In a quandary since I've seen some friends who are upper-level EE or Computer Science majors field 70k a year offers before they graduate. Two of them have offers from Cali close to 90k a year starting out.

I know that's insane money, but I'm thinking of trying to get into a top-tier grad school. My top choice is Sloan but I'm still two years away from graduating. I'm scared of saddling even more debt. What should I do?

Go to graduate school. 90K is not insane money.

stay sane Wrote:
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> Go to graduate school. 90K is not insane money.


nigga please.

Hey, Mitt Romney can only make 9 bets with 90K.

Agreed with the above, 90k is not a lot of money, especially if you're single. Now, if your standard of living is a 1 bedroom apartment and a cheap used car, you'll do fine. If you plan on buying a home and having a family or a life, 90k doesn't go far.

I would kill for 90k. You people are insane. The majority of the public make 90k combined.

Get a job. I can't tell you how many friends I had who went straight to grad school only to regret it. Find a job that will let you go and pay for your grad school part time.

You'll have better experience and a degree, as opposed to a degree and no experience or experience and no grad degree.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2012 09:49PM by bomble.

Not in the same field but I did get my masters right after college and it was definitely worth it. This was many years ago and I still get immediate respect when asked about my education. Many people get it later in life, but you have a leg up when you're 24 and have it already. However, by all means it's not necessary for a successful career. I would caution too that top tier grad school name recognition might not be worth the cost of top tier dollars, and would budget accordingly.

I would suggest taking a job for $90K with a company that will pay for your graduate studies.

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90k is the new 60k. Its a decent salary for 2 - 3 yrs of specialized experience. If you've got an offer like that coming straight out of 4 year take it. 70 is aweful close to lowball for Engineering/Programming assuming you have no projects, experience or apps developed. Grad school is a waste of money until you have a company paying for it. @ fu in the rest of the country 90k might mean something, but i know a few 25 year olds with AA's from Nova negotiating 100 - 115k salaries, and friends without degrees pulling 125 with 4 years experience and a clearance. Get cleared, get experienced get paid.

!

Back to the real world pee-wee, your friends say thay make 70k and really make 38k and are the office bitch. In a bitch field, in IT land. Jobs are hard to come by and a puke kid with no world experance except IT103 classes. Get a US Goverment TS security clerance and you might get that Flow, but how are you gonna get that....join the military Whahaha Back to IT chump and have fun with that gammer crap!

^^ true dat.

Beekers Keeper Wrote:
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> Back to the real world pee-wee, your friends say
> thay make 70k and really make 38k and are the
> office bitch. In a bitch field, in IT land. Jobs
> are hard to come by and a puke kid with no world
> experance except IT103 classes. Get a US
> Goverment TS security clerance and you might get
> that Flow, but how are you gonna get that....join
> the military Whahaha Back to IT chump and have fun
> with that gammer crap!

Huh? Military puahhahaha. IT? so he can babysit a computer? Sorry if you look at the Sergey Brins, Bill Gates of the world, no tech billionaire ever made billions from being the plumber of the tech world. Engineering and comp sci majors are the ones creating shit and minting billions while those losers who can't even score 1800 on their SATs get certs and babysit our creations. That's a fact. Have fun getting yourself blown by sand niggers while your whore for a gf/wife gets boned by everyone :)

Ummmmm no Wrote:
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> Beekers Keeper Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Back to the real world pee-wee, your friends
> say
> > thay make 70k and really make 38k and are the
> > office bitch. In a bitch field, in IT land.
> Jobs
> > are hard to come by and a puke kid with no
> world
> > experance except IT103 classes. Get a US
> > Goverment TS security clerance and you might
> get
> > that Flow, but how are you gonna get
> that....join
> > the military Whahaha Back to IT chump and have
> fun
> > with that gammer crap!
>
> Huh? Military puahhahaha. IT? so he can babysit a
> computer? Sorry if you look at the Sergey Brins,
> Bill Gates of the world, no tech billionaire ever
> made billions from being the plumber of the tech
> world. Engineering and comp sci majors are the
> ones creating shit and minting billions while
> those losers who can't even score 1800 on their
> SATs get certs and babysit our creations. That's a
> fact. Have fun getting yourself blown by sand
> niggers while your whore for a gf/wife gets boned
> by everyone :)

This x 999999999. A 17-year-old freshman at MIT or Stanford can breeze through your IT job while you would drown in his world. In fact he can breeze through your certs while you can't even get accepted to his school.

Poster above is right. Many of the world's billionaires have engineering or computer science backgrounds. NONE OF THEM were babysitting Cisco routers and getting certs lol.

