Harvard grads earn $81,500 at age 34 – WTF?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect there may be a chunk in grad school or SAH with kids, with zero income, pulling down the average.

Public service is popular. Obama was probably earning in that range at 34. Those jobs don't necessarily pay well.

Yes. I'm looking at my Brown class and so many went into public service or top law schools reaching for judgeship. As a foreigner, it's amazing to me. The very wealthy families can afford to send their offspring to work in power positions that shape the future of this country. It's a self-serving mechanism that keeps the poor and unconnected from gaining decision-making power. Do you think all these people working on the Hill and buying the million $ housing are doing it from a staffer salary? Meanwhile, the poor are busy working their butts off to get a well paid job and accumulate some wealth while the elite is deciding almost everything.

If they are doing that, they are pulling in the big bucks - Harvard Law grad.

I'm not familiar with law, but I've always wondered if the judges have privileged backgrounds. My DC1 is 3rd gen legacy and in med school at Ivy and pretty much everyone has wealthy, educated parents, including the ones with first gen immigrant parents.

Yeah it’s funny people who claim they are 1st Gen immigrants but they have a cardiologist dad and a oncologist mom, but act as if they are descended from migrant workers. It’s way more common to be like Real Women Have Curves, where the family expects them to work not get educated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect there may be a chunk in grad school or SAH with kids, with zero income, pulling down the average.

Public service is popular. Obama was probably earning in that range at 34. Those jobs don't necessarily pay well.

Yes. I'm looking at my Brown class and so many went into public service or top law schools reaching for judgeship. As a foreigner, it's amazing to me. The very wealthy families can afford to send their offspring to work in power positions that shape the future of this country. It's a self-serving mechanism that keeps the poor and unconnected from gaining decision-making power. Do you think all these people working on the Hill and buying the million $ housing are doing it from a staffer salary? Meanwhile, the poor are busy working their butts off to get a well paid job and accumulate some wealth while the elite is deciding almost everything.

If they are doing that, they are pulling in the big bucks - Harvard Law grad.

I'm not familiar with law, but I've always wondered if the judges have privileged backgrounds. My DC1 is 3rd gen legacy and in med school at Ivy and pretty much everyone has wealthy, educated parents, including the ones with first gen immigrant parents.

Yeah it’s funny people who claim they are 1st Gen immigrants but they have a cardiologist dad and a oncologist mom, but act as if they are descended from migrant workers. It’s way more common to be like Real Women Have Curves, where the family expects them to work not get educated.

I am an immigrant. My mom and I cleaned houses when we came to US, started out doing day labor jobs. I then went to college and now am UMC paying full price for a private college, but my kids are definitely first gen and descend from humble background. I have many friends who traveled a similar path - you have no idea what the cardiologist dad and the oncologist mom did when they first showed up here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Virginia Tech graduates bring in an average salary of $91,500 by that age. Just looked it up online. The average starting salary for a new VT grad is around $74,000. With a lot lower student debt.

We can get a good idea when we compare the salary of a particular major between Brown/Harvard and Virginia Tech. Brown CS graduate average salary is $141,100 vs Virginia Tech $ 83,600. Harvard CS $128,900. These salary data is from US department of education.

“Brown- https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/rhode-island/brown-university/salaries/

The undergraduate degree which initially pays the highest is Computer Science with a median starting salary of $141,100 followed by Applied Mathematics paying $91,700 and Engineering graduates who have a median starting income of $73,500 .”

“Harvard- https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/massachusetts/harvard-university/salaries/

The undergraduate degree which initially pays the highest is Computer Science with a median starting salary of $128,900 followed by Statistics paying $126,100 and Applied Mathematics graduates who have a median starting income of $80,500 “


“Virginia Tech- https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/virginia/virginia-polytechnic-institute-and-state-university/salaries/

The undergraduate degree which initially pays the highest is Computer and Information Sciences with a median starting salary of $83,600 followed by Computer Engineering paying $72,100 and Chemical Engineering graduates who have a median starting income of $70,100 .“

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

Def not a lot are relatively wealthy. Most are first generation kids I'm betting

Most "first gen" kids can't get into Ivy league schools or don't even try pp. Most students in the Ivy league can afford to be there and then follow their passion.

[Anonymous]

I went to Yale UG and Harvard PG.

Here’s what you’re missing:

1. Wealthiest people I went to school with either don’t work or they work vanity jobs, like setting up a nonprofit, something in arts, media, etc. Little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

2. Others of the wealthiest people I know are in PE, real estate, partnerships, etc. Again, little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

3. Those in academics, research, medicine, and sometimes law are just short of crossing the threshold to actual money at 34.

4. Plenty of HYPS grads, even if they’re not from Uber wealthy backgrounds like those above, have parents who are doctors and lawyers or whatever and are perfectly comfortable, plus expect to inherent well into 7 figures. So they’re fine choosing “meaningful” work that pays less: they work in museums, or at foundations, or in journalism. They sail around the world on a solar powered boat and make a documentary about.

