April 25, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DIONISIO IN CA
I don't know the starting salaries for any job, sorry. I know that teachers take liberal arts classes, so just get a broad education and challenge yourself. If you want to teach elementary school, you have to teach all subjects whereas you teach a specific subject in high school. There are many different types of nurses, for some, you can just go to a vocational school. Registered nurses go to school for longer times in a college but your starting salary is much higher.
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A: FROM MODERATOR SARAH SHIRK IN IL
The starting salary is going to vary depending on many variables. Cost of living is very different in urban versus rural areas. A teacher or nurse in New York City will make approximately 20%-30% more money than in MO because the cost of living (housing, food, transportation, taxes, etc.) is much higher. So your question is difficult to answer. It will depend where you take the job and also how much demand there is in that region. There is a nursing shortage right now, and some hospitals will offer a sign-on bonus of several thousand dollars. Also, there is a GEM program on nursing located at http://www.gem-hs.org. You may want to consider joining that program if you are interested in talking to mentors who have experience in nursing. GEM-SET does not have any nursing mentors, but we have many teachers.

I'm curious what type of teacher or nurse do you want to be? There are many sub-specialties within each of these careers. Have you considered being a science, engineering or technology teacher? We have many mentors who teach these subjects. Please write back!