I need college advice!

[Avocado LaSchaap]

Hi hi everyone I'm excited. I'm two years out of university having earned a useless degree so I'm going back to college (like I should have done in the first place). I applied to three different programs and based on my marks I think it's pretty likely that I'll get into all three. . . and then have to decide which one to take! D:

Here's what I applied to. Anyone have any thoughts? Specifically anyone who has taken such courses or knows someone who has?

Option 1: Accounting
Pros: has a co-op portion, also probably most assuredly of all three options to get me jobs easily, job also provides flexible hours and part time options (which I would want)
Cons: SO BORING AAAAHH

Option 2: Web Design
Pros: actually something I am interested in, will allow me to be creative, can also swing flexible hours
Cons: although the job market seems to be fairly good, I have heard conflicting information, seems like being successful as a web designer, though not impossible, will be more difficult. ergo, I have the fear that I will fail in this career and yet again end up with a useless qualification

Option 3: GIS and Urban Planning
Pros: Is actually related to my university degree and I already have some knowledge of the field, also has a co-op component
Cons: Many websites say that in order to be an urban planner you need a university degree in the subject, so honestly again I don't know this qualification will be useful or end up as another waste of time! Honestly I just applied to this as a third option because it didn't cost me any more money to apply for three programs instead of just two.

 

[Soda Fox]

I say Urban Planning or Accounting and I say this with the following experiences in mind :

I work in a bank. I meet a lot of accountants. Most of them seem pretty happy. It's a boring job, sure, but it's a steady one. Having a steady job can help you participate in and finance your hobbies and dreams depending on what they are. I used to play Friday Night Magic which I can't do any more but the trade off is I can play other games I like that don't have scheduled play times and afford those other games in the first place. Plus I now know what it takes to meet my goal to own a home at a reasonable price. Accounting does have it's advantages.

Web design is fun, my best friend from high school when into that field. Another friend is a graphic designer. Because they both have very fluctuating work flows, one is still living with parents, and one is constantly moving to dodge debt collectors. They both want freedom but are having a tough time achieving it. That is the nature of the job. Sometimes you might find someone willing to pay you for your creative work, sometimes you won't.

Urban planning seems like a great option though I have no experience with it. It seems like it would be a great mix of a high demand and yet also somewhat creative job. Honestly I think you should take the dive and go for that option. But I hope someone with more experience than I will come in and give their two cents on the matter.

 

[Avocado LaSchaap]

I say Urban Planning or Accounting and I say this with the following experiences in mind :

I work in a bank. I meet a lot of accountants. Most of them seem pretty happy. It's a boring job, sure, but it's a steady one. Having a steady job can help you participate in and finance your hobbies and dreams depending on what they are. I used to play Friday Night Magic which I can't do any more but the trade off is I can play other games I like that don't have scheduled play times and afford those other games in the first place. Plus I now know what it takes to meet my goal to own a home at a reasonable price. Accounting does have it's advantages.

Web design is fun, my best friend from high school when into that field. Another friend is a graphic designer. Because they both have very fluctuating work flows, one is still living with parents, and one is constantly moving to dodge debt collectors. They both want freedom but are having a tough time achieving it. That is the nature of the job. Sometimes you might find someone willing to pay you for your creative work, sometimes you won't.

Urban planning seems like a great option though I have no experience with it. It seems like it would be a great mix of a high demand and yet also somewhat creative job. Honestly I think you should take the dive and go for that option. But I hope someone with more experience than I will come in and give their two cents on the matter.

Mmm, thanks for the advice. I was afraid people would say that about web design. All of the websites I look at, I mean the official government ones, with the actual stats behind them, say that finding a job in web design should be easy, but it seems like most personal anecdotes I hear are negative.

Do you know if the accountants you know went to university or to college? Some websites say that you need a university degree to be an accountant, but the college says that their program is all you need in order to take the test to be a Chartered Professional Accountant, which, as far as I know, is the highest certification you can have in accounting. I just don't want the college program to end up only being good for very low level accounting, the sort of receptionist/bookkeeper level jobs (because I hate customer service, I could never be a receptionist).

Ah update: it is not enough to get you the CPA qualification. My bad, didn't read it closely enough.

