<p>Does anybody know what the starting salary for an undergrad degree holder majoring in economics is? Lets say the school's in the top 25 [US NEWS] and a fairly high GPA and stuff like that....</p>
<p>Wow, is that an average for all colleges? I'm suprised that theres not a bigger gap between toptier grads and second tier grads. For example, engineering at Cornell will get you maybe around an average of 55-60k.. The national average is like 53k. That's not as big of a gap as i thought it would be.</p>
<p>This depends very much on what kind of job you take, i.e., the "average" doesn't tell you much of anything because there's a huge variance. In any case if after a few years you go back to school for an MBA your salary is likely to take a huge jump.</p>
<p>harri,
thank you so much for posting that url.</p>
<p>If you want the job just for money, become a day trader, or entrepreneur.</p>
<p>That chart just gives starting salaries, but it doesn't highlight the ability to advance in a job.</p>
<p>Depending on what type of position in econ you have, your salary can be really high. I wonder if theres a chart for salaries 5 years after graduating</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm suprised that schools only have statistics for starting salaries. I don't think the starting salaries tell the whole tale.</p>
<p>what ever, this just goes to show you that ppl that are taking out massive loans to attend more "elite" schools are just wasting their money in my opinion. Let's say...you apply for financial aid and get accepted to cornell, penn, brown, and dartmouth. If you get 20,000 in grants a year from cornell and ony 10,000 from penn, brown, and dartmouth, don't u think its kinda dumb to go to penn, brown, or dartmouth, when you would be getting much more from cornell. These schools happen to be comparable, but i was just trying to make a point.</p>
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[quote]
what ever, this just goes to show you that ppl that are taking out massive loans to attend more "elite" schools are just wasting their money in my opinion. Let's say...you apply for financial aid and get accepted to cornell, penn, brown, and dartmouth. If you get 20,000 in grants a year from cornell and ony 10,000 from penn, brown, and dartmouth, don't u think its kinda dumb to go to penn, brown, or dartmouth, when you would be getting much more from cornell. These schools happen to be comparable, but i was just trying to make a point.
[/quote]
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<p>Sure, perhaps in that case, but if you are a political science major or if you are looking to get into an elite grad school the payoff might be worth it.</p>
<p>Well, starting salaries are really the only appropriate salary figure that schools can release for their undergrads. </p>
<p>It wouldn't be accurate for schools to claim that their undergrad degrees significantly impacted long term salaries of graduating students. This is because after one's starting salary, job performance and graduate degrees will have much more of an impact on long- term pay.</p>
<p>yea but you don't get as many opportunities. lets say you want to be an investment bankers.. how much harder is it to get into an i-banking company if you're not from a top tier school(namely IVYs, Mich, CMU, Chicago, Berkeley, etc.)</p>
<p>I agree that it's harder to get into ibanking right after undergrad if you don't go to a top school, but this pertains to one's undergrad school. People can still get into ibanking after going to a top MBA program. </p>
<p>Having great work experience and a good GMAT score, even if the starting salary is low due to lack of opportunities after undergrad, can lead people to a top business school and then possibly to ibanking as well. But notice that a person's undergrad school or major does not play such a big role. This is why work performance and subsequent graduate degrees have more of an impact on long-term earnings than one's undergrad school/major.</p>
<p>so basically you're saying being in an environment with smarter individuals(not trying to offend anyone.. you know what i mean), more respected professors, etc. does not contribute to your abilities in anyways? What about networking etc.?</p>
<p>If you look at uppermanagement for many large companies, you'll see that most of them are from top tier(25) schools with a lot of IVY.</p>
<p>Actually most upper mgt types are from big state schools. Wisconsin ties Harvard for the most.</p>
<p>I'm just trying to point out the reason why colleges generally don't keep track of the long-term salaries of their undergraduates. The reason is because there are too many other factors beyond a person's undergrad degree that influence long-term earnings. However, colleges will keep track of starting pay for their undergraduates because colleges know that they have a very direct impact on a student's starting salary.</p>
<p>Instead of letting this thread deteriorate into an arguement as so many other threads do, it would probably be more constructive to answer any more of ignited's questions.</p>
<p>you can make 6 figures with an undergrad econ degree down the road.</p>
<p>dude...what is a "top school." US News top 20, top 15, top 10, top 5, HYPSM, top 50, tier 1, i am serioulsy confused by this top school phrase i hear. I mean BU is a top school when comparing it to all of those rinky dinky schools around the country---some 2000 schools.</p>
<p>In the context of this thread, I think top school refers
to the top 25 or so schools according to US News. The reason is that many ibanks and management consulting firms heavily recruit at schools in the top 25, often regardless of major.</p>