What should my college major be?

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What should my college major be?

Ashan D
Renter · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2008 · 78 posts · 2 votes

Hi,

I am a nursing student who is basically done with nursing, I used to have a passion for the profession but other life priorities have taken over and now I consider myself a business person. I am a successful commodity trader so a degree is no longer as important as before.

However I'm not going to drop out of school, that would be narrow minded. I know I still need a degree if for nothing else than as a backup. To put my schooling in alignment with my new goals I want a degree that will help me with my end plan of commercial real estate investment (I'm not a dreamer, I have saved close to $100,000 so far). I was planning on taking the CCIM classes for that end, but I still need a degree in something (my parents would kill me otherwise)

I'm considering the following options:

Real Estate
Finance
Accounting

I don't know if the real estate degree is worth it because Im taking the CCIM classes in the future. Also I have heard from other RE investors that the degree does not offer much practical knowledge for an investor. But what do I know, I haven't taken any RE courses, they could teach me much more than I could learn from my RE books and CCIM courses.

The Finance degree sounds interesting for understanding how finance works. If I went this route I would not have to spend extra time in school either because I meet all the prereqs already. So even if not practically useful, I get the degree/safety net with minimal fuss and am able to get serious with commercial investment that much faster.

Accounting has the obvious benefit of me being able to handle my own books. Then again as investors we try to delegate what we can to focus on what we most importantly need to handle (the A&D) so maybe this degree has limited use as well.

The finance degree can be finished the earliest, the real estate degree will require the most amount of time (that one is not even at my school so it'll require a significant change of plans)

What do you guys think is the best option?

Thanks!

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  • Tom C
    Real Estate Investor · OH · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 86 votes
    18y

    Here is some unorthodox advice that I am sure many of the old timers around here will disagree with.

    Speaking from experience and 40K in debt with student loans. I discovered property investing toward the end of my degree program and realize that it was a huge waste of money. I do not want to be part of corp. life, as I am now. I have no interest in climbing anyone's ladder but my own.

    My advice is to finish your RN, keep your license current, whether you work as a nurse or not and forget about obtaining your degree. Your backup is nursing, if you should need to rely on someone else for a paycheck. The time of our parents telling us that a degree is a necessity are over.

    I have been in the corporate world now as a software tools expert and computer programmer for several years without a degree and I can tell you now that I have a degree, that my BSB/M means nothing . My company, like many others are shipping their work over sea's for an extra buck. I have seen many of my degreed co-workers walked out the door after giving the company their life.

    The best advice I can give you is to save your money and time and focus that on creating yourself a job that you love to do. There is nothing worse then to sit at a job that you hate every day, working 24/7, making someone else rich, only to be walked out the door one day due to downsizing when you're in your 50's. T

    here is no loyalty from either side anymore. There is no job security. The days of working your butt off and being rewarded and recognized by the company are over. There is nothing that you will learn in college that will help you be successful at running your own business. You can learn more by on the job experience or by teaming up with someone who has done it in the real world.

    It has taken me 30+ years to realize that my parents advice was based upon their understanding of the world around them. Some of it reflected reality, while much of it did not. Their advice is no longer relevant in our times and I am not to sure that it was when I was a kid either, considering where they are both today.

    Good luck

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  • Frank Adams
    Loveland, CO · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 123 votes
    18y

    Finance or Economics.

    all cash

    0Reply
  • Ram Chandrasekaran
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 137 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    Hey Ad
    I am a Mainframe Systems Programmer. Only recently (about 1 1/2 years bk) did I get in to RE investing and have been learning since. I have a computer science bachelor's degree that is useful ONLY for my current day-job.

    I have not done any RE courses neither am I planning to. Crunching numbers in RE is simple math. You do not need a Finance degree to do the numbers in RE as far as I see it. As for accounting, learn how they file your taxes using Itemized deductions, Sch E, A, 10-99, etc. and have a CPA who can do the work for you.

    I believe in doing MY work (responsibly) and seek appropriate help from my Attorney, CPA, RE Agent, etc. I do not mind paying them a fee because they are part of my RE investing team. I am a beginner and have no investments yet, but starting out with the same structure that I explained above.

