<p>Michigan State on both, I believe. Undergrad spent in Taiwan.</p>
<p>Work experience should've outweighed where they went ... and I listed the companies in the first post =)</p>
<p>T990 and VT have good points.</p>
<p>The newer engineer students (those coming fresh out of college) are making about 60k on average, and the average income is also increasing at about 5% a year, which dosn't seem much, but it adds up.</p>
<p>The best option right now that I see for Engineers is get a B.S. which is one of the highest paying fields with only a B.S. and get an MBA on top of that. An MBA from lets say harvard gives off 150-200K startin pay right off the bench :P</p>
<p>Engineering's w/ BS have a higher BASE than other majors, but they also cap out earlier.</p>
<p>Add to the fact that they:</p>
<ul>
<li>many times have low job security</li>
<li>may make more than anyone else in first 3 years, but they are surpassed over the course of 8 YEARS</li>
<li>usually bad working environment</li>
<li>work long hours</li>
<li>arguably hardest courseload of anyone in college</li>
</ul>
<p>here's another interesting, yet sometimes skewed perspective on the engineering major: <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/92368%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/92368</a></p>
<p>BTW , your argument that doctors work to help mankind while engineerings do it for the money, is vastly skewed. Due to the conditions of being in Engineering, you pretty much HAVE to love science to pass it (look up the term, "weed-out classes"). Doctors also will probably have a much better time being employed, whereas i have seen many of my relatives graduate from top colleges year in and year out with no job (i am asian), only to go back to school or work for their parents.</p>
<p>Sure if you get recruited right off the bat - good, you're the cream of the crop... but what about those that arent???</p>
<p>"An MBA from lets say Harvard gives off 150-200K starting pay right off the bench"</p>
<p>You are wrong here
Saying you get a bs in engineering you dont go to grad school to get your mba until you have had a couple years of work experience. Just having an MBA from a top school will not allow you to get a job to make that kind of money. When you go to get a job in a manager position a person with a MBA from Harvard is not better than a person with an MBA from a top 50 school. The degree itself is what matters. You go to these top name schools for MBA to get networking. And right after you get the degree their isnt much networking, later on 5 -10 years after is when friends help friends out. Once you get an MBA from a top 50 school the only thing that is going to make you get the job over any one else that went to a top 50 school and has an mba is your communication and ability to show that your past experiences have provided you the capability of being a top dog watching over, directing, and managing a plant, department, or company.</p>
<p>If you dont have a strong resume, no matter what school you went to you are not going to get that 150 -200k job right after you get your mba</p>
<p>sheesh people here act like if you don't go to harvard or yale you will be unemployed for the rest of your life</p>
<p>What I said was starting pay from Harvard:
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml?passListId=95&passYear=2003&passListType=Misc&resultsSortProperties=-numberfield10%2C%2Bstringfield1&resultsSortCategoryName=Class+of+%2796+salary+in+2000+%28%24thou%29&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsStart=1&resultsHowMany=25&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=%5B/url%5D">http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml?passListId=95&passYear=2003&passListType=Misc&resultsSortProperties=-numberfield10%2C%2Bstringfield1&resultsSortCategoryName=Class+of+%2796+salary+in+2000+%28%24thou%29&searchParameter1=unset&searchParameter2=unset&resultsStart=1&resultsHowMany=25&category1=category&category2=category&passKeyword=</a>
was at 195k including the bonus/compensation.
Also I never said that you can get into Harvard right after your B.S. If you're applying to business school, you will learn that you will need a few years experience.
and don't go assuming that if you didn't go to Harvard that you won't get a job, you will most likely get a great job, but you will have to work your way up and prove yourself. Even coming out of Harvard won't garuantee you a job, but you're definately in very good shape.</p>
<p>Anthony - problem is that HBS is hard to get into - and, very likely, the people who go into the programme (and thus, graduate from it) are already highly successful, up-and-coming types. HBS is likely just another check mark in a long column of very successful career decisions and academic honours.</p>
<p>I know I never said it was easy, its like winning the lottery in my mind.
What I said earlier
"An MBA from lets say harvard gives off 150-200K startin pay right off the bench :P"
was meant more as a joke for fun, hint the ":P" face at the end, since i obviously dont know how to make the real face through CC, lol.
