$80,000 starting salary from an internship

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>My mom was telling me a story today about one of her friend's daughters. She told me that she went to the University of Chicago and majored in economics. And during the summer, she got an internship at a company with an $80,000 starting salary. And after she graduated with her degree in economics, her company paid for her to go to Harvard graduate school, and then her salary increased to $120,000. </p>

<p>And she also told me a story about another one of her friend's children. Her friend's son majored in computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, then he did an internship at Microsoft during the summer. And a few months before he graduated, he got an offer from Microsoft to work full-time. His starting, entry-level salary was $125,000. </p>

<p>I'm kind of suspicious though; I think that she's lying or bending the truth. Have you ever heard of an internship that pays $80,000? I never have, with the exception of this one. </p>

<p>Is she lying or not? And is this stuff even realistic?</p>

2

<p>Lying. Unrealistic. </p>

<p>Most people will never see a yearly $80,000 career paycheck, much less an internship that pays that high. Engineers don’t get six-figure starting salaries.</p>

3

<p>I doubt Microsoft pays any entry level jobs 6 figures. The former story is more believable (assuming the $80k wasn’t until after graduation).</p>

4

<p>Internships are usually low-pay if they are paid at all.</p>

5

<p>That’s pretty amazing if it’s true</p>

6

<p>Hell, I’m interning this next whole summer for free.</p>

7

<p>The problem is that the title of the thread and the actual content conflict.</p>

8

<p>Can’t make that much money right away without graduate school.
So it’s kind of unrealistic for such story.
I don’t know what other CCers would think…</p>

9

<p>yeah sounds highly unrealistic to me, but i don’t know for sure.</p>

10

<p>Well Microsoft is a pretty rich corporation. And I know that they provide you with housing and stuff if you get one of their super competitive internship spots. They probably make you work hard for that $80,000 if they pay that much.</p>

11

<p>^ Do they hire kids from the schools with better names or is it the profile quality that carries more weight?</p>

12

<p>^^My first cousin once removed has worked for Microsoft for years. From my knowledge of her experience, it still sounds unlikely.</p>

13

<p>If you graduate top of your class at Harvard or UChicago, your starting salary will be HIGH.</p>

14

<p>What if you graduate from the top of your class at a State University?</p>

15

<p>Highly likely, my step brother was a semi-programming prodigy, makes $420,000 from Microsoft within 5 years of working there.</p>

16

<p>If you apply for business internships, will employers care about the name of a school or state university? even though they look at applicants with the highest GPA…</p>

17

<p>Eh, parents always exaggerate the truth so that you’d work harder. For an internship, this sounds highly unrealistic. Maybe she confused it with working for real?</p>

18

<p>She could be making 80 grand if it was ibanking job or something of that nature. Otherwise I doubt it.</p>

<p>Also, Microsoft easily gives six figure salaries but NOT (in my knowledge) at entry level positions. It’s more likely to be 75k-100k. Maybe he got a nice bonus this year + good benefits? Just a guess.</p>

19

<p>HopefulEagle, the highest starting salary for a BS from GATech 130K (I remember seeing it from something someone else here said). </p>

<p>From what I’ve seen looking around, top 15-ish percent from other highly ranked public schools in Engineering should expect around 70K. Maybe something higher for top few percent. </p>

<p>UMich Ross seemed to have a similar looking pattern.</p>

20

<p>^ What if you’re on the top 10% from a State University?</p>