<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I'm going to UM's LSA department and majoring in Computer Science this fall. I was wondering what companies recruit computer science majors for summer internships. Also, are the majority of computer science majors guaranteed a full-time job offer by graduation? How could I increase my chances of getting into a good firm (other than getting a high GPA)?</p>
<p>One more question: How hard is it to maintain a decent GPA (3.5+) in the major?</p>
<p>you will find that the vast majority of firms recruiting at UM are looking for CS majors. it’s by far one of the best (if not the best) majors for job placement. if you are good at CS a 3.5+ should be relatively easy to maintain. i recommend going to career fair (especially CoE’s) your freshman year if you’re interested in getting an internship.</p>
<p>I think even if you’re good at CS, it will simply take a lot of time to maintain a 3.5. Depending on the classes you take at least. Like, it shouldn’t be something that’s impossible to get, but it will be something that takes time even if you’re good at it.</p>
<p>But you don’t even need a 3.5. Very high paying jobs (think 85K+) are pretty much handed out to anyone who isn’t completely incompetent. If you’re good you can easily see 120K+ in total first year compensation. At least for right now (we don’t know what it’ll be in 4 years) the job market for CS is insane. </p>
<p>I can only think of one person who I’d say is completely incompetent so I don’t know what to say about the job market for them. Just don’t simultaneously be dull as a brick and fail half your classes and you should be fine though.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>@Vladenschlutte, that’s an unbelievable salary for a 21 year old! Are you sure those are the right numbers? I’m curious what jobs/companies actually offer those salaries.</p>
<p>The company I’m interning at (which is not a big name company - you’ve probably not heard of it) started at 90K for full time last year. And this is in a fairly inexpensive area (at least compared to the coasts). The big name companies will start far higher (in terms of total compensation).</p>
<p>And you really don’t have to be a genius to work here or anything. If you maintain a 3.5 GPA you’re likely smarter than most of the people here. People aren’t dumb for the most part, but they certainly aren’t all geniuses either.</p>
<p>Starting salaries of $75-80k’s pretty common nowadays, with some top companies pushing over $100K. Add annual bonuses, stock units, etc, it’s not unreasonable to state that the top 15-20% or so CS grads will push over $100k after graduation.</p>
<p>The trick though, is that it’s surprisingly difficult with to find competent programmers. Plenty of people graduate graduate with CS degrees in top schools all over the US without the ability to program their way out of a paper bag.</p>
<p>One other thing to note that is salary growth isn’t that fast percentage wise after you start, so you shouldn’t be expecting your starting salary to double in 5-6 years just because some people you know went from $40k to $80k a few years after starting.</p>
<p>you shouldn’t have to worry about getting a job providing that you are competent (which unfortunately is probably less than half the class).
The problem with CS jobs (and even the “top paying” ones ) is that while you get decent base, your bonus is crap and your earning trajectory (comp increase y/y) is crap.</p>
<p>You really don’t have to be “competent.” Just not grossly incompetent.</p>