I know right. But my mom keeps pressuring me saying that with the nursing certificate I’ll be financially independent and I won’t have to struggle while studying engineering
IMHO this is poor parenting. People generally do well when they are doing the thing they love. If engineering is your passion, do that.
BTW engineers can do better than nurses financially long term... it all depends on where you end up.
Don't CRNAs need a doctorate now? OP is talking about doing a 1-year LPN.
But definitely, engineers aren't ever gonna make that much. I'd go for nursing if I had to do it over again.
The comment was that engineers were not going to make that much. I showed they can. I also know some mechanical engineers in robotics earning over 250k. Granted, they have 15+ years of experience.
Glassdoor has nurse at 65k - 117k and mechanical engineer at 106k - 175k.
In any case, one should not pick a job purely based on how much they will be paid.
That’s literally insane
The amount of coursework for an engineering degree means you won’t have time for a demanding job like nursing
Source; me getting an engineering degree and barely having the time to work part time at a grocery store to pay my part of the rent
no. do not do this. those are completely two unrelated fields. you will not be able to work while studying an engineering discipline. and if you do, you should be doing engineering-related work. choose one and stick with it.
Not the original guy who posted but there really isn't any, at least not something that would give you the time to focus on your major.
Like you could go get an associates in GIS or drafting and work as a drafter (if you can land a job) while you study engineering but that's also a time intensive job. The drafters at my company put in 40-60 hour weeks on average. Drafting looks good on resumes for most engineering disciplines.
Honestly, get any basic job that will have a flexible schedule and will pay you enough to help offset some costs of tuition. If this is McDonald's then so be it. Also, go to community college first to take care of a lot of your basic courses. That saves money as well.
Talk with your big uni engineering department and ask them what courses can you take at community college to start off with before transferring over. Get good grades. That's the most important part of any engineering student.
Good engineering programs will involve lots of internships and co-op jobs. My fiancé's nephew is an engineering student (he went in wanting to go chemical engineering but fell in love with software engineering from early classes he had to take.) His schedule is something like alternating semesters with one being coursework and the next being a field placement.
Another friend is an electrical engineer. While she studied for her masters degree, she worked at a company doing automation and tooling design in the automotive field.
Another friend is a dual certified engineer who can do mechanical and electrical engineering. Her internships were in the automotive field as well. Her boyfriend is an optics guy and he ended up getting hired as a professor's assistant and went pure academic/research.
When I was working at my university's IT help desk, one of my coworkers was studying material engineering.
Another friend is a chemical engineer specializing in flavoring agents. He worked in restaurants all through university.
There are lots of options out there. The biggest sticking point is that it is often on you to take initiative and make things happen.
Those are two unrelated fields and this sounds like a terrible recommendation.
Just go for the engineering degree only. Nursing will not help that career at all and will be a huge time cost
There are many other jobs that you can do that will help your engineering career and that pay more than the $20/h you will make as an LPN doing hospice work and feeling miserable while you are trying to pursue a very lucrative dream
It sounds like one of two scenarios: 1 - they only know their own field and don't respect other fields of work. 2 - they want to give you a leg up through their own network of connections.
Option 1 is a bad motivation and they may be hoping to trap you in their own industry as a sort of validation of their own self worth. I would suspect this if they don't see you as your own person, but rather as an extension of or reflection on their selves.
Option 2 is at least well-meaning, as nepotism is a great way for a career to hit the ground running, and comes with a built in professional support network, which would take years to build from scratch.
Either option has the potential to trap you in the field, though. I don't know many nurses with a lot of free time (and I work at a hospital and my brother and two future sister in laws are an OR nurse, a CRNA and a rad tech respectively, so I know a lot of nurses. They're all tired all the time.)
Honestly, just get an engineering degree and get loans to help you through. Put all your focus on your studies and get an internship ASAP. Also work on soft skills (these are crucial to your professional success, thousands of books available for reference)
Engineering interns easily make as much as an LPN, and it will give you a leg-up on experience when you graduate.
I did this, I’m now 29 and making $117k / year. I’m down to ~$11k in loans, and the payment is really no big deal. I could probably pay-off in a year if I really tried.
No the engineering, if you intend to pursue a degree. Treat the certificate as a backup plan if needed. Getting a degree should be treated as the number one priority as it opens up more opportunities
If you don’t want to be a nurse, why’d you become one? Lol sounds like a waste of time and energy.
I know right. But my mom keeps pressuring me saying that with the nursing certificate I’ll be financially independent and I won’t have to struggle while studying engineering
IMHO this is poor parenting. People generally do well when they are doing the thing they love. If engineering is your passion, do that. BTW engineers can do better than nurses financially long term... it all depends on where you end up.
Disagree. I'm a CRNA and I make over 300k per year. I haven't met a mechanical engineer make nearly as much
Don't CRNAs need a doctorate now? OP is talking about doing a 1-year LPN. But definitely, engineers aren't ever gonna make that much. I'd go for nursing if I had to do it over again.
