How was your college experience?

[sze5003]

I dunno why people think out of college they should make so much. Maybe a couple years ago it was normal but the last 2 year's everyone's been downsizing. And mostly we are talking about general bs degree not best of the best ivy league. If that's the case then there's no point to compare to those people and say well this is the avg for these type of positions.

 

[OverVolt]

I graduated in 2010. Like I said, jobs were either in NYC, Chicago, or Silicon Valley.

I never said it was the norm, I just mean it is not as rare as you might think. If you want to talk about the "average" college graduate, then you're talking about a state school graduate in tons of debt with no job.

Fair enough lol. One of the false expectations is that if your family is relatively broke you can go to college on loans and live a good life. The public universities are overcrowded, the education is not very good, the cost is high, and the jobs are highly competitive/low paying for the opportunity cost.

One of the people I know who got in trouble with debt came from a relatively poor family and went to a really expensive school. He also landed a good job with the degree in his field, but has major debt problems.

A bachelors from Dartmouth can cost ~350k, but they send you on weekend retreats with upper management in the business relating to your degree to build connections for even the most socially inept, lol. Your family matters, alot. There are just so many false expectations placed on college is the general theme that irks me.

The Fed student loans put those who took them first ahead in life. It was upward mobililty. That has completely run its course. Someone with no money should absolutely not go to college, IMO. Like that Civil engineer guy in the other thread. Take out his debt load from his 61k after taxes, and he might as well have been a trucker. His parents probably had normal people jobs, like my parents did etc. Contrast this to my other friend who works at Intel, raised by two engineers, with almost no debt.

 

[sze5003]

Yeah they always harp on oh education is the way, higher education. But it's not for everyone. I'm.one of those that had to go on Loans. Am I broke completely ? Do I have some money left after the bills, yes some but not much. In fact I could have studied overseas for free basically but it would have been harder to get a job here. College over in Europe is peanuts cheap compared to here.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Are you seriously suggesting that you expect a new college grad to be making $100k?

No. Im not saying that. What i meant is that when you get higher up

Yeah if you are a lucky pharmacy grad.

true.

I should've said undergrad. People from good engineering PhD programs can get $100k job offers upon graduation but with an undergrad degree? Not happening unless maaaybe you went somewhere like MIT or CalTech.

Or a niche major

when you're paying back $150-200k in loans these day it isn't as much as it sounds...

Some pay more.

Geology majors can get close to that pretty easily.

Geology? Ew

I was a terrible student in college:

1) Had a band, and we were regulars at the off-campus hangout. We'd pull in $500-$1000 a week from gigs playing 70's and 80's rock. However, we had to spend so much time practicing that I didn't study.

2) Tried going into radiography, turned out to be a disgusting profession that paid just a bit more than McDonalds. Dropped it.

3) Went into culinary school, got my certificate, and made fancy food for a few years.

4) Went back to school and got an A.S. in Computer Aided Design. Intended to finish BS in engineering, never went back due to a job offer as a team leader at Philips/Magnavox.

5) Turned hobby of PC's into an IT career during the .com bubble

6) Got hired at present employer, been in IT hell for 15 or so years now.

My parents never gave me any encouragement, guidance, or direction as to education and my career. They both barely finished high school and nobody in their family went to college. School was treated as a "thing that holds you back from working in a factory". As a result I was all over the place, wasted a lot of time, and didn't have and set goals until later in life...at which time it's too late to achieve many of them. In effect a "jack of all trades, master of none".

Definitely not making the same mistake with my kids. I have my daughter taking college courses to become a veterinarian in her high school prep program, and I'm grooming my son to figure out what he likes to do before he turns 14 so we can start exploring possibilities.

14? A little too young to figure it out.

You know $100k after tax is like $72k take home and then student loans are like $18k/year if you have $200k in debt.

And you lost 4 working years.