But never the less, generally an Engineering degree + eventually get an MBA = good bucks</p>
<p>Agreed. Sorry that I missed the smiley.</p>
<p>This topic is a tad discouraging for me. I want my hard work in college to be rewarded by nice pay down the road (I'm not talking filthy rich.. but 6 figures would be nice). Is getting an MBA the only way to do this?</p>
<p>Anthony249 </p>
<p>ok i now know what you ment, i was just making sure that u werent one of those people who think it was all about the college, and once your in your set for life.</p>
<p>Marines 920</p>
<p>If you work hard, are quick, and smart then it shouldnt be a problem to make 6 figures. Many first line mangers and even some higher ones have only a engineer degree or a buisness degree. The people that are real high end cloaser to 200 k and up typically have an MBA and many also have a bs engineer</p>
<p>Another thing you could always do is get the BS in engineering, a one year MS is engineering, and then an MBA</p>
<p>Do engineers with a PhD get a Lot more money than say those with just a B.S.? Also, for chemE, mechE, EE and BioE, what's the ranking in demand and salary?</p>
<p>Aren't the engineers who make over 100k like....old? Like senior project leaders and stuff with about 15 years of experience under their belts? Also, I don't know about medical researchers making low money. My friend, Andrew, is going for his Pharm.D. degree (not even P.h.D, it is one of those 6 year programs) and he will make more than me starting out with a P.h.D. I think I would average around 70k with a P.h.D. to start out while he can research at an 80-90k starting salary. Less schooling for him, too. Sounds pretty decent on the money side to me.</p>
<p>Now, I don't have anything to back this up. But engineers make more than some lawyers? Seriously? Like what kind of lawyers? Those civil dispute lawyers or IP lawyers or what? Because I'm pretty sure that a criminal defense attorney would make mad money compared to an engineer.</p>
<p>As an engineer-turned-law-student, I can give you a really, really good answer to that, Charman. </p>
<p>Usually, lawyers make more than engineers. The median starting salary of lawyers is $60k/year, which includes everything from Wall St. attorneys working 80 hours a week to public defenders. Law has a HUGE variation in salaries - most schools will report everything from $20k/year to $125k/year starting (and that really is most law schools in the country - the better ones just have more people at the upper end of the pay scale). Anyway, gov't work and public interest aside, lawyers make better money. They start off slightly higher, but it just goes up. Patent attorneys, for example, start around $150k/year and hit (reportedly) a half-million annually by their mid-30s. A professor's friend is a patent lawyer who has seven cars (things like Porsches, BMW X5, etc) - probably a million dolllars worth of cars. You ain't gonna get that on an engineer's salary. Then again, most engin. jobs don't have you working 80 hours a week. It's a trade-off.</p>
<p>Anyway - private practice attorneys make more than engineers, esp the ones who work in law firms. Given the huge variation (large standard deviation) in salaries among lawyers and the very small deviation among engineers, it's hard to quantify - but I leave you with that. Engineering is the road to a solid career, interesting work, good job stability, and reasonable hours for a solid salary - but it's not the road to riches.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Personally, I'm not really the law school type anyway. Logic? Me? No. The LSATs would eat me alive. I was actually thinking of med school, but then I think the MCATs would also eat me alive. Plus, if what you say about money compared to average hours worked is true...you MUST have to be truly interested in your discipline, not the money. Because it seems like you don't get much free time to enjoy that money...the fancy cars...the "churro" machine in your bedroom (that would be great by the way).</p>
<p>i think its justified cause engineering is so d@mn hard</p>
<p>After a while, I realized that people "deserve" their salaries not just on the basis of public service (i.e. doctors/teachers/nuns), but on the basis of difficulty (education/intellectual ability), stress (hours per week, garbage that you have to put up with at work), and contributions to the economy and society (products, advancing our standard of living). Once I realized that, I realized that I'm worth a lot of money as an engineer.</p>
<p>the world cannot function, everything around u wouldn't exist without engineers. we deserve a higher pay. But... i think if u are good at anything, u will be rewarded handsomely. if you are just average at everything, u won't get into the medical schools or the top law schools or the top MBA programs anyway.</p>
<p>It doesn't matter what people deserve. As long as companies are willing to pay, that's where it stands. And I certainly can't imagine anyone going into engineering for the money. </p>
<p>When you think "high-paying" the first jobs to come to your mind are Doctor and Lawyer, not Engineer.</p>
<p>Hey Ariesathena, I was thinking of going pre-law as a chemE because my prof mentioned a $200,000 starting salary and I have seen what my cousin makes. I also have a very strong background in English unlike most (don't take offense b/c most of my friends hate it) engineers. Now for my question. What exactly does a patent attorney do? I'll look it up and stuff but since you're here and all. I just want to know is it extremely boring? Is it difficult and tedious? I want a big paying job but I also want a job I would enjoy over money. So far I have thought about teaching at a University or doing research after getting my PhD. I really like engineering and won't back out of it but now that I know I have other options I kind of want to think about pursuing other things. I will probably get a pre-law designation even if I decide not to do law school to have it there just in case, but I still want your thoughts.</p>