<p>Ok I'll get this straight. I got in CIT, majoring in MechE, and this is what I love for years since I love cars/automobiles, I'd love to design/make them and study MechE is the way to go. But I also want to purchase some awesome fancy cars which need money, a lot. And I heard that graduates from SCS in CMU have the highest starting salary. Besides, most posts I've seen on CC including those who got in MIT/Stanford/Berkeley, are going to major in CS. At this point, I'm just wondering that study CS might just have a much brighter future after they graduate and find jobs in google/microsoft/facebook and make much more money than MechE graduates. So I still have a chance getting in SCS in CMU(waitlisted by now) and I obviously do not hate it, just dont love it as much as MechE.</p>
<p>What should I do? Should I follow my heart or throw myself into SCS where I might have a brighter future?</p>
<p>Too many abbreviations. Is CIT Caltech Institute of Technology?</p>
<p>First of all, average starting salaries at different schools don’t tell you much.</p>
<p>Second of all, you don’t even need a degree to do CS, so as long as you are skilled you can do it at any point of the future. And I don’t know if a CS degree necessarily helps you become a programmer. Maybe some programs do. I don’t know.</p>
<p>Third, generally people make the most money doing what they like. I have a family member that couldn’t get a bank loan for a larger house because the banker told them that someone in that profession could never afford it. This family member ended up finding a niche in the profession and ended up making literally 10 times the average salary for that profession. The moral of this story is that if you have a strong interest in one profession over another, average starting salary. </p>
<p>If you got into Caltech, you’re not average anyway, so average starting salary may not apply to you. The average student in your classes didn’t get into Caltech, so statistically, you shouldn’t have gotten either. You see my point.</p>
<p>Thank! But CIT is not Caltech, CIT is just Carnegie Institute of Technology, the engineering school in CMU. And SCS is School of Computer Science in CMU. Actually, if I had gotten in Caltech or MIT in Mechanical major, I will not hesitate attending. But since its CMU where MechE is not the strongest major, I don’t know what to do, computer science which CMU is best at but I dont really love and may make a lot of money after I graduate, or MechE which I love but CMU is not that good at and may end up making a lot less money that graduates from School of Computer Science.</p>
<p>CIT stands for Carnegie Institute of Technology. Garage, I’d recommend you carry on with MechE since you love it. You could pursue CS as double major with MechE, or as a minor in CMU if you’re interested in the subject.</p>
<p>kinda depends on what you make of it. The school only provides the opportunity. </p>
<p>fwiw.
CMU does a graduating class salary survey. 100% participation in most years. You can see the salary range and companies that hired. </p>
<p>I don’t think graduating CMU students plays 2nd to your 1st choice schools. I think that DS got more out of CMU than what he may have gotten out of either MIT or CalTech (applied but not selected ). </p>
<p>DS , Mech, HCI '06, now does a robotics startup and works now pt in CS (robotics) at Udub, As collegealum314, mentioned, you don’t need to be a CS person to do CS. DS got into a highly rated CS grad school (not MIT Caltech), microsoft internships, works in school of computer science without a cs background. </p>
<p>You are looking for prestige and rankings, which in a few years after graduation, will mean very little. </p>
<p>Hard work, passion for what you want, networking, and character will take you further.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot LongPrime! But see? As you said, your kid switched to CS from Mech, so I just wondered did he do that because majoring in CS has a brighter future than MechE? To put it in another way, doew MechE students find jobs(or great jobs) easily?</p>
<p>No, he didn’t switch from ME to CS. His work, grad school, internships were either mechanical or I/O computer via mechanical-visual. He spends a bit of time CAD, machining, interfacing, and control, all of which takes some knowledge of CS. His opportunities came about because the CS people wanted someone of mechanical-visual-computer interface abilities.</p>
<p>He’d go crazy if he had to be in front of a monitor all day. He may have found a job easier if he was as CS major or if applied for a job with a heavy component of coding. but he would be unhappy no matter what compensation. Money is not his driving force. Opportunity more towards his motivation.</p>
<p>For instance, Apple has great products not because of its software or hardware but because it has great I/0 that other companies can’t seem to get right. </p>
<p>Toyota has a I/0 problem that may have origins in software-hardware. Toyota also has great products because it has better I/0 than other companies.</p>
<p>Great! Thanks, I think I’ll go with Mechanical Engineering no matter where I end up going. I are right that people should follow their heart and do the job that they really like. That’s also the only way to succeed in the field. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Either way, you’ll be making good money. It’s not like mechanical engineers are broke. Go with the love!</p>
<p>LongPrime was referring to this [Post-Graduation</a> Survey](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/students_alumni/post-grad-survey/index.html]Post-Graduation”>http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/students_alumni/post-grad-survey/index.html). With an average starting salary of $64K for a MechE degree, I am pretty sure you can afford some awesome fancy cars.</p>