Gotta be careful, I equate current Phds to realtors during the house boom, especially the ones teaching at universities. It did not end well for realtors . My parents tried the same thing on me, projecting some 35 year old mistake and its solution onto me, even though the economy had since changed. They tried it on you actually with the factory thing. That was probably true before you were even born, you were just getting 35 year old regrets as advice, without a fresh look at the economy. You have a job in IT because thats what was in demand, although back when you went to school if you stuck it out it would have worked nicely.

Its hard to take a fresh 2012 look at how things are headed.

Well tech jobs are gonna rise

I went to a small branch of a well know state university (top 10 BCS football right now).

It was boring. I went to classes, then went to work part time to pay for school (no wealthy mom and dad money), then went home to study/do homeworks.

But at least I did graduate with a good degree, with a very small student loan, and found a full time job with a Fortune 100 company even before I finished school.

Nice

Legendary.

no

I think half the people I knew made $100K or more out of college. It just depends on what industry is booming, right now (at for the past decade) it's financial services and software.

I couldn't make nearly that much, I wasn't in the right industry. My first job was $65K.

thats not too bad

When & Where, this is not the norm anymore.

Ivy League w/ parental guidence

I graduated in 2010. Like I said, jobs were either in NYC, Chicago, or Silicon Valley.

I never said it was the norm, I just mean it is not as rare as you might think. If you want to talk about the "average" college graduate, then you're talking about a state school graduate in tons of debt with no job.

Exactly.

I dunno why people think out of college they should make so much. Maybe a couple years ago it was normal but the last 2 year's everyone's been downsizing. And mostly we are talking about general bs degree not best of the best ivy league. If that's the case then there's no point to compare to those people and say well this is the avg for these type of positions.

Well depends what you consider a lot.

Fair enough lol. One of the false expectations is that if your family is relatively broke you can go to college on loans and live a good life. The public universities are overcrowded, the education is not very good, the cost is high, and the jobs are highly competitive/low paying for the opportunity cost.

One of the people I know who got in trouble with debt came from a relatively poor family and went to a really expensive school. He also landed a good job with the degree in his field, but has major debt problems.

A bachelors from Dartmouth can cost ~350k, but they send you on weekend retreats with upper management in the business relating to your degree to build connections for even the most socially inept, lol. Your family matters, alot. There are just so many false expectations placed on college is the general theme that irks me.

The Fed student loans put those who took them first ahead in life. It was upward mobililty. That has completely run its course. Someone with no money should absolutely not go to college, IMO. Like that Civil engineer guy in the other thread. Take out his debt load from his 61k after taxes, and he might as well have been a trucker. His parents probably had normal people jobs, like my parents did etc. Contrast this to my other friend who works at Intel, raised by two engineers, with almost no debt.

My dad is a computer engineer, makes over 100k a year, mom doesn't have a job. They plan on sending me to college then my brother a year later without us paying.

 

[ichy]

I think half the people I knew made $100K or more out of college. It just depends on what industry is booming, right now (at for the past decade) it's financial services and software.

"Software?" I've known plenty of bright people who went into software development and none of them were making $100k out of college. That's insane. You might be able to make that much in a horribly high cost of living area, but the notion that you can study CS and get a six-figure job out of college is laughable.

Well-paying financial services jobs aren't exactly common either. The jobs where guys are making big bucks in their 20s are VERY competitive to get.

 

[sze5003]

My dad is a computer engineer, makes over 100k a year, mom doesn't have a job. They plan on sending me to college then my brother a year later without us paying.

Well I hope you study and make them proud. My parents said I had to go to college, a state school, didn't have any money to help Me. Then when they took a parent plus loan for me which they can't pay so I have to pay it back now it's killIng me.

Oh and what else, I have that loan, plus my federal loans, plus another private one in my name and my parents ask me for money !! They are like well you have a good job now you can afford to help us out. Really, because I don't really consider 62k good enough to take care of all my own bills plus whatever mom, brother , and sister may need. Since your not paying study what you are really interested in you will focus more.

 

[Exploder87]

This thread is very interesting. I'm currently studying, doing a foundation course for engineering (most likely Industrial or Process), which I will apply for next year. I shiver when I see people mention student loans upwards of 100k+.

