John
What is the better choice that will save me money and probably make me make more money in the future, Mechanical Engineering or Trade School to Automotive Technology?
Which one will be cheaper and which one will make me more money in the future. I have seen people make six figures with no college degree and they save a lot of money. #mechanical-engineering #trade-school
2 answers
Glenn A
Glenn’s Answer
John,
That is an interesting question. If I am reading this correctly, you have 2 areas that you are considering as a career path and you are concerned about the current cost to get an education and your long term earning potential.
In general, trade school is a lower cost option to a 4 year college or university. You can lower your cost for a university if you take the first 2 years in a community college. Please remember that hiring paying jobs right out of school are in part based on landing a job with a large company who tend to go to highly rated schools (that cost more money). Long term, it is about being a good engineer and not where you went to school.
My question to you is where is your passion. If you are happy working a job and getting paid, a trade job is better. If you are looking for a career that you think about in your off hours trying to figure out a solution to a problem that requires you to apply your skill and education in different ways on a regular basis, then you want engineering.
To be financially secure in the long term, it is about saving, investing, and not over extending. You can always out spend income. And making more money does not necessarily fix that issue.
Thank you, John, for your thoughtful response. Passion, enthusiasm and a strong work ethic in any job will ultimately bring the financial rewards. Genuine love of the work, together with understanding the concepts of savings and investing will lead to a successful personal and professional life.
Noreen Greenhalgh
Vikram Manikantan Prathap
Vikram’s Answer
Great question! What our regular schools dont teach or groom students is how to make money. What's essential is in the current scenario and the world that we live is we will need a basic degree in whichever field or a field that you are good at. From there you can either choose to specialize in the same field or choose field which can give you an income part time example.. if you end up being an automobile engineer you may work for a auto co or for an IT co who is in automobile engineering but in your free time you can choose to be a real estate agent or a stick market trader .. this way you have a basic degree as well make money.. that was just an example but you have various options to make money.