<p>i know the starting could be as much as 50,000 a year, but what do you think a va tech or university of georgia graduate's income would be after 20 years? also a harvard or duke graduate as well because i always hear the starting income but never the income down the road.</p>
<p>Undergraduate school is largely irrelevant as long as it is a school that is in the top 100 or 2 in engineering.</p>
<p>I should expand a little. </p>
<p>If I work with a person I know them and know what they have done for me, where they went to school becomes irrelevant when it comes time to give out raises.</p>
<p>When I hire, I hire graduates that I think will do well. I would favor schools with strong engineering programs. I might also favor a good local school if I fear that OOS grads would get a couple of years experience and then move home.</p>
<p>One of our best engineers is also one of the lowest paid and a Duke grad.</p>
<p>Starting incomes are just averages. There is a whole range that people make. I graduated from VT in mechanical in 2004 and I made close to 60K(including overtime). My friends made around 80K(more overtime). If you were to stay in the same company it doesn't matter where you graduated. It depends what you produce. Where you graduated really only helps in landing a job, especially the first one.</p>
<p>would you say it's possible for a va tech engineer to pull in over 200,000 a year after 20 years without working at lockhead but no slouch company either?</p>
<p>Its probably not very common unless your a high level manager, but it depends on the company. I worked for Universal Forest Products and there isn't much advancement in the company. Your either a truss designer, manager, or sales. In sales you can make over 100K no problem once you establish your clients. You have high expectations for an engineer to make 200K. I suggest you become a lawyer,doctor, or dentist.</p>
<p>I said it before, I'll say it again. If all that matters to you is money, then don't become an engineer. Just go become an investment banker or related finance jobs. Those guys can easily make more money in 1 year than an engineer can make in his whole lifetime. </p>
<p>That doesn't mean that you shouldn't get an engineering degree. Many people, particularly at the top engineering schools like MIT and Stanford, get engineering degrees and then immediately head off to banking. An engineering education is a good way to teach you a highly logical and quantitative way of thinking, as well as developing your work ethic, things that will become very handy if you decide to become a banker.</p>
<p>Engineering gives you a good steady middle-class lifestyle. In that sense, an engineering degree is clearly a lot more marketable than most of the liberal arts degrees, many of which won't get you a job at all. But unless you get into a high-tech startup that makes it big (i.e. Google, Microsoft) or you start your own company, you are never going to become filthy rich as an engineer.</p>
<p>Vt what kind of engineer are you?And how long after you graduated did you get your job? What was your G.P.A? How relevant do you think your grades were to the employers (its obviously a real good company if you made 60K right off the bat)? How feasible is it to make 60K graduating from Penn State(which is only a few positions below VT in the engineering rankings).</p>
<p>I graduated with a B.S in mechanical engineering. It took me about 6 months to get my job and my GPA was a 3.43. My gpa helped me land my job but thats about it. I don't think where I graduated from really was too relevent. They have a couple people with just an associates degree working the same job I was. One person was an english major. Another was a math major. My two coworkers(who made around 80K) were a civil and mechanical engineer with the same base salary. Their GPA was a 3.3 and 3.9. Where you work is what really affects your salary. I was just lucky I worked at a job with an extra production bonus and UNLIMITED overtime. Those two guys who made that much money worked like 11 or 12 hours every day. I worked about 9 hours a day.</p>
<p>i hope i find a company like that. Have you been able to pay off your college debt?</p>
<p>I could have, but Im going back to grad school so Im going to acrue even more debt. One thing great about engineering are the returns it gives.</p>
<p>do you think paying a $100,000 debt will be difficult for engineers?</p>
<p>I saved about 20K in my 1.5 years of working and I don't spend on many things. So you do the math on how long you want to live a frugal lifestyle and how long you want to postpone spending on a house/car/etc. I would think 100K is a lot of debt for anyone to overcome other than Dentists/doctors/lawyers. But I know this girl who had over 100K in debt and she studied archeology! Lets say she is about 29 years old and I do believe she still is paying it off.</p>
<p>so you wouldnt recommend it ?</p>
<p>100K is a lot of debt for anyone. I posted at length on another thread about a similar topic. In general (99% of the time), where you go won't effect your starting salary. Every positon, at most companies, has a salary cap on it based on the position title (Asc. Engineer (the entry level title), Engineer I, II..., senior engineer, etc.), and where you fall in the salary range will depend more on your level of relevant experience than anything else.</p>
<p>I interned at Lockheed and have done undergrad research in FEA. I accepted a FT positon doing that type of work with LM and am making 56k. I know people who are new hires, like myself, making less (but not by a whole lot). The internship and undergrad research helped me get a better starting salary. My school is top 50-55 and engineering is like top 80, but Lockheed recruits there so it didn't really matter.</p>
<p>I've got a couple of friends who attend a school you've probably never even heard of (seriously). They got jobs with Chevron and got 60K +5K signing bonus. Of course, to even interview with Chevron you need a 3.3 GPA, and it helps (a lot) if Chevron recruits at your school. They're fortunate in that their school is very close to one of Chevron's large refineries, and they take a lot of this schools top students.</p>
<p>Lastly, one of my sisters did grad and ug at Harvard, and graduated with honors. She's got about 85k total debt, and is making about 37k in Boston. Her field of choice (social work) just doesn't pay a lot.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to look at what companies recruit at the schools of your choice, and go to the place where you feel you'll be happiest and get the best opportunites to work for the companies you want to work for.</p>
<p>Thank you soo much! this was really helpful... its really hard for us internationals to know about job oppertunities etc.. so thanks for clearing things up</p>
<p>Jason what kind of engineer are you?</p>
<p>I'm a mechanical engineer.</p>
<p>I agree with Jason_Simms that engineering salaries don't vary very much, which is why the top engineering students tend not to work as engineers, but rather will often times take jobs as management consultants or investment bankers. These students see that engineering firms are not going to pay them significantly more than they would pay an average engineer. So they figure, why make 50-60k as an engineer when they can make double that as a banker?</p>
<p>Not everyone is in it for the money. Son would a million times over rather be a Mech Engineer than even triple his salary and be a banker. I have to ask, doesn't ANYONE anymore take on a job or study because they have a passion? Is it always about money? or are my kids rarities?</p>