<p>I am a mechanical engineering major at UMD in my sophomore year with a 3.2 GPA. This question is for recent graduates, or people who have already gotten job offers. I am considering switching majors, because I think I can get just as good a job as a bussiness major, with alot less work(engineering is killing me). To reinforce my decision, I wanted to see what recent graduates from UMD are getting with mechanical engineering degrees with decent GPA's(3.0+). If it isn't too personal, I'd like to get an idea of what I will be making when I graduate, so any current or offered salaries would be great, please no averages! I could have googled that also. BTW I really enjoy engineering, not the math but the actual building/designing. So I am definately not in it just for the money, but I want to know my hard work will pay off, because I know bussiness majors with mediocre grades who are getting 55k+ offers from sub par schools. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t think that looking at the Department’s averages are a bad indication. However, a friend of mine graduated last spring from as a Mechanical Engineer with a 3.18. He really battled and didn’t get much sleep the last two years, but he graduated. He was given an entry bonus and his starting salary was $66,000. He specialized his degree to some extent and had great experience over his summers. However, he always mentioned his business school friends who complained about the lack of job options. Obviously the economy and market that will exist by the time we graduate will be different, but I don’t think his starting salary, from the way he said it, was anything unexpected. Our school has a well respected reputation.</p>