Jobs that make more money than doctors

[tempfersho]

I've seen this question asked a lot. From my experience, the answer is rather straight forward, and maybe this thread will end the 100+ message discussions (or maybe it'll start one...)

If you go to a top 15 school: There is a VERY good chance you will make more money in tech, consulting, or banking. People say but tempfershoooo you work 100+ hours in banking and make 100k, but a primary care doc works like 40 and makes more than that! What people fail to realize is that these jobs are taken by smart people out of undergrad not for their ridiculous salaries, but for their exit opportunities that lead to other positions with ridiculous salaries.

If you don't go to a top 15 school: A medical specialty is probably the way to maximize your earning potential without taking on a lot of risk as an entrepreneur or a business owner. Engineers can rival earning potential of doctors in rare cases. Law if you go to a T14 can rival earning potential in most cases but there are many problems with the legal system.

So that's it! If you go to a good school, go to tech/consulting/finance. If you don't, become a doctor!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tempfersho]

problems with the legal job market****

 

[ciestar]

Even if you go to "lesser" schools, check out their program rankings.

Some of these lesser ranked overall schools have individual program rankings higher than some of the big boys.

Your logic that only people who attend top schools can succeed in other industries is so flawed.

 

[claduva94]

Basing it entirely on money is a fallacy. While I can go into engineering and make bank I would not be nearly as happy as I would be as a physician. If I can make over 100K in a job and be happy then I think I have a good job. I couldn't care less if my specialty ends up being on the low end of the pay scale because I know I will be making enough to make a living.

 

[Lamel]

Even if you go to "lesser" schools, check out their program rankings.

Some of these lesser ranked overall schools have individual program rankings higher than some of the big boys.

Your logic that only people who attend top schools can succeed in other industries is so flawed.

While not impossible, it is difficult for students in lower ranked schools to break into banking/consulting in the big firms. Mainly because those firms target the Ivys and other top schools exclusively, and you need big connections to get your foot in the door if you're from a lower ranked school. But let me say this, it is by no means easy to break into these industries even if you ARE at a target school. A friend of mine is interning at a bulge bracket this summer, and for his program there were 18,000 applications for 500 spots in the intern class.

For engineering/tech you don't need to go to a top school, but a strong program certainly helps.

But I agree with Claduva above, making so much money in finance would be sweet, but I'd hate my job.

 

[tempfersho]

Basing it entirely on money is a fallacy. While I can go into engineering and make bank I would not be nearly as happy as I would be as a physician. If I can make over 100K in a job and be happy then I think I have a good job. I couldn't care less if my specialty ends up being on the low end of the pay scale because I know I will be making enough to make a living.

Yeah, should have said target schools, not t15.

 

[tempfersho]

Yeah, should have said target schools, not t15.

Though they are strongly correlated.

 

[deleted436726]

So if I'm a physician with substantial amounts of experience in tech/software engineering/programming I should be killing it, right?

 

[ciestar]

My fiancé works for one of the "big 4" public accounting firms. To my knowledge, nobody on the team he works with went to a top 15 ranked school.

Personal anecdote here, but clearly it does happen. Maybe networking has something to do with it, though.

 

[Syndicate]

My fiancé works for one of the "big 4" public accounting firms. To my knowledge, nobody on the team he works with went to a top 15 ranked school.

Personal anecdote here, but clearly it does happen. Maybe networking has something to do with it, though.

Well accountants don't make much to begin with...


Posted using SDN Mobile

 

[Syndicate]

My fiancé works for one of the "big 4" public accounting firms. To my knowledge, nobody on the team he works with went to a top 15 ranked school.

Personal anecdote here, but clearly it does happen. Maybe networking has something to do with it, though.

OP is talking about big IB companies on Wall Street. Those newly hired financial analysts easily make 120k+ right out of college and their salary grows exponentially afterwards depending on how much bonus they get. These jobs are almost exclusively given to top 15 schools.


Posted using SDN Mobile

 

[ciestar]

I see, thought OP meant the field as a whole, sorry.

 

[persumas]

My fiancé works for one of the "big 4" public accounting firms. To my knowledge, nobody on the team he works with went to a top 15 ranked school.

Personal anecdote here, but clearly it does happen. Maybe networking has something to do with it, though.

+1. I think they're more talking about finance though... I've heard getting into Wall Street also has to do significantly with the location of your school as well as the ranking. For that reason, my biz school profs suggested to get a masters in a top ranked east coast school for anyone who wants to get into Wall Street... It's simply quite difficult to get into it without the pedigree, unless you somehow racked up significant experience.

 

[persumas]

But the "big 4" have huge consulting arms. there's good money to be made in consulting, though the lifestyle could be comparable to a physician with ridiculous amounts of travel added in.

 

[ciestar]

He's in finance, though.
Public accounting doesn't just mean accounting.

But whatever, I appear to be off base.