Fortunately I'm Norwegian and apparently it's a whole different ball-game here. I'll end up with a maximum of roughly 50 000 dollars of debt after 6 years of studying. Parts of the loan gets cut off if we pass every exam.

As of today, a fresh student with a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering can expect a starting salary of 88 000 dollars, so the situation is looking very good for aspiring engineers here in Norway. The biggest reason for that is the fact that we're 16 000 engineers short nowadays. Most students are given jobs a year before they graduate.

 

[Farmer]

"Software?" I've known plenty of bright people who went into software development and none of them were making $100k out of college. That's insane. You might be able to make that much in a horribly high cost of living area, but the notion that you can study CS and get a six-figure job out of college is laughable.

Look up typical starting salaries at Google, Zynga, etc. You would be surprised. Even at Oracle, $80-90K for college grads. True, Silicon Valley is a high cost of living area, but then again, a 6 figure salary at an overvalued internet firm is not rare, particularly amongst graduates of very good computer science programs (MIT, CMU, Stanford, etc.) who can demonstrate it in an interview.

Like I keep saying, there is a huuge difference between a typical graduate in computer science and a bright person.

 

[kache]

This thread is very interesting. I'm currently studying, doing a foundation course for engineering (most likely Industrial or Process), which I will apply for next year. I shiver when I see people mention student loans upwards of 100k+.

Fortunately I'm Norwegian and apparently it's a whole different ball-game here. I'll end up with a maximum of roughly 50 000 dollars of debt after 6 years of studying. Parts of the loan gets cut off if we pass every exam.

As of today, a fresh student with a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering can expect a starting salary of 88 000 dollars, so the situation is looking very good for aspiring engineers here in Norway. The biggest reason for that is the fact that we're 16 000 engineers short nowadays. Most students are given jobs a year before they graduate.

Wut, you need a loan to study in college in Norway? O_O

 

[ichy]

Look up typical starting salaries at Google, Zynga, etc. You would be surprised. Even at Oracle, $80-90K for college grads. True, Silicon Valley is a high cost of living area, but then again, a 6 figure salary at an overvalued internet firm is not rare, particularly amongst graduates of very good computer science programs (MIT, CMU, Stanford, etc.) who can demonstrate it in an interview.

Like I keep saying, there is a huuge difference between a typical graduate in computer science and a bright person.

Google is so far from being a typical employer you might as well be posting astronaut salary data. 99% of CS grads couldn't even get a foot in the door at Google.

 

[Farmer]

Google is so far from being a typical employer you might as well be posting astronaut salary data. 99% of CS grads couldn't even get a foot in the door at Google.

Astronauts don't get much in terms of salary.

OK, discount Google, sure its a tough job to get, but like I said, there was a running joke amongst CS majors that if you couldn't get a job anywhere, work for Oracle, $80K. Not to mention a lot of firms in financial services sector hire a lot of CS graduates with starting salaries in the $80K range, easily goes to $100K with a performance bonus.

I am not talking about what is typical, because to be honest you don't really need a college degree to write code, and getting a BS in CS from XYZ University does not really mean much. I am talking about what is possible if you know what you are doing and are good at/practice CS type interviews (usually some sort of problem solving).

 

[Fritzo]

You know $100k after tax is like $72k take home and then student loans are like $18k/year if you have $200k in debt.

And you lost 4 working years.





Gotta be careful, I equate current Phds to realtors during the house boom, especially the ones teaching at universities. It did not end well for realtors . My parents tried the same thing on me, projecting some 35 year old mistake and its solution onto me, even though the economy had since changed. They tried it on you actually with the factory thing. That was probably true before you were even born, you were just getting 35 year old regrets as advice, without a fresh look at the economy. You have a job in IT because thats what was in demand, although back when you went to school if you stuck it out it would have worked nicely.

Its hard to take a fresh 2012 look at how things are headed.

