<p>the decision where to go/apply is not at all just about the mere eduation but mostly what it gives us back - money.</p>
<p>what would you say, what do you know about the starting salaries? is it for example worth to go to an ivy league college? what would i earn afterwards, as my first salary? </p>
<p>what will i earn if i graduate from some second tier institution, which is cheaper and less prestigious?</p>
<p>(i am not just a homo oeconomicus, but money is a factor ;)</p>
<p>I'd doubt that there would be any consistent difference in starting salaries based upon the colleges students attend. The amount of money that people earn is in direct proportion to the difficulty their employers would have in replacing them. So graduates of top schools can go into professions with large supplies of qualified people, and be far easier to replace than graduates of lesser schools who possess unusual skills or are in high-demand, limited-supply fields. In addition, hardly anyone is "irreplaceable" in a starting position, so salary differentials wouldn't be necessary. What a top school does provide is a highly-motivated peer group that would help to develop your skills and elevate your goals, and a PR value that could help you to be more employable in your first professional positions. It could also help with graduate school admissions. But salary potential after that is clearly based upon performance and replaceability.</p>
<p>dazy, even if there were a consistent difference by type of college, I wouldn't be looking at "starting salaries" but rather at "career opportunities" and "life-time earnings" (not to mention, the quality of the general education you might receive). </p>
<p>Career opportunities depend not just on specific skills or credentials (diplomas) but also on networks, connections, and so on. They also depend on whether you get graduate education, not just your baccalaureate degree. In fact, you may well forego short-term earnings opportunities in order to "invest" in yourself through higher education. </p>
<p>Life-time earnings (if money is what you want to focus on) depend on career choices but also on your ambition, willingness to work hard, flexibility and willingness to move, acceptance of risk, and luck. At the "high end" of a large number of professions, you can earn a very comfortable living (and in some, even get "rich"). But in my opinion, you shouldn't choose a career based on the starting salaries right out of college. You should choose it based on your interests, possibilities for making a career, possibilities foe self-expression and growth, and so on.</p>
<p>dazydasy: I see that you have posted this topic on many college threads. If money is your only goal in life, then you should consider not spending your money in any college. Use that money to start 'any kind' of business in India. Trust me you will make lot more money after 10-15-20 years.</p>
<p>dazy, what do you plan to major in? I think your undergrad choice could make a difference with an major in a technical field like engineering, and certainly would be important if your goal was to go into investment banking. But if you come out of college with a degree in literature or history or philosophy -- or even a general science degree like biology -- your employment prospects are pretty much the same whether the degree comes from a state university or a top-ranked Ivy. In fact, in many cases employment opportunities might be better at the lower-ranked colleges, which tend more often to offer career-oriented majors like accounting.</p>
<p>I think that, using your example, the business grad from the state u. is probably more likely to get a job than the econ major from the Ivy -- econ is a great foundation for graduate school, but is not as practical, nuts & bolts as a business major. Sure the investment banking jobs at the top brokerage houses pay more, but they go only to the students who are at the top of their class -- and there are more jobs available with the modest starting salaries than the very high end jobs at firms that prefer hiring from Ivies. </p>
<p>Also, in the business world, there may be jobs available at small companies and start ups which initially pay a lot less, but over time are far more lucrative. I mean, it depends on how smart you are with that business degree -- you can work your way up the ranks a lot quicker in a smaller environment, though of course it is a gamble to know which small business is going to be the one whose stock options turn out to be a gold mine. </p>
<p>For business: my inclination would be to accumulate capital and avoid debt that is not directly income-producing. I think that might be one of those things they teach in business school.</p>
<p>Following up on Calmom's point, graduates in technical fields tend to have higher starting salaries but liberal arts graduates often to have more success rising to positions of leadership. That makes them harder to replace than the technicians they supervise. Here's an analogy that might provide an illustration - I spoke to the theatre director at a prominent LAC who's located in the same town as a prominent performing arts conservatory. He said that the conservatory faculty liked coming over to help with his productions because the liberal arts students would get farther in one week of preparation than their conservatory students would in three. I asked why and he said that his students more readlily connected with their roles and brought in related understandings from a broad range of areas. They were not nearly as talented as the "specialists" but they got to their maximum capability much faster.</p>
<p>So if you want maximum production - from either a theatrical performance or a Fortune 500 company - what would you do? Many companies let their experts specialize in their expertise and hire liberal arts grads with a broad scope of vision and ideas to lead them. The moral of my story is that ranking of school does not necessarily correlate with starting salary and that starting salary does not necessarily correlate with career earnings.</p>
<p>There was a study several years ago looking at the outcomes of those kids who went to schools other than the most selective ones, but with comparable profiles to those who did go the top schools. The outcome was that the two groups performed about the same. It seems that someone who is motivated and does good work will get ahead regardless of where he goes to school. </p>
<p>However, for those who to find jobs with good starting salaries, there are specialty fields that have more openings for new graduates than for those studying a general field such as liberal arts, business, etc. Nursing is an example of such a field. But the downside is that it narrows the education you receive in college, and if it turns out you don't want to be in that profession, there often is not as much flexibility. You can lose out in sampling many of the wonderful subjects taught at college by going to a specialty major early. No big deal if you are set on it; but it is an opportunity loss.</p>
<p>Do not forget that a good career is more than just earnings. Good insurance coverage, retirement plans, paid sick leave, flexibility, and autonomy are also factors too. I believe that having a college degree makes these things, assuming they matter to you, easier to find in a job.</p>