 

[mrh125]

Being a rap star allows you to make more than doctors. Check out dat bling

 

[Lamel]

He's in finance, though.
Public accounting doesn't just mean accounting.

But whatever, I appear to be off base.

I would have thought the same thing a year ago, but I have recently learned that prestige is much more valuable in the financial fields. This is a striking difference for us pre-meds because it does not matter as much (which is good!).

 

[Heday]

Becoming a doctor should not be made based on solely financials. It's tough to do your job day in and day out for years if you hate it.

Consulting at the Big 3 (Bain, Boston, McKinsey) firms requires you to either go to a target school or know someone (to get your foot in the door). It's sort of a brotherhood kind of thing (think Pearson Spector in Suits with Harvard grads only).

Another thing that was said, the hours aren't any better. You gotta work to make money no matter what level you're at. Whether you're in banking, a doctor, a business owner, or even working at minimum wage job. You gotta grind. If you ain't workin' hard, you ain't workin'. There is no job for the >99% of us that requires little work with a lot of reward. You are not the exception.

 

[tempfersho]

Becoming a doctor should not be made based on solely financials. It's tough to do your job day in and day out for years if you hate it.

Consulting at the Big 3 (Bain, Boston, McKinsey) firms requires you to either go to a target school or know someone (to get your foot in the door). It's sort of a brotherhood kind of thing (think Pearson Spector in Suits with Harvard grads only).

Another thing that was said, the hours aren't any better. You gotta work to make money no matter what level you're at. Whether you're in banking, a doctor, a business owner, or even working at minimum wage job. You gotta grind. If you ain't workin' hard, you ain't workin'. There is no job for the >99% of us that requires little work with a lot of reward. You are not the exception.

No question. Though I seemingly implied that one should take a job solely for financial reasons, that is obviously far from the truth. This thread is less about one's motives for pursuing a career, and more about providing information/a discussion relegated exclusively to financial potential of different paths, as that question is frequently asked.

 

[tempfersho]

Also, obviously anyone that wants to be really successful is going to have to work crazy hours. Bankers, big law, consulting, and to a lesser extent tech work just as much as doctors.

In response to accounting/consulting in accounting, my original post was referencing BB investment banking/management consulting kinda deal (tough to get into even if you do go to a target). I know less about other financial positions.

 

[circulus vitios]

HBS graduates have a 20 year earnings of about $3.6 million. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-12/mba-pay-peering-into-the-future A family medicine physician makes a little more than that in the same time period.

 

[circulus vitios]

My fiancé works for one of the "big 4" public accounting firms. To my knowledge, nobody on the team he works with went to a top 15 ranked school.

Personal anecdote here, but clearly it does happen. Maybe networking has something to do with it, though.

Big 4 accounting firms don't care about pedigree. Consulting and banking do.

Well accountants don't make much to begin with...


Posted using SDN Mobile

Look up the compensation for a big 4 partner. It starts at about what a private practice neurosurgeon makes, although few people ever make it to partner.

 

[Heday]

Look up the compensation for a big 4 partner. It starts at about what a private practice neurosurgeon makes, although few people ever make it to partner.

I had an accounting professor that worked in the private sector (not big 4). The partners at the firm billed $900/hr to do work on any company's financials.

 

[Mad Jack]

Can we stop having this thread every two months? Can people learn to search this damn website for the last 80 threads on this topic? Wtf man, this is Student Doctor Network, not Who Out-earns Doctors Network.

 

[persumas]

Look up the compensation for a big 4 partner. It starts at about what a private practice neurosurgeon makes, although few people ever make it to partner.

haha yeahhhh. One of the mentors in my master's program was a partner at Accenture. Graduated from state school, Retired at 39. He was a super chill, talented guy, (Who casually talks about his "buddies" that are CIOs in major corporations...) but then we started to wonder if he was a part of Enron insider trading when Accenture was Arthur Andersen since the timeline seemed to fit perfectly...

 

[blackkrim]

Strange that two threads about money popped up almost simultaneously, but I'll respond to this one too:

If money is your main concern, don't be a doctor--regardless of what school you go to. Time is the most important consideration in building wealth and time is very much against physicians, who start earning much later and have massive student debt to worry about even once they do make a good income. Also consider that physician salaries are largely trending downward due to the crisis in our healthcare sector and both modern business practices and public pressure will likely bring them even lower for the foreseeable future.

Anyone who goes into medicine because they think they'll be rich is a damn fool. Medicine will make you a nice living, but it won't make you wealthy.

 

[Syndicate]

Look up the compensation for a big 4 partner. It starts at about what a private practice neurosurgeon makes, although few people ever make it to partner.

You have to beat out hundreds of others to become a partner and that process takes a long time. I'm sure there are accountants out there making a ton of money but when you put the avg/median salary of an accountant up against that of a doctor, it'll look something like $60k vs. $200k


Posted using SDN Mobile