<p>This actually goes against a whole lot of things on CC and is an official study.</p>
<p><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/105499/Ivy-Leaguers'-Big-Edge-Starting-Pay">http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/105499/Ivy-Leaguers'-Big-Edge-Starting-Pay</a></p>
<p>"Where people go to college can make a big difference in starting pay, and that difference is largely sustained into midcareer, according to a large study of global compensation.</p>
<p>In the yearlong effort, PayScale Inc., an online provider of global compensation data, surveyed 1.2 million bachelor's degree graduates with a minimum of 10 years of work experience (with a median of 15.5 years). The subjects hailed from more than 300 U.S. schools ranging from state institutions to the Ivy League, and their incomes show that the subject you major in can have little to do with your long-term earning power. PayScale excluded survey respondents who reported having advanced degrees, including M.B.A.s, M.D.s and J.D.s."</p>
<p>"Mr. Wise called the data thought-provoking. 'These results, to some extent, confirm suspicions that many people have about the importance of a person's college choice in giving them better pay opportunities down the line,' says Mr. Wise. "What we still don't know is whether or not it's the training or education the school provides that drives these pay differences, or if the people from those schools are just wired to self-select into jobs that are likely to be paid more."</p>
<p>Check it out</p>
<p>most of the people on CC are actually HS kids who repeat what their counselors say</p>
<p>Hmmm, interesting, but this note from "More on the Methodology" gave me pause:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The survey excluded respondents who reported having advanced degrees, including M.B.A.s, M.D.s and J.D.s. Self-employed, project-based, and contract employees were also not included.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's a whole lot of people left out. Academics, who are more likely to come from more prestigious institutions and draw relatively modest salaries. People from any institution, prestigious or not, that got awesome grades, got into a good professional school and now pull in the big bucks. Granted, it does make it more tricky to factor in the prestige of both undergrad and grad institutions, but leaving everyone with an advanced degree out leaves us with an inadequate sample.</p>
<p>What does this go against that you're seeing on CC, though? If anything, the article seems to confirm what I see as the prevailing notion here: kids want to get into prestigious institutions, because they view them as the ticket to a lucrative career.</p>
<p>
[quote]
That's a whole lot of people left out. Academics, who are more likely to come from more prestigious institutions and draw relatively modest salaries. People from any institution, prestigious or not, that got awesome grades, got into a good professional school and now pull in the big bucks. Granted, it does make it more tricky to factor in the prestige of both undergrad and grad institutions, but leaving everyone with an advanced degree out leaves us with an inadequate sample.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Great point. Most intelligent people I know are seeking post-graduate degrees unless they're studying engineering or computer science. So what this study tell us is that certain schools graduate more engineers/computer scientists than others. </p>
<p>It's pretty unlikely that all the liberal arts majors won't go to business or law school and end up making big money. Thus, this study is useless.</p>
<p>I wouldn't consider the study useless: it still has some very interesting information of how people are doing without advanced degrees. If you're interested in how people do with advanced degrees, this would be an entirely different study focused on just the advanced degree holders. I'm glad they didn't combine combine these as the information would be too complex to be as meaningful.</p>
<p>Well, this is pretty clear to me. If you want to make money either go to Ivy League or do engineering.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Mr. Wise called the data thought-provoking. 'These results, to some extent, confirm suspicions that many people have about the importance of a person's college choice in giving them better pay opportunities down the line,' says Mr. Wise. "What we still don't know is whether or not it's the training or education the school provides that drives these pay differences, or if the people from those schools are just wired to self-select into jobs that are likely to be paid more."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm not sure I've heard a more idiotic sentence uttered recently. How about this...the kids are smarter at those schools and therefore make more money in a workplace which puts the most value on intelligence.</p>
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[quote]
I'm not sure I've heard a more idiotic sentence uttered recently. How about this...the kids are smarter at those schools and therefore make more money in a workplace which puts the most value on intelligence.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I know! All those public university dumbasses can't hold a candle to the average Ivy Leaguer.</p>
<p>i know.... it's just the name of the school.</p>
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[quote]
I know! All those public university dumbasses can't hold a candle to the average Ivy Leaguer.
[/quote]
On average, that is true.</p>
<p>This article really didn't say anything profound. All it accomplishes is stating that you can really get a good job if you feel like it. Ivy graduates get high-paying jobs because they want them. Honestly, who goes to Harvard to become a middle school teacher? I know plenty of people who went to state universities and make plenty of money, because they wanted a high-paying job. Ambition, not school choice, is the key to the bank vault.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Honestly, who goes to Harvard to become a middle school teacher?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My sixth grade teacher, lmao.</p>
<p>Anyway, I think both aspects (the college and the ambition of the student) have strong roles in determining salary. One the one hand, a philosophy major from Harvard who isn't interested in a huge salary probably isn't going to make as much as a cuthroat engineering or business major from a State university. But on the other hand, a cuthroat engineering or business major from Harvard is going to make a hell of a lot more than one from a State university.</p>
<p>I recall a study from I believe Princeton recently that determined that where you apply to college, regardless of whether or not you get accepted, is one of the strongest predictors of future financial success. The researchers felt it was because it displayed ambition to apply to HYP and other top-tier schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I recall a study from I believe Princeton recently that determined that where you apply to college, regardless of whether or not you get accepted, is one of the strongest predictors of future financial success. The researchers felt it was because it displayed ambition to apply to HYP and other top-tier schools.
[/quote]
Absolutely.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I know! All those public university dumbasses can't hold a candle to the average Ivy Leaguer.
[/quote]
Wow, that's the most ignorant and pretentious statement I've seen on this site. Congratulations.</p>
<p>I interpreted that comment as sarcastic, though I could be wrong.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wow, that's the most ignorant and pretentious statement I've seen on this site. Congratulations.
[/quote]
I think this post has to be one of the most clueless though...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wow, that's the most ignorant and pretentious statement I've seen on this site. Congratulations.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha, do you really think that I would say something like that? I was making fun of Mr Payne's assertion that those who go to the "best" schools are there because they're so much more intelligent than those who go to the "pretty good" or "average" schools.</p>
<p>BTW, I go to one of those "best" schools, so it's not bitterness =)</p>
<p>reading the statement literally, a "dumbass" from a state school probably could "hold a candle." The fact that it's being held next to an ivy leaguer should make no difference.</p>