Moving away for school. (Very long, but optional skippage.)

[JasonRox]

You mean educated, gainfully employed people? Yep, wouldn't want to listen to people like us when it comes to decisions about education and future employment. All the people I know who are in high paying careers with room for advancement do this from time to time. My friends who are in dead-end jobs are the ones who refused to think about these things and now still haven't figured out what to do when they're stuck with no room for advancement and they didn't plan for an alternative career. For example, one of my friends is an actuary. When she finished college and started her first job, there were pay raises that accompanied each exam passed. So, she rushed on ahead trying to get through all the exams as quickly as possible to get the pay raises. Sounds great, right? It seemed that way, until she was nearly done with them and the company she worked for went out of business. She was then in a job market where her exam level and pay level meant she was applying for management positions, but in her race to complete the exams, she never stopped to think about what would happen if she lost her job, so never sought the managerial experience she needed. She ended up having to take a pretty substantial pay cut just to stay employed in that field. She ended up well behind those who paced themselves more slowly on the exams but spent more time getting managerial experience. A little planning ahead would have saved her a lot of stress later.

I agree with planning. I didn't plan before and that is how I got in this position.

I would love to go to Graduate School, but the school I am at will not prepare me for it, or atleast at the level I would like. I have a 3rd year class, but it's not rigorous what's so ever (it's Abstract Algebra). I'm choosing to transfer because this new school will prepare me for it, since they have a history of having great Graduate Students. My plan after Graduate School will most likely lead to a job as an Accountant or Actuary, but that would need some more school, approximately one year or less. Once I get a decent job in one of those fields, I will simply continue doing research until I hit a job that involves Pure Mathematics, like a professor or even just a college teacher.

I'll take one step at a time until I reach my ultimate goal as a professor at any school who would be happy to have me.

Note: I know of someone very successful who didn't have plans after they graduate and turned out successful. My girlfriends brother went into BioChemistry, then went to Graduate School and got his Ph.D. He didn't like doing research, so he just went back to school (Law School), which is something he'd never even imagined. Now, he just landed a great $job$ in Boston which will start right after he graduates from Law School.

 

[Smurf]

Like I said. I guess it works well for some people. Personally, I'd probably end up killing myself.