How strongly should the financial aspect of a career impact what I decide to study?

This answer may be unpopular but something you should be considering is the return on investment of your education. Let me provide an example:

According to the BLS, high school teachers will earn on average 50k per year (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers.htm).

So do you think it would make sense to attend Providence College and pay 50k a year (http://www.providence.edu/bursar/expenses/Pages/tuition.aspx) for 4 years when you could have gone to a state school for 8k a year?

It is smart that you are thinking about this, keep thinking and asking questions.

I've got a lot of friends who have had the same debate! Theater can definitely be an unpredictable career path, but there are definitely more lucrative career options that can tie in your love of theater. For one thing you can always get involved with community theater outside of work, wherever you are, as someone else mentioned. You can also start thinking about casting, entertainment management (both very competitive industries, however), marketing for theater companies, stage management, etc. I know a few people who had performance arts management degrees from my alma mater (university of Michigan) who have good jobs now. Once you get to college get to know professors in different areas within theater and ask them what different types of diverse, and perhaps interdisciplinary career paths there are in theater beyond what might first come to mind!

It does not happen that often that people do what they really like to do and get paid really well for that. But my opinion is that if you are passionate about your profession and you are the best in your field then you can make lots of money out of it. You just have to work hard. Don't give up!!!

The depth of this questions demonstrates that you are quite sharp and astute. My answer is that this is a highly personal decision(I know not much help right?).

I would say that you absolutely do not want to choose a profession that you hate and stick with it due to it "paying the bills". However, the question for you to ponder is, are you willing to embark on a career path that perhaps does not have clear consistency, and in all likelihood may leave you financially struggling?

Myself as an example, I wanted to teach. I love education and working with children, however after years of financially struggling, decided to enter the corporate world. I had an amazing time in education and enjoyed my experiences immensely as well as made a great impact. But, in the long run, decided that I needed to make more money to support myself and my son.
Sidenote: Be sure you respect your teachers, because none of them are getting rich. They do it because deep down they care about you and want to make an impact in your life.

Have you considered thinking of a career that you would enjoy that would be more consistent and pay the bills, and keeping the love of theater as an extracurricular activity? To me personally(please don't take this offensively) the arts are a hobby, something I enjoy and can do/enjoy in my free time, outside of work time. I'll use an example from my teaching experience. As I mentioned, I love teaching but couldn't do it as a profession anymore due to multiple reasons, including financial. However, I still get my enjoyment of "teaching" in my volunteer work, coaching youth sports, community involvement, and my own son.

Whatever decision you make, just think about long term consequences and rewards and do what you feel is right for you. I know there are many people in the arts who are incredibly happy and fulfilled, regardless of money. And I'm sure there are some on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Hi Teal, live a life that you love and don't die with regrets! Nobody died regretting they did not spend more time at the office.

You seem level-headed and pragmatic by asking this question in this way. So I suspect you will not get carried away with the romance of working in theatre without planning for, budgeting and compromising to make the practicialies of living add up financially. Maybe you need to have a double career for a while (a backup job that supplements your income or indeed is your stable income until you become established.) You could run an internet based business to allow flexibility in time commitments. Maybe you need to be flexible on the locations you live at to get the theatre jobs that come up.

Plan ahead, make sure your basic needs are net financially first, but don't sacrifice your dreams and say 'one day, when I have earned enough money, I will work in theatre.' Plan it in now, figure out a way to work in that industry from the off and you will live a life you love. Best of luck!

I think that you have to weigh your priorities in life to answer this question. Some people can be happy going to work, putting in eight hours, and then going home to enjoy their hobbies/family life. Maybe they really love mountain climbing - there aren't many professional mountain climbing jobs, so they take a job thats flexible, pays the bills and allows them to pursue their passion. For other people, work is a career, a passion, and they put most of their energy into it. If you are the latter type of person, I would suggest pursuing a career you will really love. That is the best way to achieve success.

By the way, I happen to know people who do technical theater work and are doing well financially. I also have a colleague here at Google who worked in theater for many years, and now is doing quite well in a technical field after a career change. We all take different paths - I personally think pursuing your passion will get you the farthest in life, even if the destination is different than you originally intended it to be. Best of luck!

I think your plan to double-major is a sound one.

I puzzled over a similar question once--in addition to being a software engineer, I also play the violin--and I found that having to play music in order to survive made it much harder for me to enjoy doing it. I found myself having to accept gigs that I didn't really want, because that was where my rent money was coming from. It wasn't until I went back to software engineering that I came back to really enjoying music.

But when you do it as a hobby rather than a living (or even for considerable supplemental income), you have much more freedom to do it the way you want to. And if you find that you can actually enjoy doing it for a living, then you can go ahead and do so!