If VT is better than UVA at engineering,then why are UVA eng. grads making the 11th most in country!

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/highest-salaries-engineering-computer-science/

I have absolutely no bias towards either of these schools. I’m just trying to make a decision for engineering school. It’s generally agreed upon that VT is a better engineering school than UVA (the only department VT bests them in from what I hear), but then why do UVA engineering grads make the 11th most in the country (above UMich! and close to MIT)?

Is it just because UVA grads love hiring other UVA grads? The connections? general “prestige”?

2

Salary is not very indicative of school quality. It is more indicative of where graduates tend to live and who they tend to work for. UVA, for example, is likely sending more of its students into non-traditional engineering roles, such as consulting or finance, especially given the fact that UVA grads tend to already come from wealthier, more connected families.

Geography is another major factor, but with VT and UVA it is likely a more minor one since the schools are located fairly close to one another. However, if you look at a comparison like Berkeley vs. Purdue, most people would agree that those are peer schools, but Berkeley grads will make more because they have a higher percentage of graduates living and working in the Bay Area with an extreme cost of living while Purdue will have a higher percentage living in places like Indianapolis, which is much, much cheaper and the salaries reflect that.

3

Thank you, but do you think this could possibly account for why a number 40 engineering school could beat up top engineering schools like UMich??? Or indeed, Harvard or any other Ivy league school! (the student from Ivy engineering surely, on average, have better connections than UVA graduates)

Do you think it is because of UVA these graduates make so much? Or besides the fact? thanks

4

This is not worth worrying about any of this. UVa is about 32, VT about 16 these days. They both do very well with recruiting .

5

Also note that the data for that article is self reported data in a survey on Nerd Wallet. It may not be the best data set.

6

Comparing with VT vs. UVA-

Some data found: http://colleges.startclass.com/compare/4434-4437/Virginia-Polytechnic-Institute-and-State-University-vs-University-of-Virginia-Main-Campus
(According to the site, the ranking is based on:“academic excellence, admission selectivity, career readiness, financial affordability, and expert opinions (US News, Forbes and more)”)

Payscale Ranking

VT http://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=Virginia_Polytechnic_Institute_and_State_University_(Virginia_Tech)/Salary
UVA http://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=University_of_Virginia_(UVA)_-_Main_Campus/Salary

I have visited both VT & UVA Engineering info sessions and talked with students and counselors - Many UVA students seem to double-major with tech or non-tech related subjects- ex. Mech & CS + Foreign Policy, or Business as a minor etc.) It’s my speculation, but UVA students with combo degree for ex. with business may tend to take managerial roles much earlier than those who only have specialized skills - also, flexible academic program at UVA (than VT-It seems very difficult to change the school or major at VT) may give some flexibility on career choice while going up on the career ladder- Graduation rate is higher at UVA as well as Grad School acceptance rate - FYI