<p>i was wondering how important starting/ 10 yrs later salaries are when comparing colleges. one of the colleges i really like [private university which ive read really really good reviews for] has a starting salary of $27,000 while public college, which is rankd lower and is generally known for not having very high academic standards has a starting salary of 41,000 dollars. i was recently admitted into public school's honor college and biology with a focus in premed [ie. if ur premed, you have to take a different set of courses even though u are a bio major]. i was admitted as a regular student into private school.</p>
<p>10 yr salaries;
private university- 49,250
public university around 64,000</p>
<p>current salaries of alumni-
private-55,000
public- 83, 750</p>
<p>ahhh im so confused. should i weigh salaries when decision making? should it matter if i am planning to apply to graduate school in the future? </p>
<p>arent the salaries subjective because people take a wide variety of majors and go into different fields. </p>
<p>^Yes you said it yourself. Salaries are subjective, and depend on the major people get into. Maybe one school has more econ majors than another, for instance, and that bumped up their average salary. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t use starting salary stats given by the schools to make a decision…just go to the school you think is better for yourself.</p>
<p>I agree that the salaries provide an indication of the likely majors and subsequent professions that graduates of colleges follow.</p>
<p>There’s value in looking at these numbers. Colleges with lower numbers indicate that few(er) students pursue high(er) salary professions, such as engineering, finance, law, medicine, etc. So if you’ve decided that one of these professions is the one for you, look with care at the course offerings of a college with lower salaries. You’re likely to find that they are not as strong or deep as colleges where average salaries are higher. Also, if you check with the admissions department of the college with lower salaries, you’ll very likely find that only a handful or two of students pursue the higher paying professions.</p>
<p>All of this is what you would expect. And averages don’t always reflect the specifics. So, for example, you may occasionally find that some colleges with low(er) average focus on preparing a significant number of students for a higher paying professions – as for example, with a pre-med program.</p>
<p>If you are interested in jobs in education, government, non-profits, etc. you’re likely to find the reverse.</p>