okay so im about to start school in a few weeks(4yr university) and i have NO IDEA what i want to do :sosad. me and my girl were talking and i(as well as her) though it would be cool to do something in law(lawyer) and one day judge...the more i think about it i begin to realize that i probably wouldn't be happy doing that. i love learning about cars. my real dream would be to race in f1 but i pretty much know that wont happen . however i would love to work on an f1 team, or like an f1 engineer of some sort.. or maybe an automotive engineer. i loving solving problems and working with numbers.. but i have no idea how i would be able to reach that goal...i need to be in a career that makes good money and im not sure what the f1 people are making and id probably have to move to europe for a job in that.. im lost guys help me out i have no idea what i want to do .. anyone have any intresting careers they want to share with me?
oh and i will be transfering to a school that has the major i end up deciding to go with..

You can do high performance engine building

I plan on going to college for Mechanical Engineering (numbers, math, roblem solving) things you may like. Then after 4 years of that i plan on going for 2-4 Automotive Engineering. Doing it for the love of cars but some people may think I'll be working in a garage as a technician which I get sooo much. But really I'll be Designing Engines, New ways to improve them, and laying the plans of future engines and how it all works, To one day say I'm the one who designed your car buddy. My friends-Mom's-Boss used to be a job of Ford's engineering and developement area where he created new ways of from everything of improved fuel delivery to internal improvement of combustions and performance vehicles. Starting Mechanical Engineer's make 60-80k starting, anfter 2 years its usually 90 some and after youre named a "senior" which is like 6-8 years in the field you can posibly make up to 100k+. Hope this helped! I'll be checking back into this thread to see what you think of the suggestions. Chase your dream if it means something to you, its your life!

CLeMMeR said:

I plan on going to college for Mechanical Engineering (numbers, math, roblem solving) things you may like. Then after 4 years of that i plan on going for 2-4 Automotive Engineering. Doing it for the love of cars but some people may think I'll be working in a garage as a technician which I get sooo much. But really I'll be Designing Engines, New ways to improve them, and laying the plans of future engines and how it all works, To one day say I'm the one who designed your car buddy. My friends-Mom's-Boss used to be a job of Ford's engineering and developement area where he created new ways of from everything of improved fuel delivery to internal improvement of combustions and performance vehicles. Starting Mechanical Engineer's make 60-80k starting, anfter 2 years its usually 90 some and after youre named a "senior" which is like 6-8 years in the field you can posibly make up to 100k+. Hope this helped! I'll be checking back into this thread to see what you think of the suggestions. Chase your dream if it means something to you, its your life!

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i have always had mechanical engineering in mind as well.. and just recently began to think about automotive engineering as well. i think im going to start looking into mechanical engineering and see what schools offer it around me. i love working on cars and learning about them and thats why automotive engineering is being considered right now. i think im in the same boat as you are. thinking designing future cars is what id love. because i know i probably wouldnt make very much money as a tech haha. and money is a huge factor in this too. i think i could sacrifice the love for something for the money . and engineering is something i think id be good at because i love numbers and the pay doesnt look that bad to me . thanks for the advice . anyone else have anything to say? please chime in .

dsmrebel084 said:

You can do high performance engine building

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thats a cool idea but i dont know how easy it would be to begin in that. and i am not sure about the pay on that as well

I plan on going to school for high performance engine building(that includes machining wrk to) and I also will be going for a engineering degree and a Doctors of Chiropractic degree.

2 yr auto degree, help my gf get her 2 yr nursing degree, then its back to get my 4 yr auto engineer degree, or whatver its called, I'm half way there...

Find a mentor, or someone who is in the field that you want to do and has been for awhile. They will give you the no BS laydown on whats involved in getting there. Ask alot of questions. Then forget about everything else, the car, GF, and put your heart and soul into it NOW and it will payoff in the end. Don't be one of those idiots that went to school for 4yrs, received a liberal arts degree degree and doesn't understand why they can't find a job.

Alex7747 said:

okay so im about to start school in a few weeks(4yr university) and i have NO IDEA what i want to do :sosad.

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Life has this habit of taking you places you don't expect so don't stress too much about not knowing what you want to do.

Use the next 4 years (or more) to learn what you like, what your good at, what you not good at, and what you want to improve. Explore new things and learn as much as you can. Make sure to try things outside of what your used to.

Make sure the core classes you take are transferable since you're thinking you may go somewhere else to graduate.

Make sure you keep your grades up even if that means dropping courses that aren't going well or are too much on top of everything else your doing.

