MIT is probably the most inclusive and meritocratic school here in the US: no legacy consideration, need-blind admission, meeting full-need FA policy, etc.
For the OP, a $280,000 bet on unverified claims of compensation that may still not be what most graduates from MIT will find?
Very different atmospheres at the two schools. Check out the boards, read the student newspaper, and visit both again if you can. MIT is a fine school but is certainly not to everyone’s liking.
@Happytimes2001:
“None of your business. It doesn’t matter what our backgrounds are. The opinions are the same.”
The value of the advice isn’t. A junior in HS could still advise you for a plan of treatment for a mysterious ailment, but you probably wouldn’t take his advice over someone who went to med school. Yet only their backgrounds differ.
“No one knows what you paid or if you won a scholarship or not.”
Uh, you do realize that hiring managers read resumes, no? Have you ever read a resume?
“Perception and reputation open more doors than many people may every realize unless they attend one of the top programs.”
And that’s why I asked about your background. A ton of people on this thread actually have attended top programs. I’d like to know on what basis you’re making the assertion that “perception and reputation open more doors than many people may every realize” considering that many of the people on this thread, as I mentioned, did attend top programs.
@Much2learn Signing bonus is one time deal. It would not make the compensation $200k PER year right after graduation.
@ucbalumnus “For the OP, a $280,000 bet on unverified claims of compensation that may still not be what most graduates from MIT will find?”
It may not be most, but it is many. I’m sharing a piece of valuable information that I have never discussed on cc: even once. Notice that no one in a position to know is disagreeing with my post? There is a reason for that.
Also, I said I would probably choose Michigan. It’s a great school. My point is that while I think most students should choose Michigan, I can imagine a scenario where MIT could make sense for a particular student on a mission.
@billscho I understand that the signing bonus is one time. In the cases I am familiar with, it does not matter because of the salaries and size of the equity stake, but I allocated it across the vesting period of the equity to get an annual amount.
No one is disagreeing that there can be a few who hit the jackpot immediately out of school. But that does not indicate that such scenarios are more common enough at MIT that betting $280,000 on it happening is a good bet.
I’m a little confused here about why the cost of college has to pay off immediately. Presumably the parents put $250K in a 529 for the purposes of their kid spending it on education. If the OP wants to go to grad school in CS, that would be a fully funded program. No one pays for a CS grad degree at a good university. (Maybe they live cheaply, but that’s OK for 20-somethings.)
Is there some indication in this thread that the parents are hurting for money? The part about the parent’s retirement money seems to be the OP’s misunderstanding that grad school in CS would be something his parents would pay for.
If the money is in a 529 for education, why not spend it on MIT?
I say go to CPW and figure out whether MIT is the right school for you. If it is and your parents aren’t hurting for money, go there.
@ucbalumnus “For the OP, a $280,000 bet on unverified claims of compensation that may still not be what most graduates from MIT will find?”
It may not be most, but it is many. I’m sharing a piece of valuable information that I have never discussed on cc: even once. Notice that no one in a position to know is disagreeing with my post? There is a reason for that.
Also, I said I would probably choose Michigan. It’s a great school. My point is that while I think most students should choose Michigan, I can imagine a scenario where MIT could make sense for a particular student on a mission.
@billscho I understand that the signing bonus is one time. In the cases I am familiar with, it does not matter because of the salaries and size of the equity stake, but I allocated it across the vesting period of the equity to get an annual amount.
@Ynotgo:
“If the OP wants to go to grad school in CS, that would be a fully funded program.”
PhD programs worth attending are funded.
Masters programs usually are not. MBA programs may have scholarships but full-rides to top MBA programs are almost non-existent.
As for the 529 money, yes it is budgeted for education, but parents can withdraw an amount equal to the scholarship penalty-free.
As I said, even if that money doesn’t have to be used for the parents’ retirement, after 40 years (when this kid retires), you can expect that amount to be around $2M in today’s dollars.