5. Ironically, it is the poorest of the group—the strivers, first generation college kids, etc.—who bolster those “income” numbers. They are busting their asses in finance, law, consulting because they don’t have the wealth to fall back on. They are generating it to move their kids into one of the above groups.

The US would be far more equitable if regular people could be made to understand that income is for suckers. Income tax fights and other income-based comparisons pit the poor against the MC against the UMC. It all missed the point about the tiny band at the top that doesn’t care about income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale UG and Harvard PG.

Here’s what you’re missing:

1. Wealthiest people I went to school with either don’t work or they work vanity jobs, like setting up a nonprofit, something in arts, media, etc. Little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

2. Others of the wealthiest people I know are in PE, real estate, partnerships, etc. Again, little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

3. Those in academics, research, medicine, and sometimes law are just short of crossing the threshold to actual money at 34.

4. Plenty of HYPS grads, even if they’re not from Uber wealthy backgrounds like those above, have parents who are doctors and lawyers or whatever and are perfectly comfortable, plus expect to inherent well into 7 figures. So they’re fine choosing “meaningful” work that pays less: they work in museums, or at foundations, or in journalism. They sail around the world on a solar powered boat and make a documentary about.

5. Ironically, it is the poorest of the group—the strivers, first generation college kids, etc.—who bolster those “income” numbers. They are busting their asses in finance, law, consulting because they don’t have the wealth to fall back on. They are generating it to move their kids into one of the above groups.

The US would be far more equitable if regular people could be made to understand that income is for suckers. Income tax fights and other income-based comparisons pit the poor against the MC against the UMC. It all missed the point about the tiny band at the top that doesn’t care about income.

this is the correct answer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale UG and Harvard PG.

Here’s what you’re missing:

1. Wealthiest people I went to school with either don’t work or they work vanity jobs, like setting up a nonprofit, something in arts, media, etc. Little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

2. Others of the wealthiest people I know are in PE, real estate, partnerships, etc. Again, little or no “income”, which is for poor people.

3. Those in academics, research, medicine, and sometimes law are just short of crossing the threshold to actual money at 34.

4. Plenty of HYPS grads, even if they’re not from Uber wealthy backgrounds like those above, have parents who are doctors and lawyers or whatever and are perfectly comfortable, plus expect to inherent well into 7 figures. So they’re fine choosing “meaningful” work that pays less: they work in museums, or at foundations, or in journalism. They sail around the world on a solar powered boat and make a documentary about.

5. Ironically, it is the poorest of the group—the strivers, first generation college kids, etc.—who bolster those “income” numbers. They are busting their asses in finance, law, consulting because they don’t have the wealth to fall back on. They are generating it to move their kids into one of the above groups.

The US would be far more equitable if regular people could be made to understand that income is for suckers. Income tax fights and other income-based comparisons pit the poor against the MC against the UMC. It all missed the point about the tiny band at the top that doesn’t care about income.

Those are not vanity jobs. My derm, who does only botox, fillers and RF has a vanity job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

How did you buy a house on your income?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

This. The number of people on this thread saying "only rich people can afford to take low paying jobs at 80k a year, first gen working class students have to focus on money" is astonishing to me. 80k isn't peanuts to a lot of us. Of my friends from one of these schools who were on financial aid (so a big range, about 50% of students, and my friends ranged from "have to support their poor immigrant mom" to "flyover country middle class,"), i have two friends who went into law, and pretty much all the rest of us felt like making enough to pay rent, have health insurance, and not live completely paycheck to paycheck was good. 80k was that AND MORE, at least until kids came into the picture, NONE of us had a frame of reference where that was anything but an excellent salary. Also, my husband and i feel like we are more risk averse than our wealthier friends, for instance taking lower paid but more secure jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

This. The number of people on this thread saying "only rich people can afford to take low paying jobs at 80k a year, first gen working class students have to focus on money" is astonishing to me. 80k isn't peanuts to a lot of us. Of my friends from one of these schools who were on financial aid (so a big range, about 50% of students, and my friends ranged from "have to support their poor immigrant mom" to "flyover country middle class,"), i have two friends who went into law, and pretty much all the rest of us felt like making enough to pay rent, have health insurance, and not live completely paycheck to paycheck was good. 80k was that AND MORE, at least until kids came into the picture, NONE of us had a frame of reference where that was anything but an excellent salary. Also, my husband and i feel like we are more risk averse than our wealthier friends, for instance taking lower paid but more secure jobs.

Hon, NPR pays 50, not 80. Have you checked the rents and home prices lately?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

This.

They have family money and they marry well.

