Johns Hopkins or Lehigh University??

<p>alrite- so i know that i shouldnt look too far into rankings and in average salary- but i cant help it! im interested in civil engineering. lehigh is ranked 42nd for engineering and yet the average mid career salary is 111000. johns hopkins is the other way around- it ranks 25 for engineering but the average mid-career salary is about 90,000. (according to USWN report and payscale). </p>

<p>i am taking ap stat at the moment, and i am well aware that outliers can be affecting the potential salary for lehigh. If johns hopkins is rated so high, why is the potential salary lower? </p>

<p>also- does anyone know what job placement is like for each school? thankss:]</p>

<p>The Payscale salary survey is for people with undergraduate degree only. A lot of Hopkins Students go to professional and graduate schools. That skews the results. Also, Payscale data are self-reported, which lacks the rigor of a statistical analysis.</p>

<p>I also suspect two further details:</p>

<p>1) Many Hopkins students go into public service, non-profits which typically pay drastically lower but offer a chance to change the world.</p>

<p>2) Many Hopkins students go on to being professors which means they are highly, highly respected in their fields and research, but most likely will not make more than 85K. </p>

<p>Salary is perhaps not the best way to judge quality.</p>