    In summary, CopyBook style doesnt help in the long run. We are in the Information Age and person 'X' can learn the same Finance, RE, Accounting and Economics on the internet while you are searching for such courses in your city.

    Good Luck!
    Ram

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  • Ashan D
    OP
    Renter · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2008 · 78 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    Thanks guys, I really don't want to do nursing anymore so I'm undecided between finance and economics. If anyone has feedback for taking one va the other I'd appreciate it!

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  • Jason F
    Real Estate Investor · Gainesville, FL · Member since 2008 · 296 posts · 7 votes
    18y

    AD,

    I kind of agree with TC. I would say do nursing until your REI pick up enough for you to make the complete transition. If you absolutely do not want to go into nursing...

    I would do Finance. Actually, I did do Finance here at the Univ. Of Floirda.

    Some of the other biz degrees are a little on the fluffy side and offer very little "real world" experience (at least here at UF). In my opinion, finance at least teaches you the bigger skill sets that can be applied to your RE career.

    Accounting is good if you want to be an accountant. Hopefully you will be making enough money in your REI that you will just hire one, no questions asked.

    So I would go with Finance, just if you are interested in what will help you in your commercial investment career.

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  • Tom Sylvester
    Real Estate Investor · Rochester, NY · Member since 2008 · 193 posts · 46 votes
    18y

    I have a BA in computer science. I have been in the corporate world for two years, but do not plan to be there the rest of my life. I am all for education, but make sure, like with any investment, that ti gives you the returns you are looking for and does not just add a negative cashflow onto you.

    A great example is my fiance. She got a degree in Zoology, couldn't find a job, and now work in an office. In the meantime, she now has all of her student loan debt that she will be paying for for the next 20 years. She could've skipped the whole degree and ended up with the job she has now.

    For myself, the degree definitely helped me get my job, and I make enough of a difference to cover my student loan payment and still come out ahead.

    But for me, my degree and current day job are just a means to an end. The day job pays the bills, and allows me to build up my real estate investing on the side.

    I would suggest the same for you. Do the nurse thing, and build up your real estate portfolio on the side, so that you can leave your nursing job.

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  • Ram Chandrasekaran
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 137 posts · 2 votes
    18y
    Originally posted by "AD1985":
    Thanks guys, I really don't want to do nursing anymore so I'm undecided between finance and economics. If anyone has feedback for taking one va the other I'd appreciate it!

    Well, I would do Economics as that gives a worldwide view of how things work between countries and esp. we being in the 'World is Flat' phase... That's my opinion.

    Good Luck!
    Ram

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  • Jim Sharp
    Real Estate Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2008 · 108 posts · 9 votes
    18y

    I've got a masters degree in education. It took this post to remind me of that fact. I think if I looked at my education as my backup I wouldn't have moved forward nearly as fast as I have. I'm unemployable!

    Don't get me wrong... College was a blast, I'd do it again just for the experience.

    I see people with back up plans go back to work more often than people without. It is pretty transparent to me why they don't succeed, they are always constantly putting their energy into their back up plan.

    I'm not saying that you shouldn't stay in school, I'm saying make sure you cultivate 100% confidence in the fact that you WILL succeed.

    0Reply
  • John M
    Real Estate Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2008 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    As someone who actually has a degree in Real Estate, and works in the real estate investment industry, it all depends on how deep you want to go down the rabbit hole. Choose the red pill, or the blue pill. I took the red one.

    For me it was simply that I wanted to broaden my horizons far beyond what was in my face. If your goal is to own SFR's and 2-4 units, then no degree is required, real estate or otherwise. If the interest in multi million dollar deals and commercial development peaks your interest, then a degree is a must. My business partners have finance degrees and are able to pick up the concepts of real estate finance very easily. How I was able to determine the difference in the two fields is one you learn to valuate a business, and the other you learn to valuate real estate.

    The big thing for me is that I started my education with the end goal of being a real estate investor. That gave me a completely different outlook on the subjects that we covered, and greatly broadened my horizons.

