Which College Majors Will Make You A 1%'er: The Answer May Surprise
By now we know that at least according to conventional wisdom says one has to be a banker, lawyer, or hedge fund manager to be guaranteed a spot in the fabled "1%". But a still outstanding question is what college-level studies do future 1%'ers take to end up in the top of the social pyramid? As the NYT shows, the result is quite surprising. As it turns out, "the majors that give you the best chance of reaching the 1 percent are pre-med, economics, biochemistry, zoology and, yes, biology, in that order." Just as curious, in terms of actual proportional representation, coming in at 1.9 million, the second most represented major within the 1% is... English and English Language. Bottom line - good news for Liberal Arts majors: all you have to do to get that PM job in Greenwich is to convince the boss that extensive knowledge of Shakespeare's sonnets is conducive to procuring some quality "information arbitrage" (on an untapped phone line of course). Alas, bad news for sociology and geology majors - these two are nowhere to be found, dooming the Rocks for Jocks crowd to a life of "99%"ism.
From the NYT:
Below is a chart showing the majors most likely to get into the 1 percent (excluding majors held by fewer than 50,000 people in 2010 census data). The third column shows the percentage of degree holders with that major who make it into the 1 percent. The fourth column shows the percent of the 1 percent (among college grads) that hold that major. In other words, more than one in 10 people with a pre-med degree make it into the 1 percent, and about 1 in 100 of the 1 percenters with degrees majored in pre-med.
Of course, choice of major is not the only way to increase your chances of reaching the 1 percent, if that is your goal. There is also the sector you choose.
A separate analysis of census data on occupations showed that one in eight lawyers, for example, are in the 1 percent — unless they work for a Wall Street firm, when their chances increase to one in three. Among chief executives, fewer than one in five rank among the 1 percent, but their chances increase if the company produces medical supplies (one in four) or drugs (two in five). Hollywood writers? One in nine are 1 percenters. Television or radio writers? One in 14. Newspaper writers and editors? One in 62.
(7 votes)
»
- Login or register to post comments
- 20083 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
Similar Articles You Might Enjoy:
- Second MF Global Unveiled As Canadian Regulator Accuses Barret Capital Of Commingling Client Funds
- Guest Post: The US Education Bubble
- Arab Spring Makes An Autumn Return: Saudi Police Open Fire On Protesting Civilians
- July Case Shiller Beat And Missed At Same Time Just As Market Was About To Plunge
- Friday Humor Part Dois - Banco de Portugal "Wink Wink" Edition
I'd like a comparison between - % of the 1% who have bachelors v. % who have masters v. % who have doctorates.
Will my degree in African American Lesbian Studies do me well?
Yes, look at Condi Rice.
Top tier investment banks, elite hedge funds and select prop firms are more concerned about the calibre of the candidate than the specific area of education. The educational institution is of particular importance - graduates of colleges such as Harvard, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Princeton will have a significant advantage over candidates from mediocre colleges. These institutions like to hire natural leaders who have demonstrated exceptional initiative both in the classroom and in their personal lives. Successful candidates tend to be top of their class, head of the investment club, national chess champions or Olympic athletes. These institutions are serious about hiring and developing future talent, and they want the best of the best only,
It has indeed been my experience that 10% of the people make 90% of the money in any industry.
Viva the 2% to 10%!
If you're envious of 1% and make it your goal to become one. You will lie, cheat, copy, and steal in your [insert profession] to get there.
If your desire is just to be a FIAT 1%er you are a failure.
economics? I guess a lot of them become lawyers or are just already the children of 1%ers.
Economics is a shit degree that is commonly studied by legacies, as are a lot of the others on that list.
The "real majors" are down at the bottom...chem eng? Lol. Produce something? Actually create something? Fuck you...get down below those confettiers.
becoming a 1% er...
Hmmm... I didn't know that "being born a Rothschild" was offered as a college university course...