 

[Soda Fox]

Do you know if the accountants you know went to university or to college? Some websites say that you need a university degree to be an accountant, but the college says that their program is all you need in order to take the test to be a Chartered Professional Accountant, which, as far as I know, is the highest certification you can have in accounting. I just don't want the college program to end up only being good for very low level accounting, the sort of receptionist/bookkeeper level jobs (because I hate customer service, I could never be a receptionist).

Honestly I don't think so. I do know one college educated accountant and he is very well off. But most are just people who are decent with money and have associates degrees or experience in the financial field. The latter make a decent amount of money, definitely enough to be happy, but don't have as nice a home or the extra income that my college educated friend has. Of course, my college educated friend also hasn't talked to me about his debts, so his wealth could all be for show.

 

[NicoShaytan]

I'd say do more research on the urban planning degree. Talk to people in the field. Get the low down on how useful it will be. Otherwise, go with option 1. Web design sounds great, and it will be around for a long time, but it's a job you have to REALLY hunt for. Either you work for a specific site (like Google) or you do contract work, which is unreliable. I would be concerned about netting a job with a big company that you can rely on being stable, so I wouldn't go that direction, personally.

Basically, if your research into option 3 pans out well, it's always best to support the degrees you already have. Then the time you spent on it wasn't wasted!

 

[_Dentata]

Hi hi everyone I'm excited. I'm two years out of university having earned a useless degree so I'm going back to college (like I should have done in the first place). I applied to three different programs and based on my marks I think it's pretty likely that I'll get into all three. . . and then have to decide which one to take! D:

Here's what I applied to. Anyone have any thoughts? Specifically anyone who has taken such courses or knows someone who has?

Option 1: Accounting
Pros: has a co-op portion, also probably most assuredly of all three options to get me jobs easily, job also provides flexible hours and part time options (which I would want)
Cons: SO BORING AAAAHH

Option 2: Web Design
Pros: actually something I am interested in, will allow me to be creative, can also swing flexible hours
Cons: although the job market seems to be fairly good, I have heard conflicting information, seems like being successful as a web designer, though not impossible, will be more difficult. ergo, I have the fear that I will fail in this career and yet again end up with a useless qualification

Option 3: GIS and Urban Planning
Pros: Is actually related to my university degree and I already have some knowledge of the field, also has a co-op component
Cons: Many websites say that in order to be an urban planner you need a university degree in the subject, so honestly again I don't know this qualification will be useful or end up as another waste of time! Honestly I just applied to this as a third option because it didn't cost me any more money to apply for three programs instead of just two.

Option 1) Please think about your happiness. The job's miserable and it's not like you'll be making 100k a year or anything.

Option 2) What you need to do is build a portfolio, especially since that's the first thing employers look at. I highly recommend you offer to design some sites for free to get your feet wet. If you do choose this path, just get an associates degree from a CC. You're already tight on funds and most employers won't care as long as your portfolio looks good.

Option 3 ) Honestly, that sounds like one of those useless degrees that sound practical. PLEASE contact people in the field before you choose this path


- - - Post Merge - - -

Mmm, thanks for the advice. I was afraid people would say that about web design. All of the websites I look at, I mean the official government ones, with the actual stats behind them, say that finding a job in web design should be easy, but it seems like most personal anecdotes I hear are negative.

Do you know if the accountants you know went to university or to college? Some websites say that you need a university degree to be an accountant, but the college says that their program is all you need in order to take the test to be a Chartered Professional Accountant, which, as far as I know, is the highest certification you can have in accounting. I just don't want the college program to end up only being good for very low level accounting, the sort of receptionist/bookkeeper level jobs (because I hate customer service, I could never be a receptionist).

Ah update: it is not enough to get you the CPA qualification. My bad, didn't read it closely enough.

>"but it seems like most personal anecdotes I hear are negative. "
What have you heard?


