You’ve planned it all out perfectly: attend the school of your dreams, major in the one field that you know is right for you, and then graduate with that well-paying job that will be waiting for you on graduation day. It’s your future, 2.0, and you’re determined to make it happen.

Then you find yourself three years into school, a seasoned student, majoring in a field that yup–you guessed it–won’t pay the bills. You’ve heard Sallie Mae horror stories, and you don’t want to end up one of those college graduates ducking and dodging the student loan collectors once that grace period is up. So, while you still have a chance, it’s time to revise that plan of yours. If there’s anything you’ll learn in college, it’s how to be practical, and let’s be real–you’ll practically kill yourself if you have to move back in with your parents after graduation.

Lucky for you, it isn’t too late to switch to a field that you know will have a job waiting for you with a decent salary once you graduate. (Note: I’m talking to those of you still in undergrad. For all you recent grads, well, I feel you.) These select fields are always hiring, welcoming all you proactive undergrads who are eager to do almost anything (yes, even switching majors at the last minute!) for a paycheck that’ll keep you off of mom’s couch after graduation. Here’s a list of 6 fields (and their average salaries) for you to consider when the near-graduation jitters begin.

Take it from me, this post-grad-still-living-at-home-with-mom knows just what she’s talking about. Happy (job) hunting! Read More »

It’s 2011, right? Um, so can anyone tell me why women are STILL getting paid less than men for equal work? Because, as a newly minted college grad looking to jump start my career (and pay off my loans), I’d really like to know.

In a study of nearly 13,000 graduating seniors last fall, researchers discovered that the median starting salary for female college graduates with bachelor’s degrees was $36,451. Not bad, right? Except that the median salary for male college graduates with a bachelor’s degree was $7,708 more. For the same job.

So, apparently having a penis gets you a pay raise? I guess all of those nights I spent praying for boobs in 7th grade would’ve been better spent asking for something else.

The statistics are sad and infuriating. After all, women make up over 50% of university classes! We’re being educated like never before, so it’s not like that’s working against our changes. And the study could not find a correlation between college major and earning, meaning that it’s not like guys are making more money because they tend to pursue a field that pays more. They’re just getting paying more…because they’re men. And keep in mind this is before the company sees any type of job performance.

That sounds fair and equal. Read More »

Whether you’re at an Ivy League school, a small private university, or your local community college, we can all agree on one thing: higher education is expensive. Even with a few scholarships and some financial aid, we all dread the fact that once we graduate, we obtain two things: a degree and a giant mountain of debt.

I was brought up believing that the world consisted of two groups: people with degrees and people without degrees. I went through life thinking that the people with degrees ran the big businesses and drove fancy cars, and that the people without degrees worked at McDonald’s (unless they got lucky and invented Apple computers or Google instead). I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I was brought up to believe that having a college degree meant you’d succeed in this world.

The only problem? No one told me- or ANY of us- that the economy would crash and that our government would be trillions of dollars in debt. The jobs that were open and ready to hire five years ago are gone now and thousands of people are getting laid off every day. The promise of a bright future and dream career have become more of a fairytale than a guarantee. When graduation day comes, will any of us really have those advantages and benefits that we were always told would set us apart from everyone else?

It doesn’t seem that way, and now even the people at the top are starting to wonder if our higher education system is working, or worth anything, anymore. Read More »

The following is a guest post by our (nerdy) friends at Hack College, the #1 tech site for college students. Check ‘em out.

As hopefully all of you know, LinkedIn is a professional networking website that allows those looking for jobs, especially college students, to create profiles and look for business and career opportunities. It’s a really fantastic service, and if you haven’t signed up yet, you definitely should. LinkedIn caters to 80 million users worldwide and is an easy-to-use tool that may help you find a job or career after college.

To add to its professional networking services, LinkedIn recently added a new feature to its site called Career Explorer. The new feature will allow college students to essentially map out their desired career path and visualize how they can attain this path. Students are able to look at career paths that those before them have taken in order to understand what steps they must take to get to their goals.

On LinkedIn’s press page, the chief executive officer of LinkedIn Jeff Weiner said,”LinkedIn is about connecting talent with opportunity at massive scale. Career Explorer is the latest example of how we make that possible by providing one of our fastest growing demographics, students and recent college graduates, unique and valuable insights enabling them to develop the optimal career path. We’re excited to be launching this product in partnership with PwC, one of the largest and most forward thinking recruiters of new graduates.” Read More »

I feel like everyday I’m reading stories, such as the one The Huffington Post ran yesterday, that dish out an extra-large helping of negativity aimed at my generation- the Millenials, Gen-Y, the Peter Pan Generation, Generation Next, the Echo Boomers.  We seem to inspire a lot of labels, but sadly not as much confidence from our predecessors.  They say we’re drowning in debt, hopelessly unemployed, cluelessly over-educated…I say f*ck you.

