really more a matter of my finding the whole thing extremely dull. Everyone talks about the 'real world', and I just don't undertand why I should accept being bored for the rest of my working life the 'real world'. I dunno, maybe academia is really just what I was meant to do. Maybe I should try a field that has less competition, like psychology, neuroscience, or even film studies. Not saying those paths are easy, just that they don't seem to be (based on talking to people in those fields) to be as competitive as English.

40k doesn't even seem like too bad a salary to me. All I need is a roof over my head, books to read, a television set, and enough money left over to buy some good beer and nice cigars now and then

[valo403]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

I went there, heard the rumours, it's untrue, no one really uses books anymore, most of your research is done online.

It's competitive but not cutthroat, there are people who are crazy hardcore but frankly they end up in the most trouble because they won't study with other people/people don't want to study or help them.

I absolutely hated studying with other people. I did it for Civ Pro and Property and never did it again. You wind up sitting around trying to teach the one idiot what Rule 11 sanctions are (US school obviously) at the expense of doing real studying.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

do you need a prior degree in business or business-related fields to get into a decent MBA program? I'm also concerned about the tuition. I've been very careful with spending at the undergrad level, and I won't be more than $4000 in debt when I graduate. Obviously paying off a $75,000 debt scares me.

I've been thinking about getting certification to teach ESL. My mom has done it her whole life and currently has a permanent job at a good college that pays $80,000 plus. Decent hours, comfortable job. Plus, we are showing no signs of significantly slowing immigration or stopping refugee intake, so there should be a decent field of competition. And you can always work abroad.

I had a MA in Soviet History, worked for a couple of years, and then basically flipped a coin between Law and MBA. I lost the flip and wound up in Law. Doing the MA really turned me off academia - I could not stand the petty little departmental politics. As far as the cost, considering the income earning potential, it's much better to be $50K in debt after a MBA than to be $20K in debt after a Masters in Philosophy.
As far as your question to Troutman re options, it all depends on you, and whether your priority is just money or lifestyle. You can get into wills & estates or personal injury, and make a nice income working very regular hours without much stress. Or you can put together high-end business deals, make a lot more money, but be prepared to work 80 hours or more some weeks.

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by valo403

I absolutely hated studying with other people. I did it for Civ Pro and Property and never did it again. You wind up sitting around trying to teach the one idiot what Rule 11 sanctions are (US school obviously) at the expense of doing real studying.

Well it's a matter of setting the tone for your group, I started out with one group and it just didn't work by the end of first year I had a good group of friends and we all agreed if someone needs to be taught something it's up to them to figure it out, study group was for clarification and review more than anything. Keep in mind my group was only for finals and it was only a session or two to do a complete review of the semester, this wasn't a daily or weekly thing.

[corporatejay]

40k doesn't even seem like too bad a salary to me. All I need is a roof over my head, books to read, a television set, and enough money left over to buy some good beer and nice cigars now and then

Why not do a masters of teaching at UofC and be a teacher? Currently a teacher at peak makes 91k or something and it's a good schedule with apparently a good pension.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Why not do a masters of teaching at UofC and be a teacher? Currently a teacher at peak makes 91k or something and it's a good schedule with apparently a good pension.

it's an option, but I hear the job market for teachers isn't exactly great either. the Lethbridge education program has a better reputation, though.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

it's an option, but I hear the job market for teachers isn't exactly great either. the Lethbridge education program has a better reputation, though.

My teacher friends have told me that Calgary is hiring new teachers like crazy. A lot of people are retiring right now.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by troutman

Never understood why that was the goal for so many. It's a soul destroying, life-shortening, substance abusing, stressful existence.

Yeah, and that's just being a lawyer!