Anonymous
01/19/2026 20:35
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
So?
School, degree, starting salary are wildly variable. I am not sure you even need a high school diploma for ICE.
Youre comparing a high end tc from nvcc with a median MIT base salary. Who is the stupid one? On the high end, some recent MIT and Harvard graduates received $750k tc. What do you say now?
New poster. You still have missed the point - which is that a reasonably high starting salary in a very stable job with a good inflation-indexed defined-benefit pension and good benefits EXISTS - even for someone without a 4-year college degree.
Don’t sleep on overtime and no tax on overtime.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 19:27
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
So?
School, degree, starting salary are wildly variable. I am not sure you even need a high school diploma for ICE.
Youre comparing a high end tc from nvcc with a median MIT base salary. Who is the stupid one? On the high end, some recent MIT and Harvard graduates received $750k tc. What do you say now?
New poster. You still have missed the point - which is that a reasonably high starting salary in a very stable job with a good inflation-indexed defined-benefit pension and good benefits EXISTS - even for someone without a 4-year college degree.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 19:19
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
In a civil service lab, BS Engineering with 3.0 or higher GPA gets GS-7. Government can salary match within GS-7 range to a commercial sector offer. Same but less than 3.0 GPA starts as a GS-5 - still can salary match up to a step 10.
Masters in Engineering starts at GS-11. PhD in Engineering starts at GS-12. Can salary match up to step 10.
Also has student loan forgiveness program and can stack relocation costs (PCS) and a hiring bonus on top.
For specific "shortage category" engineering specialties (example AeroE, EE) engineers are paid as if they were 3 steps above their actual step.
I would be very surprised if commercial sector paid less than civil service. So think of this as a likely floor on starting salaries.
Masters in Engineering starts at GS-11. PhD in Engineering starts at GS-12. Can salary match up to step 10.
Also has student loan forgiveness program and can stack relocation costs (PCS) and a hiring bonus on top.
For specific "shortage category" engineering specialties (example AeroE, EE) engineers are paid as if they were 3 steps above their actual step.
I would be very surprised if commercial sector paid less than civil service. So think of this as a likely floor on starting salaries.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 16:37
Subject: Re:Starting salary or expected for your child
My kid is a 2025 graduate from a top architecture school. He is making $75,000 at a firm living in a large but low cost of living city.
He is working a pretty standard 40 hour work week and loving his job.
He is working a pretty standard 40 hour work week and loving his job.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 15:55
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:This thread is making me feel terrible. I’m a math/cs major from a T30, but plan to become a teacher, so I really only expect 50k. Feels like I’m behind everyone and doing something wrong.
Don't feel terrible. This is an anonymous thread, and so people throw things at you, expecting them to be true, which may or may not be the case. Half of the replies are not even close to reality. But, I must say they are always fun to read!
The minimum starting teacher salary in Maryland is $60k. The large districts are all more than $100k after 15 years with master's and National Board Certification. Unlimited opportunities for advancement if you are good, into an assistant principal, principal, or central office role. We have proven that the majority of kids can't learn well without a live, in person teacher. So AI is much more likely to remain a tool, vs. a replacement. For many new college grads, being a teacher isn't too shabby. It's not top quant, but that isn't an option for 99.9% of the population. Oh, and in Maryland you are pretty much guaranteed a full tuition + R&B scholarship from the state to any MD state school (or the same amount towards private) for 4 years, if you commit to teaching for 4 years.
Many teachers (like me) don’t see admin as advancement. Principals, central office, etc… those careers are outside of teaching. A strong teacher can become a department head, but there’s not really a path past that. Simply put: if you want to advance, you can’t go up. You have to go out. This, in my opinion, is one of the biggest problems about the profession. This dynamic leads to people in charge who can’t model teaching to current teachers.
That said: my own college kid is going into education. She’ll have her pick of schools and guaranteed employment. That’s what a teaching shortage gets you, I suppose.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 15:45
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
45k
Anonymous
01/19/2026 15:41
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Forensic pathologist
$200,000 plus
$200,000 plus
Anonymous
01/19/2026 15:36
Subject: Re:Starting salary or expected for your child
Base means nothing for IBAnonymous wrote:DS, investment banking in NYC, graduated 2025 and making 120k base
Anonymous
01/19/2026 15:07
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:This thread is making me feel terrible. I’m a math/cs major from a T30, but plan to become a teacher, so I really only expect 50k. Feels like I’m behind everyone and doing something wrong.
Yeah, was thinking the same. This is skewed to FAANG. I'm public health major, Temple grad 3+2 program so graduated with master's and about $25k debt. Live at home, $55k income, saving at high rate in 401k/roth and love first job as nutitionist/counselor and research lead for health tech start up.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 14:54
Subject: Re:Starting salary or expected for your child
DS, investment banking in NYC, graduated 2025 and making 120k base
Anonymous
01/19/2026 14:24
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
So?
School, degree, starting salary are wildly variable. I am not sure you even need a high school diploma for ICE.
Youre comparing a high end tc from nvcc with a median MIT base salary. Who is the stupid one? On the high end, some recent MIT and Harvard graduates received $750k tc. What do you say now?
Anonymous
01/19/2026 14:17
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
So?
School, degree, starting salary are wildly variable. I am not sure you even need a high school diploma for ICE.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 14:01
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
So?
Anonymous
01/19/2026 13:56
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:The median bachelor's at MIT was $105k. MIT probably has the highest starting salaries in the country. Hopefully this can ground everyone in reality. Most grads make significantly less than this across the country.
A NVCC associates degree gets a 2026 grad $90,000 to start at the Arlington County Police Department.
Anonymous
08/05/2025 17:37
Subject: Starting salary or expected for your child
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:What percentage of quants get laid off annually?
94.36%
Quant firms don't really do massive lay offs. Even Citadel, known for layoffs, is improving significantly from the past. They've realized it's important to retain talent.
I know. I was just trying to make people here feel better about themselves.