Do I sound bitter?  That’s because I am.  As a recent graduate, I’m experiencing a lot of what my elders are talking about.  Yes, I’m unemployed.  Yes, I’m an intern.  And yes, I will be paying off my student loans for the next thousand years.  But, unlike Mom and Dad, I’m not writing my generation off just yet.  Here’s why:

We’re pretty freakin’ smart. In numbers exponentially greater than previous generations, we’re earning college degrees and seeking even higher education.  Add the fact that we’re tech-savvy and hip to social networking and you might just say our generation revolutionized the way humans interact.  Next time you catch your mom getting her Facebook fix, tell her Mark Zuckerberg was just 20 when he launched the site from his dorm room in 2004.

We’re ballsy. I believe the term “disrespectful” has been tossed around quite a bit in regard to the spawn of the Baby Boomers.  Now, I’m not about to defend Kanye’s stage manners (and lack thereof) or the oft-terrifying rap stylings of Eminem, but I will say that young people today know what they want and aren’t afraid to be outspoken about it.  We engage politicians, confront campus officials, and know how to protest like it was Vietnam all over again. Read More »

Another bad BF for Anne Hathaway.

A little financial advice for new grads.

Lindsay Phillips is a fashion genius.

E*Trade shows Lindsay Lohan who’s boss.

Lady Gaga will tour forever and ever….

Ole Miss hops on the flash mob bandwagon.

Job Wanted.

When we all entered our senior year of high school, the question on everyone’s mind was where they’d be going to college. We worked our asses off to get decent SAT scores and spent every weekend for months writing essays about why we were more wonderful than the thousands of other students applying for the same coveted place on campus.

Four years and a degree later, I now find myself asking a different question: I did all of this for what, exactly?

Of course, I’ve had the time of my life in college. The parties, the late night gossip fests with my roommate, the 4 a.m. diner visits – all of it was totally worth memorizing SAT vocab words and relearning geometry. But when it’s all said and done (which in my case is way too close for comfort), with $120,000 down the hole, what does my little graduation certificate get me exactly?

Apparently, not much. Read More »

If you’re graduating this spring and you’ve managed to score a job you’re probably thanking god (if you still believe there is one) and thinking you’re super lucky. But think again. Because according to the WSJ, those currently entering the labor market won’t only be suffering from low-salary syndrome this year, but for, uh, ten more to come. Yes, ten years—or more!

See, supposedly if you graduate when the economy, uh, sucks (like in 2009), you’ll end up making about 100K less over the next 20 years than your bud (soon to be mortal enemy) who will graduate in better times. Why? WSJ says that even if the economy bounces back in a few years, while you’ve been working your butt off in the tiny firm no one has heard of, your luckier friend has just been hired at Bank of America. And now, although he’s two years your junior, he has more experience, a better resume, and a bit, or a ton, more moolah than you do. So while he will move steadily up the ladder, you will have a much harder time finding better and brighter pastures, and your wages may suffer (what seems like) eternally.

But hey, money doesn’t matter, right? Read More »

You hear the same marketing crap all the time: you’re in college to better your future.

Of course, having a Bachelors doesn’t really do anything anymore. I’ve heard about a ton about people who have their Bachelors and are working at a Domino’s or something. Getting a Masters seems like the next logical step, for students and apparently their parents. So is it such a bad thing that I really don’t want to go?

Being around a ton of people who are all talking about getting recommendations and narrowing down their grad school list makes me realize more and more that grad school really isn’t for me. My mom’s look of horror when I told her this one day this summer is the only thing I see when I talk about wanting to go into vet tech after I get out of school. Issue is, as an English major, I’m mildly suffering with what-do-I-do- with-this-diploma? syndrome. Publishing and editing are options, sure, but I don’t want to deal with that crap. It seems that some people assume that because a field has something to do with your major, you will inevitably want to be a part of that field.

And of course, there’s that inevitable money issue breathing down the necks of graduates. Do you stay in school for another two years so you don’t have to pay off loans just yet? Everyone seems to sort of just assume that jobs are lining up to grab college grads, but with the economy the way it is, I’m thinking that this is somehow far from the case. More and more of my senior class seems to be regretting their major because there’s nothing they can do with it to get money. What ever happened to going to college to just learn? Read More »

A bachelor’s degree is a funny thing. Depending on your major, it’s either the equivalent of an extremely pricey receipt with a huge FINAL SALE stamp on it, sending you off to continue your studies, or it sends you to work. In either situation, the joys of the undergraduate lifestyle are mourned on almost a daily basis.

No more are the nights of frat parties and pregaming at seven A.M. for football games. The real world isn’t all bad, don’t get me wrong, but before you make that giant leap to becoming a legitimate person, take the time to consider what lies ahead.

1.) The phrase “I need” has likely lost its charm with your parents. Unless it’s food or some sort of medical emergency, they know damn well you’ll spend any extra money to supplement your happy hour four work nights a week. They also know you’re making money, and therefore, shouldn’t spend it if you don’t have it. This is never not depressing. You can only fake having to go to the doctor so many times before they realize you’re on your own insurance, and sadly, cute little dresses no longer qualify as “emergency” spending. Read More »