Yeah makes sense, with Huntsville housing the space center and all, it makes sense. And how do you like UAH? WJat major and degree are you pursing if you don't mind me asking?
I like UAH but I don't exactly have any other college to compare it to so my opinion is probably biased. It's obviously not MIT but our engineering department attracts similar talent and we use the same textbooks. I haven't found the lack of name recognition to be a hindrance in my ability to get internships at the big name companies.
I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
I know the nursing program and Business college have good reputations as well. I can't directly speak to their quality though as I have no experience with them.
I'd be happy to answer any more questions you have but I'd suggest that you PM so that we don't dilute this thread.
Gotcha, thanks for the responses . I'll shoot you a PM, if I've got anymore questions.
1. Before you commit to a college, find out just how much help they will give you in finding an internship / finding a job. Some do better than others.
2. In college, try to take your 300-level classes ASAP. It's better to find out early that you hate the major than right before you are supposed to graduate.
3. Before you commit to a major, find out what types of jobs people who majored in that discipline from your college got. Are you interested in those? Talk to graduates and ask about their career paths. Does this sound interesting to you? Often the entry-level jobs are way different from your goal.
4. Before you arrive on campus, see how many courses you can test out of. Besides AP and SAT II credit, many colleges allow you to take a test on-campus to test-out of a course. I entered college with two semesters of credit. That meant either a) graduating early and starting to earn money or b) since school was paid for, time to focus on other interesting courses.
4a. Take extra classes in subjects that further your goals. An IT degree + Finance/Accounting knowledge is VERY marketable. I minored in French; I am an amateur genealogist and intend to one day do genealogy consulting, and I needed to be able to read the old documents.
5. Try a lot of different stuff and keep an open mind. You may not realize what you are good at until you've done it for a while.
5a. Actively seek out education opportunities. You will be surprised at how much might be available to you at different companies.
6. Don't be afraid to reinvent yourself, career-wise, every few years. (Networking helps you find opportunities.)
7. If at all possible, study abroad for a semester. It will open your eyes to other cultures and ways of doing things, it gives you something interesting to talk about, and it is a really nice reward when school is already paid for.
I have an MIS degree (Management of Information Systems). I had two internships. The first one, I realized I did not enjoy that type of work, so I shifted my major a bit. The second internship I really enjoyed - I knew I was on the right track.
I was trained to do coding and business analysis. Less than 15% of my average workweek is spent doing that. I discovered that I am really damn good at taking a team from anarchy to established procedures. It's a combination of project management, process analysis & architecture, and people leadership. In all three companies I've worked for post-graduation, I end up "fixing" the group I've been hired into. There's no way I would have discovered that talent in college.
Good luck, and have fun!!!
1. This is a good point I've overlooked. Colleges are good networking opportunities, but it makes sense some might be better than others.
2. I will remmebe this, yeah definitely. I certainly don't want to be the guy that isn3 years in and decided he hates his major. Hopefully I don't change at all, but if I do, in the first year hopefully.
3. Good points. I'll try and find people in my degree (in looking at buisess management or maybe MIS) so maybe you could help me with that :)
4. With me loading up on AP classes, and about 80% of freshman year of college done through online classes taken during my time as a high school student, I think it's safe to say I got this :)
5. Oh yeah definitely. I've recently realized I want to learn a trade, as a form of enjoyable work after FI, or maybe even as side-hustle. Thinking either wood working/carpentry, working on houses, or working on cars.
6. Will do.
7. I would love to study abroad, or go abroad in general. Other cultures are always awesome!
Thanks for the advice man.
My advice which may be against the grain here is to not worry about it yet.
Pick the right major, work hard in school don't take on too much or any debt if possible and live your life. Have fun. Don't think a night out or a road trip is delaying your FIRE.
Regardless it may be too late and you may have already swallowed the red pill. Once you are aware you may never go back. Personally I'm glad I didn't swallow the pill until I was 21-22 ignorance can be bliss.
Interesting point of view. Unfortunately, I'm too far gone :)
My only additional advice (great stuff here; precrime3, thanks for starting the thread) would be that FI isn't the goal. The goal is to love God and love your neighbor (at least from the Catholic background that you mentioned you have). It's that whole greatest commandment bit - Jesus replied the greatest commandment is to love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
Ultimately, FI can be kind of a sub-goal or a tool that may (or may not) be used to help you love God and neighbor. i.e. pursuing FI can "hang on" loving God and neighbor.
I bring this up because of the Catholic background - I think the logical application of that theology (and Christianity in general) is to do the stuff in life that maximizes loving God and neighbor. The "Benefit" in our cost/benefit analyses needs to measure more than dollars and cents; it needs to be more like a utility equation, where dollars and cents have some value (because we can accomplish positive things with them) but so do other social goods.
A lot of this site rightly points out how being a sukka consumer gets in the way of our long term goals. That simplifying and doing things more rationally will lead us to a better outcome. However, the way some people do it, pursuing FI can be just a more future-looking way of being shortsighted if the things we do to get FI also don't truly live out our values. I'm not saying don't pursue FI; I'm getting there myself as most of us here are, just "use your powers for good, not evil". Or maybe, "use your powers for good, not affluent irrelevance".
I should be thanking YOU GUYS for the overwhelming comments I got. I'm making some good side-hustle money through two little short-term jobs (one is $10/hr, one is $15/hr). My next try is flipping furniture in Craigslist, that should be fun! On to me replying to your post...
I totally agree. I'll still probably donate a considerable amount, or some other insane thing that would delay my FI but coincides with my values. While FI is amazing, I wouldn't let my values be compromised, and I don't think they have to be. It's possible to have both :)