<p>I was surprised that Cal Poly SLO did not make the list of the top 20 schools on this Payscale list of the Best Schools for Engineering Majors based on pay. I wish they went beyond the top 20. I did read the methodology but welcome all guesses why Poly didn’t make it.</p>
<p>Following is a statement from their Methodology for the Majors ratings. I can’t imagine that the Cal Poly sample size was too small -
"Please note, not all schools from the overall package were considered for these rankings as we placed certain restrictions on minimum sample size and spread in pay for the school/major combinations. For this reason, many liberal arts schools and other small schools were not considered for these rankings.</p>
<p>Additionally, similar to the overall school rankings, these schools are ranked based on the median mid-career earnings of graduates within the particular major. The pay values do not control for job choice, only major and school selection. This is important to keep in mind as graduates for one school may select very different jobs than graduates from another school even if they share the same major."</p>
<p>I encourage everyone to read the full Methodology.</p>
<p>Comparing graduates from service academies vs. those straight out of civilian universities is comparing apples to oranges. </p>
<p>The methodology states they calculate pay once they are civilians. Graduates of service academies don’t become civilians until after 5 years of service as an officer. By the time many of these graduates find jobs they already have real world experience which explains the high starting salaries. WSJ stated that JO’s are as in demand as people who have MBA’s.</p>
<p>I also wonder why Cal Poly engineering is not ranked higher. But equally important, why Cal made the top 10 and why UCLA, UCSD engineering didn’t make the cut in top 20? </p>
<p>Also, why is this list dominated by private colleges?</p>
<p>My Son, a Cal Poly SLO June 2013 graduate with BS in Mechanical Engineering, just accepted an Engineering position in Southern California with a salary of $64,000 per year.</p>
<p>Thanks vballmom. I thought I would post that info about my son just as a data point for all Cal Poly SLO students and parents and prospective students… Cal Poly is a fine University.</p>
<p>@blindmonkey private colleges will dominate this kind of list because of the strength of their alumni networks, which is huge when it comes to hiring and a reason some people choose a school over another. In California, USC seems to have the strongest and most active alumni network. While some schools have a CEO here or there, the privates have the CEO and a loyal army of employers/graduates specifically looking for their grads. It still depends on the individual obviously, but alumni networks can be really important.</p>
<p>Reza! Huge Congratulations! $64,000 a year in a job in his major is an amazing start to life for a young man in his early 20’s. My kid is an ME major too.</p>
<p>Thanks OsakaDad; I was surprised at the salary offered . By the way, to provide a bit more info my son had a 3.2 GPA, no special honors,no internships although he did have a couple tech jobs during school. So he wasnt an outstanding student. A fairly good GPA but not at the top of his class. So I just thought I would provide some more info here on a “typical” Cal Poly Engineering 2013 grad salary offer.</p>