I have female colleagues who earn $80-150 and they have 2-4 kids in top dc privates, have vacation homes, nice homes and cars, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

This. The number of people on this thread saying "only rich people can afford to take low paying jobs at 80k a year, first gen working class students have to focus on money" is astonishing to me. 80k isn't peanuts to a lot of us. Of my friends from one of these schools who were on financial aid (so a big range, about 50% of students, and my friends ranged from "have to support their poor immigrant mom" to "flyover country middle class,"), i have two friends who went into law, and pretty much all the rest of us felt like making enough to pay rent, have health insurance, and not live completely paycheck to paycheck was good. 80k was that AND MORE, at least until kids came into the picture, NONE of us had a frame of reference where that was anything but an excellent salary. Also, my husband and i feel like we are more risk averse than our wealthier friends, for instance taking lower paid but more secure jobs.

I was a middle class kid from a LCOL state who went to an Ivy-Plus UG and Ivy law. $80k is a good amount of money, but even I call BS on most people not realizing it would be hard to support a family on that in a HCOL city. What I’ve observed is that the NPR types are often very self righteous about their decision to go into the public sector (“money doesn’t matter to me” was the common refrain) and now that they’ve realized life is expensive/their colleagues are trust funders, they plead ignorance about the cost of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of Ivy League students come from relatively wealthy families, which means they’re able to take on meaningful work with lower salaries. Or they’ve learned that money isn’t the only measure of success!

+1

They work at NPR and will inherit millions.

Sincerely,
Their state school coworker

If NPR wants to live their values, offset increasing inequality and support social mobility, they should hire state school graduates who are qualified and come from honors and academic scholarship programs. This is what my organization does. NPR staff should be advocating for this along with their EDI initiatives, unless it makes them too uncomfortable given their own backgrounds.

Most of those graduates cannot survive on the salary at NPR. Target pays better for entry level.

+1 seriously PP, do you not understand that plenty of very bright state school grads would love to work at NPR or at an art gallery, but they can't afford to? Whereas kids from rich families can work a nonprofit job and still inherit millions; their low-paying but "meaningful" career path has no financial relevancy in their lives, and their kids will be attending summer camp, getting dental work, traveling to europe, etc etc., no matter what. That's not true for middle class people.

Plenty of us not rich people can and do afford to have NPR type-jobs. I am married to a journalist and am in public health. We have no wealthy family, and we've paid back our grad school loans with our salaries. What you are missing is you can't become wealthy working at NPR (or its like) if you don't start out wealthy. But if you decide to live within your means it all works out fine. It is pretty weird to say you can't survive on a salary that is solidly middle class. Maybe you can't, but those of us who grew up middle class and have no expectation of being wealthy sure can.

This. The number of people on this thread saying "only rich people can afford to take low paying jobs at 80k a year, first gen working class students have to focus on money" is astonishing to me. 80k isn't peanuts to a lot of us. Of my friends from one of these schools who were on financial aid (so a big range, about 50% of students, and my friends ranged from "have to support their poor immigrant mom" to "flyover country middle class,"), i have two friends who went into law, and pretty much all the rest of us felt like making enough to pay rent, have health insurance, and not live completely paycheck to paycheck was good. 80k was that AND MORE, at least until kids came into the picture, NONE of us had a frame of reference where that was anything but an excellent salary. Also, my husband and i feel like we are more risk averse than our wealthier friends, for instance taking lower paid but more secure jobs.

Hon, NPR pays 50, not 80. Have you checked the rents and home prices lately?

Yes. I am very well aware, thanks. Also this entire thread isn't about NPR and 80 is the main number under discussion. I agree that 50k is not sufficient to raise a family as a single income but it's doable as a single person, DINK, or double career couple. If you disagree, I *guarantee* that i know more about living at this income level than you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect there may be a chunk in grad school or SAH with kids, with zero income, pulling down the average.

Public service is popular. Obama was probably earning in that range at 34. Those jobs don't necessarily pay well.

Yes. I'm looking at my Brown class and so many went into public service or top law schools reaching for judgeship. As a foreigner, it's amazing to me. The very wealthy families can afford to send their offspring to work in power positions that shape the future of this country. It's a self-serving mechanism that keeps the poor and unconnected from gaining decision-making power. Do you think all these people working on the Hill and buying the million $ housing are doing it from a staffer salary? Meanwhile, the poor are busy working their butts off to get a well paid job and accumulate some wealth while the elite is deciding almost everything.

If they are doing that, they are pulling in the big bucks - Harvard Law grad.

I'm not familiar with law, but I've always wondered if the judges have privileged backgrounds. My DC1 is 3rd gen legacy and in med school at Ivy and pretty much everyone has wealthy, educated parents, including the ones with first gen immigrant parents.

Yeah it’s funny people who claim they are 1st Gen immigrants but they have a cardiologist dad and a oncologist mom, but act as if they are descended from migrant workers. It’s way more common to be like Real Women Have Curves, where the family expects them to work not get educated.

There’s still a BIG difference between being 1st gen immigrant from an UMC family but no inherited wealth, versus having generations of ancestors behind you in this country. You don’t always fit in culturally as a 1st gen immigrant. There’s a lot of things you don’t know.