<p>Though i got into the college of engineering at Cal, my parents have been constantly telling me that i will starve to death with an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering! So... im just curious... what IS the mean/median salary of a berkeley graduate? (official reports would be greatly appreciated as well...)</p>
<p>California</a> - May 2006 OES State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
You'll be fine.</p>
<p>but is there a specific report for berkeley? for instance, i kno that an undergrad degree for computer science at cmu yields a mean salary of 70000 per year...</p>
<p>Ask and ye shall receive.</p>
<p>Career</a> Center - What Can I Do With a Major In...?</p>
<p>i had this posted like yesterday on a different topic. kinda funny you missed it because i had exactly what you asked for w/ mean and median data. i'm too lazy to post a source link here, but goto the topic "mechE vs EE". i have all the sources, as well as data for other schools.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley</p>
<p>[2006] Bachelor's
ME> Mean: $57,522; Median: $59,000
EECS> Mean: $67,570; Median: $66,000
CS> Mean: $76,929; Median: $75,000</p>
<p>Wow, if MechE graduates are "starving to death" these days, I'd hate to see how the liberal arts majors are faring. Your parents need to calm down. There's only a handful of majors making more money out of college, like EECS.</p>
<p>what is EECS, what is ECE, what is EE? I get confused with so many electrical type engineerings. I think I am seeing a pattern in all unis...that mech engineers are earning the least out of the other engineers...hmmm I need a career change...lol</p>
<p>Can someone tell me more about mechatronics...I'm very interested but don't know its specifics (like what BS should you take) and the job prospects</p>
<p>EE = Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (some universities have a combined department with two degrees or a combined degree)
ECE = Electrical and Computer Engineering (offers EE and CompE as majors)
EE = Electrical Engineering</p>
<p>so mechatronics will be a combo of mechE and which of the three departments?</p>
<p>wow.. i wish my school had that kind of information lol</p>
<p>believe me, earning mid-60's is still a pretty rough living when you're from the bay area. So if you graduate with a starting salary of 50 k.. your parents have a understandable concern IMHO.</p>
<p>Earning mid-60's is not rough living for a young person with no family. There are grad students living on $20k gross in the Bay Area! As I said, almost every other major pays even less.</p>
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believe me, earning mid-60's is still a pretty rough living when you're from the bay area. So if you graduate with a starting salary of 50 k.. your parents have a understandable concern IMHO.
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Earning mid-60's is not rough living for a young person with no family. There are grad students living on $20k gross in the Bay Area! As I said, almost every other major pays even less.
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<p>I completely agree. The vast majority of people in the Bay Area could never even dream of making 60k as a starting salary. </p>
<p>Furthermore, who says that you have to stay in the Bay Area anyway? Nobody is "entitled" to live there. If the cost of living is too expensive there, then move to someplace cheaper. </p>
<p>Let me put it to you this way. You can buy a house on the Texas Gulf Coast for less than $50k. No joke. Note, it's not going to be a great house. But hey, at least it's a house. Just go to realtor.com and see for yourself. Furthermore, Texas has no state income tax. Perhaps most importantly, the Gulf Coast is absolutely ravenous for engineers due to the giant boom in oil prices. For example, consider the sorts of starting engineering salaries earned from graduates of Texas A&M. Now, Texas A&M isn't a bad engineering school, but it's not as good as Berkeley is. If those A&M grads can land high-paying engineering jobs in Texas, you should be able to also. </p>
<p>So you can forget about having to scrape for a down payment. After a few years of working as an engineer and saving, you can buy a house in Texas with cash.</p>
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Nobody is "entitled" to live there.
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<p>You'd be shocked how many people truly believe that they are entitled (especially some people in NYC). I could rant forever about this, but I won't.</p>
<p>Living in a place where the cost of living is pretty high like Cal, what would be a well off starting salary, 70k? 80k? </p>
<p>And suppose all engineers get an MBA after BS, won't they all then start earning more or less the same?? At that point, it doesn't really matter what engineering you do, right?</p>
<p>I think 70-90K is reasonable to to start a family. If you are single, 20k is good enough for a humble living, as mentioned (the stipend of most grad students)</p>
<p>How much would an average BS + MBA guy earn? Is it quite simillar accross the graduates?</p>
<p>Don't worry, the median family income in Silicon Valley is about 80k, and by the time you start a family (if you plan on that), you'd probably be making at least 70k. Add in the spouse's income and you'd be pretty comfortable with at least six figures.</p>
<p>MBA salaries depend on your field and work experience, but graduates of top schools make well into six figures:
MBA</a> Salaries at Top Business Schools</p>
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You'd be shocked how many people truly believe that they are entitled (especially some people in NYC). I could rant forever about this, but I won't
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</p>
<p>Trust me, few things shock me anymore. I know precisely the kind of people of whom you speak, for I have met many myself, and these are precisely the people who need a serious reality check. </p>
<p>Like I've always said, if you don't want to live in an expensive part of the country, then don't. Just move to someplace cheap. Most of the country is cheap.</p>
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Living in a place where the cost of living is pretty high like Cal, what would be a well off starting salary, 70k? 80k?
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<p>That would indeed be a well-off starting salary considering the the vast vast majority of Cal grads make nowhere near that to start. </p>
<p>Career</a> Center - Career Destination Survey Reports 2006</p>