Looks like the average physician's assistant makes the same Forum

[eriedoctrine]

Can confirm above two posts. Especially for IT.
My friend sits on his ass half the time as a network admin "monitoring the network". He makes about 70k w/o overtime.
Also company wide system scans take a few hours, so he basically sits at his office playing fucking Hearthstone or World of Warcraft or some shit and clocks in dat overtime and gets another 20k.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that "work" for him is so undraining, he is getting bored dicking around all the time. Last winter, he just started taking evening biology classes at local college cause it's interesting. His company pays for it.

What is his degree in?

IT/IS from UIUC.
Granted he started at 50k doing desktop support 3 years ago, where he worked even LESS than he did now. /jealous

I was going IS/IT route as well, but wanted "more meaning" at work. Plus my parents and friends are way more impressed at where I am now, and they won't have to hang their head in shame when comparing me with other parent's kids. That's what matters amirite?! We'll see how biglaw turns out this summer... I'm working in their IP, Technology, and Data Privacy department, so kinda psyched.

[dabigchina]

checking in to say you people in biglaw need to check your privilege.

i just got out of a 90 hour work week. about 70 of it was 1 on 1 time with a partner and a CFO yelling at me to push numbers around excel faster.

eta: i also have a lazy fuck of a friend in IT. only difference is he makes more money than me, and not just on a per hour worked basis.

[JustHawkin]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

[PeanutsNJam]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

Yeah people are right in that law school isn't a shortcut or a ticket to money and prestige, but neither is anything else. Don't be like "lol go to business skool if you want money and a good life, law school will suck ass hard". No, business school does not guarantee mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. Neither does anything, except for MAYBE medical school.

But that's cuase medical school is hard AF to get into (you HAVE to have a pre-med major, you can't apply with anything else, MCAT is hard AF, they actually give a shit about extracurricular/essays/softs, it takes 8 years).

So med school grads deserve mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. And it's a job where you're practically guaranteed to be helping people and making a positive impact on society. Karma galore. Nothing else is a guarantee. Not nursing, not computer science, not online poker.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

This
There are many other professional schools (also veterinary school) where the cost of attendance is way too high given the likely salary

[JustHawkin]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

This
There are many other professional schools (also veterinary school) where the cost of attendance is way too high given the likely salary

Not only is the cost of attendance high, but some schools consistently fail ~ 1/3 to 1/2 of the first year class in anatomy so they have to retake first year all over again.

[Phattypattyfrost]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

Yeah people are right in that law school isn't a shortcut or a ticket to money and prestige, but neither is anything else. Don't be like "lol go to business skool if you want money and a good life, law school will suck ass hard". No, business school does not guarantee mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. Neither does anything, except for MAYBE medical school.

But that's cuase medical school is hard AF to get into (you HAVE to have a pre-med major, you can't apply with anything else, MCAT is hard AF, they actually give a shit about extracurricular/essays/softs, it takes 8 years).

So med school grads deserve mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. And it's a job where you're practically guaranteed to be helping people and making a positive impact on society. Karma galore. Nothing else is a guarantee. Not nursing, not computer science, not online poker.

False, as long as you meet the pre-reqs, any major can apply.

[jepper]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

Yeah people are right in that law school isn't a shortcut or a ticket to money and prestige, but neither is anything else. Don't be like "lol go to business skool if you want money and a good life, law school will suck ass hard". No, business school does not guarantee mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. Neither does anything, except for MAYBE medical school.

But that's cuase medical school is hard AF to get into (you HAVE to have a pre-med major, you can't apply with anything else, MCAT is hard AF, they actually give a shit about extracurricular/essays/softs, it takes 8 years).

So med school grads deserve mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. And it's a job where you're practically guaranteed to be helping people and making a positive impact on society. Karma galore. Nothing else is a guarantee. Not nursing, not computer science, not online poker.

False, as long as you meet the pre-reqs, any major can apply.

But lets face it, if you major in anything other than a science that is going to be an extremely difficult route. So your point is correct but doesn't change the implications of needing a ton of pre reqs.

[Phattypattyfrost]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

Yeah people are right in that law school isn't a shortcut or a ticket to money and prestige, but neither is anything else. Don't be like "lol go to business skool if you want money and a good life, law school will suck ass hard". No, business school does not guarantee mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. Neither does anything, except for MAYBE medical school.

But that's cuase medical school is hard AF to get into (you HAVE to have a pre-med major, you can't apply with anything else, MCAT is hard AF, they actually give a shit about extracurricular/essays/softs, it takes 8 years).

So med school grads deserve mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. And it's a job where you're practically guaranteed to be helping people and making a positive impact on society. Karma galore. Nothing else is a guarantee. Not nursing, not computer science, not online poker.

False, as long as you meet the pre-reqs, any major can apply.

But lets face it, if you major in anything other than a science that is going to be an extremely difficult route. So your point is correct but doesn't change the implications of needing a ton of pre reqs.

Truth. I just know business majors that minored in Bio and did great even with crappy MCAT scores. Med schools love diversity and they know that a med student with a business background would be pegged for admin/management (aka they eat that shit up)

[jingosaur]

I did IT consulting for 3 years after undergrad. It is probably the best combination of hours and money out there for a reasonably attainable job, but there's no long term growth potential. It really requires no technical background whatsoever. But if you're the kind of person who wants to make something of themselves (i.e. every millennial who has graduated from college) you will hate it and leave very quickly.

I still left for law school and after 1 semester I don't regret it at all, but in my 3rd year of consulting, I was in a better position career-wise than 80% of law students.

