Word of caution for aspiring CS majors

[Anonymous]

Engineering. Granted most companies are desperately looking for more experienced workers but my husband said they hired a bunch of new grads and need more. His company is losing out to higher paying companies and they are starting at 80k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a liberal arts degree (economics and something soft) from the highest ranked school you can.

Recruiting for finance, consulting, and corporate /strategy roles are much much easier if you are in English and economics major coming from Rice or Vanderbilt or Emory compared to CS at Purdue…..

Ask around people!!!

This. College is not trade school, despite the pervasive and lingering lower middle class belief to the contrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I dont know where all the CS grads are. DoD contractors are hiring and cant get enough good candidates. All the good ones are making bank at amazon etc but we need citizens who are ok with under $90k for first job but can also actually do things and didnt sleep through their CS and math classes.

I think this is coming from the small percentage who are not employed. My kid's school is not even top 50, but fewer than 20 out of hundreds of recent CS graduates are still job hunting. I don't think this thread is reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a liberal arts degree (economics and something soft) from the highest ranked school you can.

Recruiting for finance, consulting, and corporate /strategy roles are much much easier if you are in English and economics major coming from Rice or Vanderbilt or Emory compared to CS at Purdue…..

Ask around people!!!

This. College is not trade school, despite the pervasive and lingering lower middle class belief to the contrary.

CS majors are is not in trade school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just returned from a college reunion, and my friends' kids who majored in CS and graduated last year and this year are all un- or under-employed. It seems pretty obvious to me that low-level CS jobs are the first to be gobbled up by AI. If you go to a top school, it truly does not matter what you major in. Most of those kids who want top jobs in tech, finance, consulting will get them. Majoring in something skill-based is more important if you attend even a slightly lower-ranked school. This is why people work so hard to secure spots in the Ivy-plus schools.

Again the data doesn't agree with your imagination.

Harvard english major 4 year out median salary = $49,675
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166027-Harvard-University&fos_code=2301&fos_credential=3

I have no doubt the average pay is lower. Many English majors want to go into lower paying fields like journalism, teaching, etc. But I guarantee you that English majors from Harvard who want to do into finance, tech, or consulting can do so pretty easily. I know plenty of kids from T20 schools who did.

Yea right go to harvard and dream job is a teacher LOL
Many of them are like that LMFAO

and again 'I know' LOL

[Anonymous]

what about electrical or mechanical engineering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just returned from a college reunion, and my friends' kids who majored in CS and graduated last year and this year are all un- or under-employed. It seems pretty obvious to me that low-level CS jobs are the first to be gobbled up by AI. If you go to a top school, it truly does not matter what you major in. Most of those kids who want top jobs in tech, finance, consulting will get them. Majoring in something skill-based is more important if you attend even a slightly lower-ranked school. This is why people work so hard to secure spots in the Ivy-plus schools.

Bet a nickle that the "underemployed" CS major's first job pays more than a humanities grad's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a liberal arts degree (economics and something soft) from the highest ranked school you can.

Recruiting for finance, consulting, and corporate /strategy roles are much much easier if you are in English and economics major coming from Rice or Vanderbilt or Emory compared to CS at Purdue…..

Ask around people!!!

This. College is not trade school, despite the pervasive and lingering lower middle class belief to the contrary.

College is not country club for rich people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think the job market is pretty bad for most graduates though.

+1 that's what I'm saying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are English majors in high demand?

No LOL no

However if they want to be a lawyer or go to grad school then possibly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a liberal arts degree (economics and something soft) from the highest ranked school you can.

Recruiting for finance, consulting, and corporate /strategy roles are much much easier if you are in English and economics major coming from Rice or Vanderbilt or Emory compared to CS at Purdue…..

Ask around people!!!

This. College is not trade school, despite the pervasive and lingering lower middle class belief to the contrary.

This is 2024, not 1954, despite how some elite people want to think it is. College is no longer about a liberal art education, and then get some job because you have a degree. That's 1954 thinking. This is not how it works today, in 2024.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just returned from a college reunion, and my friends' kids who majored in CS and graduated last year and this year are all un- or under-employed. It seems pretty obvious to me that low-level CS jobs are the first to be gobbled up by AI. If you go to a top school, it truly does not matter what you major in. Most of those kids who want top jobs in tech, finance, consulting will get them. Majoring in something skill-based is more important if you attend even a slightly lower-ranked school. This is why people work so hard to secure spots in the Ivy-plus schools.

This is utter BS.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what about electrical or mechanical engineering?

Like a lot of majors, some MechE grads are having a hard time. I think OP (and some recent college grads) are stuck in 2020/2022. CS majors will still have an easier time finding a job than most majors. Again, it may not be the $120K with $80k signon bonus, but most can and will find jobs.

I mean English majors have been having a hard time finding jobs for many years, and even the jobs they do find pay less than the median income, but sure, pick on CS majors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get a liberal arts degree (economics and something soft) from the highest ranked school you can.

Recruiting for finance, consulting, and corporate /strategy roles are much much easier if you are in English and economics major coming from Rice or Vanderbilt or Emory compared to CS at Purdue…..

Ask around people!!!

This. College is not trade school, despite the pervasive and lingering lower middle class belief to the contrary.

This is 2024, not 1954, despite how some elite people want to think it is. College is no longer about a liberal art education, and then get some job because you have a degree. That's 1954 thinking. This is not how it works today, in 2024.

Especially when you have to pay $$$$

Of course if you are a trust fund kid, take an easy major and cruise.
Worry more about brand of the school as an accessory.

[Anonymous]

Of course, it is a privilege to have college paid for so that you can afford to choose less pre-professional major. And the parents who can afford to pay for the top colleges likely have connections to help those kids secure jobs, even with an anthro major.