(excluding majors held by fewer than 50,000 people in 2010 census data)
"Community Organizer" is not on the list? HHHMMMMMMMMMMM
You fail to understand why so many economists are 1%ers. Economists are the propagandist of the university. All students have to take a course in economics and this is where the Keynesian bull shit is spread far and wide. University professors make good money and with some outside work can easily reach the top 1%.
Economists are also the way politicians justify ripping you off. Do you understand their role better? Economists baffle the peasants with bull shit and provide the smoke screen politicians and the Federal Reserve need to plunder and pillage million and billions of people all over the world.
Is that clear?
I work in the industrial automation field. I spend half of my time on Zero Hedge and surfing the internet BUT …. When there is work to be done you are on the floor working your ass off and getting dirty. It is challenging work and the money is good (top 5% easy last year), this year much less. Google Peter Principle and / or the Dilbert Principle (Oh wait Wiki is down today! LOL) and I can tell you that these are both very, very true – well at least in the automation field.
Bonus video: Taint Boil himself can be seen wandering about ha ha. No hints as to which person it is.
They also like to hire rich people who have connections, especially their children, neices and nephews, grandchildren, etc, not to mention people who went to the university they attended and have the same colour skin and don't have black hair.
Not for yard work they don't.
You must be referring to affirmative action Herman Cain.
Or Obama?
I mean if I get one more of these poor negro post I will pull my hair out. All we have been doing for the last fucking 50 years is promoting black haired idiots over smarter blonde haired people. Will these mother fuckers ever shut the fuck up.
No one cries about more bullshit on this planet than white men. BAR NONE. White bitches man up before you guys do. Funny things you guys cry when people call out facts...instead of the bullshit you promote that only you believe and get upset when no believes it. Shit you're crying now.
True. White people are complete bitches. They let a bunch of desert nomad war tribers convince them that THEY INDIVIDUALLY are responsible for shit that other people did and bear some guilt for being part of a group that has invented nearly literally EVERYTHING useful in the entirety of history.
They let a group of cousins become oligarch parasites and subvert their entire moral ethos, work ethic, sense of community, everything. People shake the hands of savages that murder their daughters, and don't feel "whole" until their daughters' wombs are used for propagating colored bastards. And even then, they are STILL guilty, just for EXISTING.
The control structure of parasitism is inherently antagonistic to COMPETITION. There is plenty of money to be made on things like vice trades and slavery, even in a world absent anglosaxon innovation.
I know this is as cathartic as it gets for you so have at it. That is unless you're around a group of friends or family. People like yourself should be grateful that you have a few psychopaths at the "top" that allow certain benefits to extend to you. You're not superior...you're a fucking benefactor that better pay his taxes or else.
STFU. Unles you have trigger time you didn't do shit.
Unless I was taken advantage of? LOL....ask Henry Kissenger what you low asvab punk motherfuckers are good for...
I think those two think this is stormfront, or something.
Your "disadvantaged & disgruntled" white guy forum is that way.
These fucking idiots love to fall back on race because it's a convenient excuse for them. It allows them to 'act' superior without any effort.
For the record, you "angry white guys": it's nurture, not nature. And every time "race" is brought up, you'll always see the same idiots hanging around. Do they get off on this shit? I bet they do. Fucking conditioned little monkeys. I'm getting sick of this dumbass economics guy spamming up every thread, too.
Dear "Economics,"
I've read in your past comments that you're a teacher. How about you try to teach people instead accepting yourself as a fucking failure of an instructor and soaking up your institution's funds. You're doing a wonderful job of dumbing down the Zero Hedge population, though.
Thanks and GTFO,
Incubus
Agree wholeheartedly.
They (disgruntled white guys) like the "race" crutch as a basis for supposed "superiority" just as much as black people love using it as an excuse for their inequity.
They're a bunch of balding or middle aged losers who need an excuse as to why their lives amount to massive amount of failure--and what better way to do that than to blame everyone and everything but themselves?
"Race" is a nice way to socialize the achievements of a few individuals and pin it on to yourself, like the fuck you did anything that any of those individuals did. God, I fucking hate people, let me tell you.