    Economics will definitely give you a world view on things, but you will need to learn many more concepts to make that jump into the world of finance. In the big game of real estate, it is all about financial concepts.

    In the end, the choice is yours. Do you take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and invest in whatever you want to invest. Or do you take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and you see how deep the rabbit-hole goes?

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  • George Farmer
    Anderson, SC · Member since 2008 · 5 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    You might try for MBA.

    0Reply
  • Jason Hanson
    Real Estate Coach · Oakton, VA · Member since 2008 · 695 posts · 43 votes
    18y

    As long as you get a degree that is all that really matters. If you are an entrepreneur and are not going to work for the "man" I wouldn't worry too much about what it is.....however here is my two cents....get a degree in marketing, since this is the most important aspect in business (yes, I know that in college what they teach you about marketing is pretty worthless, but it's better than nothing.)

    0Reply
  • Timothy W.
    Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    18y

    I did English and hung around the Theatre department. That's where all the hot, freaky girls were. :groovy: In addition, I learned how to research and find info better than anyone in investing I know. I can read legal documents written 100 years ago as if they were Bazooka Joe wrappers. IMHO, the key to real estate is no longer real estate itself. It is the INFORMATION you have about real estate and information is stored in the written word.

    Tim

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  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 218 votes
    18y

    Primo is on the money here. Think about the basic business elements. Real Estate is a business, no different than any other really.

    All businesses must market, must sell, must have accounting principles, etc. Go in one of those basic directions. Philosophy, History, English, these are ridiculous majors. Ooh maybe Art History will help you in life. ha

    Go with the fundamentals of business because regardless of what you do in life, you will need these!

    0Reply
  • Scott Snow
    General Contractor · Floyd, VA · Member since 2008 · 5 posts · 1 vote
    18y

    I agree with Tim that it is about information now. Use your time in school to become proficient at learning and you will always succeed. Watch the college debt as others alluded to. If you have already saved 100K then you are light years ahead of most.

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  • Account Closed
    OR · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 845 votes
    18y

    I did business, but specialized in small business.

    There is a lot of value there: learn how advertising works. Learn how accounting works. Take a bunch of economics classes. Learn how to manage your employees. Get a degree that can actually land you a job if you need one.

    I also seriously suggest a foreign language.

    You don't need a degree to do real esate if your ultimate goal is to wear jeans with holes in the knees and hang out with small time contractors as you do small deals.

    That fix and flip stuff gets mighty old when you are old enough that your knees hurt and your back is screaming by the end of the day.

    If you expect to get up to bigger things and swim with the big fish in real estate, lacking education puts you at a real disadvantage. Knowledge is power and you don't want to be doing big money deals with aggressive people who have a lot more knowledge than you do.

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  • Timothy W.
    Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    18y

    Oh yeah - forgot about History. That's another good one. Anyone with a good knowledge of History (especially Cultural Anthropology) will be able to predict future patterns of human behavior based upon past human behavior. Human beings really haven't changed. They just have new names for what they do and you'd do well to see behavior patterns and stay ahead of what humans are likely to do next.

    Another great major is Music. My dad was a music major and now holds a portfolio of over 220 rental units. Again, musicians are specialists in recognizing patterns and systems and replicating them. This has been one of his greatest keys to success. He does a lot better than his accountant and his attorney.

    Tim

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  • Tom C
    Real Estate Investor · OH · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 86 votes
    18y

    "That fix and flip stuff gets mighty old when you are old enough that your knees hurt and your back is screaming by the end of the day. "

    Heck, I am only 38 yrs old and I have this problem.. :)

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  • Ram Chandrasekaran
    San Jose, CA · Member since 2008 · 137 posts · 2 votes
    18y
    Originally posted by "TimWieneke":
    Oh yeah - forgot about History. That's another good one. Anyone with a good knowledge of History (especially Cultural Anthropology) will be able to predict future patterns of human behavior based upon past human behavior. Human beings really haven't changed. They just have new names for what they do and you'd do well to see behavior patterns and stay ahead of what humans are likely to do next.

