<p>Some of this stuff is more difficult than it sounds. Many of the highly sought after well paying jobs come with expectations of dress, food, perhaps even transportation. If you’re not dressing or eating a certain way, you can be labelled weird or even worse, anti-social, and those labels could hurt you financially in the long run. It’s best to be completely realistic about expenses and take on as little debt as possible. </p>
<p>I think engineers are probably luckier than most in this regard. Not only are they well paid, but there are probably not as many social expectations put on them. The student highlighted in the original story seems to have been similarly fortunate. However, that’s not the case for many, if not most, high paying jobs to recent grads. </p>
<p>if cost of living is so low how is it possible that a starting salary for a recent graduate 9even w a masters) can be so high? and if this is his 1st job what value does he have as an HR manager? it just sounds ridiculous. you’re certainly not going to find situations like that in the northeast. there are waaaaay more qualified ppl in the job hunt than a kid fresh out of grad school. </p>
<p>I think folks are right in that the literal details of his account shouldn’t be taken as gospel, but the tips he gives are great advice. And yes, they’re common sense…if you’ve been living on your own for a while and have experience repaying debt. But they are things I sort of learned through trial and error with credit cards (and reading online), so I think they’ll be really helpful to new grads - especially ones who don’t really know how their loan repayment works.</p>
<p>“if cost of living is so low how is it possible that a starting salary for a recent graduate”</p>
<p>We don’t know that the story is true, but if it is, it’s because there’s an ambitious company located in an extremely cold, remote, and rural area that even people from Michigan and Wisconsin consider the back of beyond. Whether it deserves that reputation or not, it’s not easy to get someone with a master’s degree to move to the Upper Peninsula.</p>
<p>I don’t know where people got the idea he lives in the U.P. The article says he lives in Milwaukee. I know Milwaukee is not ideal for many people, but isn’t the U.P. and there are many companies who pay their employees $80k/yr with a master’s degree.</p>
<p>"Ummm… newly graduated post graduate science degrees are getting more than 80K/year here in Chicagoland. "
-Chicago is very very expansive place to live. 80K in Chicago would be probably the same as about $60K in my city. The scintist with huge amount of experience is getting about $80k+ here. But how many people wea re talking? -Very few. I am talking about much more “crpwded” proffesions in general business, engineering, IT. Nope, non-experienced person here would not get $80k here…well maybe in daddy’s business, but I do not know anything about how coneections influence the compensation. People here in general are happy to be working, who cares how much, there is no choice. One big reason for us to be paying our D’s Medical school - we do not want her to deal with loans that we never had.</p>
<p>…thinking about $80k in Chicago and repaying $74k in 2 years - THERE IS NO WAY, WHATSOEVER. If somebody is claiming that, I say, just survive in Chicago for $80k, forget about loans. </p>
<p>Miami- where on earth in the US do you live where people with Master’s Degrees can’t find jobs for 80K? My company has operations all over the country (and the world) and it’s not too hard to find a location or a function which isn’t paying a good salary (plus terrific benefits) for professional level roles.</p>
<p>Is every kid walking out of a university going to make that? No. But most geographic regions in the US have a few employers- insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, credit card/financial services, consumer products, etc. which have many professional level opportunities (with Master’s degree) at that level.</p>
<p>I respect that you know a lot about IT and Med school… but what do you think actuaries get paid (regardless of where they live)? Supply chain/distribution professionals? Art Directors, Media Buyers, Manager of Investor Relations???</p>
<p>He got an executive position. Seems the first year (even accounting for the bonus,) he paid about $3300/mo on a take-home salary of 5k+. Probably lived with a roommate in a cheap apt. </p>
<p>No, no kid should assume this is easy and an excuse for loading up on loans. But the advice (similar to Dave Ramsey) is good. I forwarded the link to D2, who just graduated, has a job that won’t last (her current work lasts to Aug 1, just about when she starts paying coll loans) - and is spending too much. Her loan debt will be low (I think maybe 225/mo) but she sees money in her pocket as money to burn. I’ve gotten her to grasp why to pay off her ccard debt, rather than monthly minimums. Progress comes slowly.</p>
<p>Blossom, with all due respect, some of your tales about how potential employees are vetted at your company have scared me. One either gets the good job or doesn’t. That kid I know making over 100k in her first real job is a H grad, aggressively pursued internships and summer work that mattered and was one of 25 out of 4000 applicants who got the nod. Gotta wonder if the other 3975 did anywhere near as well. Granted, she’s only got an UG degree. But if a Masters was such an assurance, more kids would be headed back to school. I’d underwrite some of my kids’ grad costs if I “knew” they’d land 80k. For most it takes some good prep, good luck, and time.</p>
<p>Lookingforward- no kid should assume they can walk out of college with a BA and make 80K. But a kid who is willing to cast a wide net, and get a job devoid of glamor but with lots of opportunity is better off than a kid whose career strategy is “I’m either going to become a sports agent, become head of strategy for the NFL, or sit on my parents couch” is not dealing with reality.</p>
<p>The kids I counsel have terribly unrealistic expectations for the way the working world operates. Nobody wakes up one day in a corner office. Working your way up to a cool job in Seattle or Silicon Valley sometimes means starting in Dayton Ohio. The head curator at a major museum in a major metropolitan area starts out as an exhibits coordinator for a small museum in Rhode Island. The head of marketing for a new digital music streaming service started out as a Brand Assistant for a dog food company.</p>
<p>Keeping your cost of living low while paying off a loan is very good advice.</p>
<p>Oh, and he attended a 2 year community college for 3 years-( 2001-2004), then Elmira college (graduated in 2007) , and worked a few years before getting his Masters at UIUC (2010-11). He got into the GE aviation HR leadership internship program in 5/11 in Cincinnati. It ended in August '11. Looks like it took several mos to get his next job, which he started in Jan '12 in Michigan. After a little over 2 years he took the current job in WI ( 3/14)</p>
<p>I really hope kids don’t think the takeaway from this story is “I can rack up $74K in debt and pay it off in two years, no problem!” As jym mentions, this was an older student who had several years of working experience even before going back for his masters, and his current salary is based on all those factors. The main story here is that frugality pays off, which I agree plenty of people have a hard time internalizing (adults as well as kids).</p>
<p>I said nothing about highly sought-after, well-paying jobs. People starting at $140K with a BA are in another category. Everyone knows that people in some careers in a major city need to dress a certain way, etc.</p>
<p>The vast majority of students graduating with debt are in a completely different type of job. Even students graduating without debt are guilty of living paycheck to paycheck, living on credit card debt, and not building up any reserves at all. It is hard to do in a low wage job, I’ve been there myself. But it can be done. I had friends back in the day who, if they received a $1,500 bonus, promptly went on a vacation to Europe. I put my bonus in a money market fund. </p>
<p>I bet that the vast majority of people with new master’s degrees don’t get $80K jobs, either. This guy had significant relevant experience. Nevertheless, his advice holds true.</p>