I'm actually pushing my kids to find a passion that they can work into rather than focusing on making money. I've learned that doing something you enjoy is infinitely better than making a lot of money. My daughter loves animals (her room looks like Noah's ark - I think we have two of everything in there), and veterinary medicine is what she wants to do. My son is starting to lean towards sports medicine.

When I was their age and someone asked what I wanted to do, my answer was "eh...I dunno."

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Well I hope you study and make them proud. My parents said I had to go to college, a state school, didn't have any money to help Me. Then when they took a parent plus loan for me which they can't pay so I have to pay it back now it's killIng me.

Oh and what else, I have that loan, plus my federal loans, plus another private one in my name and my parents ask me for money !! They are like well you have a good job now you can afford to help us out. Really, because I don't really consider 62k good enough to take care of all my own bills plus whatever mom, brother , and sister may need. Since your not paying study what you are really interested in you will focus more.

They want me to do what i like.

This thread is very interesting. I'm currently studying, doing a foundation course for engineering (most likely Industrial or Process), which I will apply for next year. I shiver when I see people mention student loans upwards of 100k+.

Fortunately I'm Norwegian and apparently it's a whole different ball-game here. I'll end up with a maximum of roughly 50 000 dollars of debt after 6 years of studying. Parts of the loan gets cut off if we pass every exam.

As of today, a fresh student with a Masters Degree in Industrial Engineering can expect a starting salary of 88 000 dollars, so the situation is looking very good for aspiring engineers here in Norway. The biggest reason for that is the fact that we're 16 000 engineers short nowadays. Most students are given jobs a year before they graduate.

that's nice!

Look up typical starting salaries at Google, Zynga, etc. You would be surprised. Even at Oracle, $80-90K for college grads. True, Silicon Valley is a high cost of living area, but then again, a 6 figure salary at an overvalued internet firm is not rare, particularly amongst graduates of very good computer science programs (MIT, CMU, Stanford, etc.) who can demonstrate it in an interview.

Like I keep saying, there is a huuge difference between a typical graduate in computer science and a bright person.

PhD=google

Google is so far from being a typical employer you might as well be posting astronaut salary data. 99% of CS grads couldn't even get a foot in the door at Google.

Unless they have a phd

Astronauts don't get much in terms of salary.

OK, discount Google, sure its a tough job to get, but like I said, there was a running joke amongst CS majors that if you couldn't get a job anywhere, work for Oracle, $80K. Not to mention a lot of firms in financial services sector hire a lot of CS graduates with starting salaries in the $80K range, easily goes to $100K with a performance bonus.

I am not talking about what is typical, because to be honest you don't really need a college degree to write code, and getting a BS in CS from XYZ University does not really mean much. I am talking about what is possible if you know what you are doing and are good at/practice CS type interviews (usually some sort of problem solving).

You have to be good. You can't just have a degree

 

[Exploder87]

Wut, you need a loan to study in college in Norway? O_O

Yeah, unless you:

• Choose to live with your parents
• Have a well-paying part-time job while studying
• You have saved up tons of money for living costs and books

As for state-funded Universities, you only have to pay a tiny (and I mean really tiny) fee for studying there. Apart from that, you need books, which may not be very expensive if you buy used.



However, most people need money for living costs and food while studying in another city, and depending on the study, having a part-time job while studying is extremely fatiguing and you'll end up overworked and unfocused.

 

[Farmer]

Some other advice:

If your school offers some kind of free (with RA) 5th year masters (something like an M.Eng. or something), do it.

At my school, it was only available to CS students, is barely any different from undergrad except half your time is now research, but that 1 year can easily increase your salary by $20K.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Some other advice:

If your school offers some kind of free (with RA) 5th year masters (something like an M.Eng. or something), do it.

At my school, it was only available to CS students, is barely any different from undergrad except half your time is now research, but that 1 year can easily increase your salary by $20K.

You mean a 5 year masters? (4years undergrad+ 1year masters)

 

[Farmer]

You mean a 5 year masters? (4years undergrad+ 1year masters)

yeah, if it is free with RA/TA.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

yeah, if it is free with RA/TA.

Its not free. Well not that I know of.