    Another great major is Music. My dad was a music major and now holds a portfolio of over 220 rental units. Again, musicians are specialists in recognizing patterns and systems and replicating them. This has been one of his greatest keys to success. He does a lot better than his accountant and his attorney.

    Tim

    Hey Tim
    That's a Nice one!! As they say, History repeats itself it makes all the more sense to study that in college and continue to predict how things are going to be... LOL.

    I listen to music but did not know it could do wonders like that as it did for your father. :-). Interesting!

    Cheers
    Ram

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  • Timothy W.
    Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    18y
    Originally posted by "RAMSFO":
    I listen to music but did not know it could do wonders like that as it did for your father. :-). Interesting!

    Musicians have a tendency to be excellent mathemeticians and vice versa so that may be part of it as well. He probably would have been successful had he not even gone to college but music (he even got a Masters Degree in Music) contributed greatly to him.

    His first business about 5 years after college was writing a set of music books with my mom (also got a Masters in Music....lol) and self publishing them. That turned out to be a very successful venture for them.

    Tim

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  • Ashan D
    OP
    Renter · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2008 · 78 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    Ok guys, I’ve made a decision with a bit of a spin. I’ve decided to finish my degree abroad somewhere. Because the degree is mainly for my own education as well as a very basic backup, the prestige of the university was not much of a factor. Therefore I could actually study abroad and not go broke doing it.

    So it looks like I will be doing an international business degree in Payap University, Thailand. It has what I feel are the important elements of a finance degree minus the emphasis on securities which frankly I know enough about. I actually know less than people might think I would, but the interesting thing about investing is that the more you know about how it works, potentially the worse off you are. I wonder if RE is similar. I tend to doubt that because real estate is more rational, but maybe in some aspects this is still true?

    When I was younger I was dead set on an import/export business. It never materialized but with my new conditions (money to work with, proximity to china, schooling in import/export) it looks like it will become a reality. So that fits another cog into my career path now… investing… import/export business…then real estate. The opportunities are truly endless now.

    This route seems like a win/win all around. I will save a significant amount of money in living expenses and taxes by living in Thailand for 2-3 years AND my entrepreneurial potential will still grow despite me sticking with school. Only disadvantage is that my piece of paper is lessened in value but that no longer matters to me, as far as I am concerned now the only person who’ll ever size up my degree to see if I’m “qualified” is myself ;)

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  • Ashan D
    OP
    Renter · Long Beach, CA · Member since 2008 · 78 posts · 2 votes
    18y

    I spoke too soon and am once again torn between degrees. On one hand I could do the international business management degree and possibly do the import/export business.

    On the other hand this would further complicate my plans, I just wanted to trade for a while and jump into real estate. There is a real estate degree offered in Bangkok, the city itself is much less desirable than the city where the international business degree is offered (Chiang Mai) but it is also cheaper.

    So different temptations are pulling me in different directions right now. I think I may have to change my mind and do the real estate degree. Trying to split my attention in too many ways is counterproductive, real estate is my end goal and I would probably do best to stick with that field. Even if the knowledge is not very practical it is still imortant to know when dealing with sophisticated competition in the future who will know all about those things.

    On the other hand, Bangkok is awefully hot, congested, and expensive compared to the mellow, beautiful nature of Chiang Mai. Lots of fun stuff to do out there too. Arg....

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  • Alfred Castillo
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Bronx, NY · Member since 2008 · 86 posts · 5 votes
    18y

    I switch my major from Mech. Engineering to Finance and Investment. I am still planning to have two degree. One in finance and the second in Engineering hopefully before 32.

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  • Timothy W.
    Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    18y

    James makes a very valid point here. One of my private lenders is a career nurse who has several properties in addition to her now, highly lucrative, 6 figure plus salary.

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  • Will Gates
    Member since 2008 · 7 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    Economics at the Air Force Academy... it is the only finance related major there I could find. And I love working with money and trying to fix financial problems!!!

    GO ECON!

    0Reply
  • Charles Hwang
    Hard Money Lender · Orlando, FL · Member since 2008 · 10 posts · 0 votes
    18y

    All of them are good, but Real estate where be my first choice

    0Reply
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