I'm a misanthrope for a reason: people come in too many flavors of stupid. None of these zero hedge wannabe badass "racists" will tell me anything differently other than excuse upon excuse as to why they're supposedly better because they're trying to claim accomplishments that they themselves had nothing to do with.
And I bet a lot of them love that nasty bitch, Ayn Rand, too. Bunch of fucking hypocrites. They love to talk tough, but they're just a bunch of blubbering pusses.
And what the fuck are they gonna do? Downrate me? I'm so fucking hurt, you bunch of worthless fucking failures. Why don't you losers go kill yourselves. And I mean it, too. You're (ZH racist crew) all a bunch of ugly trash that hate the world because you can't do anything with your lives. (and I mean that, also. I look better than you ugly disgruntled fucks. Seriously, I have better looks than most people...and I bet you hate me because I was "genetically lucky," huh?)
Back to that cretinous economist1996: if he was serious about being a teacher, it's no wonder America is going down the drain: when you have extra chromosomal trash like him teaching the future of America, what do you expect to happen? This is a lesson in why America fails, people. After reading his comments here on Zero Hedge, lord help anyone in his class that doesn't fall into his preferred demographic; there's hardly anything objective about his perspective. If he's man enough, he'd state what school he teaches at, so he can be reported and reviewed--if he's so confident in his instructional abilities and capability of remaining objective. But no, he's too comfortable collecting his welfare sum from a college while sabotaging people he doesn't like, based on genetic preferences.
Come on, you bitch: state your name and where you teach. Let's see how far removed Zero Hedge is from your parasitic social existence.
You see, though, people? This is another example of why western civilization can't cut it: too many pussies who are more interested in safeguarding what they've been handed in life than to work for anything greater than themselves. I hope all of these people like "economics1996" suffer greatly. When TSHTF, he doesn't deserve a quick death for what he's done in life.
Then prove yer moral superiority, alleviate some suffering: http://www.worldvision.org
so fucking relieved to finally see this called out on zerohedge, keep at it.
SERIOUSLY
If you are a white dude and you still can't make it in life? You are a failure at life.
It all makes sense to me now. You would have to have a liberal arts degree to construct a financial system such as we have. I am not surprised it isn't required to have a degree in Art appreciation to dream up this masterpiece.
The amount of people studying accounting (big regulations) and political science (big government) vs health (which everyone really needs) just shows how fucked up everything is.
I'm curious to see how many are studying law.
What the fuck are 147k people doing studying international relations?
Those guys should be building more aircraft carriers! the best international relation there is.
mdb, you ..complete me.
(I realize now exactly why I should be rightfully ashamed of my low-brow, public-school, albeit paid-for u-mass degree)
There's no need to be ashamed. These elite institutions offer highly desirable compensation packages, with benefits far exceeding those of the average employee. Places are limited and compeition is fierce, so not everybody can be guarenteed a place.
I can see why you are so popular. Thank you for the infomercial.
These institutions are serious about hiring and developing future talent, and they want the best of the best only,
then why does the industry need countless taxpayer bailouts? You go to those schools for one reason: to learn how to steal on a massive scale
An undergraduate degree is simply conditioning you to turn in your work on time.
Blah blah blah. I can sum up your paragraph in one sentence: Who ever can frontrun the fastest or figure out a way to get more Fed money gets picked.
Best my ass. More like greediest.
I think I just gave myself a hernia, I laughed so hard.
SF,She was taught by no other than madeline albright's Dad.
only if it came from Princeton
There ought to be a degree in jacking-off. Most college graduates today would voluntarily take 15 years to get their Bachelor of Arts.
That's not a degree study program... It's simply a proficiency exam for getting an SEC license...
Two different things...
So if I demonstrate "porn proficiency", I can get a job at the SEC? Parasite sector pays twice as much as the Productive sector, along with all kinds of unearned bennies too. Hope! Change! America-- Fuck Yeah!
Ya know it just might.