To the VTech undergrad: just make sure you maintain a decent gpa and go for the job.

what's with the cockiness of IT people? Aren't they just mechanics for computers? The real rock stars of the tech world are the coding wizards or startup founders with an engineering background.

Repairing modems and the plumber of the computer world bwhahaha!!! OK hire the computer kid he can also take out the trash and clean the copier 17k a year!!

KookieMonster Wrote:
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> Repairing modems and the plumber of the computer
> world bwhahaha!!! OK hire the computer kid he can
> also take out the trash and clean the copier 17k a
> year!!

Give him a clearance and let him pass some certs and now he's Einstein. 12th grade high school Calculus > certs in terms of difficulty by a wide margin.

The above posters are right, Engineers have forgotten more mathematics than most of the population will ever understand. That said, very few are high functioning geniuses the same IT lacky babysitting that Cisco router is capable of engineering..if he want's it bad enough. Thats the only thing that separates the engineers from the IT majors, dedication. What separates the truly innovative engineers from the average is innate talent. Either way, if you plan on staying in this area...get a job, skip the grad degree until someone pays for it. Comp sci will land you a entry level programming gig, go for a defense contractor to get cleared (there are other ways besides the military). The job market is crowded right now so be ready to get on your knees for the lowball and after you get it smile wipe your mouth like a big girl and ask for more. Grad school w/out experience is just going to frustrate you when Chin the programmer with no degree but 5 years of programming experience and the projects to back it up blows you away during a coding or algorithm interview.

Engineerenvy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The above posters are right, Engineers have
> forgotten more mathematics than most of the
> population will ever understand. That said, very
> few are high functioning geniuses the same IT
> lacky babysitting that Cisco router is capable of
> engineering..if he want's it bad enough. Thats
> the only thing that separates the engineers from
> the IT majors, dedication. What separates the
> truly innovative engineers from the average is
> innate talent. Either way, if you plan on staying
> in this area...get a job, skip the grad degree
> until someone pays for it. Comp sci will land you
> a entry level programming gig, go for a defense
> contractor to get cleared (there are other ways
> besides the military). The job market is crowded
> right now so be ready to get on your knees for the
> lowball and after you get it smile wipe your mouth
> like a big girl and ask for more. Grad school
> w/out experience is just going to frustrate you
> when Chin the programmer with no degree but 5
> years of programming experience and the projects
> to back it up blows you away during a coding or
> algorithm interview.

Kinda agree with you but there are some things...No matter the dedication there are some people not capable of grasping hard subjects. I have a classmate who's fairly average intelligence but he just can't grasp physics. You can hire tutors and give him all the time in the world...in fact he spends almost all day studying but has ended up failing multiple times. While at the same time, I have another friend who has never took physics, never hired a physics tutor, never takes notes, and barely studies and yet aces his exams. Dedication will only take you so far. I'm just being honest. I've had people in class graduate near the top of their class and are naturally good test takers in hs but are getting killed in Calculus III. Imagine how brutal it is for someone who barely graduated and are not good test takers.

Agreed Wrote:
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> Agreed with the above, 90k is not a lot of money,
> especially if you're single. Now, if your
> standard of living is a 1 bedroom apartment and a
> cheap used car, you'll do fine. If you plan on
> buying a home and having a family or a life, 90k
> doesn't go far.

90 grand is a sh** load of money for someone just out of college. Wall Street youngsters can and do make more, but for 98% of people just out of undergrad $90 K is a dam good place to start.

$90,000 isn't a lot of money? Must be nice.

Try to get a job first, then if you can't a decent one then go to grad school next year.

Going to grad school as a stalling tactic is a bad idea. More debt and questionable ROI.

If you can get a TA, RA, or a full ride, get grad school out of the way right out of undergrad. You're used to being poor, so let it continue for 2 years.

If not, go out to the real world, and try to get your company to pay for grad school. Do everything you can to avoid piling up student loans.

Going back to school after you've had a couple of years of freedom can be tough, get it out of the way as soon as possible.

I kinda think if you get your Master's right after your undergrad, you are possibly in a big hole financially from the cost, unless you have cool parents. Meanwhile, when you interview, you will likely go against a fellow Master-grad, but she/he has experience, some history and a track record, and probably a better idea of what they want to do. Whom do you hire? I go w experienced MBA-er. I kinda like WTL suggestion: take the job, make someone else pay for your MBA.

Never pay for grad school out of your own pocket.

The exceptions are law and medicine.

Folks: $90,000 is real money. So's $70,000.

The answer, as some have suggested, is to find an employer who'll pay for the graduate program. You'll make good money starting off, and save a ton on the graduate degree.

It's not rocket science.

"...but I'm still two years away from graduating."

Forget about it.

The economy may be different in two years.

none, join the military!