Your perspective on life is going to change/expand greatly over the next few years and as long as you keep asking yourself these questions about who you are and what do you want to do the answers will come.

gixrman said:

Find a mentor, or someone who is in the field that you want to do and has been for awhile. They will give you the no BS laydown on whats involved in getting there. Ask alot of questions. Then forget about everything else, the car, GF, and put your heart and soul into it NOW and it will payoff in the end. Don't be one of those idiots that went to school for 4yrs, received a liberal arts degree degree and doesn't understand why they can't find a job.

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thanks for the advice i guess i will have to try and find a mentor on whatever it is i end up wanting to do. and i cant forget the gf most of the things i do, i do because of her. she is my motivation. i know i might just sound like another teenager haha and i realize that. but shes the one. and that liberal arts degree thing was funny. i will make sure whatever i do will have jobs and that pay well..just unsure at the moment.

steve said:

Life has this habit of taking you places you don't expect so don't stress too much about not knowing what you want to do.

Use the next 4 years (or more) to learn what you like, what your good at, what you not good at, and what you want to improve. Explore new things and learn as much as you can. Make sure to try things outside of what your used to.

Make sure the core classes you take are transferable since you're thinking you may go somewhere else to graduate.

Make sure you keep your grades up even if that means dropping courses that aren't going well or are too much on top of everything else your doing.

Your perspective on life is going to change/expand greatly over the next few years and as long as you keep asking yourself these questions about who you are and what do you want to do the answers will come.

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yeah im expecting to change over the next four+ years im in school. theres no way around that. right now i know i like math and cars and science. math and science are my strong points. i never really had to try to get good grades in those subjects. but once school starts i know i will have to try a lot harder in those classes. because im the sort of person that if i choose to do something i have to be the best at it, especially if its something i plan on doing for the rest of my life or a good amount of it. will automotive engineering i can see myself being good at it and being successful, same with mechanical engineering..

high performance engine building would be more like a hobby in my eyes though. i want to do something that means a lot to me..if im going to do it for the rest of my life i want it to mean something. i want to be able to look back in 40 or 50 years and be completely happy with how things have gone..after all i only have one life, one shot at this...maybe im just thinking way too hard about this?

I have a 4 year auto degree, it's worthless, even more so if you spend a ton of money at places like UTI. My GPA was a 3.9X and I got a ton of offers from dealers and shops for 10.00/hour to change oil. To be a realist, as my friend's father was a Lamborghini mechanic, and his father was actually employed by Alfa Romeo for racing development, unless you have some inside contacts, it's not going to happen. If you want to actually be in the research and development aspect of it, well then you will need mechanical engineering or the equivalent and you will need to maintain top grades, and have outside automotive projects that are real movers and shakers to get into F1.

I don't want to dash your dream, but I do side with practicality. Automotive trade schools and colleges are a waste of time, all the jobs I got offered after graduating I would have gotten if I just saved the money and applied in person.

oh and thanks for all the advice guys

H4G64T said:

I have a 4 year auto degree, it's worthless, even more so if you spend a ton of money at places like UTI. My GPA was a 3.9X and I got a ton of offers from dealers and shops for 10.00/hour to change oil. To be a realist, as my friend's father was a Lamborghini mechanic, and his father was actually employed by Alfa Romeo for racing development, unless you have some inside contacts, it's not going to happen. If you want to actually be in the research and development aspect of it, well then you will need mechanical engineering or the equivalent and you will need to maintain top grades, and have outside automotive projects that are real movers and shakers to get into F1.

I don't want to dash your dream, but I do side with practicality. Automotive trade schools and colleges are a waste of time, all the jobs I got offered after graduating I would have gotten if I just saved the money and applied in person.

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thats the main reason i choose not to go to a trade school like uti. i want to be in the research and development of things (and f1 is just my dream i know that most likely wont happen). thats why i choose a 4 year, so i could be in the development (if i choose to do that) i want to challenge myself i dont just want to go to a trade school and change oil for the rest of my life..i want to solve problems work with my hands as well but mainly in the development of things..

H4G64T said:

I don't want to dash your dream, but I do side with practicality. Automotive trade schools and colleges are a waste of time, all the jobs I got offered after graduating I would have gotten if I just saved the money and applied in person.

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Really then how come I havent got hired at advanceautoparts or autozone. Yet, my younger Bs his way into a localautomotive school. He said has years of experience working in our uncle's garage which it wasnt a real garage for start/ it was all under the table work they never paid taxes etc. But he got into advance, then years later he had a really good job as a tech for Ford with an awesome set of tools. He just out of the bloom got tired of the whole auto thing sold everrything now he delivers pizza.

I say that 10 an hr Lube tech job that was mentioned isnt bad, you have to start somewhere. Way economy is jobs are hard to find.

My only advice don't expect to get that high paying job right away, from automotive school. You have to crawl before you can walk/run but yes having inside connections does help but it can be a nightmare too. "Never work with family" Its all have to say. From my experince I'll never dont again.