There's an argument to be made that the reason you see a higher % of pre med majors becoming "1%ers," than finance majors, is because its a less competitive sector. Surely the brilliant statisticians at the NYT grasp that if 100,000 more people decide to be doctors this year than last, you won't see 10,000 more doctors who are "1%ers." Why bother with facts when you have a good narrative though? (self criticism intended)
according to the chart, that is one step higher than a finance major.
I agree, biology, zoology and biochem all funnel into Pre-Med, so study may not be sufficiently designed to provide accurate, useful information. On a side note, I just returned from Ghana and learned that the pay ratio for a physician vs. educated worker (college degree) was about 6-7x higher, and over 10x higher than unskilled laborer, which is similar to ratio that exists in US.
This material looks dated to me. It's not what has happened already, it's where we are going that counts. Pre-med? Not when they want to take healthcare from 15% of GDP to 10% and force docs to be employed by hsopitals. That ship has sailed.
It would be more interesting to find out if the respondents' parents ranked in the 1%...especially the English majors.
Pre-Med.......not for long under Obamacare!
The bureaucrat will see you now....
Also, I'd like to see marriage-adjusted figures for Art History majors.
Indeed. Nothing has the potential to pay better than a strategically earned "MRS" degree!
Or "Ex-Mrs." It's an executive program funded by New York State legislation... You attend only briefly and walk away with huge income.
Thank you, feminism and no fault divorce.
Every nursing school undergrad I knew at Michigan in the early '80s married some med-school student and dropped out. They were fun to date when freshmen or sophomores, but after that it was med students only.
Exactly. I pity anyone that plans to use this data for the future. Things are going to change drastically in the medical field. Heck, a doctor lives across the street from me. His wife has been forced to get a job because he cannot! Apparently, the hospitals in our area are better off not hiring someone with his skills, and he's been replaced by 4-5 lower paid in training doctors instead. The closest job offer he's had is Colorado, and he doesn't want to move. He of course has over 100K in student loan debt as well.
Highly trained physicians and surgeons will always make bank. In countries where they pay-rate of surgeons is less than taxi drivers, there is still extreme competition to become surgeons. Because they will make most of their money outside the system, working privately, under the table.
Unless as a physician,one serves the 1%,forget about becoming rich.Go for CEO of HMOs.
Better yet, inheritance-adjusted.
Not too many common people in those classes.
Time to cue Shatner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc4Avp-6YBk
You rang?
Alas, poor Yorick, his funds were rehypothecated Horatio.
I think this is somewhat misrepresentative.Given that many of those undergrad degree's that are highly represented in the 1% usually have either an MBA, LLB or a masters degree to compliment their undergrad degree.
Btw, nothing says "trust fund chick" or "royal" like a degree in "art history"....just saying.
I was thinking of getting an MBA. What does that take? Like, a couple of weeks?
Mail order
Probably get a, buy one get one free on a mail order MBA + mail order bride.
Couple weeks, sounds fair.
~1 year/34 hours. Depends what your undergrad was... if you have the basic business courses completed, then you should be able to knock it out in a year easy with summer school (unless they'll let you take that many graduate hours during the semester proper). If not, plan on a longer stay...
Find some place cheap in state and bang that shit out asap... or, alternatively, find an employer that will pay your way. Many of the programs are set up to offer courses in the evening so that you can work during the day.
If you want to be a fancy pants and go for your phd, they'll probably pay you to do your course work and even if you fail your comps, you'll end up with a masters out of the deal... just depends on how much time you want to blow and your opportunity cost...
Large amounts of money.
Not really... I got mine for ~$12k w/ in state tuition and having a business undergrad... can basically pay for itself in 1 year of employment... not a tough decision.
The people who are looking at 20 years to repay their loans might reconsider... (I literally know of no one who is paying off principal early).
In large part, a degree is a fungible product.
That's quite surprising actually. The MBA factories seem to be huge money grabs from what I can see.
MBA guy: I have an MBA and yet I keep losing money in the stock market. How can this be?
Dilbert's boss: I put all of my money in gold because it's shiny. My portfolio doubled last year.
