Degrees

Finish college and/or grad school. Land a job and work it for several years then go into trading. If it doesn't work out you will have something to fall back on. But while you are in school and then working keep hammering away with a paper trading account. Many poo-poo that but you will learn a lot AND by the time you start for real you will have a good understanding how several markets behave.

A friend of mine has a BS from an Ivy League school and a law degree from Georgetown. He practiced law one year and has been a pit trader for the last 15 years or so. He lives very nicely.

Or you can follow the path of my son-in-law: HS diploma. Started his own business. Bills out his time at $90 an hour. 28 years old and owns a home on a half-acre lot in S. Cal.
 
There are also about 20-30 threads a year with similar/more advice, I'd search for them to get a better wealth of opinions (did I just associate "wealth" with "ET opinions"? dear me...)

The threads usually pop up pretty heavily during late Fall/grad application/job hunting season, and in the late spring with all the panicky last-minute folk. Congrats on being the first of the season & planning ahead!
 
Unless you major in something extremely specialized, a college degree is basically worthless in my opinon.
Those that know how to play the office politics to a tee are the ones that get ahead. You have to be great at smiling at your co-workers while stabbing them in the back. I am out of the rat race for the past year and feel better than I have my whole life.
The depressed misery that exists in the corporate grind is tough to live with every day. I want to be around enthusiastic happy people who are excited about life. You just don't find that in the rat race.


Quote from pumpanddumper:

You get a better education being street smart and dealing with people then just in books. Most of the crap you learn in college is useless in the real world. It's all memorization on tests and regurgitating other people's ideas in essays, papers, etc...waste of time most of it. Hands on stuff is better learning for a skilled job where you come out with a specialized skill that separates you from the crowd. Colleges have become wastelands.

I went to a Community College and then a State school actually to make it more financially feasable. Yeah, it was fun, went through the motions in class, got laid, partied, etc. Worked my ass off in summers to have beer money, make payments living off campus for bills, loans to pay tuition, etc. All the while knowing and hating the fact I will be in huge debt to start out in life. Fight to get a good job, impress your boss, commute everyday doing the 9-5 thing. All the while singing I owe, I owe, I owe, off to work I go. I feel like a follower and not a leader. Rat race, company politics, etc gets to you.

You want to get married maybe, buy a house, etc. How the hell are you gonna do it? Job sucks, you're in debt from college and not getting ahead working for someone else. You had these great ideas before college to make it big but got sidetracked because you are brainwashed to go to college, work for someone else, and basically be miserable and follow the herd. You say fuck this and quit.

You are naturally bright and ambitious and money savvy. School can't teach you that. You take a chance and invest in your business on the side while still working. It works out great...You are now making more than your boss and working on your schedule, doing what you want when you want. Don't have to beg for vacation time and feel guilty...Good things don't last so you strike the iron while its hot and bust your ass anyways. Socking money away and not being stupid. The business is now not as lucrative. Thank God you saved for a rainy day.

Hey, now you can trade full time. That was always my calling. Some of your trades in the past made more than your yearly salary at your old job (35-40k a year). You are used to making six figures a year and want to match that trading. You screw up a few trades and get greedy. Oh shit, fast money is not easy anymore. Hey, you took a few chances...maybe slow and steady wins the race but you're not getting any younger? Maxing out that company 401k each year and ROTH IRA was the way to go. Maybe I should go back to working for the "man" and have a structured life again? My trading account is beaten up but my retirement savings is well in tact. Well thats part of my life story... sorry for the rant

Hey, I have a college degree to fall back on right? Now, I'm back to where I started.

I respect your opinion on college. It is good to have but for I look at $$ signs. I figure while your young to hustle and have fun. Use the power of time and compounding of money to get ahead financially. That 4 years you spend in a classroom paying the school and babysit to learn most stuff you already know or can learn in any book in a library. The drunk college girls, drinking, carousing is my best memories but is it worth six figures nowadays? If you are putting yourself through college, I have respect for you. If a scholarship and grants, more respect. Mommy and Daddy who have to borrow against the house, dip into their retirement because you are a spoiled rotten kid, get lost. Maybe I'm just jealous of the people born into money and don't understand the value of a hard earned dollar.
More...
 