As far as accountants go, I'm not entirely sure about the process, but I know all accountants go to college

 

[Laudine]

I work as a graphic and web designer, so let me know if you have any question you'd like to ask

Financial and job stability wise, I'm secure. I work full time for an agency, so I get fixed salary. I used to be a freelancer a few years ago, but the uncertainty made me anxious haha. Is there any design agency where you live? There are plenty of design agencies where I am and my experience working for a few of them has been pleasant so far, so if you want a more secure job I recommend working for an agency c:

That being said, working as a freelance designer could work too! You just have to be really persistent. My friend has been working freelance for a few years. At first he found it hard to find clients, but he never stopped looking for available projects. After a while, he steadily got more and more new works coming, as well as works from returning clients. He netted a contract with Disney recently, and the pay was 100k!! That's the biggest perk working freelance, you get to keep the whole $$$

As for the job itself... well it's nice. It's fun trying to come up with new concepts for websites and email newsletters. The feeling when you have completed a project is really satisfying! Sometimes it can be really repetitive though, especially when you're designing a really huge website haha. Clients can be frustratingly fussy too.

I agree with Chatte_Dentata though. From what I've seen, degrees don't really matter with design. Portfolio is definitely more important. Sure, a degree from a good university will make your resume more impressive, but what employers focus on when requiting are your portfolio and experience. As long as you wow them with your best works and prove them that you're the best person for the position, you're all good!

My brother studied accounting in uni and graduated a year ago. He's still looking for work even now, seems like the competition for accounting works is really tough here in Aus...

I'm not familiar with urban planning so I can't give my opinion on it, sorry!

 

[Rizies]

My husband has his degree in accounting so I can help with that. Typically if you do a two-year program you will have more of the lower end accounting jobs, such as accounts payable clerk or a book keeper. Usually these jobs can be quiet repetitive.

With the degree many of the firm's will hire you right out of school, however the hours can be grueling. When it's tax season your expected to work over time. But you also earn time to time and they pay for your designation. Which brings me to my second point.

In order to move up the corporate ladder, you are required to do a designation in accounting. In Canada there use to be three designations, CA (charter accountant) CGA and CMA. Just recently they merged all three designations into one. CPA or chartered professional accountant. This course is very heavy, worse than getting the degree, since you are working full time. It is also very expensive.

Besides all that, my husband loves his job. He is currently working on a construction site and primarily ensures all the subcontractors get paid. He got on with the company during his co-op program and has stayed there since.

 

[_Dentata]

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/urban-and-regional-planners.htm

"Urban and regional planners meet with public officials, developers, and the public regarding development plans and land use."

My bad, it looks legit. I was a little suspicious because I never heard of it before. I'd still check with people in the field just to make sure you're not wasting your time.

Job Outlook, 2014-24 6% (As fast as average)
Employment Change, 2014-24 2,400

It doesn't look like there's a lot of demand for urban planners.

Also,
>68k~ a year
>Masters degree
Don't take this path. You could probably make more money as an electrician

 

[Haskell]

Don't go in debt. lol

 

[DJStarstryker]

Out of those 3 options, accounting has the highest earning potential. But you can really only get there if you'd be willing to invest in the additional education that is required (beyond a college degree) of becoming a CPA. Basically, you want to be the person that people pay to ask for financial advice, where to invest their stocks, etc.

If you're any good with computers and math, I highly suggest you get into computer science with specialization in cyber security. There is more demand for this than there is good people to do it, and people get paid extremely well to do it. In the US, entry level jobs are between $50k-75k and once you get experience it's not hard to get a job paying 6 figures (over $100k).

 

[_Dentata]

Out of those 3 options, accounting has the highest earning potential. But you can really only get there if you'd be willing to invest in the additional education that is required (beyond a college degree) of becoming a CPA. Basically, you want to be the person that people pay to ask for financial advice, where to invest their stocks, etc.

If you're any good with computers and math, I highly suggest you get into computer science with specialization in cyber security. There is more demand for this than there is good people to do it, and people get paid extremely well to do it. In the US, entry level jobs are between $50k-75k and once you get experience it's not hard to get a job paying 6 figures (over $100k).

I don't think the salary for CS majors are going to stay that high for long. A lot of high schools are now offering CS courses. You also have to keep mind a lot of tech leaders have been pushing for more H1b visas to drive down wages.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Oh, and takes a lot of time and patience to be good at programming. Simply getting a bachelors isn't enough.

 

[cIementine]

i think either accounting or web design. they both seem reasonably steady and secure but that being said you can never tell. if you think accounting will bore you, then don't go for it. if web design will allow you to be flexible and do something you enjoy then go for it. just do what you think will be useful and will benefit you while also not draining the life out of you. good luck choosing and i hope all goes well!