Dilbert's boss: I'm thinking of getting an MBA. How long does it take? A week?
http://www.cleananalyst.com/2011/10/01/dilbert-mbas-stocks-vs-gold-non-mbas/Btw, nothing says "trust fund chick" or "royal" like a degree in "art history"....just saying.
Exactly, how many where in the 1% before whatever title they got?
Yes, the chart is meaningless without eliminating all those who were in the 1% prior to getting a degree. Without that added change it says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about which degrees lead people to the 1% from not being in the 1%.
... and just to be clear, I believe that being in the 1% simply labels the type of person one is and where their priorities lie ... and little else. Even though it is pounded into our heads day and night that we should strive to become one of the 1%, along with using lots of cosmetics to change our appearance and have sex 6 times a day (or more), IMO (and experience) this is not what life is about.
It is the distraction.
My thoughts exactly...there's no better way to get rich than to start rich.
So computer scientists and programmers are screwed. But that's where there are 1000s of jobs.
computer scientists, programmers, engineers, etc. = Fry cooks of industry.
Better than majoring in "mass communications" or "liberal arts" and getting all the free internships you can get your hands on.
I'd rather make $.
We are still on hamster wheels like everyone else in the working class. Our compensation is just higher.
and management (the valuable people LOL) have been tripping over themselves to outsource, H1B, and wage compress the industry. Who cares about the domain knowledge that walks the fuck out the door, who cares about the BUSINESS? It's all just cost and profit numbers to these morons and making the next quarter's bonus.
When the last place I was at attrited people who had critical enterprise knowledge I told them to take solace in that their former salaries were going to be a bonus divided up amongst all the management up the chain (none of whom knew fuck about the particulars of how to operate the company).
Why waste ur time being scientist engineer.. no job security.no good pay.
Be a Plummer. People gotta shit..
"computer scientists, programmers, engineers, etc. = Fry cooks of industry."
Right on! I am an ex-software developer (3+ years). Never again. Two friends of mine are software developers as well; they will never do it again.
Any job performed at a desk with computer or phone is subject to offshoring. You are competing on a 'wage only' basis with barefooted people with Devry tech certificates. And this is the prime reason that US U6 unemployment is 15-20%.
To think of all that money I wasted on shoes!
Not just computer science, all the techies. I teach engineering and I see a lot of brilliant Mr. Spocks go by and shake my head thinking they will be working for some parasite one day. That said, most techies kindof like being grunts in the trenches.
100% of college grads will become debt slaves.
100%? I have not become one. My college degree in Computer Networking is quite useful, and I didn't pay for over half of it. The company I was working for at the time funded much of it through the $5250 tax break they received. The only debt I have from student loans is very small, and I'm leaving it unpaid because the interest rate on it is lower than current inflation. Why bother?
Just like a techie to answer that way - in a specific example that relates just to them about a general trend...I take it metaphorical phrase, irony, and hyperbole were not part of the networking class curriculum. But it's OK. You know what else kills humor? Knowing that it is only the combination of two incompatible frames of reference and a timed delivery. Techs are great people, but the party really dies sometimes...
Many of the liberal arts majors wound up in law school.
Or as potheads living in their parents basements. To be fair, a good many went on to bigger and better things such as the Occupy movement. (not to be confused with bowel movement)
Yep. Basically take anything on the list that is liberal arts and just toss it into the lawyer category... no other explanation (other than getting a part of the academic teet and reteaching those impractical things). To a certain extent, you probably have quite a bit of spill over from the business degrees into the lawyer industry too...
I'd also be curious about double counting... I'm sure plenty of people have multiple degrees on the list.
And look at the right hand column, the share of 1%ers. Top four are:
Biology, Economics, Political Science and Accountants.
WTF mate? Biology?
Monsanto.
That's what I thought. But splicing genes gets you into the 1%? Ah, maybe royalties on the patents...
lots of docs w/ biology degrees... vets... even patent attorneys...
basically 3/4 of the list of undergrad degrees get funneled into lawyers or doctors...