Unless my future gf is hott, into cars likes to work on them too. This will be my only exception.

I have no idea why you haven't gotten hired at those stores, but I can tell you that my friend and fellow DSMer, once a member here, was working as an assistant manager at AutoZone at 19 with no formal education outside of high school.

dalesmitsu said:

Really then how come I havent got hired at advanceautoparts or autozone. Yet, my younger Bs his way into a localautomotive school. He said has years of experience working in our uncle's garage which it wasnt a real garage for start/ it was all under the table work they never paid taxes etc. But he got into advance, then years later he had a really good job as a tech for Ford with an awesome set of tools. He just out of the bloom got tired of the whole auto thing sold everrything now he delivers pizza.

I say that 10 an hr Lube tech job that was mentioned isnt bad, you have to start somewhere. Way economy is jobs are hard to find.

My only advice don't expect to get that high paying job right away, from automotive school. You have to crawl before you can walk/run but yes having inside connections does help but it can be a nightmare too. "Never work with family" Its all have to say. From my experince I'll never dont again.

Unless my future gf is hott, into cars likes to work on them too. This will be my only exception.

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this is very interesting..

Alex7747 said:

okay so im about to start school in a few weeks(4yr university) and i have NO IDEA what i want to do :sosad. me and my girl were talking and i(as well as her) though it would be cool to do something in law(lawyer) and one day judge...the more i think about it i begin to realize that i probably wouldn't be happy doing that. i love learning about cars. my real dream would be to race in f1 but i pretty much know that wont happen . however i would love to work on an f1 team, or like an f1 engineer of some sort.. or maybe an automotive engineer. i loving solving problems and working with numbers.. but i have no idea how i would be able to reach that goal...i need to be in a career that makes good money and im not sure what the f1 people are making and id probably have to move to europe for a job in that.. im lost guys help me out i have no idea what i want to do .. anyone have any intresting careers they want to share with me?
oh and i will be transfering to a school that has the major i end up deciding to go with..

Click to expand...

Look into the school UTI. Universal Technical Institute. there is a wide range of options in the automotive world that can open several doors for your future. heres a link. hope this helps Universal Technical Institute (UTI) | Automotive & Mechanic Training School & Education

Alex7747 said:

this is very interesting..

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Its about my younger brother, he keeps to myself alot but only talks our uncle on personel matters. Our family has no idea why he left this good job and also ones after he left from this Ford dealer. Then he ended up at deliverying pizza.

But yeah, it is very interesting. I always wonder what he did wrong.
But he always rubber it in my face about his automotive jobs etc etc. I don't get jealous about stuff like that. I just tell him good for you way to go. Eventually I'll do that also, since I've been cars when I was young( it was an everyday thing casue my father was a gearhead and always needed a helper). But I was more into guitars/drawing. If I was in ase tech. I know I would never do things half ass.


And No I am not ### sorry.

Alex7747 said:

thanks for the advice i guess i will have to try and find a mentor on whatever it is i end up wanting to do. and i cant forget the gf most of the things i do, i do because of her. she is my motivation. i know i might just sound like another teenager haha and i realize that. but shes the one. and that liberal arts degree thing was funny. i will make sure whatever i do will have jobs and that pay well..just unsure at the moment.

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I guess i'm going off of personal experiences thats why I brought it up. I started out with a large GM dealership just by bullshiting my way in the door and small Craftsman toolbox. I worked my way up in 5yrs to one of there lead techs. and then the big V destroyed everything by conviencing me to change careers and come work for her father, bad, bad idea.

gixrman said:

I guess i'm going off of personal experiences thats why I brought it up. I started out with a large GM dealership just by bullshiting my way in the door and small Craftsman toolbox. I worked my way up in 5yrs to one of there lead techs. and then the big V destroyed everything by conviencing me to change careers and come work for her father, bad, bad idea.

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Yeah i hear you man, but that will never happen ahaha her dad hates me . jk he's cool but i wouldn't change my whole career because her unless i had no other choice. we understand each other and we wouldn't stop each other from our dreams. like her and her dancing, ill never understand why she loves it so much hahaha but if it makes her happy. I guess it makes me happy too.

Anyways, so i pretty much just finished my first quarter in college and i love it! haha i took philosophy and i loved that class. It got me thinking. I really want to major in philosophy or major in business and minor in philosophy. won't decide until next quarter is over and I've taken phil 200.

About two weeks ago i started really thinking about the lawyer thing, and if i pour my heart into it i know i can do it. so i talked to my philosophy professor and he was saying how people who major in philosophy tent to score higher in the LSAT and i love philosophy now. All i would have to do is have a high G.P.A. (i have a 4.0 so far )and a good LSAT score to increase my chances of attending a law school. Stanford is the school I'm aiming for.