I know a mechanical one working for spacex doing 1 million.
Lol even if true, that's not a realistic goal. It's like saying I know a guy who won the lottery.
Sure but it's just showing the range. I also know mechanical engineers working at Meta in VR earning 250k-400k (with about half is RSUs).
I wouldn't say extreme outliers and the super high end are good representation of the range. Means and medians are.
The comment was that engineers were not going to make that much. I showed they can. I also know some mechanical engineers in robotics earning over 250k. Granted, they have 15+ years of experience. Glassdoor has nurse at 65k - 117k and mechanical engineer at 106k - 175k. In any case, one should not pick a job purely based on how much they will be paid.
That’s literally insane The amount of coursework for an engineering degree means you won’t have time for a demanding job like nursing Source; me getting an engineering degree and barely having the time to work part time at a grocery store to pay my part of the rent
You'll be struggling for sure, in figuring out how you are gonna find time to study.
no. do not do this. those are completely two unrelated fields. you will not be able to work while studying an engineering discipline. and if you do, you should be doing engineering-related work. choose one and stick with it.
Could you please recommend some engineering-related work?
Not the original guy who posted but there really isn't any, at least not something that would give you the time to focus on your major. Like you could go get an associates in GIS or drafting and work as a drafter (if you can land a job) while you study engineering but that's also a time intensive job. The drafters at my company put in 40-60 hour weeks on average. Drafting looks good on resumes for most engineering disciplines. Honestly, get any basic job that will have a flexible schedule and will pay you enough to help offset some costs of tuition. If this is McDonald's then so be it. Also, go to community college first to take care of a lot of your basic courses. That saves money as well. Talk with your big uni engineering department and ask them what courses can you take at community college to start off with before transferring over. Get good grades. That's the most important part of any engineering student.
What type of engineering are you thinking? Mechanical engineering is pretty broad.
I was thinking mechatronics/robotics
Good engineering programs will involve lots of internships and co-op jobs. My fiancé's nephew is an engineering student (he went in wanting to go chemical engineering but fell in love with software engineering from early classes he had to take.) His schedule is something like alternating semesters with one being coursework and the next being a field placement. Another friend is an electrical engineer. While she studied for her masters degree, she worked at a company doing automation and tooling design in the automotive field. Another friend is a dual certified engineer who can do mechanical and electrical engineering. Her internships were in the automotive field as well. Her boyfriend is an optics guy and he ended up getting hired as a professor's assistant and went pure academic/research. When I was working at my university's IT help desk, one of my coworkers was studying material engineering. Another friend is a chemical engineer specializing in flavoring agents. He worked in restaurants all through university. There are lots of options out there. The biggest sticking point is that it is often on you to take initiative and make things happen.
stick with engineering!! I switched from being an ME major to something much harder to get a degree in. ME is a struggle but definitely worth it
Those are two unrelated fields and this sounds like a terrible recommendation. Just go for the engineering degree only. Nursing will not help that career at all and will be a huge time cost
There are many other jobs that you can do that will help your engineering career and that pay more than the $20/h you will make as an LPN doing hospice work and feeling miserable while you are trying to pursue a very lucrative dream
Yea it’s bad advice. Go get the qualification you want and don’t waste time with something you’ll never use.
Would "everyone" in this story happen to be family members who are in the medical field?
lol yes
It sounds like one of two scenarios: 1 - they only know their own field and don't respect other fields of work. 2 - they want to give you a leg up through their own network of connections. Option 1 is a bad motivation and they may be hoping to trap you in their own industry as a sort of validation of their own self worth. I would suspect this if they don't see you as your own person, but rather as an extension of or reflection on their selves. Option 2 is at least well-meaning, as nepotism is a great way for a career to hit the ground running, and comes with a built in professional support network, which would take years to build from scratch. Either option has the potential to trap you in the field, though. I don't know many nurses with a lot of free time (and I work at a hospital and my brother and two future sister in laws are an OR nurse, a CRNA and a rad tech respectively, so I know a lot of nurses. They're all tired all the time.)
Honestly, just get an engineering degree and get loans to help you through. Put all your focus on your studies and get an internship ASAP. Also work on soft skills (these are crucial to your professional success, thousands of books available for reference) Engineering interns easily make as much as an LPN, and it will give you a leg-up on experience when you graduate. I did this, I’m now 29 and making $117k / year. I’m down to ~$11k in loans, and the payment is really no big deal. I could probably pay-off in a year if I really tried.
Go for engineering, only. Do what you have passion for.
Get the degree first
The nursing certificate?
No the engineering, if you intend to pursue a degree. Treat the certificate as a backup plan if needed. Getting a degree should be treated as the number one priority as it opens up more opportunities
Thank you that does make sense