Which Degree?

[StateOfMind]

I'm currently a senior in High School, and about to head off to college. But I'm unsure to which degree I will need for my plans/goals. Here's my issue in further detail...

I am very passionate about health and fitness, and in helping others get healthier. So much so that I want to start my own business. I like to think of myself as an intelligent person and I am 100% sure that I want to start this business of mine. In class all I think about are ways to start the business up, researching about the Human Body, nutrition, personal training and also business in general, I have that burning desire.

Now I'm confused to which degree to get in college so that I will have a better chance of becomming successful in my venture. I could study Nutrition and become a nutritionist or related field in health/fitness or get a Business Degree, but not sure exactly what kind of business degree to study.

Obviously I have much to learn to start a business but I'm willing and able to learn and succeed... Any advice on this?

 

[ARrocket]

Kinesiology, most likely. I know a few people doing that.

Be sure to talk to your undergraduate advisor as well, obviously.

 

[theunflushables]

Do one as a major, most likely the one that could land you in the health/fitness field and do business as a minor. If you decide to start your own business (say as a personal trainer) no one is going to care if business was your major, however having a degree in the health/fitness field will be a selling point for potential clients.

 

[Drdeee]

Health and nutrition is one hell of a field. Honestly, I can't even think about a business in this field, except gym or a spa.

I know dentist makes good money, but also long hours.

Let's do this, let's do a research and name some businesses in this industry which make hell of a money?

 

[StateOfMind]

Your right I might major in nutrition and minor in business. I'm taking a leap of faith since if my business fails, I won't have much to fall back on, just some health degree.
Now there is a market in fitness, a big one. Just have to find clients, prospects. If typical cookie cutter gyms can attract clients I know I can, just need to market and brand my product.

My business will be totally different from the average gym, and will cater towards a certain niche and area, I'm so passionate about this idea I just KNOW it will work. Sounds cliche but it will happen. I wrote so many marketing ideas for my business, even made friends with some guys going into particular fields that I know I will need assistance in(Took that advice from Think and Grow Rich)

 

[Quiksilver]

As someone who has done an undergrad business major, I would advise you to get into a specific field of study first and then take business courses second.

 

[Fuglydude]

I've been lifting for over 12 years, I'm a competitive bodybuilder, and my fiance is a figure competitor. I've worked in supplements in the past for over 3 years, I've also been a trainer for around a year. My fiance is sponsored by a local supplement store, and works part time as a promo model for a local supplement distribution company. Let me tell you its a career I could never do, not because I don't love it, but simply because there's easier careers in health for you to make way more cash. Today I'm a critical care RN, and I make over 100k... ya I have to work around 50 hours a week or so, but I love my job.

It is possible to make big money in health and fitness... unfortunately, unless you're training elite clientele like pro athletes, or actors/actresses/or the super rich, you're probably not gonna make it big in fitness. The fitness industry, although it has the potential for huge gains, is saturated with large commercial gym chains and supplement companies. The general public simply doesn't understand that getting results takes dedication and time... most people want a quick fix... this is the unfortunate reality in our quick fix, instant gratification society. Companies make money by making promises of easy fixes, etc...

If you're gonna be successful you can't simply take a leap of faith... you have to have a detailed business plan, and give people a good product at a good price. Otherwise, you are almost certain to fail. Unfortunately passion simply isn't enough.

If you want a good job in the health industry think about pursuing career streams such as being a pharmacist or a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist)... high demand jobs. You can easily make 80-100k as a pharmacist and the work is butt-phucking easy. An average guy CRNA makes around 170k in the US. Being an MD or dentist is cool too but much more competitive to get into and can mean longer hours and more responsibility and more education.