[rdawkins28]

I did IT consulting for 3 years after undergrad. It is probably the best combination of hours and money out there for a reasonably attainable job, but there's no long term growth potential. It really requires no technical background whatsoever. But if you're the kind of person who wants to make something of themselves (i.e. every millennial who has graduated from college) you will hate it and leave very quickly.

I still left for law school and after 1 semester I don't regret it at all, but in my 3rd year of consulting, I was in a better position career-wise than 80% of law students.

IT is definitely a safer route to a decent middle class life than law, and in some cases, a path to amazing wealth. However, there are people who really love tech and can do it all their lives. Then are people like me (and quite a few people I know) who enjoy the tech part but get tired of doing it as a day-to-day job.

Now if you want to know who makes good easy money in law, it's the court reporters. The ones around here, about 1 hour north of a large metropolitan area, make around $80K working for the court. Then they also get to keep whatever transcript is ordered. I know we've spent anywhere from $1000 to $10000 for a transcript. And none of these transcripts are of any large size.

[Kafkaesquire]

B.S. in Petroleum Engineering.
Good friend graduated from UT Austin last year and he started at 110k.
He told me that everyone he knew got similar offers.
6 fig starting salaries are apparently quite common nationwide.

BS in any engineering and an oil field position will start you at 80-90K with 10K/yr raises for the next decade. As of now, though, you won't be getting in if you're not already in. Training newbs has temporarily frozen.

Large oil service companies requiring engineering degrees for these positions/salaries is very recent. Most of the field "engineers" I work with have business degrees.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I did IT consulting for 3 years after undergrad. It is probably the best combination of hours and money out there for a reasonably attainable job, but there's no long term growth potential. It really requires no technical background whatsoever. But if you're the kind of person who wants to make something of themselves (i.e. every millennial who has graduated from college) you will hate it and leave very quickly.

I still left for law school and after 1 semester I don't regret it at all, but in my 3rd year of consulting, I was in a better position career-wise than 80% of law students.

IT is definitely a safer route to a decent middle class life than law, and in some cases, a path to amazing wealth. However, there are people who really love tech and can do it all their lives. Then are people like me (and quite a few people I know) who enjoy the tech part but get tired of doing it as a day-to-day job.

Now if you want to know who makes good easy money in law, it's the court reporters. The ones around here, about 1 hour north of a large metropolitan area, make around $80K working for the court. Then they also get to keep whatever transcript is ordered. I know we've spent anywhere from $1000 to $10000 for a transcript. And none of these transcripts are of any large size.

Completely agree about court reporters. They also make good money doing things like depos on the side. I don't know what it costs to get trained/certified, but it can't be that much.

Of course, you have to not mind being the person observing other people do stuff, rather than the person actually doing stuff. And I'm sure a lot of the time it's INCREDIBLY boring. But it's still a sweet gig.

[JustHawkin]

Of course, you have to not mind being the person observing other people do stuff, rather than the person actually doing stuff. And I'm sure a lot of the time it's INCREDIBLY boring. But it's still a sweet gig.

I've seen a lot of people around here claimed to be a glorified comma jockey. This can't be any better.

[fats provolone]

is it too late to switch? I'm probably top 1% typing speed. I feel like I could be a star

[TheSpanishMain]

PA school is just as much of a scam as law school.

Yeah people are right in that law school isn't a shortcut or a ticket to money and prestige, but neither is anything else. Don't be like "lol go to business skool if you want money and a good life, law school will suck ass hard". No, business school does not guarantee mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. Neither does anything, except for MAYBE medical school.

But that's cuase medical school is hard AF to get into (you HAVE to have a pre-med major, you can't apply with anything else, MCAT is hard AF, they actually give a shit about extracurricular/essays/softs, it takes 8 years).

So med school grads deserve mountains of preferred genetalia and fast cars. And it's a job where you're practically guaranteed to be helping people and making a positive impact on society. Karma galore. Nothing else is a guarantee. Not nursing, not computer science, not online poker.

False, as long as you meet the pre-reqs, any major can apply.

It is funny to hear law students glorify medicine. Yeah, if you can hack it you're virtually assured of getting a job, but every young doctor has the exact same rap as BigLaw associates: I hate this, it sucks, I wish I had done something else with my life, I see the janitor and wish I could trade places with him, etc.

[runthetrap1990]

Yeah Epic isn't really a better alternative to law. They're a popular revolving door after-UG job, I have a lot of friends who went to work for them. But they fucking hate their life. And I think the starting salary is closer to 60k. And it's not a cake walk to jump into a 100/hr consulting gig in a hospital. Epic churns out 2-year-WE-medical-consultants like GULC. Medical consulting is fine, but just like IB, it's not all cake, rainbow, hookers, and 6 figs.

They pay 60k start. You can make about 80k after 2 years. But after 4 years you quit and go work for one of the consulting firms that only do Epic Implementations and then you are making like $120-160k. Lot's of travel. But the company is overrated. Its in a boring town and high turn over.

Also, I also dated a PA. They complained about the gig after 4 years and left to work at GSK where they make good money. A career is a career, however. Aint nothing wrong with law, just ask your professors or judges.

Disagree with bolded, Madison is awesome, especially if you are just out of school. But otherwise, yeah. High turnover and you either love it or hate it.

Source: former employee

[JustHawkin]

It is funny to hear law students glorify medicine. Yeah, if you can hack it you're virtually assured of getting a job, but every young doctor has the exact same rap as BigLaw associates: I hate this, it sucks, I wish I had done something else with my life, I see the janitor and wish I could trade places with him, etc.

So much this.