Quote from midlifeguy:

Unless you major in something extremely specialized, a college degree is basically worthless in my opinon.
Those that know how to play the office politics to a tee are the ones that get ahead. You have to be great at smiling at your co-workers while stabbing them in the back. I am out of the rat race for the past year and feel better than I have my whole life.
The depressed misery that exists in the corporate grind is tough to live with every day. I want to be around enthusiastic happy people who are excited about life. You just don't find that in the rat race.
More...

Exactly, specialization! Learn something others can't do!

I have been out of the rat race 3+ years. It has been great, stopped and smelled the roses, etc. but I am getting bored. I guess if I had a million +banked, it would be different but a lowish six figures does not make me feel comfortable. Taking a 1/4 million to a million did not pan out in trading...

I think I want the job, benefits, structure again to keep busy. Look, I'm on a damn forum again and in front of a computer(feel like a loser in front of a computer=boredom). When I was busier, I got more things done than having the time on my hands. Actually, made me lazier.

I hated commuting and next job will be very close(besides downstairs in my office now). Guess I will have to get dressed...lol.
 
Quote from pumpanddumper:

I reccomend not paying six figures to go to college unless you are a rich boy with mommy and daddy paying.

You will come out with big debt, a piece of paper, and in competition with others finding a dead end job struggling to get ahead(unless you come out with a specialized skill)...then its worth it.

If you have ambition, some brains, start working now while your young, bust your ass, save some money and invest wisely. Work 2-3 jobs around the clock if you have to. Get laid, party on the weekends with the spare money.

Bottom line. College costs too much. It's all how you deal with people and interview and who you know. GLTY.
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Right now I am 100% on scholarship. I dont qualify for financial aid currently to go to an Ivy as im still a dependent but I plan on declaring myself as an independent in 1-2 yrs time.

Thanks for your avice. I do agree that college is all about who you know.

I have plenty of ambition and brains. I'm not the smartest, will never admit to that but I am fucking hardworking and I know that's something I've got above other people.

I think I will keep on trying to make it trading partime and studying it parttime until I prove to myself I can do it without school compeltely (which would mean >1 mil a year). Until I get there, there is no reason for me to quit in my opinion.

I am big on a fallback plan. I would love to trade for a living, but there is always the just in case scenario that I am planning for.

Once again... some background although it's not important... I merely want to keep the flames low.

I am not a U.S. native. I was born in Uzbekistan (I am Russian) and I am first generation. My parents and I went from living in a 1 bedroom apartment (I still remember this considering I was 8) to now owning a house 3000+ sq ft in a good neighboorhood. My mom owns a charter school district and my dad is a mechanical engineer - when they first came to the U.S. because of language, my dad worked in construction and my mom worked in a kindergarten as a janitor basically.

I do appreciate hardwork... you are preaching to the choir. It's all I have ever heard of since I was young.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I will look through more threads as well.

Most likely I will stay in college for the just in case scenario. That was never really the question - as much as I dislike my classes, I realize that not everyone is cut out for trading. I guess my mentor was too good in teaching me this concept. But, I feel that I must get a backup plan in case this doesn't work for some reason.
 
Here's a question that might be better in the immediate term.

I am being offered some internships with some local brokerages like merril and ag edwards but as I am fully aware of, its mostly bitch work. Not what I want to do despite what it may put on my resume.

Does anyone have any ideas for me to put something on my resume to go towards trading while I actually learn something? Obviously making money would be the best way to do this, but once again I need like a billion back up plans for everything to keep me sane.

I used to intern for a hedge fund but I wasn't really compatible with who i was working with and was learning close to nothing.

During the summer, I would be willing to travel as I know Tucson, Arizona is not exactly a hotspot. Open to ideas...
 
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