 

[StateOfMind]

Thanks for the insightful response. I thought about those exact issues, and at first I actually wanted to be a nurse. Now for fitness products being expensive, yes I know it can be. Personal trainers usually charge something around $30-70 per session and can only go for well off populations. I want to open my own bootcamp style studio that caters to the masses, preferably woman. Cheap, convenient and fun atmosphere. I designed almost everything, theory wise. I've studied and learned how to create business plans. I update and change my BP monthly. I was very interested in CRNA but isn't that one of the Longest/hardest career to get into? I doubt I could even do undergraduate work to even get into that program(Hate chemistry and hard sciences, but good in math)

 

[Fuglydude]

CRNA, in my opinion, is the among the best health care careers you can have when you combine aspects of autonomy, income, demand, responsibility/stress, etc. Anesthesia to me is just plain phucking wicked... especially after spending a couple of years at a large ICU.

To be a CRNA, you gotta do a B.Sc in something (doesn't have to be nursing, but you have to be an RN), you also will need 1-3 years of ICU experience, then the actual CRNA program is 2-3 years, depending on where you go to school. You could be making 150-200k by your late 20s, which I think its friggin sweet, especially if you think gas is cool.

What do you have about your product that makes it so different and appealing vs. other boot camps that are out there? My fiance did one last year during the summer. The lady that put it on would charge 15/session and it was an outside thing, so had absolutely NO overhead! Bootcamps in my opinion are kinda saturating the market. They're definitely an effective product and are a great vehicle for training/getting results, but again remember, your clients won't get the kind of results they want unless they incorporate it all together.

You're gonna have to do basic university chem, and possibly organic chem/biochem and biomechanics for anything to do in the health and fitness field like being a nutritionist/kinesiology major. It sucks, but its just how it is.

 

[Bible_Belt]

A personal trainer I know has a business that is like an out-patient fat camp for kids. It's a nightly exercise program for obese children.

 

[StateOfMind]

My product specifically caters towards a certain demographic, not to the typical Well off upper middle class Woman or even Men. I'm sure quantity> Quality(income level) in my Business Plan.

I'm about to do some market research in my area, gonna ask my fellow students to help me Ill ask my friends parents certain questions and have them ask they're friends the same questions, if goes according to plan I will have crucial information to really know if I can pull this off in my area.

 

[magickarl]

I'll be wrapping up my chemistry degree next year, and then it's off to medical school. I'm hoping for UofI Chicago, so I can stay with my cousin and avoid paying rent. I would probably be okay with UofI Champaign-Urbana though.

I aim to become a surgeon. Neurosurgery would be schweet, but I doubt I want to have an uber-long residency. I'd love to work trauma. I always knew that I wanted a career where the pressure was on, but the rewards would be great. I'm one of the few people I know whom knows exactly what they want to do.

I almost forgot the OP's question lol. I would say an MBA is probably a good bet.

 

[Fuglydude]

I'll be wrapping up my chemistry degree next year, and then it's off to medical school. I'm hoping for UofI Chicago, so I can stay with my cousin and avoid paying rent. I would probably be okay with UofI Champaign-Urbana though.

I aim to become a surgeon. Neurosurgery would be schweet, but I doubt I want to have an uber-long residency. I'd love to work trauma. I always knew that I wanted a career where the pressure was on, but the rewards would be great. I'm one of the few people I know whom knows exactly what they want to do.

I almost forgot the OP's question lol. I would say an MBA is probably a good bet.

If you wanna do trauma/neuro stuff and aim to work in a larger centre in a bigger city, you're not only gonna have to a long residency, but will require at least 1-2 fellowships after that. Neurosurg in Canada is a 6 year residency, and gen. surg is 5. An ICU/Trauma fellowship is another 2 years after that and you'll often get stuck w/ a really shiity call schedule and have to babysit incompetent R2 family medicine residents who shiit their pants when they see ARDS or sepsis and have to intubate someone. With 4 years of med school, that's like 10-12 years of your prime years gone... just do something like gas, and be done while you're still in your late 20s. The demand is high, cash is sweet, and I think its only a 4 year program in the US (its 5 years up here). Furthermore, anesthesia is also in huge demand all over.

