<p>Hi Guys!</p>
<p>I was kinda in a dilemma. I have been admitted to both Georgia tech and the University of Cambridge to study chemical engineering. However, I found to my surprise that people graduating with a Chem eng degree from Georgia Tech are earning $70,000(40,000 pounds) whereas in post-cambridge the median starting salary is 29,000 Pounds. Though, Cambridge have a better reputation, the above reason made me reconsider. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Part of that is simply going to be that the vast majority of Georgia students will be taking up jobs in the US, and the majority of Cambridge grads in the UK. US base salaries are higher in almost all fields. Where are you planning on working after graduation? (What citizenships do you have which may affect where you work? If you have to return to your home country you’re likely to be paid whatever the going rate is there.)</p>
<p>Also, “Cambridge has a better reputation” to who? A layman on the street or someone in politics or literature? Sure. Engineering firms that recruit the best engineers worldwide? Doubtful.</p>
<p>‘post-cambridge the median starting salary is 29,000 Pounds’</p>
<p>For chemical engineers?</p>
<p>Where are you from, OP?</p>
<p>I guess OP has quoted the starting salaries of fresh ChemE grads fairly accurately. For Cambridge, it is 29,800 Pounds and GTech it is $72,500 (43,200 pounds). </p>
<p>For Cambridge
<a href=“http://university.which.co.uk/university-of-cambridge-c05/chemical-engineering-via-natural-sciences-4-years-9000-h813”>http://university.which.co.uk/university-of-cambridge-c05/chemical-engineering-via-natural-sciences-4-years-9000-h813</a></p>
<p>For GTech
<a href=“Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page”>Georgia Tech | External Redirect Landing Page;
<p>BTW, my D2 officially became a Yellowjacket yesterday to study ChemE. I am pleasantly surprised too with the difference in the starting salaries !</p>
<p>I don’t doubt the base figures are accurate. The point is, it lacks context. Where are these jobs? A Georgia Tech grad working in the UK is likely to get the same offer as a Cambridge grad working in the UK, and the same for the US. The higher average salary quoted for GT is almost certainly because most GT grads are working in the US. The OP is, I think, from a third country altogether - no guarantee he can stay and work after his studies at all - he may be stuck with whatever salaries are on offer in his home country. Will he get a higher salary than a grad from anywhere else? I suspect unlikely.</p>
<p>Exchange rates also fluctuate; one year it’s going to look better in favour of country A, the next rather less so. Merely comparing salary figures also doesn’t take into account cost of living, taxes, health insurance (in the US), etc. Also, how much is getting each degree going to cost? Will loans have to be repaid? If financial aspects matter to you, make sure you do all the calculations properly, and don’t get carried away by a number.</p>
<p>For a bit more context, read the entire page.</p>
<p>Cambridge: only 20% of the graduates in this degree work as engineers afterwards. The website also claims that only doctors and dentists have higher starting salaries than chemical engineers in Britain, so the stated salary may actually be quite generous.</p>
<p>GA Tech: only half of the chemical engineering graduates who reported searching for a job later reported a job offer with salary information. What happened to the other half? Is the salary data very biased towards students with higher offers? </p>
<p>Keep in mind that the GA Tech survery only inquired about job offers before graduation, whereas the Cambridge survery took actual salaries 6 months after. This is important. Many college graduates will be unemployed for a little while after college or work as a first job something completely unrelated to their college degree. The GA Tech salary survery essentially omits all students who struggled to find a job, and only reports salary offers for the (probably more competitive) students who do receive a job offer before graduation. And of course students with multiple offers would report their highest offer, even when that’s not the job they’ll actually take.</p>
<p>And finally keep in mind that none of this applies to you as a foreigner. You’ll be lucky to find a single employer who’s wiling to sponsor you for a work visa and odds are that this employer will not be paying the highest starting salaries in the industry. (Or else they’d probably get enough interest from domestic students who can be hired without the uncertainty of the work visa process.)</p>
<p>I think your primary concern should be: what college would you prefer donating your 4 years-or duration of program- to? I realize that you’ve a thing for money (almost everyone does). Go where you think you’ll be more comfortable and learn about yourself and the world. Chuck salaries for now. These statistics provide the average data; you can work real hard to earn in the top notch, and that’d be awesome.</p>