<p>The $100K figure is total BS. The average for BME grads who can find jobs is less than $50K.</p>
<p>The only engineer undergrads I know at MIT who made $100K or more straight out of school and who did not go into finance/consulting were hired by startups. Most were ChemE or EE. Even though they were undergrads they typically had years of experience at some of the top labs such as the Langer Lab or Media lab and possessed very unique skills. </p>
<p>Among grad students greater than $100K starting salaries is quite common. The AVERAGE starting salary for graduates of the MS in ChemE Practice at MIT is $120K (excluding signing bonuses). It is a one year internship program after the bachelors degree and is a terminal degree for those interested in joining industry. The EECS department has a similar program. </p>
<p>I know a few grad students who had their names attached to key patents developed at the MIT labs they worked at and then made millions when the patents were eventually licensed to industry. Langer himself holds hundreds of patents and is probably the wealthiest professor at MIT by a wide margin.</p>