Trust me on this man, I have a ton of buddies who are R3 and above and are getting more and more burnt out with every passing year.

I thought I wanted to do medicine back in the day, I scored a 35 S on my MCAT, but I'm a lazy phuck, so my grades never matched up to my true ability. I'm gonna be a CRNA, chill job w/ a very cool skill set and cool cases. Its what I'm built for.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

 

[StateOfMind]

What do you think of RN's? (Registered Nurse) I might go for that and if my plan fails I can fall back on that. Or I could go CRNA and just make bank lol. CRNA looks daunting though, RN seems interesting and not as long as CRNA(Which was my first interest)

 

[Fuglydude]

I'm a CCRN (specialize in critical care). Its really cool work. As a dude you'll probably end up in either ER or ICU or maybe other high tech areas like cardiac cath lab, neurovascular suites, etc. You'll also have TONS of beautiful young girls in your class. I remember taking my critical care program while the regular 4 year degree program was in full swing, and man hotties everywhere! I was like... "PHUCK!!! why am I hooked up??!"

Its a great skill set/credential to have. Its extra cool because in the US you can become an RN in 2 years. Up here its 4 years and a full B.Sc. degree. I absolutely HATED the stuff they taught in the RN program here. Its a total complete and utter joke once you have a science degree. I was high for most of my program and would only show up to my midterms/finals for several courses. It was a total waste of time. That being said, the work that I do on our critical care unit is wicked. From what I've heard nursing education is way ahead in the US vs. Canada. I think this has to do with RNs having a much larger scope of practice in the US, than up here... again this is likely due to cost-saving measures imposed by private healthcare. Our system up here is public, so there is less accountability and cost saving measures. I bet you if CRNAs were allowed to practice in a full scope of practice in Canada, the health budget would save hundreds of millions of dollars and surgery wait times would be lower. There's been a study to show that CRNAs are the most effective/efficient way to provide general anesthetic care:

http://www.aana.com/lewinstudy.aspx#Lewin

I'd suggest taking an RN program (do the 4 year B.Sc.), along with science courses as your options. I personally think business is kind of a joke major compared to the sciences, engineering, etc, unless you're doing an MBA or something like that. I'm sure you can figure out how to do market research and generate a business plan by simply reading a book.

This way not only do you have a fall back, but as a healthcare professional you can have more credibility to your clientele. Its also a cool skill set to have. After you've graduated start working in an ICU and then apply for CRNA... Remember the work is highly technical, and you'll have to know a lot about pharmacology, airways/airway anatomy, hemodynamics, sedation, paralytics, line insertion/intubations, resusc., etc. It all comes with time and experience, but its definitely a wicked career stream.

 

[StateOfMind]

Thanks for the advice fugly. I'm going to a state university(not private like Baylor, or any TOP expensive school) for my undergraduate work, get my pre reqs out of the way with high GPA and hopefully get accepted to nursing school Sounds like I got it down right?

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanks for the advice fugly. I'm going to a state university(not private like Baylor, or any TOP expensive school) for my undergraduate work, get my pre reqs out of the way with high GPA and hopefully get accepted to nursing school Sounds like I got it down right?

Can't you just do a direct entry? Seems like a waste of time to do an extra year of pre-reqs if you can just do them in high school for something like an RN degree.

 

[StateOfMind]

Only way I can have HS credit transfer over to college is if the class was AP... Only classes I took that were AP was Economics/Government, English. Oh well its all good, ill just take chem class and micro and such freshman year. Thanks for the advice... If I have any more questions regarding to nursing ill PM you.

 

[magickarl]

I thought about going in to gas. If I were going to do that though, you're right, I'd be better off going the CRNA route. Making a bit less money, but keeping my late twenties.

 

[f283000]

That's some great advice there by fuglydude and hopefully some of the younger brothers reading this thread pay attention before going for a degree that might not do them any good.