There’s a local kid from here who dropped out of an Ivy a few years ago to pursue his music career. I think there were a lot of wagging tongues here about that. But He just won a Grammy as a producer and has well received songs of his own being released so now everybody is all supportive .
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Yep, downsized or the graduate changes their mind for one reason or another. It’s the future, who knows.
People lie when polled for elections and FUTURE salary amounts. Polls have been horribly wrong in the past few elections too. Why? People lie when surveyed.
Well, you posted it here, so it obviously benefits the university to publish it. And anonymity doesn’t guarantee truthfulness. I’ll bet the slueths out there can figure some of it out, especially with social media today.
The survey is not run by the university. It is run by the campus newspaper. The don’t have an axe to grind.
Because they are afraid to tell people their political views.
This is a far less complicated poll.
Election polls are built with models of likely voter participation etc. This is a straight up 25% poll. I can’t explain polling to you.
At the time the poll is taken it is fairly late in the year. There is likely to be minimal movement of intentions from both parties.
Usually a simple poll is enough to convince most open minded people.
It still benefts the university, you posted here, maybe a humble brag, and I’m sure it helps drive donations to the newspaper. And I don’t believe for a minute the any college newspaper is completely 100% independent from the university.
Look, you can explain away every little thing that you want, whether it’s a survey from Cal posted above or Princeton, I’m sure there’s a fair amount of BS in it.
That’s quite insulting. You don’t think I understand polling? Wouldn’t it be much easier to call me stupid? 
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It’s a survey question with the previously quoted wording. Different kids may interpret the wording differently. For example, one kid might overestimate the future value of stock options at his start-up. Another kid who hasn’t yet accepted a job offer may overestimate how much his future job will pay. I can only speculate about how the Princeton students who estimated their next year earnings of $600k+ came to that number.
Some students do embellish when reporting income, including when filling out an anonymous survey for the school newspaper, but I think the bigger issue is self-reporting. I’d expect kids who have a great job offer are more likely to choose to report than kids who are disappointed with their starting job.
That said, I agree with the original contention that CS students can earn $150k first year. It’s not that unusual for very high cost of living areas. My issue is more with taking numbers from a self-reported newspaper survey as gospel.
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I am sorry if you think I am trying to insult you. That is not at all the case.
I am not sure you want to be convinced of anything different than what you currently believe though.
So I am going to leave this here.
Yes, it’s simple. People lie about the money they make, especially when they haven’t actually earned it yet.
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Really? Wow. 
This happens when they are told, and have a written offer, that next year’s pay is 600k in a combination of base, bonus and signon. Yes there are a very small handful of those jobs.
The problem with polls like this is that the responders are not randomly selected. The alumni decide whether to respond, and IMO, people with higher salaries are more likely to do it.
That being said, my son got a starting salary+bonus+stock-options close to 150K graduating from school ranked lower than Princeton.
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All pay reports anywhere are self-reported. Unless it is people that take some assistance from the government. Otherwise you can’t force people to report pay to some third party. You have also used survey data in the past. That is the only data available.
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My post compared to CollgeScorecard, which is tax-reported income. I suppose the income a person reports on their taxes is technically self-reported, but it’s different from a newspaper survey asking students to estimate future earnings for the following year, including things like stock options.
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Let me say something else that you may not believe. Nobody gets any serious cred at Princeton for getting a 200k offer. And for that reason alone, no one has any reason to lie about a 200k number.
People get cred if:
a) They get a Rhodes Scholarship
b) If they get a PhD admission from Scott Aronson – only from people in the relevant department
c) If they are the valedictorian
d) If they win a Pullitzer while they are still on campus
etc…
In this scheme of things, the 200k salary is not a big deal. No one thinks you are some great shakes. It is not bad. It is in fact ok. But there is no halo around your head. So there is no reason to lie.
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Nobody is getting “serious cred” from an anonymous newspaper survey of expected income in following year, even if they report $600k+, but that does not eliminate the previously stated issues, which I will not repeat.
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Physician’ Assistant grad school is often only 2-3 yr so less cost and time than MD or DO grad school.
The kid will do what the kid wants to do. I am sure his plans will change many times in the next 4-6 years. But thanks. I am aware of the PA path.
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Bio and chem majors make great law profs and lawyers. I know a handful. All seem to like their work. There goes my anecdote. 
Another thought. If the kid likes biology and computer science, there is a lot of overlap with decent future earnings potential. We might have sequenced the human genome in 2000 (thanks, Al Gore! 
) but we are still dealing with how to make the sequencing cheaper, more reliable, and faster, so it can be done on a routine basis.
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I told him this. This requires a PhD. At the moment he has no interest in a PhD. If I am discouraging my older one from a PhD, I have no interest in having this kid go into a PhD for which he is less suited and has less interest. 18 year old kids may often have irreconcilable opinions. Only time will resolve them. We don’t need to strenuously try to resolve them all at once. He is not even 18 yet.
Not necessarily a PhD. I work in the industry.
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Just wait until he enlists in the Coast Guard.
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