Okay so i know for law school, it doesn't matter what your major is. thats the reason i want the phil and minor in business. If all else fails, i would have business as a minor. But does the school you graduate matter? because if it doesn't then I'm just staying in this school. but if it does matter, ill be transferring.

Are there any lawyers on this forum?sosad: i don't think there are) that can kind of help me out with some pointers?

Also i want to work in corporate law.
sorry for the long post..

Alex, you can find a law Mentor at your local attorney's office, ask around if you can "intern" there.

Try it out, and they can even tell you what schools, subjects, and what to expect.

Usually they are pretty happy to have interested parties, since it's free work. Besides it looks good if you are already involved, and have letters of recommendation when you start applying to schools .

on a side note, if you really did want to design cars in general, Art center in Pasadena is the premier school for Industrial design, designing future, and current concept cars, interior, and exterior. All the way from Sketches on napkins, to renderings, up to clay full size modeling. Pair that with a mechanical engineering degree, and you're golden.

Or you could be a Nurse, work 14 days a month, and make 70k+ to start. you just need a 4 yr, BS in any biology then transfer to an accelerated 15 month program.
If yo work at the Prison in Tehatchapi it starts out at 8k a month, and they're 8 hour shifts.

4g63tc said:

Alex, you can find a law Mentor at your local attorney's office, ask around if you can "intern" there.

Try it out, and they can even tell you what schools, subjects, and what to expect.

Usually they are pretty happy to have interested parties, since it's free work. Besides it looks good if you are already involved, and have letters of recommendation when you start applying to schools .

on a side note, if you really did want to design cars in general, Art center in Pasadena is the premier school for Industrial design, designing future, and current concept cars, interior, and exterior. All the way from Sketches on napkins, to renderings, up to clay full size modeling. Pair that with a mechanical engineering degree, and you're golden.

Or you could be a Nurse, work 14 days a month, and make 70k+ to start. you just need a 4 yr, BS in any biology then transfer to an accelerated 15 month program.
If yo work at the Prison in Tehatchapi it starts out at 8k a month, and they're 8 hour shifts.

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I never thought about an internship before (well i know i could do an internship later, but not now), ill look into that.

The art center in pasadena is interesting to me, I'm going to start looking that up, as well as the lawyer business.

And a nurse? i don't think id be very good at that , being around sick people all day would not be my thing...im sort of a germaphobe, to an extent haha. The pay and the hours is very tempting though. How do you like it??

Thanks for the help TC.

This is a good hangout thread. I just re-entered the work-force after 7 years as "self-employed".

F1 would be nice, but I just settled for $9/hr, +benefits. Beggars can't be choosers. Not bad after the better part of a decade with no verifiable work history. Good luck, OP. Follow your dreams, but listen to the advice of your older, more experienced, peers. Be a realist, a pragmatist.

I love being a Nurse, and you don't have to be around sick people all day there are actual Public health positions which never deal with patients.

As for being a gremaphobe, don't worry, we all are, that's why we don't get sick often.

Alex7747 said:

Stanford is the school I'm aiming for.

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One of my friends is a lawyer. She works with an attorney that went to Stanford. She went to Regent. They make the same pay.

4g63tc said:

Alex, you can find a law Mentor at your local attorney's office, ask around if you can "intern" there.

Try it out, and they can even tell you what schools, subjects, and what to expect.

Usually they are pretty happy to have interested parties, since it's free work. Besides it looks good if you are already involved, and have letters of recommendation when you start applying to schools .

on a side note, if you really did want to design cars in general, Art center in Pasadena is the premier school for Industrial design, designing future, and current concept cars, interior, and exterior. All the way from Sketches on napkins, to renderings, up to clay full size modeling. Pair that with a mechanical engineering degree, and you're golden.

Or you could be a Nurse, work 14 days a month, and make 70k+ to start. you just need a 4 yr, BS in any biology then transfer to an accelerated 15 month program.
If yo work at the Prison in Tehatchapi it starts out at 8k a month, and they're 8 hour shifts.

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Nurses in California Prisons make 8k a month?

Alex7747 said:

thats the reason i want the phil and minor in business. If all else fails, i would have business as a minor.

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Your minor means absolutely nothing when it comes time to get a job.

Philosophy majors are the ones who come online and complain about how they just can't find a job at all...Well, DUH! You picked a useless liberal arts major with no application in the real world. May as well major in Latin, Art History, Humanities or some other pointless degree.

If you want to major in Philosophy but still have a fallback, you have to double major.

However, if it were me wanting to become a lawyer, I'd double major in Political Science and Business.