Yes, fit matters (though it seems like the OP likes UMich more socially anyway), but from an ROI standpoint, this is a no-brainer.
But no one is confirming that a $280,000 bet for MIT will pay off in pay/benefit/equity compensation at graduation either.
“Try reaching out privately to people who are on the inside of what’s happening with tech offers at MIT, Harvard, Carnegie, Berkeley, Stanford, Penn, Columbia, Cornell etc. Be sure to total compensation including signing bonuses, and equity stakes. Privately, they will tell you.”
I am on the inside of making offers at tech companies and nobody makes $200k starting out of college. If somebody is telling you that, they’re lying or they’re using creative accounting to get that number. Offers start first and foremost with a budget a dept has, if a budget for a hiring group is say two people with a base compensation of $200,000 then each will get around $100,000. it’s possible that someone gets $110,000 and the other $90,000 as some companies use the interview to set the starting salary. But a company is not going to spend $200,000 on one person and not hire a second. If you get two requisitions, you use them. Signing bonus of $50,000 is unheard of, but could happen to managers who need to sell their company.
Equity is where you can fudge the numbers, if a hiring manager has 2000 stock to give out, and each starting employee gets 1000 over four years, someone could calculate the value of the 250 shares, for simplicity say Google at 1000 and claim another $250,000 in salary, putting them at $350,000.
That being said, there is no difference in salaries in silicon valley tech between UM and MIT. They’re considered equals, along with Stanford, Berkeley, CMU. And there are a lot of UM grads out here who hire a lot of UM grads. The UM alumni connection is stronger here than MIT. That’s also because it’s a larger school and I have run in to a lot more Michigan MBAs than MIT. And it’s possible (gasp!) that a SJSU grad makes more than a Harvard grad if he or she can interview better and answer the technical questions better, which happens.
I can tell you for sure that in the Silicon Valley no one cares where you got you degree from. All employment offers are made after rigorous phone and onsite technical interviews. No one gets a pass because you are from some elite college. If you do well in the interview you get in otherwise you get the “sorry” email. There is no " Whole-istic" nonsense here. No you don’t get more money and/or a hefty signing bonus just because you went to MIT or Stanford. I can also tell you where I work we have rejected a number of students from MIT and Stanford after the interview.
Starting pay for fresh undergrads are usually a fixed amount (with some signing bonus) irrespective of where you graduate from.
This is not unusual and happens very often. We offered a job to a San Jose State grad for which we rejected a Stanford grad.
There is no wrong answer to OP’s question. He has the money for MIT set aside in a college fund. On the other hand Michigan is a world-renowned university, if just a bit behind MIT in tech, and that college fund has many other possible uses. If it were my kid, I’d say tour both schools and go with your gut.
If you’re full pay at MIT your parents are rich. this isn’t even a debate - MIT. nobody that applies to MIT and gets in would turn it down for a public U. I bet the only college MIT loses cross admits to is Stanford and maybe a handful to Harvard and Penn’s M&T.
I have a degree from MIT. I have worked with students who graduated from both MIT and U.Michigan and of course many other schools. To me this is a no-brainer: I would take the free ride and go to Michigan.
my grandpa always says there’s no such thing as a free lunch. why is michigan buying your lunch? why doesn’t MIT have to buy your lunch?
@aboveaverage, so if there is no free lunch, then why is MIT buying the lunch of poor kids (who go to MIT for free with fin aid covering everything)?
By your reasoning, if I have a diamond priced at $10K and a piece of rock priced at $20K, you would buy the piece of rock simply because I charge you more for it.
“my grandpa always says there’s no such thing as a free lunch. why is michigan buying your lunch? why doesn’t MIT have to buy your lunch?”"
By that logic, you should always take offer that’s worth less, if one company has a $50,000 offer and another a $100,000 take the $50,000 they don’t need to pay as much to work there.
There are a lot of valid reasons to pick MIT in this case, that isn’t one of them.