
Carnegie Mellon SCS grads are tops in salary, says nerdwallet - nuromancer
http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/comparing-colleges-by-what-new-graduates-are-doing/
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iag
CMU grad here, let me chime in a few words if I may...

As much as I am proud to hear that Carnegie Mellon SCS grads are making the
top $, it saddens me a bit to realize that our graduates are playing it too
safe.

I don't have the exact numbers, but my guess is that the percentage of CMU
grads doing startups is probably at a much lower number rate than other top
tier tech schools like MIT and Stanford. As a result, while these other
school's immediate graduate salary is lower than CMU, their life time salary
is probably going to be higher.

Yes, making $100K out of college is glorious, but that novelty is going to
wear off and you'll be like everybody else slaving their life away. While you
still can, while the market is still hot, why not aim for something better
like creating the next instagram or dropbox? What's the absolute worst that
can happen if you fail? Returning to that $100K/year job?

Life after college is like stepping into a casino for the first time and the
casino offers you a free roll. It's silly not to give it a shot if you have
practically nothing to lose.

~~~
phxrsng
I'm not sure I agree, for many reasons.

1 - a lot of grads have loans to pay off, and that $100k/yr job sure helps get
it done quickly so you can focus on anything you want without that on your
back.

2 - That $100k/yr job can help you meet a lot of great people to work on
projects with at a later time. A lot of SCS grads come out having done nothing
but stare at code for 4 years (I'm one, and I was saddened by the number of my
classmates who made no connections on campus outside of SCS, connections that
would be vitally useful in a startup). Working at a great company in the
valley can help get you into the startup scene in a way that Pittsburgh might
not.

3 - Nothing says you can't work on a startup outside of the 40-50hrs/wk you
put in at your 100k/yr job. SCS grads are used to loooong work weeks; a normal
work week seems short in comparison, especially right after graduation when
you aren't (probably) supporting a family or anything else. That leaves time
to make money AND try out some projects.

4 - Not being part of a startup =/= slaving your life away. There's a lot of
great, rewarding work to be done in the valley and in the tech industry, it
isn't an all or nothing thing with the all being becoming a startup founder.
Being part of a company growing quickly and doing cool things can be just as
rewarding as being a founder.

~~~
sliverstorm
You are spot on with most of that, but #3 is not exactly true. When you sign
on for $100k/yr you are almost guaranteed to have signed a non-compete clause,
as well as a clause generally surrendering rights to novel work.

It's somewhat of a blurry, contentious line I don't well understand, but if
you are working for Google chances are you can't incubate a software startup
by moonlight.

~~~
phxrsng
I agree - but I'd say Google is a _bit_ of an outlier. Many software companies
have non-competes with more limited scope by virtue of their product being
related to one specific industry that you can't compete with.

So maybe its more of a "maybe you can" thing.

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jcdavis
Its probably worth mentioning that one of the reasons SCS is so above others
on that list is that unlike most schools in the US, at CMU CS is a separate
school from engineering, and thus reports its own separate numbers. Not that
the CIT (engineering) students are doing bad at #4 on
[http://www.nerdwallet.com/education/grad_surveys/top-
salarie...](http://www.nerdwallet.com/education/grad_surveys/top-salaries) ,
but CS grads at other top schools likely would see similar numbers if they
reported individually.

------
giardini
A friend's son was top of his class. He convinced himself to go into CMU SCS
program. He was a novice programmer with barely any background. I warned him
away, saying that he would find himself in unforgiving competition with people
who had been programming seriously for 10 years or more and recommending that
he choose a state school instead. He ignored my warnings.

He lasted six weeks before changing majors. It really messed him up
psychologically - he's got a serious inferiority complex now. I believe that,
had he chosen from any number of other schools, he would be a happy CS grad
and programmer today. It is difficult to go from the top of your class to the
very bottom.

~~~
sliverstorm
I dunno, I feel like my life has been a constant cycle of big-fish, little-
pond- and I'm grateful for it. It drives me to achieve more.

------
msutherl
After graduating from school in Canada – where nobody cares where you go to
school – and moving to New York – where it's supposed to mean everything – I
can't emphasize enough how much _this doesn't matter_.

Go where you want to be, where you can find people like you, and do your
thing.

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igillis
What I take away from these results on first glance is that employers tend to
value an instilled work ethic, as evidenced by the (to me) surprisingly high
rankings of schools like GaTech, Johns Hopkins, Harvey Mudd and CMU.

~~~
nuromancer
How do you find CMU to be a 'surprisingly high ranked school'?

[http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-gradu...](http://grad-
schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-
schools/computer-science-rankings)

~~~
igillis
Mostly I felt the non-SCS schools were ranked surprisingly high. (disclaimer,
I'm currently a rising senior at CMU SCS, didn't want to hurt any H&SS kids'
feelings :p)

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nandemo
Anyone knows why Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, etc, don't even appear? Were
they not included in the study? And if so, can the study still be considered
meaningful?

~~~
sdpurtill
I know for a fact that Stanford CS majors are making on average $80,000 per
annum upon graduating from the undergrad program. A document circulating the
CS mailing lists a while ago had all the figures. Note that despite the
increasing difficulty to dismiss its allure, I am not a CS major.

------
zombinator
f __k u and all your money. I am from pakistan and only the best of the best
news about u fellows make it here for us to inspire from . this is the first
time i am hearing about a college called CMU. I have heard MIT, Stanford,
Harvard and i believe they are the shit. U guys,, never. STart doing something
for the effin world. My dad makes more money selling garments here for sure.
Steve jobs was not from any of these college right? idiots. paisa and paisa.
and wtf is nerd wallet. why would u go to that site also?

