Where to live after college?

[zinfamous]

Graduation statistics say otherwise, sir.

lol. confirmed.

 

[sash1]

christ you're delusional. go move to manhattan, see how that works out for ya

 

[MotF Bane]

Bahahahahaha. HAHHAHAHHA. There is no such thing as guaranteed 60k/yr. You are guaranteed nothing.

 

[Gibson486]

Graduation statistics say otherwise, sir.

You would think as an engineer you would be able to look past numbers and actually see the industry for what it is. Statistic only tell half the story and you will find out they are greatly exaggerated and I bet you dis not even bother looking at how those statistic were done.

First off, I was dumb like you and I thought, "Yeah, i am gonna make 60K right out college". What a rude awakening i got when I left college. I was offered 55K and that was with over 1.5 years of good experience at reputable places.

2nd, there are only really only two industries that are hiring now....Environmental engineering and defense. Defense was a guaranteed 60K 5 years ago, but they have since dropped in salary since engineers out of college are now unemployed. Face it, engineers are not has hard to find as they were years ago, especially in this economy. As for Environmental, you are gonna be paid a Civil Engineers salary because they are Civil firms that do the hiring.

 

[trigun500]

So have you actually SIGNED a job offer? Because if not...you're actually making $0/year. I was told I'd be making 60k/year if I went into public account. I don't nearly make that much. Salary statistics are very inaccurate.

 

[rcpratt]

Just because I was curious, I went to look at the average salaries for the year before I graduated. I make 20% more than the average for all of engineering, and more than the max the previous year for my major (nuclear engineering). Sample size of uh, 7, so doesn't mean much.

Counting on that, though, would be dumb. I'm lucky.

 

[TridenT]

Those statistics are from a survey of idiots like you lying to themselves about how much they make. Especially at whatever crappy school you're at.

Mmm.. highly respectable school. It isn't Ivy League, it's the public ivy, but whatever.

 

[Gibson486]

Mmm.. highly respectable school. It isn't Ivy League, it's the public ivy, but whatever.

what school?

 

[Ns1]

what school?

UoW per wikipedia.

 

[RapidSnail]

Mmm.. highly respectable school. It isn't Ivy League, it's the public ivy, but whatever.

You're at UDUB? I'm at the only other public ivy that shares your name.

 

[Saint Nick]

This kid is 18. Give him a few more years until it all sets in and he will be battling with some of the greatest minds of whatever field he goes into.

You're at UDUB? I'm at the only other public ivy that shares your name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Ivy#The_Public_Ivies_according_to_Greene.27s_Guides

 

[ViviTheMage]

Do you post every random thought that pops in your head Trident? Every thread you make gets ridiculed.

 

[Oil]

You would think as an engineer you would be able to look past numbers and actually see the industry for what it is. Statistic only tell half the story and you will find out they are greatly exaggerated and I bet you dis not even bother looking at how those statistic were done.

First off, I was dumb like you and I thought, "Yeah, i am gonna make 60K right out college". What a rude awakening i got when I left college. I was offered 55K and that was with over 1.5 years of good experience at reputable places.

2nd, there are only really only two industries that are hiring now....Environmental engineering and defense. Defense was a guaranteed 60K 5 years ago, but they have since dropped in salary since engineers out of college are now unemployed. Face it, engineers are not has hard to find as they were years ago, especially in this economy. As for Environmental, you are gonna be paid a Civil Engineers salary because they are Civil firms that do the hiring.

I make 90k straight out of school and I definitely wasn't in the top of my graduating class

 

[TheNinja]

I would choose Souther California. Not LA area, but San Deigo area. Great weather, women, atmosphere. I live in Northern California but have a southern califonia attitude and wished i lived there. Bay Area is a bunch of stuck up, materilistic, work 80 hours a week culture. But our scenery and the amount of stuff we have to do is unreal.

 

[rcpratt]

I make 90k straight out of school and I definitely wasn't in the top of my graduating class

Petroleum engineering doesn't count :ninja:

The public ivy list is amusing, MSU, really? Heh.

 

[TridenT]

You're at UDUB? I'm at the only other public ivy that shares your name.

Soon, I shall.

 

[TridenT]

Just because I was curious, I went to look at the average salaries for the year before I graduated. I make 20% more than the average for all of engineering, and more than the max the previous year for my major (nuclear engineering). Sample size of uh, 7, so doesn't mean much.

Counting on that, though, would be dumb. I'm lucky.

Sample size they used was 100 out of 160 who graduated. 35 of those got 80-90k and some with 10k-45k signing bonus.

 

[BurnItDwn]

You should live wherever you get a job as long as it isn't near IL or WI.

 

[Ns1]

Sample size they used was 100 out of 160 who graduated. 35 of those got 80-90k and some with 10k-45k signing bonus.

welp, looks like you got it all figured out.


all I gotta say is I hope your people skills are better IRL than you lead us to believe.

 

[Scarpozzi]

My recommendation....pick a city first. It's best if you have family in the area. It'd give you a free place to stay until you get your feet on the ground.

As for which city? If family isn't an option to help with living expenses, compare cities based on major industry in the city to narrow down your options. Just because you can land 1 job in a particular city right off the bat doesn't mean that job will be there next year or even later this year. Make sure the city can support you if you have to go job hunting down the road or consider lower paying jobs with solid benefits packages to increase your longevity over the contract-type positions that pay high dollar with limited benefits.

 

[WraithETC]

I hope to graduate from UW before you arrive I pray to god. Got an internship lined up and then a couple quarters to go hopefully we don't cross paths. Unfortunately the CSE building is connected to the EE building.

 

[ImDonly1]

If money was no issue, then I would move to NYC. That is if you like the big city, dense population thing. If NYC is too expensive, see how you like Chicago, its nice there too, less expensive than NY, but also less dense.

SF seems like a nice city, nice scenery, etc. Not sure about anything to do in the city though. Was only there 1-2 days. A lot of tourists. Weather is nice (no snow), but it doesn't really ever get that warm (80-90F), which you may not like. It just always stays cool, but not cold. I think I would prefer the SoCal weather.

 

[TridenT]

I hope to graduate from UW before you arrive I pray to god. Got an internship lined up and then a couple quarters to go hopefully we don't cross paths. Unfortunately the CSE building is connected to the EE building.

Yes, yes, it is connected. :twisted:

When are you graduating?

 

[Wyndru]

I'm really not worried about that at all. I'll be making decent bank for my first job in the industry.



I'll be making over $60k for my first job, and that's the low-end.

It's good to shoot high, but I wouldn't go counting on it. And a couple of the places you listed might be a bitch to find something reasonable to live in that you could afford, even at 60k. In Manhattan 60k/yr is comparable to making 30k/yr in most other places.

 

[CanOWorms]

Sample size they used was 100 out of 160 who graduated. 35 of those got 80-90k and some with 10k-45k signing bonus.

There is absolutely zero transparency for those statistics. School-provided employment statistics are a very controversial issue right now. Schools are reporting higher employment rates for the Great Recession than before it. How is that possible? They're stretching/faking their numbers through a variety of ways.

I do think that $60k is possible from a school like UW. Where I worked we hired undergrads at $70k. Just don't take those statistics too seriously.